Side Smirkable Thoughts, Views from the Roundtables

SIDE SMIRKABLE THOUGHTSV I E W F R O M T H E R O U N D T A B L E S

www.sidesmirk.comwww.voiceofthebrand.com

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http://www.voiceofthebrand.com/

VOICE OF THE BRAND, SPORTS

WHO

WHAT

WHERE

WHEN

Top level marketing executives from brands, teams, leagues and media

Chicago

July 9-10, 2013

Moderated roundtable discussions on current and relevant sports marketing topics and initiatives

The following is an overview of our takeaways from the event… to request more information or a meeting, please contact us at [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

LETTING FANS OWN YOUR BRAND

An engagement “sweet spot” exists and can be difficult to define:

• How these two items work together is the key for successful and meaningful engagement

Listening to your customers plays a crucial role in finding this sweet spot and maintaining their trust. • Ongoing and cumulative feedback is key

Discussions were led by top level executives from:

WHAT BRANDS WANT TO

SAY

WHAT CONSUMERS WANT TO HEAR

Anheuser Busch Nascar Mead Johnson State Farm Chicago Bears Detroit Lions

Denver Broncos LPGA United Healthcare Marriott Hershey’s Turner Sports

Detroit Red Wings Major League

Gaming Arena Football WaveJet Minor League

Baseball

LETTING FANS OWN YOUR BRAND

Ultimately, the fans do own your brand (for the most part!). • However, it’s your job as the brand to provide guidelines for

positioning• Listen, react, use and steer the conversation to the extent that

that is possible (and try not to over-react to every snippet of negativity)

Consumers are naturally distrusting so it is also your job to humanize the brand. • If you’re relevant and authentic, consumers will respond, engage

and tell you what they think

Make sure to be clear and consistent in your brand messaging. • Not all sports are alike and not all fans are alike• Make it easy to engage

Discussions were led by top level executives from: Anheuser Busch Nascar Mead Johnson State Farm Chicago Bears Detroit Lions




Baseball

UTILIZING SPORTS CONTENT FOR FAN CONVERSATIONS

Fans literally thirst for sports content. • Satisfying this thirst and keeping fans talking should be the number

one motivator for teams and brands

The conversation can’t entirely be controlled (and shouldn’t be). • Controlling the conversation limits transparency and authenticity

Let’s think about this on the flip side instead.• Utilizing fan content for sports conversations





Baseball

The key to engaging sports fans is to also make the content about them. • Keep it simple as people love taking pictures of

themselves and sharing (at games, events, etc.)• Concentrate on a small, engaged fan base

Be immediate. • Piggyback off of the photos and videos that are

being shared in real-time• Amplify this fan content which increases

engagement exponentially

Tie in incentives• Teams and brands can easily offer fans reasons

to engage via tickets, food, products, etc.

UTILIZING SPORTS CONTENT FOR FAN CONVERSATIONS





Baseball

SPONSORSHIP + INNOVATION = PARTNERSHIP

How do you go beyond traditional sponsorship partnerships and models? • Community involvement and causes• Bringing partners together for a greater

outcome

Creativity comes from…• A collaborative process between teams and

sponsors• Transparency among partners• Passion• Going after demographics that make sense

(e.g. the military and the NFL)





Baseball

SPONSORSHIP + INNOVATION = PARTNERSHIPWhen thinking about B2B and how events are used as incentives for

sales forces, you need to go beyond just tickets to games. • Create “can’t buy” experiences that are hard to replicate and have

a “bragability factor”

An example of an innovative partnership and one that involved fans…• Sprint partnered with Nascar earlier this year to sponsor their own

race, which the format was then decided by fans: The Sprint Unlimited at Daytona

• This also included involvement with FOX and SiriusXMfor broadcasting





Baseball

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/01/21/sprint-unlimited-fan-vote.html

YOUR BRAND AS THE SPORTS SECTION

How do you connect with fans when it’s relevant?• Getting the right message to the right person seems to be the most

critical

Developing long term brand messaging and staying ahead of the curve, is also very important. • Timing obviously depends on the industry and partnership, however

brands can also take advantage of lesser known events, holidays and occasions to make sure their message bubbles to the top

A brand that has consistently been a part of the Sports Section is Red Bull:• Red Bull Media House• Red Bull Newsroom• Red Bulletin





Baseball

DELIVERING SPORTS CONTENT

There are obviously many ways to deliver sports content when fans are not in attendance at a live event (thus why attendance at live events has gone down in recent years):• Livestream, YouTube, email, user-generated content,

Instagram, organic, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, etc.

• And this includes various forms of content, on top of video

So then, how can you enhance the live event?• Incorporate all the replays • Add announcer commentary• Allow for an easy screen-to-live experience • Incorporate more fun facts (about players and

teams) and not just statsDiscussions were led by top level executives from:

Anheuser Busch Nascar Mead Johnson State Farm Chicago Bears Detroit Lions




Baseball

DELIVERING SPORTS CONTENT

There is value in partnering with smaller, unique brands. • The value in niche products is access to influencers and increased

word of mouth

Enhancing the TV experience means enhancing the dual screen experience. • For example, when watching Golf on television, one app allowed a

viewer to pick a player to follow on their tablet (instead of following the leaders or whoever is being televised, i.e. only Tiger Woods)





Baseball

CAPITALIZING ON FAN PASSION

Sports are engaging by nature. • But how do you attract and maintain a profitable,

younger fan base?

Get the athletes out of their comfort zone (i.e. see the individual in front of the team). • Similar to how you can’t control the fan content, loosen

up the reigns on the athletes (to the extent that you can as a team or sponsor)• People connect with people, fans connect with athletes

Clever advertising is of course effective, as well as simply providing access. • Unbundling of cable and paying for what you watch (e.g.

YES Network for Yankee baseball)





Baseball

ABOUT SIDE SMIRK

Side Smirk is a market strategy firm based in New York City. Our team has over 32 (combined) years of research and strategy experience across a variety of industries, products, services and brands.

Companies include P&G, Delsey, Campbell’s, Jose Cuervo, Nickelodeon, Hallmark, JP Morgan, Yahoo!, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lambda Legal and Peet’s Coffee among many others.

Here at Side Smirk we specialize in online and mobile research, usability testing, real-time research and social recruiting -- a la carte and by subscription.

ABOUT VOICE OF THE BRAND

Voice of the Brand is a closed door (no press!), senior-level, invitation-only, workshop-style event that brings together brand marketers to network, knowledge share and discuss potential partnerships.

Only 100 executives are present at each Voice of the Brand event. This intimate environment allows for an open exchange of ideas and the formation of true business connections.

THANK YOU!

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