HSBC Singapore Sevens creates frenzy online and offline

SINGAPORE, 19 April 2016 – The HSBC World Rugby Singapore Sevens not only created new attendance records for a 7s tournament in Singapore with over 50,000 spectators over two days, rugby fans and carnival goers also went wild on social and digital media.

A WEEKEND OF SOCIAL MEDIA FRENZY WITH THE HSBC WORLD RUGBY SINGAPORE SEVENS

· HSBC World Rugby Singapore Sevens breaks attendance records; second day attendance of 27,053 surpassed the previous record of 16,000 recorded in 2006

· Singapore Sevens also creates a frenzy online with over 6,700 hours of interaction

The Singapore Rugby Sevens featured world-class Rugby action as 16 teams battled their hearts out to accumulate crucial points at the tournament, paving their way for the 2016 Rio Olympics. On-field the action was electric, off-field was also competitive with fans vying for best dressed costume in true time honored Rugby Sevens’ tradition.

Over the weekend, more than 97,000 unique visitors visited the www.singapore7s.sg website and spent an average of 2:32 minutes online, representing a total combined visiting time of 6,700 hours interacting with the Singapore Rugby Sevens and sponsors, including HSBC, DHL, Volvo, Pan Pacific and Singapore Tourism Board for YourSingapore.

The event’s social media accounts were buzzing, with 130 Tweets, 41 Instagram and 40 Facebook posts published during the Tournament, generating a Facebook reach of 153,428 and 59,700 post engagements and 4,944,539 impressions for the #Singapore7s hashtag across the main social platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).

“We are delighted that people engaged so much on all our digital channels – our event is social by nature and judging by the numbers, we really created that synergy with our audience” said Douglas Danapal, Commercial Manager at Singapore Rugby Union.

Mediatropy, the official Social and Digital Agency, leveraged on the newly released Facebook Live Video feature to increase event reach and maximize engagement with fans and the general public.

“We posted several live feeds, featuring the action in the stadium, the fans cheering for their teams and people having fun dressed up in the most exotic costumes. Our most popular live video connected with more than 20,000 followers,” said Pierre De Luca, Managing Director at Mediatropy. “We also had a live commentary with Paul Foster which helped drive even more spectators to the finals on Sunday afternoon”.

The social buzz created on Saturday no doubt drove even more spectators to the National Stadium as 1,102 tickets were sold on Sunday itself.

Mediatropy’s social media managers were seen streaming ‘live’ from the National Stadium aisles. Carrying large “You are live on Facebook” banners, they were met by cheering crowds of enthusiastic supporters. Mediatropy leveraged social media to enable fans that were unable to attend the event to experience the true glory of the HSBC World Rugby Singapore Sevens.