Birmingham 2022 to celebrate Commonwealth talent
Birmingham 2022 will be a sporting spectacle which celebrates the talents and diversity of the Commonwealth.
The biggest major multi-sport event of its kind to take place in front of spectators since the global pandemic, the Commonwealth Games will “bring people together, be they athletes from countries far and wide, or communities from across the city and region. As we prepare for this iconic celebration of sport, we embrace the Commonwealth values of humanity, equality and destiny in everything we do.”
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Media and Communications Manager, Tom Degun, has high hopes and said: “I think overarchingly we want to see a fantastic Games. It comes at an interesting point in time as in the last two years a lot of major sporting events have been really difficult with the pandemic. We saw with the Olympics in Tokyo where fans couldn’t be there.
“From our perspective, we hope this Games will be a seminal moment of people coming back together with fans in stadiums and athletes being able to feel that love and support.
“I’m so pleased that we can have fans back in the stadium giving them an experience like no other. It’s a global audience with billions of people and we really want to inspire people, remember the games and really enjoy the great range of sport on offer.”
“We have a special role to play there and I think given the Games are in Birmingham and the famous diversity of the city. The UK in particular do events like this well and come out in full force to celebrate as we saw with the Platinum Jubilee. Everyone coming together and a real celebration is what we want to see.
“I remember as a young kid being so inspired by the Commonwealth Games on TV and really being encouraged to get into sport. As a Dad of a young son, I really want to see the young people watching be enthralled by the Games and inspired.”
With the World Games, World Athletics Championships and EURO 2022 taking place this summer, it’s been a challenge to secure a share of voice in mainstream media, but the CGF has met that head-on and ensured that their strategy hits the right targets at the right times.
Degun explained: “Our main strategy is called Transformation 2022 based on core values of humanity, equality and destiny.
“We also want to be more athlete driven and we are very fortunate in terms of having loads of fantastic athletes and ambassadors. Dina Asher-Smith, Adam Peaty and many more really enjoy the Games and so go out and speak to the media.
“We also have the Queen’s baton relay that was launched in October last year that travels across the 72 countries of the Commonwealth until it comes back to the opening ceremony and the Queen’s message is read out.
“That is a really fantastic engagement tool – it’s always a big moment for each region wherever it is across the Commonwealth and helps build excitement.
“It has been quite challenging to cut through the noise at times, especially given the political climate and COVID-19 and the fact that we’re coming into a really stacked sporting calendar with a lot of delayed events taking place this year. That’s definitely been a challenge.
“To combat this we’ve had to have a two-fold approach. One is honing in on the areas where we’re unique and special. We quite often focus on the fact that this is the first Games that’ll have more medals for women than men and the first time some events are being included.
“Given the rise of women’s sport we’re very proud in the role we’ve played in championing it. There’s also going to be a wider range of parasports than ever before at Birmingham 2022. We’re the biggest integrated sporting event in terms of both types of sports competing side by side.
“As the biggest Games ever, that messaging has been at the forefront of what we’ve been doing. Our countdown posts to the Games have also done well on our social channels.”
Social media has of course been a vital part of the CGF’s communication strategy as Degun confirmed: “All our social channels are important to our messaging in different ways and we have the same messages on each platform but obviously they are tailored to each.
“For the Games, Facebook is a key one because a lot of our African audience are on there. Twitter is where we have the biggest following.
“We’ve just launched our TikTok channel as well as regularly utilising our Instagram to engage our younger audiences.”
Degun started his career as a sports news journalist for Inside the Games and has brought many lessons learnt from his previous roles into the CGF role.
He concluded: “I always say to young people wanting to get into the industry that both journalism and PR are great training for each other and very complimentary.
“My career started in sports journalism and covering London 2012. I’m taking some of the lessons that I learnt from this in terms of questions and press conferences side of things. We can now implement those lessons into our current strategy and how we engage in the media.
“Journalism is a great way to get into communications – it gives you a key understanding of what both are looking for. To use a sporting analogy, it’s like a former footballer going into coaching, you’re able to understand both sides.”