Case Study: Samsung

CLIENT

In the summer of 2008 Cheil, Samsung's in-house communications team, commissioned Final Third Sports Media to oversee a project to launch a brand sponsorship website for their sponsorship of English Premier League Club Chelsea.

The site was launched to complement their online brand exposure linked to their sponsorship of the club, which previously had only been achievable through their main Samsung website and through the Blues' own portfolio of sites. Samsung have been Chelsea's shirt sponsors since 2005 and the site was born out of a need to maximise their visibility on the internet with a site that reflected the brand's identity and appealed to a wider football supporting audience.

A key driver was to generate targeted content that would encourage football supporters of all clubs, not just Chelsea's, to regularly visit the site and in-turn enter their online competitions.

SOLUTION

The theme of 'Experience Football' was chosen as the marketing brief for Samsung's sponsorship activities during the 2008/09 season and all aspects of the site needed to reflect that. It was important that the website would bring supporters closer to football and show them a view of the sport they would not normally be exposed to.

Final Third Sports Media played a prominent role in all aspects of the site's development. Our initial brief began by liaising with Samsung's in-house development team to build a site bespoke to our specification so we could fulfill our content management objectives, while balancing Samsung's marketing requirements. As part of this process we defined the meta data critical to ensure the critical to ensure the site met the search engine optimisation requirements, as well as completing every aspect of testing in beta format prior to 'going live'.

We defined a content plan and style guide to ensure continuity across the site and were responsible for sourcing, editing and producing all written and video features from our own contacts and via opportunities presented by Samsung.

The site was divided into seven sections; Boot Room, Board Room, Changing Rooms, Community, Press Room, Terraces and Wall of Fame - each portraying a unique angle of life within a football club that supporters wouldn't normally get to see.

Our role as content editors also involved liaising with Samsung and their associated agency partners to ensure timely management of the competitions that ran alongside the editorial content we posted on the site, which we contextually linked to drive entries with a call to action at the end of any written copy.

RESULT

A website that attracted over a million visitors a month was quickly established, achieving Samsung’s main objective of generating a marketable database of football fans in the key demographic of cash rich 18 to 35-year-old market. The success of the site – well in excess of Samsung's expectations - was a key component in nominations for both the Sport Industry and Hollis awards for brand sponsorship and was highly respected amongst football fans, not just Chelsea supporters.

Chelsea's shirt sponsorship deal, which had been in its penultimate season, was extended until July 2013 and the foundations had been laid for a website that could continue to strengthen Samsung's relationship with consumers, for the duration of their relationship with the Stamford Bridge outfit and beyond.