The International Skating Union (ISU) is thrilled to announce that its #UpAgain campaign has won the “Best Specialist Campaign” and also won silver for “Best Use of Social Media” in the 2022 International Content Marketing Awards. Read More...
When a setback is the start of a comeback:
This is #UpAgain gets nominated for two Awards
The #UpAgain campaign celebrates the unbreakable spirit that drives athletes to compete on ice. We identified that skaters and fans engage on average in 50,000 social media conversations a year about the pain and fear of falling on the ice. In response, we created #UpAgain, a campaign dedicated to inspiring skaters to share their personal experiences and overcome their challenges on and off the ice.
#UpAgain has become part of skating culture and is recognized and used by fans and athletes around the world.
Our goal for the #UpAgain campaign was to bring ice skating sports center stage and be part of the top winter sports on social media by the end of the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
The ISU focus lay in giving a personal tone to its campaign by telling the athletes’ remarkable stories and highlighting their talent as they competed to get #UpAgain on the podium in Beijing.
To enhance the campaign’s reach globally but also locally in China, the ISU partnered with multiple agencies including a social media Chinese agency with the goal to customize the content for the host nation.
The result was unprecedented levels of engagement from the community who loved the activation.
By the end of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games the data showed great results:
- Top of the winter sports leaderboard in social media engagements
- +204% increase in social media engagements in comparison to the 2018 Olympics
- 3M engagements across all ice skating disciplines
- 30% more engagements than the average winter sport in Beijing
- First in social media new followers
- 65k new followers
- 3M increase in social media followings compared to the 2018 Olympics
- 4 times more new followers than the closest competitor
- 1 winter sport on Weibo
The shortlist for the 2022 International Content Marketing Awards has just been released, and the International Skating Union (ISU) is honored to announce that its #UpAgain campaign has been nominated in the “Best Use of Social Media (B2C)” and the “Best Specialist Campaign” categories.
The Awards, organized by the Content Marketing Association, recognize the very best content marketing campaigns, strategies, teams and individuals in the world of content creation on an annual basis. According to the Content Marketing Association, this year has been exceptionally rich and innovative in content creation as testified by the number of organizations and the variety of countries entering the competition – more than ever before
“We are so incredibly proud to be shortlisted for two Awards and for the athletes’ stories to be recognized and celebrated in this way,” affirms ISU President Jae Youl Kim. “Fans felt a real connection with our athletes, their life stories and ice skating sports through the #UpAgain campaign. By creating digital proximity between our community and athletes, this campaign contributed to making the ISU the most engaged winter sports federation on social media at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.”
The International Content Marketing Awards follows a rigorous judging process led by independent content marketing experts, who select the very best examples of content marketing to win an Award after two rounds of judging. The second round is about to commence, to select gold, silver and bronze winners. The winners of the 2022 International Content Marketing Awards will be announced in a virtual live ceremony at the end of November.
Further details will be communicated soon on www.the-cma.com/awards
Best #UpAgain moment
As the winter season comes to an end, a final celebration of the feats of the incredible athletes with the best 5 #UpAgain moment of the season have been selected:
This is #UpAgain, A Documentary Series
This is #UpAgain, a documentary series gives fans a closer insight into the return of International Competitions. The four-part series give you exclusive behind the scenes access to what it felt like for the athletes to get back to competing on international ice, to train, relax and even get to socialise.
We must overcome life’s challenges to achieve our full potential.
This is #UpAgain, The Show
available monthly on YouTube
The #UpAgain Show is a monthly show that airs on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel, hosted by TV Presenter, Elma Smit. She welcomes some of the world’s greatest ice-skating stars and deep dives into their extraordinary stories. These incredibly inspiring athletes share tips and take part in some fun games you don’t want to miss! They will also be putting you to the test, by throwing a few challenges your way.
Previous episodes:
Catch up with last season’s #UpAgain initiatives:
#UpAgain, originally launched in November 2019, is an emotional and inspiring campaign based on one simple principle: we must overcome life’s challenges to achieve our full potential. As we faced one of the biggest challenges humankind has encountered in decades, the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign took a greater meaning. This season it evolves into This is #UpAgain. Athletes celebrate life back on the ice, share how they stay strong and have the opportunity to thank those who supported them through tough times.
When Figure Skating athletes and fitness enthusiasts stayed in shape with the online ISU Figure Skating training sessions you can still take part in. Hosted by top coaches, choreographers and other Figure Skating professionals from a selected number of ISU Centers of Excellence, all sessions are available on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel.
Additionally, the ISU shared several #UpAgain stories which showcased how some of the world’s best Skaters beat adversity and there will be more to come. Athletes also provided tips on how to stay physically fit and active and how to maintain a healthy mind, all within the comfort of their own homes, on the ISU Social Media platforms. Much more will be coming your way, so stay tuned!
