Live from Bikini Bottom
Rebecca Derrick
On maternity leave | Global Business Director @ 50 Sport | Founder @ pact | Sport Brands Specialist
Welcome back, or welcome to, The SportAZ Newsletter!
It comes as no surprise that the 4th Edition covers a bit of the Super Bowl but please bear with, it’s not traditional and focusses on areas that haven’t been hugely discussed including Spongebob Squarepants, SKIMs and then non-Super Bowl greatness from Dain Walker.
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What it is
Nickelodeon brings the Super Bowl to kids.
As part of the NFL’s HUGE broadcast deal, Nickelodeon covered America’s biggest game of the year with expert hosts, Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Star and all their friends. Taking the game and putting a kid-friendly, augmented-reality spin on it, viewers could enjoy the ‘Slime Zone touchline’, flying blimps, burping birds, entertaining education and all-round hilarious (and savage) commentary.
What we can learn from it
The Nickelodeon broadcast worked towards solving two major problems for the sport:
1.???? A 13% decline in youth participation in American Football
2.???? Traditional coverage can be hard-hitting, intense and not child-friendly, turning away families
So, for Nickelodeon to suggest a child-friendly broadcast was ingenious. With cameos from Travis Kelpe, Taylor Fish, Olivia Codrigo and Fin Diesel, game explanations from Dora the Explorer, Larry the Lobster taking on the players and more slime than you could dream of, Nickelodeon used all their most loved brand assets and applied them to America’s most loved sport, making it authentic, relevant, and attractive to kids across the globe. This piece of marketing brilliance opens up the game – both in viewing and participating – to parents, children and most-importantly, their future engagement (and spend). It was hilarious, light-hearted, inclusive and engaging. I’d watch it over the ordinary coverage any day. Enjoy some of the best highlights.
Key takeout: Youth are the future and should be a focus for all partners, rightsholders and marketing plans
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What it is
SKIMS x Sport.?
The Kim Kardashian x Emma Grede founded shapewear and essential clothing brand, SKIMS, sponsors basketball and enters the Super Bowl with iconic partnership with halftime performer, Usher.
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What we can learn from it
They had the female market pretty locked up with the Kardashians as the face but tackling the male market was always going to be a test. Kanye West simply wasn’t the right frontman let’s be honest.
So, taking the data and recognising sports power to drive consumer behaviour, SKIMS launched its men’s range with Neymar Jr, Nick Bosa and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, followed by the brilliant, albeit surprise announcement of its sponsorship of USA Basketball, the NBA and WNBA (smart not to forget their most loyal customer base).
More so, it was only last week that SKIMS announced its presence at the biggest ever Super Bowl – cheers Taylor – by partnering with Usher in the week leading up to his halftime performance. And whilst this could easily be seen as a land grab, when you get under the ski(m)n of it, the product is actually relevant to the ambassadors themselves, thus making it an authentic and intelligent sponsorship strategy.
Key takeout: Let brand, data and culture define your sponsorship strategy for winning a formula.
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?? P O W E R? S O U R C E ??
What it is
Dain Walker’s LinkedIn Slides series.
Less sport, more brand but still hugely relevant because of the way he breaks down brand and marketing tools whilst offering advice on building robust brands in the consumer (aka fan) space.? Presented in digestible and brilliantly designed slides, you’re not having to spend ages reading through a whitepaper to get the information you need.
What we can learn from it
So much but some of my favourites:
Key takeout: Understanding brand doesn’t have to be as technical and difficult as you think!?
Sources: Nickelodeon, NFL, SKIMS, Dain Walker, Guardian, Indy100
Bonus: For those wondering, SportAZ is pronounced Sport – As. A take on one of my favourite sayings in New Zealand when everything is good, it’s sweet as.