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Facebook will be going big with its ICC T20 World Cup partnership, creating original content, partnering with over 100 influencers to promote the sport, and launching a separate tab for cricket in the app. The social media giant is expecting many brands to use this opportunity across categories of products and services.
The partnership was inked two years ago. Following a significant response to the recent Olympic Games and Paralympics Games when India drove the maximum conversations of all the Facebook countries, the company is now planning several marketing and user engagement initiatives to bank on the trend.
“Largest number of global conversations around sports happen on Facebook in India. We connect with our friends, communities through our expressions and comments. Facebook and Instagram are the only platforms which lets you connect directly and talk to the stakeholders of the sport be it Harsha Bhogle, Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag or ICC and BCCI. One-third of Facebook users are following a team or a player, which means they are already connected,” Sandeep Bhushan, Director and Head of Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook India told BusinessLine.
ICC will be producing a capsule of the match every hour while it is live. This content is specially created by ICC for Facebook so that the user doesn’t miss any updates while not watching the entire match. The conversation will continue post-match with discussions from experts and former cricketers Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag.
“Over a 100 influencers and creators will talk to their audiences about the tournament and bring them together whether it is in the context of food or art. We are also launching a cricket tab on Facebook. There will be a lot of engaging activities around cricket for users such as polls and conversation sessions,” he added.
User Engagement
Facebook will be letting users create their own polls, quizzes and leagues around ICC topics to increase engagement with friends and followers.
Apart from Sehwag and Chopra, other public figures including Sameeksha Sud, RJ Praveen, Rithvik Dhanjani and leading macro and micro-content creators from across the country (100 plus creators and 1000 plus posts) are expected to generate exclusive content for the T20 World Cup. Creators across categories such as food (Madhura’s Recipe), travel (Curly Tales) and DIY, Arts and Crafts will create cricket-related content during the T20 world cup.
Facebook has been witnessing over 1.25 billion monthly video viewers globally, and India has been leading the pack. Around 6 million reels are created in India every day. Live broadcasts from Facebook Pages in India had tripled last year (in June 2020) compared to the same time in the previous year.
The India-New Zealand final in Southampton in June was the most-watched on average across all series that were part of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC). Facebook had the most consumption across ICC digital assets with 423 million views and 368 minutes consumed on the ICC page.
"ICC’s partnership with Facebook will help cricket fans engage even more deeply with the sport during the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup by giving them an opportunity to not just watch a range of digital content but also provide them with a new way of engaging with the sport and live the game through unique social opportunities, allowing them to share, and express themselves during the tournament,” said Anurag Dahiya (ICC Chief Commercial Officer)
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