How has Digitization Boosted Sports Brand partnerships?

According to statistics, in 2016, the world's investment in sponsorship and promotional activities was more than 60 billion dollars. What's more important is that nearly 3/4 it was on sports sponsorships. We can clearly notice a definite case with Red Bull which has its name all over different sports events and boards.

But why have companies been spoon-fed to implement these promotional strategies? With sports having massive popularity, it's not hard to presume that companies have found a well-established approach to reach a broader audience. Brands primarily target the middle age of 18 to 29 years. They found that most of the inclination in sports was in this age group. But isn't it outdated to follow just one strategy for brand promotion throughout the decade?

The Benefits that follow

When sports brand partnerships arised in the initial era, brands were able to put their name and logo in the advertisement boards and sports apparel. It proved to be quite useful, as the results they gained were terrific. But gradually, when the expectation started to pop up, it was never as effective as the rising influence of digitization. The competition overtook those who followed obsolete advertising and marketing. It was because of the following reasons.

• More brand exposure with live sports

Any popular sporting event is followed by fans keenly. Even the most minor details come into play when billions of fans are looking forward to it. For example, the FIFA world cup last year was followed by more than 4 billion people around the world. When brands realized the potential of live sports, they started to focus on advertising as a concentrated activity. This creates a large gap between potent and non-potent opportunities.

• The combination of sports and social media

Brands looked to exploit the compatibility of sports with social media. In 2017, more brands started to use social media as a promotional strategy. More than four-fifths of live audiences use social media while watching sports. This makes live advertising at the right time more productive. The conclusion is that the bands have more mediums of advertising but only in a limited time frame. They have new-found opportunities to target the audience through social media influencers.

• Sponsorships benefit sports events and athletes.

When established sports athletes get enough money to fulfill their training and performance needs, sports in any country is promoted. It's a Win-Win situation because the scenario meets promotional needs for the brand and financial needs for the athlete. Everyone involved in a sports brand partnership is satisfied. The script makes up for all the effort that goes into finding these opportunities.

• It's easy to track and monitor results.

Whenever brands following strategy, it's essential to measure the impact at the end. But with sports marketing in the UK, you can measure live outcomes just when they occur (or don't). For example, brand logo exposure can be noticed quite often during a game. There are various other identifications to be made while any sports event takes place with which the brand is concerned.

So, with the development of digital means, it has become natural but even more critical for brands to implement sports brand partnerships. It's because the competition is striving for the same market share.