Sports marketing , the greatest multiplier in marketing

Sports marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on promoting sports events, teams, and athletes. The goal of sports marketing is to increase interest in sports and drive engagement with fans and audiences.

Sports marketing can take many forms, including sponsorships, advertisements, and product endorsements. Sponsorships involve companies partnering with sports teams or events in order to gain exposure and build their brand. This can include companies providing funding for sports events, as well as promoting their products or services at the event.

Product endorsements are another form of sports marketing, in which athletes or teams promote a company's products or services. This can be done through advertisements, social media posts, and other forms of marketing. Endorsements can be a lucrative source of income for athletes, and can also help companies increase their brand awareness and sales.

One of the key benefits of sports marketing is that it allows companies to connect with their target audience in a unique and engaging way. Sports events and teams often have a dedicated and passionate fan base, which can be a valuable demographic for companies to reach.

Additionally, sports marketing can also help companies build a positive brand image. By associating themselves with sports events or teams, companies can position themselves as supportive of healthy, active lifestyles and promote their brand as being inclusive and welcoming to all.

There are three kind of options for a brand to connect with sports

• Central Sponsorship : Brands do connect with sports/tournament/league as a central sponsor. It allows you to be present on ground with high visibility and creates a high impact.

• Team Sponsorship : Team participating in a tournament /league is sponsored by the brand. It is a good way to connect with the fanbase of the team.

• Association with Athletes : The athlete is roped in as a brand ambassador. This is one of the most popular ones for the brands.

Why brands should invest in sports marketing :

There are many reasons for the brands to leverage sports marketing and some of them are as follows

1. Media Reach : Live Sporting events are one of the most viewed events on the globe. They provide the brands huge media reach. Along with media reach the frequency of brand exposure also increases and create impact. The top 5 most watched sports are listed in the image below

In addition to this there are other sports line basketball, badminton , Formula 1, Moto GP and many more which have a huge following. If we look from a media exposure there are only few other events which can provide this kind of reach.

2. IP Rights- Sports association do come with both direct and indirect brand associations and the brand gets the marketing rights on marketable IPs . These association work wonders for the brand if used wisely. This helps brands to stand out and leave an impact. Fly Emirates, Standard Chartered, Jeep, Beko etc use their associations with various brand association as a team sponsor.

Similarly sponsors like Barclays use their associations very extensively to leverage the association with the tournament also they get to co-brand the tournament event. This helps the brand to get a better connect with the fans

Similarly sport's stars are one of the most marketable assets as they have got a wider appeal which goes beyond borders. These associations help the brand to make an impact and consumer connect. Sportsman as brand ambassador also gives solution to marketing challenge. Tata motors used Leonel Messi for its brand ambassador and established performance as a brand association simultaneously this association helped the brand to cut across various geographies with Messi as the face of the brand.

3. On Ground Activation: Sports associations with teams and events/leagues/tournament also allows you to do lot of on ground activations. Brands are utilising these opportunities, Fly Emirates is one of the brand which has taken these activations to another level.

There are many examples of that, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki both have showcased their cars on ground in the IPL to get the product/brand visibility. Similarly KFC is doing a ground activation where they sponsor kids with scholarships basics the six hit in the series. Suppose there are 10 sixes hit in a match, 10 kids will get scholarship.

4.Brand Engagement: Brands do get opportunity to engage their clients, partners and employees via the sports sponsorships. Match tickets and meet & greet with players are the most common practices to do brand engagement. Some companies go a step ahead and use this associations for sales promotion too. Britania used its association with ICC World Cup ,1999 with the campaign - Britania Khan World Cup Jao and this campaign made a return in the ICC World Cup.2019.

5.Co-Branding Oppotunites : Co-branded products and merchandise is another benefit which a brand can enjoy, banks have utilised this opportunity by launching co-branded cards to get fans on boards similarly many companies do get cobranded products and merchandise to leverage this association.

How To Evaluate Sports Marketing Investments ?

Marketers need to evaluate the sports investments like any other media/brand investments. Sports associations are normally for a long period of time and marketers need to make wise decisions while investing/associating with sports/athletes.

This needs to have an emotional as well as a financial pay off for the brand. If both the things are not delivered the association won't work.

The basic parameters to evaluate are

• Brand Visibility &Impact On Brand Awareness - It is also a very important parameter to see how the brand visibility has increased and its impact on brand awareness.
• Brand Association - Another important parameter is how much the brands get associated with the sport/event, team and athlete. This helps in getting you a strong community for the brand.
• Sales Impact - How the sales are impacted post the activity in the region of influence of that sport, team and athlete. This same needs to be checked for the premium commanded for the co branded product and the numbers achieved through that.

You can make a more detailed matrix which can give a much detailed evaluation for the sports marketing investments.

There are many challenges to sports marketing, however. The sports industry is highly competitive, and companies must be strategic in their marketing efforts in order to stand out and achieve their goals. Additionally, the success of a sports marketing campaign can often be difficult to measure, as it can be difficult to determine the exact impact on sales or brand awareness.

Despite these challenges, sports marketing remains a popular and effective way for companies to connect with their target audience and promote their products or services. By partnering with sports teams and events, companies can gain exposure and build their brand, while also supporting the sports industry and engaging with fans.