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!

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers teamed up with United Healthcare, Turning Wheels for Kids and Pods for the “Holiday Bike Build.” 49ers Brian Jennings, Daniel Kilgore, Mike Iupati and others were on hand building bikes for boys and girls to be distributed to East Palo Alto youth at the 49ers academy.

Sports Giving Back To The Military

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres are champions of the military community, having supported a variety of command events throughout the San Diego region this holiday season. Padres players like Tim Stauffer, Nick Hundley, Mark Kotsay, Will Venable and Jason Bartlett participated at some of these events.

Padres players and their families attended the Naval Special Warfare Command (SEALs) Family Holiday Party in support of the families affiliated with the NSW detachment.  Players signed autographs for kids and the Pad Squad and Swinging Friar distributed promotional items.

Tony Hawk – Pro Skateboarder

Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk and Padres players enjoyed lunch and signed autographs for the wounded warriors and their families at the Wounded Warrior Holiday Salute luncheon held at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

At San Diego Armed Services YMCA SuperParent Shopping Day, Padres players and their families joined Padres Vice Chairman and CEO Jeff Moorad to give back to military parents, as they had the opportunity to “shop” for two toys for each of their children from an array of donated items.  Players shadowed the parents, helped carry the items to their cars and provided input when necessary. More than 400 military families participated.   In honor of this relationship the Padres also made a $5,000 contribution to the San Diego Armed Services YMCA in support of their Family Outreach programs.

Go Shopping With An Athlete…They’re Buying!

From the San Diego example above to the Bay Area examples below, this idea is really catching on with teams all over the state.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers paired with low-income youth from Innvision the Way Home to embark on a shopping spree for the fifth annual Shop With a Player event presented by VISA. 49er players Delanie Walker, Braylon Edwards, Vernon Davis and others paired up with four kids who are buying gifts for their families, unaware they have $300 to spend and that they will actually get a gift themselves at the end.

Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders linebacker Kamerion Wimbley and ten of his teammates hosted Shop with a Jock, providing fifty children from the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) with $100 gift cards in a local department store. Kids who have demonstrated good behavior are qualified to have this opportunity to walk side by side with the players, to have some conversations, and to select Christmas gifts for themselves or their family members.

Holiday Parties

What does baseball, basketball, hockey and racing all do the same in December? They all give holiday cheer, gifts and Santa Claus to children and families who have very little.

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants and Barry Zito hosted their annual children’s holiday party at AT&T Park for kids and families from local homeless shelters and programs. About 300 people came to spend an afternoon of fun activities, pizza and a gift from Santa. Other baseball teams to host holiday parties were the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

LA Lakers

The Lakers opened up their practice facility in El Segundo to local kids during the Lakers Holiday Party for Kids, the most recent event in the Lakers “A Season of Giving”, presented by East West Bank. This year’s Lakers Holiday Party for Kids featured a holiday reception hosted by the Laker Girls and was followed by a basketball clinic from the Lakers players.

Infineon Raceway

Infineon Raceway hosted more than 225 Sonoma Valley children and their families at their seventh annual Race to the Holidays Christmas Party, which featured caroling with the Sonoma Valley High School choir, refreshments, a car display, balloon animals and a visit from Santa Claus and his Pit Crew.  The event, which has attracted more than 1,600 children since its inception in 2005, culminated with Santa Claus presenting each child with a bag full of toys. Children, who ranged in age from newborn to 12-years-old, were pre-registered through six Sonoma Valley youth groups.

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks hosted 42 families at their annual “Holiday Assist Party.” Referred to the Sharks Foundation by Healthy Start Family and Resource Center, the deserving families spent the night interacting with players, coaches, broadcasters and front office staff and were treated to ice skating, arts & crafts, an Outback Steakhouse dinner and gifts.

Hospital Visits

It’s hard to top the inspiration a child and a family receives by getting a visit in your hospital room of a professional athlete from their favorite sports teams. A handshake, maybe an autograph or a photo and some inspiring words from them is all it takes to make a challenging day into a very, very good day.

San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers linebackers Monte Williams, Navorro Bowman, Parys Haralson and Patrick Willis visited Good Samaritan Hospital in San  Jose and brought toys to children and their families who will be spending their holidays in the hospital.

San Diego Chargers

In a joint effort with the Athlete’s for Education Foundation, Steve Gregory of the San Diego Chargers made a special visit to the pediatric unit at San Diego’s Kaiser Hospital to deliver smiles and some special holiday treats.

Oakland Raiderettes

Nine Oakland Raiderettes spent time with the kids at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Sacramento, California. The Raiderettes performed routines in the activities center where the patients normally go to play and get away from the monotony of their hospital rooms, posed for photos, played games and danced with patients and visited the ICU to meet patients that were unable to leave their rooms.

Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors players and cheerleaders visited with patients at Kaiser Permanente and at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

Food Drives

When you have tens of thousands of people going to a stadium for a sports event, asking for a donation of cans and non-perishable food items is a no-brainer. Even if their in between seasons, teams have amazingly large numbers of people in their fan bases to reach out and inform them about where they can drop off their food donations.

Infineon Raceway

Infineon Raceway, joined by Innerstave, Pedroncelli Motorsports and others, distributed nearly 10,000 pounds of non-perishable food items to Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH), St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma and the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa following the raceway’s 11th annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. The latter recipient said that the 2,920 pounds of food they received would allow them to distribute 2300 meals and make a huge difference.

LA Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers gave away 600 turkeys and fixin’s in their Dodgers’ Community Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway and 300 hams in their Dodgers’ Community Holiday Ham Giveaway.

San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks fans donated 20 barrels of food and $6,000 in monetary donations, which will feed 10,000 people. Sharks fans were very generous this year!

Helping to “bail out” the food banks

San Diego Padres

Eighteen San Diego Padres staff members volunteered 54 service hours in support of the South Bay Community Services “Feed America Day.” Volunteers assembled food packages and distributed these meals to more than 400 families.  The Padres also made a $10,000 contribution to the South Bay Community Services in support of the agency’s Family Wellness programs.

San Francisco 49ers

49ers rookies visit the SF Food Bank and pack boxes with food that will go to low-income seniors and mothers with children in the San Francisco Bay Area. Players participating include Bruce Miller, Demarcus Dobbs, Joe Hastings and others. Their efforts will directly impacted 549 people who are in need.

LA Lakers & Laker Girls

Ron Artest, Derrick Caracter, and the Laker Girls joined by Lakers office staff and approximately 100 Lakers season seat holders assembled food boxes at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.

Toy drives

Oakland Raiders

A holiday fundraising program in it’s own category, the United States Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots events bring in nearly 30 million annually nationwide. Sports teams all over the country contribute to putting on many of these successful fundraising events. Teaming up with the Oakland Raiders, the Marines collected nearly 4,000 toys and over $10,000 in donations.

San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks fans broke the Toys for Tots record by donating $30,000 and 3,500 toys to the donation drive.

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center teamed up with the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and ABC7 to support the Spark of Love Toy Drive by stuffing nine OCTA bus with more than 16,000 toys for needy children in Orange County.

Blood drives

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers hosted the 33rd annual Blood Drive at the stadium on Thanksgiving weekend. It’s a big deal down there, having about 9,000 people in attendance. Annually, it’s the largest single day blood drive in the nation. With its expansion, they are collecting 3,000-5,000 units of blood during a two-week period. Players that came out included Mike Tolbert, Ryan Matthews and Nick Novak.

I’m sure there are many more examples of sports giving back during the holidays. Please tell us about a holiday charity event that you’ve attended or have benefitted from. Please leave your comments below and feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook & Twitter!

About John Franco

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

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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%)

Athlete Influence in Holiday Campaigns Using Social Media

Thierry Henry – Puma

Puma used Theirry Henry’s Facebook page (pictured above) to advertise their “40% off Friends and Family Holiday discount” during a specific time period. Henry has over 900,000 fans and this post prompted 592 people to like it, which means potential new business for Puma.

Drew Brees – TRX Training

The fitness equipment company, TRX Training, used New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees to advertise a holiday special. Brees has over 794,000 followers and has since tweeted another message about TRX Suspension trainers and will give one away to a follower who tweets him the best reason why they deserve one.

Landon Donovan – Seiko Watches

MLS star Landon Donovan also tweeted a that he was giving away a Seiko watch to a fan that made a submission in his “Best Goal Celebration” contest to his 593,000 followers. This tweet was one of the more genuine athlete tweets I have seen regarding the mention of a sponsor. Sometimes when an athlete uses a sponsor’s name in a tweet, it’s easily recognizable that someone else has written it, not the athlete themselves. But you can see that Landon tweeted this out as his personality shined through. If brands want to be more effective in partnering with athletes’ social media accounts in the future, they should make the tweet unique to the athlete instead of something that looks lika it was written by a PR rep.

Summer Sanders – Schwinn Bikes

Finally, Schwinn bikes used former Olympian, Summer Sanders’ Twitter account to promote their “#10DaysofHolidayGiveaways” campaign, which directed users to visit Schwinn’s Facebook page. This is a great cross promotional tweet as it directs users to both Schwinn’s Twitter and Facebook page. It also educates fans of Summer Sanders (17,000 followers) about the promotion and their affiliation with Summer.

Athlete Influence Impacts Purchase Decisions

Brands looking to tap into a tech savvy demographic and actively engaged sports fans should look into sponsoring athlete tweets more in the future. As the Catalyst study found, fans are more likely to become consumers of a brand if their favorite athlete is a fan of it. The sky is the limit to capture the fan through social media and marketers can get very creative using the athlete’s likeness to promote their product.

Have you seen any other great holiday promotions that professional athletes have posted on Facebook or Twitter? Do you think it’s effective for brands to use the popularity of athletes’ social media accounts to leverage their product and services? Leave your comments below and feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook & Twitter.

About Holly Koski

Holly Koski is a recent grad 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 and email marketing strategies.

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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.

Charitable Sports Promotions

Dallas Cowboys

For the 15th straight year the Cowboys and the Salvation Army have teamed up to get as many fans from America’s Team as possible to donate at least $15. Facebook comes into play when people donate; everyone is put up on the Cowboys’ wall plus medals are given to the first donor, the most recent donor and the highest donor of.

Sports promotions like this one from the Cowboys comes in the form of gift packs, books and signed jerseys. Everyone who donates is put into a drawing and is eligible to receive these great prizes just for donating $15. The Donors who give more to the cause that provided Thanksgiving and Christmas to 4.2 million people in 2010 will also automatically receive gifts from the Cowboys depending on how much more they give. Sports promotions like this classics are for a very good cause and there’s really no reason why every Cowboy fan who can afford to shouldn’t participate.

New Jersey Devils

Right along the same lines as the Cowboys, the Devils are also asking fans to join in and support a good cause in a big way. They are holding a Toys For Tots Night where fans can bring a new unwrapped toy for kids in need. The Devils will then distribute the toys to hospitals and organizations who serve the community. Last year the club donated 1,500 toys and $4,800 thanks to their charitable fans.

Much like the way the Cowboys did it, every fan who donates a toy will be entered into a drawing to win numerous great prizes, courtesy of the New Jersey Devils. While there are no guaranteed gifts in this promotion and it is limited to the fans attending the game, this is still a cause that is incredibly worthy and should get mass participation from fans.

Creative Sports Promotions

Washington Capitals

The Caps have taken more of a fan-driven approach in conducting its holiday sports promotions. They have created a holiday photo contest where all fans can send in their best holiday photo while still supporting their Capitals. All of the fans who have “liked” the team on Facebook can then vote on which photo they think is the best in capturing Capitals cheer. The winner then receives a free holiday gift pack, which includes an autographed puck, two tickets to three Caps games and two skating passes and hats.

While sports promotions like this one are really promoting the Capitals Facebook page and holiday gift pack it is still a fun way to celebrate the holidays while showing support for your favorite hockey team.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks’ sports promotion shares the Capitals’ idea of the fan-centered approach and yet takes it in a whole different, uglier direction. Vancouver’s hockey team is encouraging fans to send in pictures of them sporting the ugliest sweaters they own. Fans then vote on the sweater they can barely look and that lucky fan wins tickets to a future Canucks game.

Again, sports promotions like this are geared a bit toward the team’s Facebook fan page but it is an easy way to get a good laugh going during a stressful season. And even if you aren’t a Canucks fan this promotion is worth checking out thanks to the contest’s main photo.

Self-Promotional Sports Promotions

Minnesota Wild

Although sports promotions close to this one don’t promote anything but fans buying Minnesota Wild tickets there is a bit of creativity involved. For their fan’s benefit the Wild are selling “holiday packs”, which consist of two upper level tickets and two limited edition t-shirts for $109.

While fans are getting a deal thanks to the holiday season there are a few too many stipulations – limited tickets, online purchase only, shirt vouchers – that hold this promotion back from being a really good one. Still, it brings a good gift option for the Minnesota Wild fan in your life.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are struggling a bit this year with a record right around .500. Coincidentally if I had to give their holiday sports promotions a grade it would be right around an average “C” with as many good qualities as bad ones. The Kings are just promoting the merchandise you can buy the other 11 months out of the year but cutting back prices a tad and putting on the never-been-heard-before tag of “ho ho holiday savings.”

I’m obviously no professional critique of  Facebook sports promotions but I think it can be fairly said that the Kings’ marketing department could be doing a bit more to get their fans to buy some merchandise for the holidays.

Are there any sports promotions we may have missed in our search? Let us know in the comments below! And please share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

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.

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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.

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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.

Borrowing from Seth Godin’s basic principles of the Purple Cow, fans and online users in general are growing oblivious to traditional display-ads. comScore research conducted in conjunction with Starcom in 2010 showed that only 16% of all Internet users now click on a display ad in a month, down from 32% a year earlier.

Another aspect that teams need to be conscious of is the impact that their decisions have on their fan base. For example, having a sponsor blast an advertisement for body soap to an MLB team’s social network isn’t a partnership. Partnerships need to provide added value to the brand and its fans, not exploit it.

While it may seem like a difficult balance to find as most sponsors partner with the intent of marketing their products/services, it can be done. From content with sponsor titlement to creative approaches for contests and unique experiences, partnerships without the obvious sales pitch are possible. Sometimes, it just takes a little creativity. Some teams that are moving the creative needle include the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, San Francisco Giants, and New York Jets.

The Sponsor

We find ourselves now at the other part of the equation: The Sponsor. The difficulty in building a long-term partnership with sponsors doesn’t lie in finding an actual sponsor. If your goal is to get your team’s website sponsored, you’ll have no problem accomplishing it. The difficult part is finding a sponsor that shares the same goals that your team has in terms of long-term sustainability and branding.

For sponsors, this can be difficult. Among the reasons for this, one big reason is that sponsors as well as agencies that represent sponsors are driven to hit metrics. From impressions to leads, generating ‘value added’ metrics comes first, with increasing sponsor awareness and identity often taking the back seat. Because of these reasons, ad space on a teams website is often what sponsors target. Aside from the fact that it’s easy to negotiate, more importantly it’s safe from a sponsor perspective. Sponsors are used to buying ad space and watching click-through rates. They know what there getting and there is little unknown.

The Final Product

At the end of the day, sports teams will continue to sell ad-space. It’s a proven business model and it works. There is no doubt about that.

The goal is not for sports teams to do away with ad-space. Rather, it’s to begin looking forward to spending more time on developing engaging content and unique experiences/opportunities that would be attractive for a long-term sponsor, as well as looking for ways to maximize their fan network on Facebook and Twitter in ways that extend beyond the standard Facebook or Twitter update.

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.

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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.”

Brands can build their own equity and awareness by leveraging off the equity of sports events and teams. Sponsoring sports allows brands to create activation campaigns that allow consumers to take part and interact with the brand, further increasing that emotional connection. Sponsorship activation in this way is a more powerful way of communicating than a passive message in, for example, a TV commercial. It enables stronger, more measurable marketing effectiveness.

For me, Red Bull is one great example of a brand successfully marketing through sports. As well as sponsoring sports and tapping into some of the most important attributes of successful sports people – fast reactions, concentration and endurance – Red Bull has also created new unique sports properties ostensibly to sell more of its product.

For aspirational brands aiming to create a loyal following, sports should definitely be a component part in the marketing mix. But none of this is new to marketers. According to a Reuters press article in January this year:

‘global spending on sponsorships of sports and other activities is projected to rise 5.2 percent this year after a stronger-than-expected increase in 2011’

with the total level of spending on sports alone to increase by 6.1 per cent.

To effectively market to consumers through sports there are at least 3 things to consider (and not necessarily in this order).

1.    Sports has to be part of an integrated campaign

Sports marketing should not be a stand- alone exercise, but should be aligned with an overall marketing strategy. Leveraging sports, multi-national corporations can think and act both on a local and global scale. The head office determines the marketing strategy while the local offices execute activation.  Back to Boutros at Emirates Airlines who states:

“We usually do a yearly plan for each region, each market, and each potential market. We put values on potential revenue”.

2.    Sports isn’t only about young males

Admittedly products that appeal to young males (think beer) are, of course, a good fit for sports sponsorship. However, if you think deeper, you’ll understand  that behind every athlete there is a mother – typically the decision maker in the family and the person managing the family budget. Proctor and Gamble, realizing this, sponsored Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. P&G achieved good results through the ‘Proud Sponsors of Mums’ campaign.  You may recall the commercial – “To their moms, Team USA athletes will always be kids”.

It is no surprise that P&G has continued its association with the Games and is an Official Sponsor of the Olympic games from London 2012 through to the 2020 Olympic Games.

Women are also behind the growth of some sports – both as participants and as spectators. Viewership of the 2008 Formula 1 season was composed of between 35%-40% women. (Source: Global Sports Forum).

According to a FIFA media release (07/20/2011) on the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany this year:

‘In the USA, an average audience of over 14.1 million watched the final between the USA and Japan. ESPN delivered the large majority of the audience, reporting an average of close to 13.5 million and a peak audience during the penalty shoot-out of over 21.1 million. This is ESPN’s highest-ever audience for a (soccer) match and ranks as the second-highest audience for a daytime telecast in US cable history (behind the 2011 Rose Bowl). These audiences were also over three times higher than the US average audience for the final round of golf’s Open Championship on Sunday, as well as nearly 10% higher than the audience for baseball’s All Star Game last week’. 

3.    Sports reaches an audience, it is not an end in itself

Sports marketing is merely a process. You have to sponsor and market around the sponsorship – in other words activate it. How much to spend on activation will vary (for instance Heineken are thought to spend $1 in activation for every dollar of sponsorship, yet for other brands this may be as high as $2 to $3 in activation). When a brand contemplates sponsoring sports, it must take into account the total investment, not just the dollars paid out to the sports rights holder.

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.

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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.

The following are ways of using your website to become an industry leader:

Blog

A well written blog keeps visitors engaged and coming back for more when content is new and fresh. It is also the perfect platform to share your expertise with visitors who often appreciate knowledgeable information they can later use and apply.  And conversely, through this sharing of information, you end up building and establishing trust as a source of valuable information.

Videos

Major brands have figured out that videos can be used to broadcast their message and establish themselves as a leader in their field. Ecommerce websites like Zappos were first to embrace videos to promote new products, show how the products work, and highlight promotions.

So why can’t you use videos to promote your knowledge? Videos can be used to:

• Provide visitors with tutorials
• Update visitors on new industry trends and news
• Answer questions that visitors have

Also, videos make websites feel less impersonal and more human by adding a face to the site.

Webinars

There are a many sites out there that allow you to host a webinar on or off your site for different prices. If you like to save money than I would suggest hosting it on your own site through a  free service like Ustream.  The service you choose is up to you, just start hosting webinars.

Webinars present the opportunity to showcase your knowledge to wide group of people at once. The interaction helps to establish a relationship and, similar to videos, allows for a personal connection.

What I like about webinars is the ability to re-use them or to upload them onto your site as a resource, thus creating another reason for visitors to come back to your site for information.

Author Byline: Dmitry Gamarnik is avid sports enthusiast and marketing specialist with Blue Fountain Media, an ecommerce design firm in New York.

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.

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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.

Grab Attention

In late July at the end of a Trenton Thunder baseball game I received a pocket calendar of their game schedule. Inside the calendar hidden away in the corner was a small and barely noticeable QR code. What a wasted opportunity!

Instead of placing it inside, they should have placed it right in the front with a strong call to action to grab the fans’ attention. The possibilities are endless.

Technical Difficulties

I would hate if I spent countless hours creating a unique QR code campaign and my target audience was not able to scan it. Before placing the QR code on the side of a building or on a billboard, test to see whether it will be possible to scan the code.

Don’t Leave Anyone Behind

Though it seems like it, not everyone has a smartphone. When creating a QR code campaign, plan alternatives for those who want to participate and don’t have a smartphone (i.e. text message).

Mobilize It

Don’t send people to a regular website. Instead either send them to a mobile website or create a unique landing page that will.

Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing strategist with Blue Fountain Media, an ecommerce design company in New York City.

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.

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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.

Ten years later, in 1987, he made a surprising comeback to the ring, winning many more fights and titles, eventually retiring at the age of 48 in 1999. Foreman went on to explore many business ventures; the most notable one was the epicly-titled George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. The deal with the makers of the grill, Salton, paid Foreman $127.5 million to use his name for the product and gave him a 40% cut of sales, netting him around $200 million.

 Vinnie Jones, Photo Credit: John Cassidy

Vinnie’s career as a professional footballer began in 1984 when he began playing, part-time, for Wealdstone whilst still working as a hod carrier (carrying bricks and mortar on construction sites). In 1986 he moved toWimbledonfor £10k and was part of the winning team in the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool. He went on to play for Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, player / coach for QPR, and even played internationally forNorth Wales. In 1992 Jones was responsible for a serious leg injury on Tottenham defender Gary Stevens, which he never recovered from, eventually resulting in his retirement.

Vinnie Jones went on to become a familiar face on the big screen when he made his 1998 feature film debut in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He went on to play roles in many more movies (all of which he dons a typical hard man image) such as Snatch, Gone in 60 Seconds, X-Men: The Last Stand, Hungarian film, The Magic Boys, Highlander, Kill the Irishman and Midnight Meat Train. Jones also celebrated his 45th birthday in the Celebrity Big Brother House in 2010 and finished in third place overall. Slightly more bizarre developments in his career include releasing a blues album called Respect and performing “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” on Top of the Pops 2.

 Magic Johnson, Photo Credit: Imaginashaun

Beginning his career as a professional basketball player with the LA Lakers in 1979, Earvin “Magic” Johnson helped the team to reach, and win, the NBA finals in 1980. He went on to have a very successful career in Basketball and retired in 1991 when he discovered he had the deadly disease, HIV. He did, however, go on to play for the USA in the 1992 Summer Olympics, which they won. He also used the opportunity to raise awareness for the HIV disease.

After leaving the Basketball spotlight for the last time he went on to create the ‘Magic Johnson Development Corp’, which focuses on building and developing retail, dining and entertainment businesses in poor communities. He has worked with big guns such as Starbucks and T.G.I Friday’s Inc to help renew the economy in depressed and run down areas across 65 different cities. His efforts went further to help set up thirty one Burger King franchises, a chain of travel agents and his very own sports club chain.

This article was produced on behalf of air hockey, football and pool table suppliers, Home Leisure Direct – specialists in home entertainment, leisure and table sports throughout the UK.

About Lewis Howes

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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.

There a few glaring problems with today’s incredibly exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunityboilerplate promotion:

1. We all know that we weren’t “chosen.”  And we certainly weren’t “chosen” with an exclamation point.  If anything, we chose MLB when we opted into the e-mail list.
2. If you’re going to provide me a list of things I was “chosen” to receive for “FREE,” don’t put an asterisk at the end of the sentence.
3. By clumping all of your fans together, you’re losing us.

The first two problems are fairly obvious and require nothing more than a quick fix. Simply, don’t lie to your fans and don’t omit information (which, as far as I’m concerned, is also lying). I promise you that we aren’t nearly as dense as you think we are.

The third problem, though, requires a bit of thought and is easily the most important of the three.

Sports fans are diverse. I’m not talking about the fact that fans root for a diverse set of teams, because that’s not actually comparing sports fans. That’s comparing groups of fans. I’m talking about diversity at the individual level. Though I may root for the same teams as the 46-year-old mother of three who lives next door to me, our fandom most likely plays a very different role in our lives. And as a result of this, leagues and franchises cannot effectively communicate with us if they insist upon addressing us as one.

Major League Baseball has a sales team and I can assure you that nobody on this team would ever think of pitching a potential client or partner without first taking a little bit of time to learn about the individuals and the business that they’re addressing. After all, you can’t speak to your potential customer’s problems and the value you can offer if you don’t know something about who you’re talking to. Well, the same principle has to apply to these e-mails.

Until companies begin to speak to their customers’ personalities, habits, and needs at an individual level, the majority of fans are going to tune out everything that they say. Unfortunately, that includes the messages we might actually be interested in.

Some industries have started to figure this out, but as usual the sports industry is lagging behind; Major League Baseball is hardly the only sports property to broadcast messages to large groups of fans without any consideration to what they’re actually interested in hearing. In fact, it’s common practice.

This is a problem that I’m incredibly passionate about solving and I’m excited to create a solution that proves mutually beneficial to sports properties and their fans.

“Max Wendkos is the founder of FanChief, an early-stage startup designed to provide sports teams with a social CRM solution.  He has previously worked for MLB Advanced Media, the Kansas City Royals’ minor league affiliate Wilmington Blue Rocks, and the Penn State Athletic Department.  Follow him on Twitter @MaxWendkos.”

About Lewis Howes

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