Abstract:

The London Olympic Games was the major global sporting event of 2012 with four million viewers expected for the opening ceremony. Social media now plays a prominent role in TV, and is key for brands, active in social media arenas, to understand how to mobilise the power of social media exposure, utilise it to increase engagement, and affect the legacy of the brand in a positive way. Brands regularly associate themselves with major sporting events around the globe, and these social interactions have the opportunity to affect relationships between the audience and brands to a higher degree than ever before. Through the delivery of successful social media activity around an event, brands can create advocacy for their brand long after the event has finished.