Here at Seven League, we spend a lot of time talking to our clients about their vision.
You need a clear sense of this when developing an organisation’s digital strategy and it forms the first step of VMOST (Vision, Mission, Objective, Strategy, Tactics). Everything should flow from it.
Imagine working for a client who, when you ask for their vision, can refer you to a speech made at their event by Nelson Mandela. That's what Laureus is able to do.
“Sport has the power to change the world.
It has the power to inspire.
It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.
It speaks to youth in a language they understand.
Sport can create hope where there once was only despair.”
Those words were spoken by Mandela, the first Laureus patron, at the first Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000. 19 years later an image of him from that inaugural ceremony, with those words printed on it, is one of the first things you see when you walk into the Laureus offices in London.
When you are creating and implementing a digital strategy, it’s an honour to have those words to steer you. It's one of many reasons why it’s a pleasure to work for Laureus – an organisation which harnesses the power of sport to improve the lives of disadvantaged children around the world.
Seven League was first engaged by Laureus in late 2017, just two months before the Laureus World Sports Awards 2018.
We quickly put in place a digital content plan which made use of the incredible assets Laureus can call on including its Academy (a panel of retired sporting legends who vote on the Laureus World Sports Awards) and Ambassadors (famous sporting names who give their time to participate in events which support Laureus Sport for Good).
Throughout 2018 we continued to help Laureus rigorously plan and deliver content on its own social media channels.
When you’re planning content around the FIFA World Cup, it certainly doesn’t hurt when you can call on the likes of Luis Figo, Carles Puyol, Cafu and Raul (all Laureus Academy members).
We also during this time appointed a provider to design and create a new Laureus.com website which will be publicly available very soon.
And almost in the blink of an eye, the Laureus World Sports Awards 2019 was upon us.
In Monaco last month, Seven League led the editorial hub which published content throughout the three days of the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Which included fun events such as the Laureus Sport for Good winners Yuwa Football meeting up with two-time World Cup winner Cafu, Arsene Wenger, Hollywood actor (and awards host) James Marsden and tennis legend Boris Becker for a kickabout.
As well as the more high-profile stuff such as a Facebook Live broadcast from the red carpet and live content for all social platforms from the awards show as the winners were announced (we used Grabyo for live-clipping).
We secured both an emoji for the #Laureus19 hashtag on Twitter and a post on the global @instagram timeline on Instagram. It was a memorable event for all involved.
But there’s much more to come. In addition to the new Laureus.com website, we’ve introduced Unscriptd (now acquired by The Players' Tribune) which will help the Laureus Academy members and Ambassadors publish content to their own social media more efficiently.
More to come on that throughout 2019 and it will be a privilege for us to be part of it. All of us at Seven League share the Laureus vision of harnessing the power of sport to change and we look forward to once again putting that into practice by spreading the Laureus message far and wide on digital.