Customer Success Story

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

GATHERING PACE

Volvo Ocean Race sails ahead in the multimedia arena

Partnering with Ericsson, Volvo Ocean Race brings an

around-the-clock experience to its fans.

The Volvo Ocean Race is the longest race in the world,

covering 37 000 nautical miles and taking over nine

months to complete. The teams cross some of the most

treacherous seas on earth in their bid to be first across

the finish line. Onboard communication is becoming

more and more advanced and this is reflected in the

sophistication of the reporting tools being used to relay

information back to fans all over the world.

Customer Profile Established in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World

Race, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s premier

global yachting race and the most challenging sporting

event in the world.

Over recent years communications technology has

transformed the way that the race is tracked as well as

the way that the boats stay in contact with each other

and their onshore teams. Increasingly, the fans are

being given a window onto the race on a day-to-day

level and multimedia is playing a vital part in this.

Website: www.volvooceanrace.org

The race has always represented life at the extreme and

fans want to keep in touch with the teams and witness

their challenges and triumphs along with them. This year

for the first time Volvo Ocean Race has fully embraced

the concept of anytime, anywhere communication

so viewers can follow the race on multiple channels

wherever and whenever they want.

Ericsson has participated directly in the race since

2005. As long-term partners the pair have developed a

strong relationship and as such Ericsson was the perfect

partner to help Volvo Ocean Race deliver the next level of

service. The foundation for success in the 2008–09 race

was based on the following premise: Ericsson’s role was

to make sure no Volvo Ocean Race fan ever had to leave

the race; Volvo Ocean Race’s role was to make sure

nobody ever wanted to.

At the heart of the collaboration was the development

of the mobile portal which runs alongside the Volvo

Ocean Race website and online TV, delivering information

simultaneously across multiple channels.

Ericsson spent six months working closely with Volvo

Ocean Race on the integration of the existing content

management system and as a result Volvo Ocean Race

did not need to implement any separate teams or ways

of working in order to introduce the mobile channel.

Information is received and edited in the normal way

and when it is published to the web it is automatically

transcoded for different devices and at the same time

rolled out on the mobile channel.

Andrew Ferguson, Head of Technology and New Media,

Volvo Ocean Race explains how this translates into a

seamless service for the audience: “This year we have

been able to receive material from the boats at 10:30, do

a complete review, publish it on the news feed by 11:00

and be online everywhere by 11:05.”

The initial scope of the agreement was for Ericsson to

deliver the mobile portal and IPTV service, but the solution

was built to be scalable and as the race began, new

features emerged. For example, it became clear that 40

percent of users were accessing the mobile channel via

an iPhone so the decision was made to specialize the

experience for that device. Along the way, Google also

contacted Volvo Ocean Race and an agreement was

reached to make a feed and add race content to Google

Earth. In the end Ericsson delivered the Volvo Ocean

Race mobile site, associated team sites, a Facebook

application, a J2ME mobile client, multiview TV and

dedicated iPhone and Google map mashups.

The race is an around-the-clock event and this year

Volvo Ocean Race has completely tuned into this feeling

with its communications, even going as far as to insist

on the presence of a media-specific crew member on

each boat. This member of the team is not allowed to

Knut Frostad,

CEO, Volvo Ocean Race

It is essential for us to have a partner who is world-class when it comes to delivery, quality and reliability and that’s what Ericsson has proven to be.”

sail the boat so even in a tough situation, there is always

someone dedicated to recording events.

The yacht positions are given every three hours and video

and audio feeds give the audience an almost real-time

experience so they can really get close to their favorite

teams and witness the highs and lows. Geoff Hollingworth,

Innovation Director, Ericsson describes the mindset:

“Our success starts and ends with the enjoyment of the

audience of the Volvo Ocean Race. I think we deliver a

great experience.”

The race sites have attracted an unprecedented level

of visitors this year and at the halfway mark, traffic

was equal to that of the whole of the last race. The

competition’s seven In-Port Races and the simultaneous

broadcast of these events on the web and mobile have

proven to be particularly popular with people choosing to

watch live at their own convenience.

Interactive sailing races on the web have also proven to be a

huge success with 210 000 people racing their own offshore

virtual races. Many of these people are non-sailors and would

not traditionally tune into the race but the new technology

is drawing in a whole new audience. Peter Rusch, Content

Manager, Volvo Ocean Race elaborates: “The mobile portal

has been one of the most successful things we’ve done in

the multimedia side in this race. Compared to the last race,

registrations are up nearly 200 percent.”

Ericsson’s established position within the race meant

that it was really able to understand the mentality and the

requirements of this unique project. Knut Frostad, CEO,

Volvo Ocean Race confirms: “Ericsson has understood

The success of the Volvo Ocean Race applications proved that our target audience was already there.”

Daniel Miles,

Global Head of Marketing for Sailing, PUMA

exactly what we need. It is essential for us to have a partner

who is world-class when it comes to delivery, quality and

reliability and that’s what Ericsson has proven to be.”

For Ericsson, the project provides an excellent proof

point for successful multi-screen delivery on a global

stage and has opened the doors for many exciting

new opportunities. During the project implementation

Ericsson expanded its involvement by providing similar

solutions for some of Volvo Ocean Race’s main partners,

adding consistency to the whole brand delivery.

PUMA Ocean Racing approached Ericsson to deliver

a similar platform to the one provided to Volvo Ocean

Race, adapting it to their specific needs. Daniel Miles,

Global Head of Marketing for Sailing, PUMA explains the

objectives behind the collaboration: “The aim was to both

expand the reach to a broader group of consumers and

to ensure that our media content and messaging can be

easily accessed by our existing audience. The success of

the Volvo Ocean Race applications proved that our target

audience was already there and the development of the

mobile portal was a great way for us to tap into that.”

Similarly a portal was created for TV4 in Sweden, who

have a sponsorship deal with Volvo Ocean Race. Again,

TV4 took the opportunity to channel interest in the race

and align their marketing with like-minded partners.

Andrea Winkler, Project Manager, TV4 Expressen Mobilab

comments: “Given our existing media deal with Volvo

Ocean Race in the Nordics, it made complete sense to

extend that presence into the mobile channel. Because

of the way Ericsson has worked with Volvo Ocean Race it

was possible for them to create a TV4 branded version of

the mobile portal that we could then use to cross-promote

our TV shows and our own mobile race content.”

OverviewCustomerVolvo Ocean Race

Customer Objective

• Meetthegrowingexpectationsoffans

• Provideanearreal-timeexperience

• Promotetherace

Ericsson Solution

• IPTV,Tandberg

• MobileTV,ODP

• MSDP

• SystemsIntegration

• Enduserexperience,usability

• IPX

• Hosting,Operations

Customer Benefits

• Across-channelmultimediaexperience

• Widespreadvisibilityoftherace

• Raisedinterestandbuy-intotherace.

Ericsson AB

SE-164 80 Stockholm

Telephone: +46 10 719 0000

Email: asq.us@ericsson.com

www.ericsson.com

11/213 31-FGD 101 21 Uen Rev A1

© Ericsson AB 2009-2010

AndreaWinkler,

Project Manager, TV4 Expressen Mobilab

Given our existing media deal with Volvo Ocean Race in the Nordics, it made complete sense to extend that presence into the mobile channel.”

The Volvo Ocean Race has finished for another year but

the race to provide superior multimedia experiences

goes on. In three years at the next Volvo Ocean Race,

communication will have taken another leap forward

and viewers will no doubt be even closer to the race

experience. In the meantime Ericsson will continue to

drive innovation in communications and provide the

platforms for tomorrow’s must-have services.