The 2018 World Cup Digital Battle Pt.3: The Russian bid

Part 3 of a 4 part series

The Russian bid

We’ve previously focused on the Iberian and the Holland Belgium bids. For the 3rd part of this series we now look at the Russian bid and what it is focusing on digitally.

The theme of the bid is ‘Ready to Inspire’. The official website features this slogan big and bold using Arsenal star Arshavin as the backdrop. Given the low numbers of followers in social media (only 50 on facebook) it would appear that the website has failed to inspire fans. The lack of interactivity with the reader may be a cause of this. The only way I found to interact with the site was to download 3 bid wallpapers.

The site  is, however, comprehensive in terms of content . The reader is greeted with a side panel which provides plenty of information on the bid, its vision, news and events, a photo gallery and a downloads section. While the website of the Iberian bid features an array of official and illustrious ambassadors, such as 2010 World Cup winners, the Russian bid calls on important supporters such as the Mayor of Moscow. President Putin has also backed the bid. The site disappointingly does not have an innovative campaign encouraging participation and engagement such as the Join The Wave idea which we saw last week with the Holland Belgium bid.

The website allows the reader to watch a video on the proposed stadiums for the tournament and read both a bid highlights brochure and a stadium overview brochure. Like the Iberian bid, the website also has a countdown clock to FIFA decision day on December 2nd.

In terms of social media the site encourages you to spread the word through email, facebook, twitter and MySpace. This is the first time that we’ve seen MySpace in use in this series and it may prove to be a clever tactic by the Russian bid given that over 125 million people use this large social network. On twitter the reader is only allowed to tweet a message which spreads the message ‘Ready to Inspire! – Bidding Nation Russia’ driving traffic back to the official website. Twitter is not used as a communication tool like the other two bids we have seen so far.

The Russian bid can be followed on facebook, flickr and YouTube. On facebook as mentioned previously the bid has a mere 50 followers. The photo collections on flickr mainly focus on official presentations, media meetings and officials in suits. For my money the photos are lacking in the fun and enjoyment that we’ve seen in the previous two bids but you do get to see Chelsea FC owner Roman Ambramovich lending his support. The official YouTube Bidding Nation Russia channel features 9 videos and has just 21 subscribers. The latest video on the bid stadiums has had 10,524 views, which is only a third of the number watching the Holland Belgium bid channel.

Later this week on Thursday we wrap up this 4 part series on ‘The digital battle behind the bidding for the 2018 Football World Cup’ by focusing on a bid far closer to home – the England bid.

About author

Chris Conway
Chris Conway 8 posts

Chris worked in banking for over 10 years as a management accountant before deciding to change careers and transition to the sports industry. He has recently completed a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management. The course incorporated a semester at Stern business school, New York University where Chris specialised in sports marketing, sports economics and digital marketing. These studies were supplemented by a four month sports marketing internship at New York Sportimes where Chris managed social media and assisted with PR and communications. The Sportimes is a professional tennis franchise that plays in the World Team Tennis league and features legends McEnroe and Clijsters on its roster. Chris still resides in New York and is enjoying immersing himself in what is happening on and off the field in all the sports that the city has to offer– from the Yankees to the rugby union Churchill Cup. A close follower of the latest trends in sports marketing and social media, Chris has seized the opportunity to be a contributing author for this site. He is hoping to land a marketing role and assist sports organisations with his expertise when he returns to Sydney late 2010. Chris is a lover of all sports, a part- time road runner and a grass-roots rugby union coach. You can follow his regular tweets on @chrisconway74.

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