“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” What is the need of advertising? To sell a product or a service? Brand awareness? Informing the audience that we exist? Yes, advertising covers all of this. To be more precise, it’s a message which relays that “Hey! Here is our product/service. Try it out!
Advertising is a need of every industry and business. The relationship between sports and advertising is traditional and important. In fact, advertising has actually transformed sports into one of the most profitable industries.
First of all, let us understand the term ‘sports marketing’.
What is Sports Marketing?
Sports marketing is defined as a subdivision of marketing that has a focus on promoting the sport as well as the organization or the athlete involved. Basically, the goal is to promote the different facets of sports for the promotion of equipment, promotion of brands, athletes promotion, encouraging people towards the sport, etc. It also includes broadcasting, ticket sales, digital platforms or OTT, and community relations. (Best OTT platforms in India)
Why Sports Advertising?
The simplest answer would be because sports are different.
Unlike the other industries or areas, sports demand unadulterated news and attention. In an era where people stay glued to laptops and mobile phones, sports is one of the reasons why people break on television or view it on mobile phones through OTT platforms. That’s the magic and craze for sports!
Moreover, unlike any other entertainment channel or program, sports has to be viewed live. This reason makes the importance of advertisement and marketing rise up in the sports industry. Sports have a universal appeal. One of the things that can be common between the citizens of the different countries can be the love for sports. One can imagine this by looking at the craze of FIFA, Cricket World Cups, Badminton and Tennis Opens, etc.
Hence, this is the reason why sports advertising is on a roar.
Types Of Sports Advertising
1. Sponsorships in Sports Industry
Men In Blue are ruling the world and Women in Blue have started conquering our hearts. Have you noticed Byju’s logo on the jerseys of male Indian cricketers or the logo of Oppo and Nike on female crickets jerseys? Those are sponsorships.
The act of supporting or funding an event, business, organization, person, or activity is known as sponsorship. It is one of the most used forms of advertising. Still, it hasn’t lost its importance and will never lose in the future as well. It’s like a win-win situation for both parties. Cricket is one of the most-viewed sports in our country. Similarly, badminton, Kabaddi, Hockey, and other sports too have sponsorships.
The brand receives the spotlight when the sportspeople wear the logos on their jerseys. The Chinese Smartphone player Oppo invested thousands of crores in the Indian National Cricket Team to increase the footfall in the market. Similarly, Tata has replaced Vivo and are the new sponsor of the 2022 and 2023 IPL edition. The sponsee gets financial funding which keeps them in their game and makes their fans happy as well.
2. Role of Social Media in marketing for sports
Social Media is the home of almost every business and brand. Everyone is utilizing the platform to their fullest, even the sports industry too.
From press releases to promotions and funny banters, it provides a whole package on social media platforms. When people are not doing anything productive, high chances are that they are mostly scrolling social media platforms. Nowadays, organizations show their humorous side in front of the audience to make relatable content.
3. Innovative Marketing and Sports
Innovations are necessary! Technology is evolving rapidly and to match the speed, advertising too has to shift from its traditional methods to be in the skin of the game.
One of the examples is shown below:
IPL too followed and came up with Vivo’s ‘Hi-Fi Box’ campaign or Tasty Treat’s ‘Chuck Chuck express’. To increase brand awareness and visibility they started these campaigns. Here are some images for the same:
4. Media Houses bidding on Sports
Realizing the importance and evaluating the profits, big media companies to are bidding over sports. The competition is mainly between Star and Sony networks in India. It’s like a two-horse race between both the networks. Star Sports won the broadcasting rights for IPL and Domestic cricket but neither of them fell on their laps for cheap.
Sony showcases basketball, badminton, football, tennis, etc which too are in heavy demand in the country.
The sports industry is equally rewarding for both networks.
Conclusion
The ever-evolving relationship between sports and advertising is not ending anytime soon. They explore the golden opportunities together and help in getting rewards for the country as well. It is a win-win situation.
Are you curious to know the evolving relationship between brands and athletes? Stay Tuned!
Frequently Asked Question (FAQS)
- What is Sports Advertising?
It is defined as a subdivision of marketing that has a focus on promoting the sport as well as the organization or the athlete involved. Basically, the goal is to promote the different facets of sports for the promotion of equipment, promotion of brands, athletes promotion, encouraging people towards the sport, etc.
- What are some trends in Sports marketing?
It is seen that the sports and entertainment industry takes advantage of the trends that are creating quite a hype in the market. Here are some of the trends that are observed over the years:
- Increase in women participation and increase in women fans.
- Increase in gamification and animation
- New and different platforms
- Demanding more engaging and immersive experiences
- Shifting towards lifestyle and entertainment
- Why Sports Marketing?
The simplest answer would be because sports are different. Unlike the other industries or areas, sports demand unadulterated news and attention.
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