Service menu added to Athlete Image Assessment Survey
Social analysis + (plus) uses social media to analyze the image of sports athletes

Hakuhodo DY Media Partners (HDYMP) in partnership with Solid Intelligence Incorporated (SI) has launched Social Analysis + (plus), a service add-on for the Athlete Image Assessment Survey service menu designed to analyze the image of sports athletes using large volume text posted on social media. HDYMP operates out of Minato-ku, Tokyo under the leadership of president and CEO Hisao Omori. SI is based in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo and is headed by CEO Kento Hayashi.

The rapid increase in the number of smartphone users today has made word-of-mouth via social media tremendously influential. In the world of professional sports, for example, social media was so active during the London Olympics that words such as “socialympics” came into use to describe the phenomenon. It is a fact that social media now has an undeniable impact on the images of sports and sports athletes. The use of social media word-of-mouth is also gaining momentum in corporate marketing and product development.

Social Analysis + (plus) is an add-on service menu for the Athlete Image Assessment Survey that HDYMP provides to corporations and organizations. The Athlete Image Assessment Survey comes in a “basic version” with a basic menu that includes questionnaire surveys for doing simple image assessments of athletes. When a corporation or organization uses the Social Analysis + (plus) add-on menu, however, they can analyze the number of posts and content on social media about a particular athlete and gain a much deeper understanding of their image.

The service analyzes over time the number of posts and content on social media about athletes, the ratio of positive and negative posts, and other data. What’s more, the service provides a more detailed and precise analysis of an athlete’s individual characteristics and potential appeal by uncovering what kinds of words are most often used in conjunction with an athlete’s name on social media. In addition, the service can also analyze the typical content of posts by social media users who post about athletes and estimate what sort of people are among the athlete’s fans.

The service was designed for client corporations and organizations that are looking into using athletes in their advertising, talent agencies representing athletes, and sports organizations of all kinds. Corporations and organizations that use this service can gain detailed information about an athlete’s image and fan base characteristics, which they can apply to selecting which athletes to use in their advertising and sports promotion programs.

Social Analysis + (plus) was made possible by combining HDYMP’s sports marketing expertise with the data analysis skills of Solid Intelligence. HDYMP will continue to develop services that help corporations solve issues concerning their sports content and continue to explore the potential of new kinds of marketing.