Sports Marketing 101: Building the framework for an effective brand partnership

This is the first article in our original series Our POV, where we deconstruct the elements of sports marketing and provide insight into our process and what makes our agency unique. 

Let’s start with the basics. What is sports marketing?

According to Oxford, marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. 

If we add ‘sports’ in front of the word marketing, things get a little muddy. Are we talking about marketing sporting events and athletes? Or are we talking about using sports (live competitions, broadcast events, athletes) as a marketing platform for brands and businesses?

The answer is… both. 

Sports marketing connects brands and businesses to teams, athletes and venues.

Here at POV Sports Marketing, we’re in the business of the second definition—using sports as a marketing platform for brands and businesses—and while we hang out in the same circles as the folks who are charged with marketing their ‘teams’ or ‘venues’ from the inside (or the front office); our work is centered around building a connection between a brand and its customers, who happen to be sports fans.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s move on to some of the key elements of sports marketing—the nuts and bolts, if you will.

Brand activation brings sports marketing partnerships to life.

When a brand or business partners with a team or a venue to reach their customers, one of the key elements of that partnership is activation. We define this as bringing a sports partnership to life by connecting the brand to the fan experience in an authentic and memorable way.

Activation is an umbrella term that covers all things “active” about a sports marketing partnership… and it includes things like game day hospitality, media, special events, meet and greets, interactive displays, social/digital content, premiums, and more.

Sports marketing partnerships are not effective without strategic (and consistent) activation planning.

Before a sports marketing partnership is inked (i.e., pen to paper, done deal), it’s key for the brand to iron out their overall sports marketing strategy before they even pick up the phone to call a team. It is only after the strategy is in place and the deal is signed that the nitty gritty of the activation strategy comes into play. We’ve written about this before, and we’ll say it again—when there is no strategy or activation planning in place, a sports marketing partnership is set up to fail.

Can you imagine buying an 18-Wheeler before you’ve ever taken one out on the road? That’s a sure fire way to make a one hundred thousand dollar mistake. Knowing how to drive a car does not mean you can drive a big rig…. Just as being a sports fan and a marketer does not make you a sports marketer. 

The sad truth: brands make hundred thousand dollar mistakes all the time.

In-house brand marketers benefit from sports marketing experts, like us.

Let’s get real here. US brands invest tens of billions of dollars in sports sponsorships each year, globally. While these brands could choose to manage their sports marketing partnerships in-house, they benefit immensely from having an agency at the table, from deal negotiations to activation planning and execution.

“Working with POV Sports Marketing has been a game changer for Wawa. Initially, we engaged Molly and her team to help us develop the right sports marketing strategy. Their combined knowledge of the industry, valuation, activation and a deep understanding of our needs helped develop a roadmap that has served us well. We have since continued to work with POV to execute that strategy; negotiating and managing multiple new sports partnerships in the last few years that have brought incredible value and ROI to our marketing initiatives. Their passion, enthusiasm and professionalism have made them true partners, and we appreciate their continued help in maximizing our sports marketing efforts.”  - Todd Miller, Senior Director of Brand Strategy & Experiences.

Sports marketing partnerships are high-touch, and the devil is in the details.

To really, truly reach sports fans with a brand message, marketers have to be consistent and deliberate in their approach. This starts with the core strategy and continues into the execution—or activation strategy. Getting this right takes time and experience. It requires constant attention to detail, inside and outside the venue, in-season and off, because sports does not take a day off and neither do sports marketers.

We work with our clients to ensure that they are optimizing their spend and maximizing their reach. From things like sweepstakes rules, to premium orders, to ticket allocations, we execute on the details so that our clients can spend their time managing internal demands and the day-to-day challenges of their business. 

That’s our POV. What’s yours?

Ask yourself: If you got a call from your CEO tomorrow (or even worse your CFO), would you be able to clearly share your sports marketing strategy—in writing —and outline how you plan to use it to fuel business growth? 

If your answer is “maybe”, “I think so”, or “no”, then you would benefit from exploring the idea of bringing our agency into your inner circle. We know our stuff. And we always deliver on the details. Here’s how to reach us.

In our next post, we’ll take a deeper dive into brand activation—the strategy that gets put into play after the sports marketing deal is signed… and the work that continues all year long. Don’t we know it!

Greg Coleman is the ​​SVP of Strategy and Account Management at POV Sports Marketing. Connect with him on LinkedIn.