London 2012 Trend Spotting: An Evidence Based Olympics

by Elaine Cameron on 13th August 2012 • The Cast Blog

Never in the history of the Olympics has such a plethora of statistics, data and infographics been paraded before such an information-

hungry, socially-engaged audience. Data is not only transforming communications but is also having a profound effect on the evolution

of sport itself.

Data, data everywhere

As well as increasing its medal tally, London 2012 is setting Big Data records.

BT is expecting to deal with a flow of data (60GB of information per second) equivalent to all of Wikipedia every 5 seconds. More

than 13,000 Tweets per second are expected to be posted.

Open any newspaper and you will be greeted by wonderfully creative examples of data journalism, as highlighted in my latest FUTURE

Perspective newsletter: http://burson-marsteller.eu/2012/07/future-perspective-july-2012/

Social Media is the Driver

The key differentiator between London 2012 and Beijing 2008 is the ever-growing use of social media globally.

This infographic brings that idea beautifully to life. It compares the size of social media in 2008 with 2012, using Olympic

events like weight lifting and pole vault to visualise just how much this sector has grown. It also powerfully demonstrates which brands

are scoring the highest with their Olympic campaigns – with P&G the clear winner.

Data can be emotional too

For anyone who thinks that data is all a bit „dry‟, here‟s a terrific example of how the sentiments of the land have been harnessed to

glorious effect.

In today‟s digital world, the highs, lows and unfolding drama of the London 2012 Olympics are being transmitted within minutes across

social media channels. As the official electricity supplier of the Games, EDF Energy are measuring the nation‟s reactions to London 2012 – the triumphs and defeats – on Twitter and turning the sentiment into a dazzling lightshow

every night at 9pm on the EDF Energy London Eye.

This is the world‟s first ever social-media-driven lightshow, showcasing the nation‟s excitement towards London 2012 in lights.

View video here

Here comes the science bit

As with London Buses, one trend often swiftly follows another. In this case, that of the ever more scientific approach to sport.

TeamGB Performance Director, Dave Brailsford has been hailed as a technical wizard and is known for his not so catchy

catchphrase „the aggregation of marginal gains‟. “It means finding a 1% margin for improvement in everything you do. That‟s what we

try to do from the mechanics upwards… because we are always striving for improvement, for those 1% gains, in absolutely every single

thing we do.”

Naturally, all these tiny gains can add up to large gains – potentially race-winning, or record-winning, gains. It‟s not just a sound bite

but rather an approach that has underpinned Britain‟s phenomenal success in track cycling, and which is now being applied to road

cycling.

However, the influence of data analytics and the rapid advances in equipment have encouraged some sporting bodies to reign in

technology‟s influence. In 1996, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) published the Lugano Charter which drew up narrow

guidelines on bicycle design, and in 2009 the swimming world governing body FINA outlawed Speedo‟s LZR Racer swimsuit after world

records were routinely broken.

Sport is “heading towards a crossroads,” according to the report “Sports Engineering: An Unfair Advantage?” published by the UK‟s Institution of Mechanical Engineers in July. The authors say that regulators now face a

“delicate task … as sports technology becomes ever more powerful. The legal wrangling over Oscar Pistorius‟ move from the

Paralympics to the Olympics is a sign of things to come.”