Attracting attention to The World Games 2021 is itself a kind of team sport. The local Organiser and the Communication department of the IWGA are obviously working on this but the member federations can also make a decisive contribution to the media success of the event. Emanuel Scheiber, General Manager of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), described the responsibility of the federations in this area in a statement during the Competition Managers Meeting in October in Birmingham, Alabama. In an article for the IWGA Newsletter, he made it clear once again: "Advertising The World Games within your own community does not cost the world, but it pays off.”
The Experience from the IPF over the last editions of The World Games was that it is not only the duty of the IWGA to promote the Games, it is also the responsibility of each single sport that is on the programme of the Games!
The duty of the IWGA The World Games, along with the host city, is to promote the Games in general. But it is neither possible nor manageable for the The World Games to promote each of the 30+ sports in the way it can be done by the respective International Federations of the sports. Not least because the federations have the inside knowledge and the resources for providing detailed information.
Based on that background, the IPF started in 2014 the project “Powerlifting Road to Wroclaw”. It was very successful: “Bearing the success in mind, it will not come as a surprise that we are already on our way to setting up a new campaign to promote The World Games 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama,” says Scheiber.
“Looking back to the efforts we made for the Wroclaw Games and the outcome we achieved, I would like to stress: to promote one’s own sport in the very best way is not always a time and budget consuming issue. Also with limited time and financial resources it is possible to create a really fine campaign. You just need to decide on the best and smartest activities. In return, The World Games contributes to the popularity of all sports on the programme.”
What we did to promote TWG 2017
We in the IPF produced a backdrop banner, which we used for the first time at our 2014 General Assembly as well as at the IPF World Championships 2014 for interviews, photos, etc. At the same time we also produced some additional promotion material which we have regularly used at our World Championships in the subsequent years.
Beside this, we also set up some social media activities with permanent postings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of our very best athletes and former powerlifting champions of The World Games! The IPF also selected three ambassadors for our sport. Here we selected the most successful woman in the history of powerlifting, as well as the most successful man, and of course a lifter from the host country.
After the qualifying event in November 2016 - when we did know all the qualified lifters - we concentrated our social media activities on those lifters. With special postings we introduced all countries and their lifters who were qualified for the Games. We had around 24 countries qualified, and therefore we started 25 weeks prior the Games to introduce one country per week! We also provided promotion material (videos, reports and so on) to all our member federations, and we encouraged all of them (especially those who were qualified for the Games) to promote The World Games in the very best possible way.
Another focus was given to the host country where we promoted the Games with the qualified athletes. Very important for us was the promotion in all clubs and national regions.
What we achieved
All those activities gave a real boost for our sport, and the result was a fully packed venue at the Games with powerlifting enthusiasts not only from Poland but also the whole world! Another fact was also that those spectators who were following the powerlifting event in Wroclaw, afterwards also checked out other sports nearby! So the effect of promoting one’s own sport was not only for the ‘own sport’ but also for the whole The World Games community and the Games itself!”
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 15-25 July 2021. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in the Games.