We’re breaking down silos and no longer letting sports partnerships live separately from media strategy.
More and more brands are seeing the value of sports partnerships, especially with the recent explosion of women’s sports, and the market is expected to double in size by 2030 – which makes sense as the sports landscape continues to expand in dynamic new ways.
A successful sports partnership should ladder up to both your brand and business goals in a memorable, measurable way – the same as your media strategy.
By removing the separation between your sponsorships and media plans, you’ll be taking a street to seat to home holistic approach that is going to extend your sponsorship investment out of the venue and out of team owned digital channels and continue to connect you with the segment of your audience that identifies as a sports fan throughout the rest of their consumer journey.
We know that sports partnerships are one of the highest ranked channels for consumer trust – so aligning that as a channel within your media plan only makes sense.
How can they work together?
A great way to do this is by strategically leveraging whatever sponsor IP rights you may have within your media plan. Activating in key geographies and with a seasonal messaging approach, you’ll further drive home the emotional connection and engagement generated by your affiliation with a team, ultimately leading to stronger business results.
Examples of this include extending team sponsored contesting across digital channels, using team marks on OOH, and through contextual opportunities with different sports media platforms like ESPN, all while leveraging precise audience targeting.
Additionally, if your partnership includes assets like radio and in-broadcast tv spots, by integrating that with your media plan you’ll be able to avoid any waste that comes with your media plan also having those assets.
Ultimately, when partnerships and media both know what each other are doing, they work harder together and generate stronger results.
With so many seasons about to start, I’m keeping my eye on how brands activate, how the sponsorships industry continues to evolve and ultimately how media and partnerships work harder together.
