Sports Marketing

Sports Giving Back During the Holidays

by John Franco|December 26th, 2011

sports giving back The “season of giving” is upon us and sports athletes, their organizations and their partners are taking this saying to heart. Throughout the wide world of sports, teams are supporting their communities by “giving back” through charitable events, donations and hands-on interactions – and they’re giving back in big ways. The folks behind the scenes in the front office work hard to stage the events and develop corporate partnerships that will provide huge rewards for their efforts. The players take extra time out to interact with their fans, knowing how much it means to them, and feeling the rewards in their joy. The fans appreciate their home team’s efforts and give whatever they can to help them help the less fortunate. Read all about these holiday miracles in the examples below.

For this article, I am focusing on sports organizations in California only. It’s a big state and there are a lot of them! While you read, imagine all of these charitable initiatives being duplicated over the many orgs throughout the country. See if you can quantify just how big the business of “giving back” really is and not be totally awed by it!

A New Bike For Christmas

San Diego Chargers

Amidst all the new technology that dazzles young minds there is still one old standard that stays at the top of any child’s Christmas list – a brand new, shiny new bike! Admittedly, the business of sports is highly vested in advances in technology in order to give consumers the optimum fan experience. However, sport and non-profit organizations all over the nation are giving the simple gift of a bicycle and the message that getting outside and riding with your friends is the coolest gift to get.

NFL Play 60 and the Chargers went to Doris Miller Elementary School in San Diego for a “Bikes for Kids” event. Chargers Vincent Jackson, Jacques Cesaire and others were present to give bikes to every kid in the school!

[click to continue…]

About John Franco

A seasoned freelance graphic designer / design director. Specialties include logo brand work, event identities and publication design.

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (1)

{ 0 comments }

Brands Leverage Athlete Influence in Holiday Campaigns

by Holly Koski|December 23rd, 2011

The holidays are fast approaching and many brands have turned to social media for their holiday campaigns. Some brands have made impressive efforts to increase their brand awareness and holiday specials by partnering with current and former professional athlete’s social media accounts. Athletes are among the most followed accounts on Facebook and Twitter and hold a lot of clout. Catalyst Public Relations conducted a study to determine how athlete influence effects consumers’ drive to social media. Below are some of their findings:

Sports fans who follow their favorite athletes on social media are 55% more likely to purchase a brand if an athlete mentions it on Facebook or Twitter.
Athlete mentions of brands on social media can have an even bigger impact on young (18-34), non-white fans (75% more likely to purchase) and those with kids at home (62%) [click to continue…]

About Holly Koski

Holly Koski is a Senior graduating in December from Indiana University majoring in Sports Marketing & Management. As the Sports Networker Marketing Intern, she is responsible for managing the Sports Networker Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages while promoting Sports Networker content through various online marketing strategies.

Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (3)

{ 1 comment }

Six Unique Holiday Themed Sports Promotions

by Steve Richards|December 21st, 2011

Photo courtesy of www.bostinno.com

With the holiday season fast approaching there are plenty of professional teams out there looking to help out worthy causes through Facebook promotions. In some cases the worthy cause is their own organization, but everything is relative I guess.

In this piece we will look at 6 different ways teams are trying to raise money through unique sports promotions. There happens to be a lot of creativity in some of these so sit back and enjoy the sleigh ride. [click to continue…]

About Steve Richards

Steve is a recent graduate of Penn State University with a degree in Sports Journalism from the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. He is currently working as a marketing and PR intern for Sports Networker.

Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (12)

{ 0 comments }

Sports Newsletter – 7 Things to Check Before Emailing

by Dmitriy Gamarnik|October 13th, 2011

Sports Newsletter

Every business in the sports industry should be utilizing email marketing. It is a great way to improve customer loyalty and customer satisfaction and increase repeat sales. For example, ticketing website Crowd Seat, can create promotional email campaigns targeting users based on their regions or favorite teams via their sports newsletter.

Planning an email marketing campaign takes time and effort. Determining the layout, design and what content to send are essential elements to a successful campaign. You should give most of your time and focus to these factors. However, as any good boxer will tell you; don’t let up your guard. All of your hard work could go to waste with a few foolish mistakes at the end. Before sending out your sports newsletter go through this quick checklist.

Sports Newsletter Checklist

1. Check Your Links

It’s simple but important. Make sure your links work properly and are directed to the correct pages. I have unsubscribed from many a sports newsletter because their links either sent me to a completely different page or because I received a 404 error.

2. Check Your Images

Check the alt tag on all of your images. Remember that your subscribers do not see the images right away because they are turned off by the email provider. Try placing descriptive text in the alt tag. That will help inform the subscribers about the content.

3. Check Grammar and Spelling

Spelling and grammar errors happen to everyone. Even journalists at the Wall Street Journal have editors. So should you. Always have someone else read over your work before sending it out. No matter how good the content is, spelling and grammar errors can make a sports newsletter look unprofessional.

4. Check the Tracking Code

Any good email marketer knows that the best way to improve a sports newsletter is to test constantly. That is why I always double check the tracking code on the different elements that I am testing. I hate losing out on data!

5. Contact List

Don’t leave anyone behind. Update your contact list before you send out the sports newsletter.

6. Provide a Hosted Version

Sometimes, despite all efforts to ensure consistent and proper rendering, sports newsletters still become prone to breaks and errors among the miscellaneous email clients. It is for this reason that we supply links to hosted versions of the email. A hosted version of a sports newsletter can be viewed online through a browser, rather than the recipient’s email. Before you mail out your latest newsletter, upload a hosted version to your domain and place a link at the top on the newsletter to its location. This way, you ensure that all recipients have the opportunity to see the sports newsletter as it was intended.

7. Provide a Plain Text Version

Don’t forget to provide a plain text version for those who can’t or won’t view their sports newsletter in HTML. Spam filters will penalize you if you don’t. Also, a plain text version is helpful for those who check their email on their mobile phone.

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

www.bluefountainmedia.com Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst for Blue Fountain Media. He is passionate about two things – sports and marketing. Sports have been a big part of Dmitriy’s life since he learned to crawl. When he isn’t keeping up with the industry and providing top notch analysis in New York City, he works on his golf swing and coaches basketball in his home town of Plainsboro, NJ.

Web | Twitter | More Posts (8)

{ 0 comments }

Build Partnerships, Not An Advertising Network

by Joseph Yi|September 14th, 2011

With the ever growing need for ROI validation when it comes to digital marketing efforts, sports teams need to remember that when trying to derive measurable results, that ones brand shouldn’t be pawned off to potential sponsors to make a profit. Rather, teams should focus on building a comprehensive strategy that will allow them to build long-term, sustainable partnerships with sponsors rather than turn themselves into an advertising network.

After speaking with several sports professionals recently, it’s apparent that there are two parts to this equation. The first part of the equation are sports teams.

The Sports Team

By now, most, if not all sports have dedicated resources toward opportunities in the digital space. While digital opportunities initially started out as advertising space on portions of a teams website, the shift is moving toward exploring new ways to maximize team created digital content. The opportunity for a sponsor to buy ad space on a teams site still exists, but with poor ROI and ad revenue sometimes shared with the league, teams are adapting to the behaviors of the digital fan. [click to continue…]

About Joseph Yi

Joseph is the Social Media & Marketing Solutions Manger at GAGA Sports & Entertainment where he works with professional sports teams, including the Lakers, Clippers, and San Francisco 49ers, where he develops engaging content as well as social media and digital strategies to help teams better understand and engage their fans. Read more from Joseph and follow him on Twitter.

Web | More Posts (13)

{ 0 comments }

The Powerful Reach of Sports Marketing

by Chris Conway|August 30th, 2011

Today’s media environment is highly fragmented. For brands, the challenge of reaching consumers is becoming increasingly difficult. Even if a brand can reach its consumers, making them sit still and pay attention to the message is key.

This is where sports is so powerful. Sports generates so much free publicity. Due to its live and unpredictable nature (who could have predicted Manchester United scoring 8 goals against Arsenal earlier this week?), sports is chat worthy – whether that is office banter around the water cooler, online blogs, or social media commentary. Additionally, live telecast makes it harder for you to skip the ads on your DVR, Tivo or IQ box. Sports can really break through the clutter. As we all know, passions around sports run high and the emotional connection can be strong. It is this passion and the fact that sports can be so compelling that makes sports marketing an effective and efficient way of reaching consumers – if done well (but more of that later).

In SportsPro magazine (Febuary 2011 edition), Boutros Boutros, vice president for communications and controller of marketing at Emirates Airlines (a prolific sponsor of sports such as soccer, rugby and cricket) summed it up perfectly:

“To me, sponsorship is still, among all the marketing mix available – including new media – the best medium to reach people’s emotion and interest.” [click to continue…]

About Chris Conway

Chris is a strategic programs analyst at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) focusing on, amongst other things, sponsorship research, analytics and acquisition. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM). Chris took part in the school’s exchange program by completing a semester at Stern business school, NYU where he studied sports marketing and sports economics. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (24)

{ 0 comments }

How to Become an Industry Leader through Your Website

by Dmitriy Gamarnik|August 25th, 2011

Everyone wants to be known as the expert in their industry. So how do you accomplish this? It’s easier said than done. Before the digital world, industry leaders used traditional methods like speaking engagements, giving interviews, and writing books. Though these methods are practiced today, they are not practical for everyone.

Today, open sources like wordpress allow us to build websites quickly and inexpensively. A website for a company or an individual is an important part of their online identity and provides anyone with various ways of establishing themselves as an expert. [click to continue…]

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

Web | Twitter | More Posts (8)

{ 0 comments }

How to Use Quick Response Codes in Sports Marketing

by Dmitriy Gamarnik|August 16th, 2011

It seems like Quick Response (QR) codes are becoming a popular trend within the sports marketing industry. Like with everything new, the first campaigns I noticed were cautious and small. Not anymore.

Last week it was reported that a Bristish volleyball team will have sponsored QR codes placed on their bikini bottoms. Now that’s how to make a splash.

And I am sure there are more creative and unique QR campaigns to come. However, before you decide to jump aboard take time to learn a few best practices. [click to continue…]

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

Web | Twitter | More Posts (8)

{ 2 comments }

Giving Up The Game

by Lewis Howes|August 1st, 2011

Many sports personalities choose to take on new roles within their preferred sport after they retire. Typical roles may include coaching, management, commentating and analizing.

However, some sports personalities choose to head off on a completely different career path, completely unrelated to their original sport. This article will look at some of the more well-known sports personalities who chose a new and unique career path.

George Foreman, Photo Credit: el grito

Born on January 10th 1949, George Foreman was well known on the boxing scene and had a very successful career which saw him world heavy weight boxing champion two times. He was also the oldest heavy weight champion ever, at forty five years, and an Olympic gold medallist.

His outstanding record came to an end in 1977 when he became ill, suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. He claimed he had a “near death experience”. After suffering from this experience he felt God had reached out to him and told him to take a different path in life. It was this point where Foreman stopped fighting and became a born-again Christian, dedicating the next decade of his life to God and becoming the minister of a church inTexas. [click to continue…]

About Lewis Howes

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (187)

{ 0 comments }

Speaking to Sports Fan Diversity

by Lewis Howes|July 25th, 2011

This is a guest post by Max Wendkos

“Congrats, you’ve been chosen! Get a magazine, blanket & bonus gifts.”

Normally, I’d expect Gmail to automatically identify this e-mail subject as spam and filter it out of my inbox. After all, the sender of such e-mails tends to be a “Nigerian prince,” except that he’s usually looking to quickly transfer me a cool $10 million with no strings attached.

However, this e-mail didn’t come from a fake e-mail account. It wasn’t a scam at all. It was just a standard promotional e-mail from Major League Baseball. [click to continue…]

About Lewis Howes

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (187)

{ 1 comment }

← Previous Entries

Sports Marketing

Sports Giving Back During the Holidays