The T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) is focusing a lot of its attention on being digitally networked and prepared. I was reading recently that over 70 per cent of consumers rely on social media when deciding what to buy and in some case where to go. In fact, it’s no secret people made a lot of decisions based on information from various communication platforms.
Social media is shaping new ways of reaching younger audiences and new channels of digital outreach. In this respect brands can’t afford to get the fundamentals of brand building wrong or be left behind.
It is still important to have a clear strategy, taking a long term approach to relationship building and other key elements of brand building.
National sport organisations must come to terms with the modern reality to make themselves viable. They need to master a wide range of skills and furnished their organisation with the required personnel. They need to be trustworthy and ensure that they create business structures that can adapt, anticipate and cope with the modern challenges in the present and for the future.
The ability to adapt and respond to an environment of continuous disruption is a statement of fact in the 21st century. The social media and digital world of today has altered what a brand is and how it can be reached.
A national sport organisation’s brand is all of its processes and its people. The connected social media and digital world is a catalyst for transparency like never before. Everyone who has access to social media can express their opinion in a way that has changed from operating in silos to global audiences.
Augmented reality and virtual reality—as an example—are topics sport organisations who are serious about their place in this new world must place on their agenda. The T&TOC wants to achieve something special for T&T and it’s something the organisation is working towards and in doing so ambition isn’t enough that’s why the T&TOC knows it must get it right.
In striving to thrive in the new world the concept of decision making and the factors that are now to be considered require an altered perspective and way of seeing things.
How to use people power as well as advanced digital technology to conquer new challenges that awaits us, and create new opportunities while having an unrelenting belief that there is a better way of doing things.
The quest and effort to invest in youth, young people and athletes, is also about empowering young people with the knowledge and tools to realise their full potential.
In T&T there are exceptionally brilliant people capable of creating and achieving greatness, just look around and examine the many examples in our space just waiting for an opportunity.
We need to provide the incredibly talented people the space and support they require to test their skills and display their talents. I am advocating that we go beyond the defined description of what is a national sport organisation and what we believe based on an old school mindset of what is sport and the role and responsibilities of a national sport organisation.
We need to look beyond how people think about sport and see the possibilities as we influence the change about how national sporting organisations are conceptualised. Examine the facts that are available and view them in a different way. As T&T shifts its economic development away from its dependency on oil and gas, opportunities will present itself for the sport sector to step up to the plate and be part of that shift.
T&T isn’t just about oil and gas. I’m confident that in the coming years T&T will develop an entrepreneurial and business start-up culture which will see sports at the centre of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that will create and support innovative, scalable and impactful business ventures.
Sport in T&T must start preparing to seize the opportunities and perhaps lead the change we want to see unfold in the near future.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Brian Lewis is the President of T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the organisation.