Sometimes you see nice graphics on Instagram and think that’s all there is to it, nice design. Reality, as always – is much more complex. Here are some explanations and details about different processes we have gone through with clients.

With appropriate branding, stunning graphics, and a focused strategy, we managed to bring hundreds of fans to the Spanish league in Hebrew in a way that had not been done before.

client

La Liga - The official Spanish league.

Year

2023

Services

Video

Templates

Strategy

Social

Content

background

The Spanish league, or by its official name, La Liga, is one of the most popular and watched leagues in the world. In order to expand their fan base worldwide, La Liga holds digital partnerships in various places around the world, with the task of creating content tailored to the audience of each country. They were interested in expanding their brand, which is already very popular in Spain, and strengthening their connection with the local fan base. Therefore, they chose us to accomplish this goal.

What is our goal?

La Liga is very popular in itself due to its teams, players, and exciting, offensive football over the years. Our goal was to take this great thing and help them address the Israeli audience in a more focused way. We understood that it's important for the Israeli audience to feel part of a larger community, something bigger, so they understand that there are thousands like them who are just crazy about La Liga and follow their games.

Why is this in Hebrew?

Israeli fans showed great excitement when they saw official posts from La Liga in Hebrew on their feed. It further emphasizes how important it is to make content accessible and tailored to the target audience and how much these fans value personal outreach to them.

Interactive

Since our content needs to integrate with La Liga's original content, our strategy has mainly focused on interactive content that engages with the fan base. This type of content not only attracts more traffic but also fosters greater involvement of the audience with the page, which was one of La Liga's central goals when they approached us.

Barcelona, Real, and 18 more? Not with us.

Easy to reach thousands of Spanish League fans who support Barcelona or Real Madrid, part of our goal and that of La Liga was to expose the Israeli fan to the league as a whole, including smaller teams that usually don't get exposure and are in the spotlight.

We did this by creating elaborate and unique photomontages, incorporating their players into various interactive graphics, and more.

Results

The localization activity of La Liga in Hebrew took place two years ago, but as you can see in the data, in Sporta, we took this operation one step further and brought high levels of engagement and interest, especially suitable for a top league like La Liga.

+ 0 % An increase in the number of likes per post + 0 % An increase in the number of comments per post

The administration of the basketball league manages the Winner League, the most popular and beloved basketball league in the country with hundreds of thousands of fans. It is committed to upgrading its digital activities in all aspects for the benefit of the sport.

client

The Israel Basketball League

Year

2023

Services

Branding

Strategy

Digital

Rebuilding

Templates

Video

Challenges

  • Strategy Development - The management operated without an orderly digital strategy, the first stage in the process is to develop such a strategy, in order to do so, first you need to get to know the management, its goals, who is the target audience, who are the competitors, what are the aspirations, and what are their strengths and weaknesses
  • Outdated Design - The design felt heavy, old, irrelevant and did not correspond with trends in the sports worlds
  • Disorganized and inconsistent work - Hurt the ability to raise the standard of visibility over time and in a consistent and unambiguous manner
  • Lack of correlation between the popularity of basketball in the country, and the level of fan engagement and involvement on the Basketball Association's social platforms
  • Competition with other leagues - The growing popularity of the NBA, European basketball tournaments and also soccer, competes for fans' attention creating a gap between them and the Basketball Association

New Brand

As part of our work with the Basketball Association, we created a weekly, monthly and quarterly content calendar. The goal - to organize the content throughout the season, create consumption habits for followers and make them look forward to certain segments that are uploaded at fixed times. Building a content calendar not only allows you to be better prepared for fixed content, but also allows greater flexibility for unexpected events and allows more freedom of action and faster response time for any event.

Content, Interaction and Engagement:

As part of our work with the Basketball Association, we created a content calendar in order to organize and arrange our content throughout the season, create continuity for followers and make them look forward to certain segments that are uploaded at fixed times. Building a content calendar not only allows us to be better prepared for fixed content, but also allows greater flexibility for unexpected events and gives us more freedom of action and faster response time for any event.

 

Sporta produces for The Podium House videos of selected clips from among the dozens of podcasts of the company to promote on various social networks. With our help, the number of clips produced each month has increased in quantity and quality.

client

The Israel Football Association

Year

2023

Services

Branding

Strategy

Digital

Rebuilding

Templates

Video

The Women Are Here to Stay

Despite the noticeable professional improvement, significant financial investment, and the tremendous increase in the number of registered players (which has more than doubled in less than five years), women's football still struggles to compete in interest and attractiveness with men's football for various reasons (which may be addressed in another post). This hinders its continued growth and makes it challenging to attract sponsors and raise rating figures.

The women's department of the Israel Football Association understood that improving digital presence is a crucial step in advancing women's football, and they reached out to us for assistance. From there, we embarked on an exciting journey in collaboration between the women's football department and the marketing department of the Israel Football Association, investing time, resources, and effort to enhance the digital presence of the women's football sector.

After a strategic definition process with the client, we focused on addressing the basic visibility of the league: constructing a visual language for the league, including the logo, font, color palette, graphic elements, and templates that would create a cohesive and visually appealing design identity for social media pages and various promotional materials.

Shining the Spotlight on the Players

From here, we turned to the content itself through the construction of various sections, highlighting franchise players, creating consistency in updates (results, tables, games), photomanipulations, and more. Content sections were built based on a predefined giant that anticipates key moments like game days as well as content that would fill the break period.

The work at this stage was more challenging when we had to rely on low-quality images of the players, most of them in a static sitting position. Regarding statistics, which is a central component in creating interest, we encountered difficulties and had to improvise – for example, we created statistical perspectives based on the basic information we had at hand, such as the titles each team won, goalkeepers who kept the most clean sheets, and the top goal scorers.

Knowledge is power

To our delight, the women's department at the Israel Football Association didn't rest on their laurels. Starting from the current season, they have implemented the use of professional and comprehensive statistics, allowing them to create more interesting content and increase engagement on their page. Additionally, video segments have been introduced, enabling them to develop additional content corners and enhance interest and viewership.

Media Day

Additionally, for the first time, a professional "Media Day" was organized for all the league teams. Media Day was a centralized photoshoot day created specifically for the Association. All the players arrived at a professional studio and were photographed against a green screen, capturing both official shoulder photos and various action poses, such as kicking a ball, celebrating a goal, or performing skillful moves.

Media Day was utilized for player engagement activities, including participating in exercises, humorous gestures, and even an iconic singing performance that the talented players of Maccabi Hadera performed together. The players enjoyed the experience, shared the content, and, as a result, increased the page's followers.

what's the bottom line?

You're asking, after nearly 400 words of beautiful stories, beyond the appearance, the passion, and the feeling of the athletes investing in them, you want the bottom line, and you're right. In a period of almost a few months, we nearly doubled (195%) interactions in posts, increased the number of followers by over 25%, and increased the number of engaged accounts by 218%!

These figures are before we implemented the use of statistics, video, and media day photos. We are confident that we can expect.

The results speak for themselves:

+ 0 % The number of followers + 0 % involved accounts + 0 % interaction with content

Sporta helps the Israel Football Association direct the spotlight toward the talent and passion of female football players in Israel, providing them with the rightful stage. With contemporary branding, stunning graphics, and precise strategy, we advance women's football in Israel to the place it deserves – at the forefront.

client

The Podium House

Year

2023

Services

Templates

Video

Background

The Podium is a rapidly growing media company, under The Podium there are about 20 podcasts that are recorded every week on a wide variety of topics and for many diverse audiences.

As part of The Podium's impressive growth, they faced significant challenges in their social media marketing strategy. The amount of content grew significantly and with it the need for video editing (all podcasts are filmed) and uploading them to different platforms. The Podium turned to us to improve the quantity and quality of those transcribed videos on social media, with a focus on efficiency, quality and consistency.

Order, Organization and Efficiency

Sporta made the work on The Podium's videos more systematic and orderly. By transitioning to working with a content calendar (and adhering to it), closer tracking of videos and upload times, and order in files, we managed to increase the number of videos produced per month and streamline the process from start to finish.

New Branding

In collaboration with The Podium's designers, we embarked on a rebranding initiative in order to give the videos a fresher and cleaner look. After a long series of attempts to find the optimal positioning of the subtitles, together with methods to improve exposure in the different social media algorithms, we arrived at the following result:

סרטון וידיאו מבית הפודיום- לפני (ימין) ואחרי (שמאל)

Added Value

Sporta provides The Podium with a full envelope for all video editing needs, meaning that at any given time and for any need The Podium will receive a uniform, high-quality and stable service. Additionally, Sporta also provides more complex video editing services, adding effects, images, sound editing and more.

Results

+ 0 % Number of videos produced per month - 0 % Video Preparation Time 0 min Average Time for Editing a Video

Sporta was selected to brand and execute the Women's State Cup Final event for the 2022/2023 season. The State Cup in football is one of the oldest and most beloved competitions among fans in Israel, with a long and prestigious history. The goal was to visually convey the significance of the competition through graphic language, celebratory elements, and vibrant colors that evoke a sense of grandeur.

client

The Israel Football Association

Year

2023

Services

Branding

Strategy

Digital

Rebuilding

Templates

Video

background

"Out of difficulties grow miracles" – Jean de La Bruyère wrote, or at least that's what ChatGPT told us he wrote.

In the digital sports marketing space, too, wonderful things can grow from difficulties. While haters may emphasize the shortcomings of your customer and mock them, there are cases where you can actually highlight these shortcomings (whether they are outdated beliefs, half-truths, or a distorted view of things), and by skillfully using them, emphasize your distinct advantages, shift the narrative, and create credibility that will eventually lead to conversion.

A different final promo

We were asked to produce a video for the Women's State Cup final in the 22/23 season; our client, the Israel Football Association, invests heavily in promoting the event, and we were tasked with creating a promo to encourage fans to attend the match.

Our team took on the challenge, developed the concept, and after receiving approval and budget confirmation, we teamed up with a film crew at the venue where the game would take place. There, prominent players from both teams awaited us for the shoot, as they were set to compete in the final.

Who cares, what is this promo, are we Real against City?

Lee Falkon

Star Born

We immediately distinguished that Li Falkon, ASA Tel Aviv's striker, is a true star (beyond being a football star) as she takes on the lead role and steals the show. The video opens with a banal, boring, and exaggerated football game: a tough football game with a ball passing quickly between the players and generic rhythmic music. Suddenly, the video is cut, and you hear Li Falkon shouting "Yalla." The music stops abruptly, and Falkon continues, "Who cares about this promo? Are we Real against City?"

At this stage, after a few more hints, Falkon breaks the fourth wall and directly addresses the audience: "What do you think, that they didn't tell us all these things?" while she lists stereotypes about women's football, thus building credibility that adds to the interest and surprise created earlier.

At this point, viewers are already hooked on Falkon, and as she finishes listing the drawbacks, she challenges with a teasing rhetorical question: "But tell me, have you ever come to see us play? Sit in the stands? Experience something else for a change?"

The camera then shifts to the demonstrating players on the field, as Falkon builds up the players, showcases them, and talks about each one's skills. Falkon concludes with a personal invitation to the audience while turning to the child star Dylan Dror (who speaks while the players spin him on the field), pointing out all the reasons to come to the game (except for Dylan Dror): Fanzone, free entry, excellent football...

Turning off the lights

Towards the end of the filming of the video, unexpectedly, the lights on the field go out. Falco does not get confused and directly addresses the camera, saying, 'Look, they turned off the lights on us, always turning off the lights on us. Alright, I'm leaving.' This unplanned comedic moment, somewhat sad and a bit annoying, concludes the video with a smile.

We are pleased to say that the considerable number of spectators who attended the game is a result of our video. However, if you've come to know us, we measure ourselves in numbers, not feelings. While we cannot prove that the video brought all the fans to the game, what we do know is that the video went viral with over 58,000 views, a record for women's football. Even if it didn't bring all the fans to the game, its reach and the messages conveyed served the broader agenda of the client. Among these were breaking existing stigmas and attempting to provide an opportunity for women's football, as well as exposing the digital activities of women's football to many other potential clients.

https://youtu.be/6GbWf_aMs4c

The results speak for themselves:

+ 0 k Views on the promo of the cup final + 0 % Interactions with content + 0 % Accounts exposed to the content + 0 % Engaged accounts

From the official social page of the Dream League, the most special, colorful, and advanced football page in Israel - with the answer to the question of how to do sports social media right.

client

Real Manager - Israel's Official Fantasy League

Year

2020-2023

Services

Video

Templates

Strategy

Social

Content

background

"Real Manager" was the official operator of the Israeli Fantasy League between 2020-23. Fantasy League is a virtual game that combines reality, where the player builds a team from a selection of league players. Based on their real-life actions, players accumulate points and compete in various ranking competitions.

Over time, in addition to things related to the Fantasy League (such as Player of the Week or the top 10 coaches of the round), the page gained momentum. Besides daily interaction with the Israeli fanbase, graphics were added, becoming viral, collaborations with players, clubs, fan pages, and more.

Football, Fantasy League, and everything in between

Working on the social media of the Fantasy League is a daily task - with important game updates but primarily focusing on high-quality fantasy content. This includes player recommendations, praise for successful coaches, statistics, award-winning themes, and more. In order to add extra value beyond fantasy, we had to think about how to take the social and audience interaction to the next level.

Collaborating with fan pages

Collaborating with fan pages and large fan groups of all the teams in the country, we gradually built close relationships to increase the exposure of the page. These fan pages have a large following of loyal fans, but often lack engaging graphics and interactive content for their followers. This is where the social media management of Real Manager comes into play.

Through collaboration, we create high-quality, unique, and interesting content for fans. This content not only exposes the page and Real Manager's activities but also promotes the Dream League game in an organic and engaging manner.

Collaborating with fan pages

Being the official operator of the Dream League, Real Manager not only had the opportunity to use the official photos of the league players in the game but also built relationships that helped promote its activities directly from the league teams.

As with the fan club cases, we created high-quality, personalized content for each team so they could promote the Dream League specifically to their audience. Over time, as success grew, clubs themselves began to seek collaboration and unique graphics exclusively for them.

The hot cucumber season is boiling in Real Manager

If the breaks between seasons are usually a 'dead time' for football content creators, Real Manager is the opposite. There are endless reports about players who are rumored to move to a team, sometimes reporting on deals even before the media. Players react to reports on our platform (like Stipe Perica joining Hapoel Tel Aviv), and even agents who request to create graphics for their players for a specific team to promote an agenda. Real Manager has become an active and significant player in the Israeli transfer market.

Becoming a Name in Israeli Football

A high-quality page that talks football 24/7 and creates consistent interaction with its audience gains momentum and gradually expands its sphere of influence. For example, one can see examples of the importance the page has gained in the football discourse in Israel by the fact that many players have shared their nominations or awards for outstanding achievements of the season on our page.

Prominent players like Maor Buzaglo and Bibars Natcho asked us to create special graphics for their retirement (or retirement from the national team). Each such graphic reaches an audience of hundreds of thousands, as these are very popular players with an incredible number of loyal followers.

Results

0 k Organic followers 0 k Involvement in posts in the last 90 days 0 m Exposure in Israel in the last 90 days

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