Electronics retailer Dick Smith is ramping up its focus on digital and social media this year, starting with its sponsorship of the Auckland Nines NRL tournament.
The brand has been running a social media competition in partnership with Auckland Tourism inviting NRL fans to enter to become the "social media reporter" for the tournament along with eight friends.
Canberra man Troy Simpson won the first phase, which attracted 23,000 visits to the Facebook page, 628 entries and over 6,000 votes. The Auckland Nines campaign was developed by Dick Smith's new agency IdeaWorks and digital agency VML.
Dick Smith digital marketing manager Tasman Page said the response was greater than expected given it was only a three-week campaign. "It was one of those campaigns that gains momentum as people start to get their networks behind them – ideally we would have had it in market a bit longer," he said.
The next phase will see a campaign microsite go live on Wednesday ahead of the tournament this weekend (15-16 February) to host Simpson's content from the ground. Fans will also be invited to upload their best "game face", with the best entries to be displayed on the big screen at the stadium throughout the weekend.
Simpson and his eight-man "support team" will be given full behind-the-scenes access to the tournament, including locker rooms, training sessions, dinner with NRL greats and the coach and captains breakfast on Friday.
Page said the response to the inaugural event in the five-year sponsorpship meant next year would be "bigger and better". Social media would play a greater role in the marketing mix going forward, he said, but the retailer would be "channel-agnostic".
"The Auckland Nines sponsorship is a low-cost exercise because we're not using mainstream media like TV, but we're not doing it for that reason. We want to connect with the fans of the sponsorships we do, whether that's through mainstream or social media – if it means we need to use TV then we will."
Dick Smith also sponsors the Melbourne Stars Twenty20 Big Bash League team, and has been running a number of social media promotions with the marketing team. Page said more sports sponsorships were on the cards.
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