As part of the MCG event staff I’ve watched a lot of cricket this summer. As the Aussies were getting ready to train for the first match of the One Day International Series I noticed fence signage (above) that read TOYOTA Cricket. Oh What a Feeling!
I’ll be honest, and I don’t know about you, but Toyota and Cricket wasn’t an association I was aware of!
It got me thinking what do Toyota do to leverage their cricket sponsorship online and socially, and how does it compare with KIA Tennis (Australian Open) and HYUNDAI Football (A League) associations that appear far more memorable (to me at least!).
So I did an audit of each car manufacturers relationship with their Australian summer sport and here’s what I found.
TOYOTA Cricket google search brings up “Toyota and cricket…Oh what a feeling!” that links to the landing page: www.toyota.com.au/cricket and includes a “legendary moment” with Steve “Tugga” Waugh. If you scroll right to the base of the page you find the “stay connected” social icons of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Toyota Australia’s website home page itself interestingly has no reference to the association with Cricket Australia.
Toyota Australia’s Facebook page has 165,000+ fans, but they only display photos and talk about their vehicles.
Toyota Australia’s @Toyota_Aus Twitter account (link from website is broken?!) has 15,000+ followers and yet makes no mention of cricket or Cricket Australia whatsoever. Cricket Australia’s @CricketAus Twitter account has almost 275,000 followers that Toyota’s sponsorship could / should enable a significant conduit too!
KIA Tennis search brings up the Kia Event Guide on top as part of the Australian Open website. Their Kia Facebook page is next, proof (to me!) that Google is increasingly acknowledging social / facebook. “Kia Game On,” a landing page on the Kia website is just a little further down that seeks to know how you came to visit the site (see image below). It encourages the visitor / fan to get the app (which I did) for a chance to win a Kia Cerato Koup Turbo by returning tennis player Sam Groth’s serve when you see an ad on Channel 7. Great idea, but direct marketing 101 would suggest Kia might be asking a bit ‘too much’ from your average fan?
KIA Australia’s website home page also features a web banner promoting the Kia Game On tennis app, but perhaps surprisingly doesn’t display the Australian Open logo.
KIA Australia’s Facebook page has 251,00, a photo of Federation Square as its cover (good geographic positioning!) and is all over tennis as well as placing the occasional photo of its vehicles.
KIA Australia’s Twitter has nearly 10,000 followers and also has a very strong Australia Open tennis focus, engaging and retweeting fans.
HYUNDAI Football search brings up the Football Australia website first, although interestingly Hyundai Australia has a Google ad at the top of the page. Hyundai’s “Goals for Grassroots” is the first page from the website to be listed and gives community clubs tickets to A-League games as well as a chance to win a Hundai i30.
Hyundai Australia’s website home page features no less than eight web banners! Only one of which refers to their A-League association, but it does give fans the opportunity to win a VIP package. Hyundai’s social ‘connection’ buttons are prominent on the top right of the website and include YouTube, Google+ and Instagram in addition to Facebook and Twitter.
Hyundai Australia’s Facebook page has 273,000 followers and features the A-League VIP package as a Facebook app, but is mainly focused on its own offering i.e. cars. It does also note other sports sponsor partners.
Hyundai Australia’s Twitter has just over 4000 fans (they follow just over one hundred) and appears slightly disinterested in soccer and the A-League, but then the @ALeague Twitter account is called “Hyundai A-League” and has over 54,000 follower fans!
I’ve heard it said that it’s better to be the biggest sponsor of the smallest sport, than just another sponsor as part of the biggest sport! Cricket Australia’s Facebook (2.33m) and Twitter (275k) is almost double the Australian Open (Facebook 1.09m and Twitter 406k) and the A-League pales by comparison (Facebook 77k and Twitter 54k).
Yet on the “Car Brands Leveraging Sport Sponsorship Through Social” Podium I would have:
3. Toyota Cricket.
2. Hyundai Football.
1. Kia Tennis.
This unlikely to be good news for Toyota, given Roy Morgan suggest that “Just 1 in 7 associate KIA with Australian Open tennis tournament” – how many fewer would associate Toyota and Australian Cricket?
Would be interested in your thoughts as an Aussie sports fan.
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