Why you should consider sports sponsorship?
Sports marketing and sports sponsorships can be useful to make a brand top of mind. However, it needs to be done carefully as it can also take a wrong turn and end up damaging your brand. Let’s dive into the advantages and disadvantages of sports marketing with some examples to illustrate them.
Get marketing support with sports sponsorshipHow a business can benefit from sport sponsorships
There are three big advantages of good sports marketing that can be helpful for brands.
Brand visibility
The first and most important benefit is brand visibility. When brands participate in sports sponsorships, they can promote themselves and become known in a (new) community. This is very important as brand awareness and reaching potential customers is the first step of a customer journey.
Engage specific demographics
This is related to the second advantage: being able to engage specific demographics. Sports sponsorships make it possible to target a specific community that contain people who are more likely to purchase their product or service. A good example is Nike and their focus on sponsorships with athletes who are the heroes of possible customers that are into athletics.
Content for social media
Thirdly, sponsorships can generate dynamic content for social media. Imagine having a football player doing an amazing stunt at a game with the logo of the brand on his shirt. This video has the possibility of becoming a viral event on social media and the logo will be visible on millions of screens. The sponsorship can thus leave an impression on potential customers.
Failed cases of sport sponsorship
Sports sponsorships can have advantages for your business but there is also a possibility that it can damage your brand. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the following potential problems.
Linking your values
First, sports sponsorships are used to link the companies values to the sport or athletes. So, it is very important to choose the right ones as negative publicity of the athletes can affect the image of your brand. For example, Lance Armstrong used to be in several sponsorships with sport brands. When the scandal about the performance-enhancing drugs came into the world, these brands filled claims against him as the association damaged their brands image.
Communication is key
Secondly, brands need to communicate with their sponsored teams or athletes as specific decisions can affect them. For example, Wonga decides to change their logo but this was not communicated to Newcastle FC who invested in a new kit with the old logo on.
Be aware of who or what
Finally, it is important that there is a link between the sponsor and what is sponsored. For example, McDonalds is the official restaurant of The Olympic Games. In 2012, a lot of commotion happened saying that it was unethical as this sponsorship endorsed obesity.
In conclusion
In a nutshell, sports marketing and sponsorship can help brands grow and become more popular. However, it is important to take into account that there are possible danger as you need to rely on a different party that you cannot (completely) control.
About the author
Silke is an enthusiastic marketeer, currently working as a Marketing Consultant at 4P square. She has a master in Communication and Business Economics. Silke has a passion for and knowledge of digital marketing and branding. She is analytical, result-driven and with her can-do attitude she is not afraid to take on new challenges.
Want to know more about Silke? Feel free to start a conversation with her on LinkedIn.
