Today’s business landscape is more competitive than ever before, with companies constantly searching for innovative ways to grab their target audience’s attention. One proven method they opt for is sports sponsorships and partnerships. Aligning themselves with a team or an event brings a plethora of benefits, like sky-high customer loyalty, further reach, and heightened employee motivation.
That said, Mike Golub notes that companies must choose their sports sponsorships correctly to maximize such benefits, which is a skill in itself.
How Brands Choose Their Partnerships
When designing sports partnership/sponsorship strategies, brands should play to their strengths, much like athletes. Doing this requires examining the following four aspects of the proposed team or event:
- Fit — Sponsorships always come with strategic and commercial objectives. After all, increasing sales is the main aim of any business. Risking brand perception and longevity, though, is a terrible compromise. Thus, brands must ensure their associations fit with their personality and positioning. Sports events, for instance, attract wide audiences, but fan-ship alters from sport to sport. Take Red Bull’s associations; it veers from mainstream sports and turns to high-energy, extreme sports to speak to adrenaline junkies.
- Relevance — Reach without relevance isn’t a good investment. While riding a popularity wave will certainly increase eyes on a brand, that success only goes so far. Content’s messaging must be tailored to establish true engagement. Uncovering meaningful links between a business and a sport can be challenging for brands outside the sports sphere — although that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
- Adaptability — It shouldn’t be about tagging along for the ride. Sporting events give brands ample opportunity to change conversations and drive conversions. Oreo’s real-time Twitter feed throughout the Super Bowl in 2013 was testament to this.
- Consistency — Consumers forget, but sports fans stick at it year after year. So, brands need to be consistent with their sponsorships. Association with a particular team or event brings long-term benefits, impacting brand imagery and perception.
The Benefits of Sponsorships
Upon analyzing the above-mentioned factors, brands stand the best chances of reaping all the amazing awards sports teams have to offer them, such as:
Sky-High Loyalty
Loyalty in the sports world is revolutionary — more so than in any other industry. Brand loyalty, therefore, is perhaps the most impactful benefit driven by such sponsorships. Aligning with things customers care about, like their sports teams, will substantially aid growth.
Boosted Brand Awareness
Drawing new clients through increased brand awareness is the most obvious benefit to sports sponsorships/partnerships. Once aligned with a team, businesses realize they’ve opened up an entirely new can of positive worms. Eventually, this translates into a significant sale increase as the brand gets in front of the local crowd.
Positive Brand Association
Businesses can foster more positive perceptions of themselves by sponsoring or partnering with sports teams. Supporting sportsmanship, teamwork, and dedication has a remarkable impact on brands, with audiences seeing them as trustworthy and appealing.
Heightened Employee Engagement
Sponsoring sports teams also builds pride within the workforce, increasing engagement and improving performance, teamwork, and retention as a result.