The role of social media in the communication of sports organization brand

Društveni mediji postali su neizostavan alat u komunikaciji marke u današnjici. Putem njih moguće je brže i jednostavnije doseći ciljnu skupinu, ali i širu javnost općenito, te s njima ostvariti dugoročne odnose. Kako bi sportske organizacije to ostvarile, moraju komunicirati kvalitetan, jedinstven i prepoznatljiv sadržaj putem svojih društvenih kanala. Da bi se ispitala uloga društvenih medija u komunikaciji marke sportske organizacije, provedeno je kvantitativno istraživanje analizom sadržaja objava na službenom Instagram profilu i službenoj Facebook stranici Svjetske atletske federacije u 2021. godini, kao marke sportske organizacije čiji je sport bio najpraćeniji tijekom Olimpijskih igara u Tokiju 2021. godine, te marke koja je imala najveći broj podijeljenih objava na društvenim medijima u odnosu na druge marke sportskih organizacija. Dobiveni rezultati ukazali su da je uloga društvenih medija u komunikaciji marke sportske organizacije informiranje o sportskim događajima i sportašima, cjelokupna promocija sporta te stvaranje imidža marke korištenjem elemenata identiteta marke u objavama na društvenim medijima. Nadalje, utvrđeno je da su objave u kategoriji „Sportaši i fokus na sportski rezultat“ dosegli najveći broj sviđanja i to u obliku Reel objava na Instagram profilu te obliku fotografija na Facebook stranici. Iz navedenog može se zaključiti da je kvalitetno komuniciranje marke sportske organizacije putem društvenih medija ključno za stjecanje baze vjernih pratitelja te za promociju sporta u svijetu.Social media has become an inevitable tool in communication of a brand. Through them, it is possible to reach the target audience, as well as public in general, more quickly and more easily, and to establish long term relationships with them. In order for sports organizations to achieve this, they must communicate quality, unique and recognizable content through their social media channels. In order to examine the role of social media in the communication of sports organization brand, quantitative research was conducted by analyzing the content published on the official Instagram account and Facebook page of the World Athletics in 2021, the brand of sports organization whose sport was the most watched during the Olympic Games which were held in Tokyo in 2021. World Athletics has the highest number of shared posts on social media compared to other sports organizations. The obtained results indicated that the role of social media in the communication of the brand of a sports organization is to provide information about sports events and athletes, the overall promotion of a sport and the creation of a brand image by using elements of brand identity in social media posts. Furthermore, it was determined that the post in the category „Athletes and focus on sports results“ reached the highest number of likes on Reel posts on Instagram account and through published pictures on Facebook page. From the above mentioned, it can be concluded that quality communication of the brands of sports organizations through social media is essential for acquiring a base of loyal followers and for the promotion of the sport in the world