The FIFA World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event, and just in time for the upcoming 2014 tournament, global marketing agency VML has redesigned the digital hub for U.S.
Soccer.
Rather than silo content by function or category, this new USSoccer.com hub serves as a cohesive thread uniting all U.S. soccer information.
“Our goal is to excite soccer fans ahead of this historic occasion with the development of a modern digital experience that engages users and motivates them to create and share compelling
content that resonates with fans,” said Chuck Searle, executive director of client services, VML.
Adds Neil Buethe, director of communications and content, U.S. Soccer: "We used to sort
different kinds of content into buckets, like editorial, features, press releases, videos. Now, this brand experience is developed with the user experience in mind and how they interact with the
content."
VML won the account late last year with its expertise in adaptable technology.
"Flexibility is a key word we talked about," says Buethe. "We have a lot of different
things within the organization: the men's, women's, and youth national teams, the coaching and referee departments, the Development Academy, and all of those things are important. It's valuable to
focus on what the fans delve into the most, while at the same time providing easy access to everything."
One priority was to develop a platform with multi-language users in mind. "Soccer is a
global sport, even the core base in the U.S. likely speaks more than one language," says Searle.
Still, this launch of the new online experience is not the end game, but represents the
next phase in the evolution of U.S. Soccer’s digital presence, particularly as it focuses on a mobile-first approach that is both adaptive and responsive.
“Through our continual
dialogue with our fans, we identified several key areas to better serve U.S. National Team supporters through our digital platforms,” said Buethe. “In collaboration with VML, our new site
will improve our reach and connection to the fans and provide them with innovative ways to share their experience in support of all U.S. National Teams.”
VML helped develop
content, design and mobile strategies, site architecture design, Web site development and activation and engagement strategies. Content creation will focus on pre-, during and post-match insights and
perspectives, as well as team and player profiles. "We are creating an experience that communicates with fans rather than at them," says Searle.
Further enhancements will continue to be
released in the ensuing weeks, resulting in the fully upgraded platform being in place before the U.S. Men's opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on June 16 against Ghana. Then, the site
will continue to evolve based on user expectations. "We are purposefully staging this approach to roll out to make sure the site evolves with the fans," says Searle.
U.S. Soccer will continue
to utilize Web content management and digital marketing solutions by Sitecore.
young player scoring goal photo from
Shutterstock