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April 2013 - Sponsorship Activation


The Sports Resource has provided sports analytics consulting since 1997. To discuss game-changing activation strategies for your brand, contact Steve Fall at 512-852-8193 or steve.fall@sportsresource.net.

3 Ways to Energize your Brand with Sports Analytics

In today’s stadiums and arenas, brands battle for fan attention. It takes creativity to stand out. Yet, one of the most powerful brand activation approaches remains dramatically underutilized. The time is now to activate sponsorships with statistics.

Teams still provide little if any innovative statistical content, so the door is open for brands to take advantage. Here are three strategies to engage fans, connect them to the action, and activate your brand in a unique way. When executed properly, these approaches keep energizing your brand in both social media and the regular media long after the final buzzer.

Brand a Metric. Developing a unique statistic connects your brand to the play on the field and the fans. No matter how you want them to perceive your brand – heroic, game-changing, secure, innovative, etc. – you can conceptualize a fun and entertaining metric to make that happen. Animated characters racing around the bases might entertain fans, but a statistic with game relevance enhances the in-venue experience far more.

Create an Experience. Analytics and video tracking technology offer unlimited opportunities for experiences that excite and engage fans. What if they could match their three-point shooting skills to Ray Allen’s at an experiential exhibit? Or try to duplicate Blake Griffin’s latest dunk on an eight-foot basket? In both cases, they could immediately watch their own replays and then share to Facebook. That extends your brand’s reach beyond the crowd in the venue.

Games within the Game. Why should all the competition take place on the field? Fans can put on their game face at the stadium too. So let them guess the speed of every pitch in one select inning on a mobile app, or estimate the length of the last monster home run. Winners get a prize and/or video board recognition. The possibilities are endless.

Brands can combine any or all of these approaches. They have a captive audience at sporting events, eager for information on their beloved team. What will stick in their head on the way home, or the next day at work? Give them something of value and they’ll remember your message.


Emerging Trends and Opportunity

Last month’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference featured some fascinating insight on how technology and analytics are changing the fan experience. Brands have more ways than ever to activate sponsorships and partnerships, but do they benefit the people in the seats?

Rich Campbell, a professor at Sonoma State University, spoke about how big data will make providing segmented content for sports fans an emerging trend. If he is on target, as we suspect, this creates numerous opportunities for brands and clubs alike.

Campbell explained “going from scalability – that I can provide something for millions of people – to customization.” He used Amazon as an example, where everybody sees something different when they log on based on past behavior.

“We need to adopt more of that mindset in the way that we deliver content to our fans,” he said. “All content shouldn’t be delivered to all fans. We need to get better at segmenting the market and providing the information that people really want.

During the conference’s Fanalytics Panel, New York Jets President Neil Glat shared his thoughts on data and fan interaction. ”You have to give them the content when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it,” said Glat. ”There is a dialogue with the Jets. We know what you like, we know what you don’t like, [if] you’ve opted in to share that information with us.”

Glat explained how the vision is to keep that dialogue going after fans leave the stadium. “What you do, in exchange for that is you understand what they like and you offer them more of that.”

Despite changes to the consumer engagement model, few clubs offer the type of advanced metrics that serious fans crave. This opens the door for brands to step in, offer segmented content that entertains and challenges, and reap the benefits.

 

The Sports Resource Story

We help sports professionals build value with analytics. The Sports Resource started in 1997 when sports agents began finding our services invaluable. In 2011 alone, we worked on contracts totaling $332 million. We assist with baseball arbitration cases and promoting free agents. Our statistical packages also enable agents to land new clients and then market them for the NBA and NFL Drafts.

That same expertise helps companies and agencies cost effectively activate sponsorships.. If you would like to discuss opportunities, please contact Steve Fall at 512-852-8193 or steve.fall@sportsresource.net

 

More Interesting Activation Strategies

If you’re looking for more great activation ideas, Brian Gainor’s Partnership Activation Newsletter is a tremendous resource. The April 2013 issue featured content on geofencing and augmented reality. Both of these exciting concepts work extremely well with innovative statistics.

We also want to share this eye-catching infographic posted to Twitter by Jared Melzer of Farmers Insurance (@jaredmelzer). Comparing brand attributes and products to sports statistics is a clever way to activate.

 

Sports Business Trends and More

A recent Sports Resource Blog post focused on one NBA role player’s endorsement opportunity, and whether this will become a new trend. Another entry offers suggestions for better video board content, and its impact on both the fan experience and brands.

Steve Fall also shares sports analytics ideas and insight for business on Twitter @StatsMan.

 

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