Traditional marketing is faced with challenges of reaching consumer markets. The companies are forced to find new communication ways due to the highly competitive market environment. Consequently, corporate sponsorship of sports has become an increasingly popular and one of the fastest growing marketing communication tools which bypasses the media and provides the environment where a brand can differentiate itself from the others. Linking the brand with an event via sponsorship enables companies to reach consumers’ interest and attention by associating with the events that hold great importance to them.
Sponsorships are an important aspect in sport marketing. Successful sports sponsorships are based on a deep understanding of a brand’s audience and objectives, in addition to a view that a sponsorship is part of the overall marketing effort. The brand’s sponsorship strategy and inventiveness focuses on delivering valuable fan experiences that enhance peoples’ enjoyment of their favorite sports. The sponsorship has become a product that delivers a powerful service benefit. Teams, players, and events rely on sponsorships for funding, donations, acknowledgement, and support. When a corporate company or association forms a partnership with a sports team or league both parties are able to succeed from one another. Sponsorship continues to be a growing importance due to the rapid growth in the sports industry. More and more players continue to develop, new sports are becoming more popular and events being televised more often.
Sponsorship is the right to partner or directly associate with a product or event for the purpose of growing benefits related to that affiliation or association. The sponsor uses the relationship to achieve i...
... middle of paper ...
...umerous costs that relate to events. Ambush marketing is often frowned upon because it is not a fair trade for publicity.
Ambush marketing would not benefit teams or players that rely on sponsorships for assistance with the important items needed to compete. Muscle Milk helps supply resistance training equipment to many NFL teams. They also provide the recovery drink Muscle Milk to the teams and players. Under Armour provides uniforms and practice wear for college teams and the U.S speed skating team. Without the alliance with Under Armour these teams would have to find the means for purchasing their uniforms. Under Armour has taken an interest in youth training camps, sponsoring a location and all the necessary items needed to make the event take place. Under Armour helps find the instructors, coaches, and medical staff needed to run the camps efficiently.
In this scenario, the marketing activities of Prince Sports, Inc. will be examined. Prince Sports manufactures a large line of tennis, racquetball, squash, badminton and table tennis products. The company also manufactures clothing, bags and other accessories that would be useful to individuals in those particular sports. The company makes use of multiple different marketing strategies based on the type of equipment, level of expertise of the player and the type of media outlets that are available.
The notion that WUSA executives had was that their franchise would automatically attract fans and consumers because of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team’s success in the previous 1999 Women’s World Cup where they defeated China on home soil. This World Cup victory created a solid fan base that reached not only the youth or next generation of female soccer participants, but mainstream America as well. The research performed illustrated the multiple errors executed by the organization that eventually led to its downfall. Lasting only three seasons and lacking the coverage necessary to continue the team’s noble status, WUSA’s failure to pull corporate sponsors led to the organization’s decreasing revenues and increasing expenses (Southall, Nagel & LeGrande, 2005). Leading up to the ’99 Women’s World Cup, Nike released a commercial featuring Mia Hamm of the Women’s National team competing against NBA sensation, Michael Jordan. The ‘Anything you can do, I can do better’ theme played into the minds and heart of the nation which proves how effective and essential major sponsorships can be. Thus, the lack of corporate sponsors was the ultimate check that WUSA could not cash. Although the ’99 match was considered a “once in a lifetime event,” the methods
Athletes are a big part of the business community. The media exposure athletes receives cause them to be perceived more as celebrities. It causes them to have a greater impact in the marketing and selling of products. For instance, the tremendous amount of media coverage that Michael Jordan received gave him a prominent role in the business world. Athletic companies and various kinds of businesses wanted him to endorse their products. Now, because of his Nike endorsement, the athletic apparel and shoe industries are a big part of the American economy. Through endorsements companies now look upon athletes to strengthen their products. In most cases, this method is usually successful. This gives an overall boost to the economy, hence fortifying athletes’ significance.
A decade worth of athletes has had the chance to eclipse Michael Jordan in the minds of the consumer. Yet even out of the spotlight Jordan remains the sports personality with the greatest endorsement chops in the U.S.”( Badenhausen).
In the world of sports, everything from the cups the athletes drink from to the
The National Football League (NFL) and NASCAR thrive on sponsors and vice versa. An NFL game is by far the most watched single game event in the country and gaining popularity exponentially worldwide. Their championship, the Super Bowl, is arguably the most watched television program in that particular year. In NASCAR, the Daytona 500 is their “Super Bowl” and is a very large event in its own right. Corporations all over the world jump on these mega advertising vehicles with the hope that their name is popularized which will result in profitability. In many cases, most of those who do buy airtime during NFL games, the Super Bowl, and during the major NASCAR races are very visible names and products that we already know about. Most of the time, these companies are trying to market new products or products that have been enhanced.
Sports teams around the world value the importance of keeping their consumers (fans) happy and engaged. The NFL’s New England Patriots are very active in the community and have expansive social media sites and online tools to keep their consumers engaged and connected to all things related to the franchise. Over in Europe, the football franchise Manchester United has created a large following and making sure their consumers are engaged is one of the franchises’ main strategies (Emirates24/7). According to Forbes 50 most valuable sports teams of 2013, both Manchester United (#2 at $3.165 Billion) and the Patriots (#6 at $1.635 Billion) are included on that list. This paper will highlight how both New England and Manchester are identifying their consumers and how their activities are targeting those consumers.
Athletes are offered endorsements to act as a representative for a company to help promote sales. They often are seen in commercials promoting athletic apparel, shoes, sports drinks, food, and other products. Marketing companies know that by associating a product with an athlete it can drastically increase sales.
Nike is one of the most influential businesses in the world today. According to Forbes.com, Nike is the twenty-fourth most valuable brands in the world and it carries over in the way they advertise. The popular swoosh sells itself, but the media plays a valuable role in how they get their message to the public. When analyzing a few print advertisements, we see how the messages are communicated and how the media interprets what the advertisement means.
Desbordes, Michel. "Measuring Fair Play And Planning Long Term." International Journal Of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship 15.2 (2014): 77. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
...enrollment fees. The idea of having this expansion is to enhance people’s lives through sport and fitness. Furthermore, obesity is not a new word in the United States. This disease is strongly related to bad lifestyle. This opportunity will result in mutual benefits as the consumers can have a better life and improve the Nike’s brand images and profits.
Nike recruits brand ambassadors from different parts of the world who top in athletes and who are having a good following in the public, which helps them to reach the audience that influences them to purchase the Nike sportswear. (MichaelSam85, 2011)
The developmental stages of a successful campaign help to establish the product in the audience’s mind or consciousness. The stages of the Nike campaign can be described by using the Yale Five-Stage Developmental Model. Yale researchers developed this model while observing the growth of national identity. The first stage of this model is identification. Our text states that “Many products and causes develop a graphic symbol or logotype to create identification in the audience’s mind” (p. 264, Larson). The logo Nike is most famous for is “The Swoosh.” This is the term given to the symbol of winged victory that appears on Nike products. “The design of the swoosh logo was inspired by the wing from the Greek goddess Nike” (p. 3, http://shrike.depaul.edu /~mcoscino/word.html). The Nike logo’s presence can be noted in almost every aspect of the athletic world.
Celebrities advertising are no panacea for achieving attention and higher sales. Their belief is the celebrity message deliver a higher degree of appeal, and attention. Marketer’s claims that a celebrity creditability increase memorability of the message and may provide positive effect that could be generalized to the brand states M. Mohan & B, Loue & R, Hudson. Firms have come to realize celebrity spokespersons like Tiger Wood have believability, purchase intentions and favorable effect on consumers. “ “The casual observer is somewhat inclined to believe that professional sport athletics are in greater demand as celebrity product endorser” (S, George, & J, Mathew & J, Jones, 2003).
One of the most effective ways to promote a brand of a product or service is through endorsement. Marketers use endorsers to promote their brand as it is reachable to many and the level of influence of the people to be the brand’s customers is much likely to be high.