The Skinny On Sports Marketing
Ever wonder what it's like to be a sports marketer? Sports marketing is constantly evolving. You MUST stay on top of current research and trends. Most companies see significant higher return on investment by spending their marketing dollars in sports.
This week's #ThursdayThoughts come from Rich Campbell. Rich has tremendous experience in sports marketing and evaluating the impact of marketing campaigns. Rich is a contributor for Forbes SportsMoney, Professor of Marketing at Sonoma State, and Adjunct Professor of Sport Management for the University of San Francisco.
The first thing people ask sports marketers is, "Where should I be spending my money" Rich helps us understand in more detail.
N.C: As a sports marketer, if you had money to spend in today's climate, where would you be spending it? Why?
R.C.: I get this question quite a bit in my role as marketing professor. The answer: it depends. It depends on the target market a firm is trying to reach and what medium is best to convey the appropriate message.
Having said that, undoubtedly focusing on social media is the right platform if the eyeballs a firm seeks are looking for real time information or skew toward a younger demographic. For sports teams/leagues and for the companies/sponsors that use sports as a platform for selling their products to the sports audience social media platforms are often a key choice. As an added bonus, the feedback and interactions possible with social cannot be found using other media choices.
Social Media is an advertising "hot-topic" in today's sport and business world. You shouldn't blindly throw money into the digital space. If you are targeting a younger demographic, looking to send out information in real time, make sure the correct social media channel is being used.
Feedback and interactions are such an advantage with social media. There are still too many people who continue to push, push, push, their brand and products. Engage with people and customers like you are standing face to face.
N.C.: What are three books someone needs to be reading in order to keep up with the sports marketing landscape?
Three books that I have found to be influential in better understanding the sports industry - and careers in the industry - are Mark Cuban's How To Win At The Sport Of Business, Amy Jo Martin's Renegades Write The Rules and Amy Trask's You Negotiate Like A Girl.
Many people know Cuban as owner of the Dallas Mavericks or from Shark Tank, but this short book gives insights in Cuban's own words about how to be successful in any career.
Martin's book is an inside look at the early days of social media in sports (not that long ago) and includes prominent sports figures like Shaquille O'Neal, The Rock, Dana White. Martin peppers the book with challenges she faced in building her career in sports and subsequently becoming an entrepreneur.
Trask was the first CEO of an NFL team and in this book she gives an unvarnished insider's view of working in the NFL. Also, as a female trailblazer in the sports industry her views carry tremendous historical significance.
While those three books offer some great insights and historical perspective, Jeremy Darlow's Brands Win Championships is a book that captures where sports marketing is going in the future. It is a thought provoking read full of salient examples that I keep going back to time and time again.
Get out the notepad and paper. I have not read any of the three books listed above, but will be adding them to my reading list. Jeremy Darlow's "Brands Win Championships" is a GREAT read and a book I reference quite often. I learned so much about branding and the importance of being able to communicate a unique story. Big thanks to Rich for take a few minutes out of his busy week in helping provide some great advice and insight.
