ICC works with Grabyo to push social and digital media agenda for this season’s matches

Grabyo has partnered with the International Champions Cup (ICC) to increase use of social and digital content by the latter’s global media teams, with tools to share in-play video highlights, as well as kicking off campaigns for sponsors and brand partners during this summer’s tournament.

Now in its sixth edition, the ICC, owned and operated by Relevent, is a key event in the global football calendar. The ICC has teamed up with Grabyo to increase the amount of content shared through its social and digital channels, including the creation of new, digital-first live programming using Grabyo Producer.

Gareth Capon, Grabyo CEO, told SVG Europe: “Using Grabyo’s cloud-based Studio platform, the ICC is able to quickly and easily share more exciting moments from its games to social media, mobile apps and websites than ever before. Grabyo Studio will enable the ICC production teams in six different countries to work collaboratively and deliver ‘near-live’ video content in seconds, which means a moment will never be missed by fans who aren’t watching on TV.”

Grabyo CEO, Gareth Capon

Utilising Grabyo through a web browser, the ICC team will easily take short clips straight from a live stream, any great piece of skill, blinding save or 30 yard goal, clip the video, package it with sponsorship or branding graphics and bumpers, then distribute it in a matter of seconds. The content can be tailored for each platform, with horizontal, square or vertical display, ensuring more content can go to any platform at any time.

ICC’s digital teams in the US, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Austria will use Grabyo to amplify distribution of live streams and real time highlights across social platforms. The partnership will allow the ICC to work with sponsors and brand partners during the competition to provide new revenue streams and engagement through social video distribution.

Continued Capon: “The ICC will also live stream content before and after games through Grabyo Studio, providing opportunities for the ICC to cover more games, both in build up and reaction. Plus, Grabyo’s user interface is designed to assist those with limited video editing skills, ensuring the ICC can capitalise on all of its resources for content delivery.”

Grabyo provides a streamlined workflow for sharing branded content to Facebook, monetising clips with in-stream Twitter ads and through YouTube Content ID. The ICC will be able to monetise clips in seconds from anywhere in the world.

This year, the ICC will also be creating exclusive live content in and around the matches. This will include pre and post-game shows broadcast live on social channels to further drive engagement around the competition. With engagement peaking during live games, these ancillary broadcasts will be another chance to distribute ICC content globally, further expanding its audience.

The addition of this content will change the perception and viewership for ICC matches, said Capon. “The most important trend for sports broadcasting at this moment in time is the shift to online streaming,” he noted. “Watching video online and the appetite for live content is growing every year, and fans are expecting sporting events to cater for this. I expect the ICC will reach many more fans worldwide than in previous years, achieving far greater exposure through social media clips, and even more so through live video.

“A strong digital and social media strategy will help to shape the perception of the ICC as the major sporting event that it is, as well as ensuring it stays relevant in local markets as well as globally,” Capon went on. “Video is by far the most engaged-with content on social media, holding the attention of fans and keeping them interested for more. This is highlighted by the ICC’s commitment to producing video content for Snapchat and Instagram through Grabyo’s mobile app, allowing the brand to broaden their reach to audiences who prefer these platforms.”

“We are excited to be partnering with Grabyo for the ICC this year. It’s important for  18 of the best clubs in the world playing 27 matches across the US, Europe and Singapore, to have the best available tools for publishing video content in real time,” stated Max McGonigle, manager of marketing solutions at Relevent. “This year the ICC is looking to drive more engaging, fan-first content, in and around each match. Using Grabyo we can leverage each social platform to create new live experiences for our global audience, while also integrating sponsorship in a meaningful way.”

The ICC will be using Grabyo’s latest multi-aspect ratio features to ensure content is optimised for each platform, so no matter where people watch, the stream will be high quality and fit their screen perfectly, Capon stated. “This feature is key to ensuring any fan in any location can access the content and have a positive experience. The ICC team will also be using our latest integrations with Instagram and Snapchat to produce content through Grabyo’s mobile app directly to both platforms. Grabyo launched the capability to publish directly to Snapchat this week and we’re very excited to see it in action.”

Another new Grabyo feature the ICC will be taking advantage of is the ability to quickly and easily apply square ratio creative sets to videos posted to social media. Said Capon: “Before now, if you were to apply creative sets in 16:9 ratio to videos posted to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, you would end up with overlays or bumpers that didn’t fit the frame on each platform. Now, Grabyo’s platform will automatically resize creatives to ensure it fits the destination platform perfectly.”

The ICC will also use Grabyo to automatically clip highlights from matches using sports data feeds. The ICC can trigger automated video clips from key events such as a goal, save, penalty decision or red card. Grabyo uses Opta Sports data to find these moments and then automatically clips the content, in real time, for distribution to a range of digital platforms. “These features will empower the ICC to create interesting content faster, harnessing the power of automation without taking away the natural storytelling talent of editors,” added Capon.

 “We are excited to work with the ICC and Relevent teams to provide a scalable solution for their digital video workflows,” commented Mike Kelley, president for the Americas at Grabyo. “Sports audiences now demand content in real time and enabling teams across multiple markets and time zones is more crucial than ever. We are excited to see what new content types and live formats the ICC creates using Grabyo Producer to further engage fans.”

In support of this growing partnership, Grabyo has added new features to its platform, bringing the best possible experience to its audience. Recent updates include the addition of live social comment moderation, GIFs, image capture and live graphics authoring for digital broadcasts.