Getting the World into Water by Eduardo Fernandez

getting the world into waterSep, 2010

today’s meeting.

• overview on state of swimming in the world

• two strategic areas of exploration for FINA

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our goal.

get the world to pay attention to world of water sports, thus furthering the FINA mission of getting people “into” water

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FINA’s objectives.

• raise profile of aquatic sports• attract more sponsors and partners

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communications can help in two ways.

• build and develop audiences for FINA events

• encourage involvement in grassroots participation (get people in pools)

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these tasks can work together.

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2 greater participation

4 bigger audiences

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greater interest in water sports

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more grass roots swimming events

sports illustrated covers, 2009.

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football

basketball

baseball

ice hockey

golf

tennis

speed skating

running

horse racing

25+

20+

15+

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3

1

1

1

1

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how many covers for water sports in 2009?

just the one cover.

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finding water in the desert.

when visitors click the “all sports” link on espn.com, the list appears with no mention of any water sport.

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“all sports”- it’s easier to find fish than

water.

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not top of mind, not top of favorites.

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top spectator sports –2009

NFL 24.4%

MLB 11.0%

college football 9.5%

NBA 6.3%

college basketball 3.9%

NASCAR 3.3%

NHL 2.8%

football (unspecified) 2.2%

high school football 1.8%

MLS 1.7%

soccer (unspecified) 1.4%

high school basketball 1.3%

espn sports poll asked respondents to name their favorite spectator sport. if asked, spectator sport was defined as one that they would attend games/matches, watch on tv, listen on radio or read about them.

the opportunity.

perception needs to catch up with reality. swimming is the world’s true pastime. it’s time for the media, and to pay attention to one of the sports people do most.

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it looks like it‟s going swimmingly.

• it looks like it‟s going swimmingly.• when it comes to participation nothing really

trumps swimming. over half of all americansswim more than once a year. more people here swim than play baseball or soccer. with events like the world championships in romeand the 2008 olympicsin beijing, more swimmers were drawn to pools across the country than ever before. in 2009, swim clubs reported record participation.

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it’s time for FINA to make a splash.

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we have identified a conceptual platform that will help us in our task.under this platform we can have different creative ways to activate it.

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create controversy.

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pool is cool.

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pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

pool is cool

impactengagementsocial phenomenon

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thought-starter tactics.

• health and well-being program

• online community where people can share stories and training experiences

• highlight the physicality that aquatic athletes demonstrate

• petitions and mock protests at tv station headquarters demanding coverage

• bring attention to young aquatic athletes so people can follow their paths

• swimming marathons

• engaging environments for water sports – like rock n’ bowls and spin classes

• limited edition aquaFINA bottles for the world championships

• wild posting of amazing images to tease 2011 world championships

• TVs in public places for viewing world championships

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we are not going to sell just a swimming pool,

we’re going to create a whole experience around

a swimming pool.

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