Ryan Lochte being dropped by four of his major sponsors makes him the latest in a string of high profile athletes and bodies that have seen premature ends to their sponsorship agreements. Today’s post analyzes some of the incidents from the recent past and looks at some strategies that brands can employ in order to mitigate the damage arising from transgressions from their endorsers.
Emotional connection when creating an advertisement has become increasingly important. As the public consumption has reached an all-time high, the subconscious has adapted to blocking out many forms of advertising to the point where brand recognition is comparable to breathing for our younger generations. How often do we really remember the advertisements that we see? What captivates us these days? Innovation and emotion are the 2 main factors we recognise in Virgin mobiles Usain Bolt add below.
Over the years, municipal and public facilities such as parks, beaches and sporting facilities have witnessed a decline in government funding which as a result has led to difficulties in conducting maintenance and upkeep.
In order to combat this, properties have historically looked towards donors and more recently, corporate sponsors. This brings up an interesting debate about over-corporatization, with commentators on both sides of the fence making their opinions heard, including prominent personalities like Bill Maher in this video.
A front runner within the wearable side of technologies is Catapult. It has been a breakthrough company with major investors like Mark Cuban, and multinational brands Adidas, Reebok and Nike. This micro-sensor (essentially) is currently utilised by over 300 teams around the globe and it provides a more analytical perspective in “real-time”. When partnered with the visual assistance such as Sport VU. This allows sports scientists access to a full breakdown of the game, player performance, coordination and a series of algorithms quantifying player interactions generated by the raw data.
How would data gathering help sport marketers and naming rights holders? Firstly, it would help in seamlessly matching the audience to the right consumer segments. For example, if a basketball arena attracts both first time and luxury car buyers, the right data can help in determining who’s who and help the brand create targeted initiatives for each segment.
This paradigm shift requires sponsors and sport marketers to rethink their approach to consumer engagement. Gone are the days that just slapping a logo onto a jersey or on the sidewalls, brands now need to go beyond to appeal to a consumer’s deeper need states. Passion for a sport or a team may not translate into passion for a brand unless there is an overlap between the consumer’s values and the brand’s values.
