Categories With The Greatest Sports Marketing Potential

What Brands Can Do To Capitalize on 2022

martechasia.net

We’re two weeks into the new year, how’s it been so far? New year, new you? Or, new year, same you. Don’t worry, you don’t need to answer. In last week’s issue of The Sport Marketeer, the importance of the new year for potential partnerships was discussed. This issue we’re discussing this week is categories with the most opportunity if done right.

Alcohol and related products. You may be thinking, are we dumb? Alcohol has been one of the industries that have thrived throughout the pandemic, for better or worse, what further opportunity could they possibly have this year? You’d be correct, however, as a great philosopher by the name of Uncle Ben once said, “with great power, comes great responsibility”. And frankly, we feel a lot of alcohol brands have dropped the ball. Some are simply showing up and expecting results, rather than trying to build brand loyalty and create a strong foundation for all their brand assets. There’s so much opportunity within this space that the competition is growing. The Bob-Father himself is even getting in on the action with his line of Bobby Margaritas. To conclude, we want to see brands capitalizing on their successes and parlaying them into other aspects of the business. Heck why not even collab with hangover cures and offer them with each purchase? The possibilities are endless.

Speaking of parlaying successes, I just placed the biggest sports bet of my life last night, $10 on the Sens. It’s a great time to be alive and even better if you’re a brand capitalizing on Canada’s new laws. Yet, the theme of this article is going to be brands just showing up and expecting success. I’ll use my personal experiences as an example. I’m not a huge betting aficionado, as you’ve read, and when looking for a sportsbook, I felt comfortable using, I was left disappointed. I’ve scrolled through countless platforms and all of them have resulted in a sense of illegal activity. What are sports betting brands doing in Canada to grow? Slapping their logo on jerseys, helmets, signage, and presenting sponsorships? Really? That’s your grand idea to introduce yourself to the market. All of that is fine but it needs to be partnered with something else – live streams, edutaining content, and better look and feel amongst other things.

Looking and feeling good? Well, we’re in another wave of the pandemic and health & fitness-related products/ services are hot commodities again. However, let’s thank another category for simply just showing up. What do we have? Plain jane social media ads, discount codes, and another workout tutorial that’s been done 1000 times, lovely. If you’re a brand in H&F, make your mark. People are frustrated with current options. They aren’t getting their fixes in and can’t differentiate brand A from brand B because they all look the same. Mix it up, let’s get active in 2022. We want to see brands try new things – filming a workout video? Carve out a niche. Workouts and cooking lessons. Purchase a watermelon, perform workouts while using it, then showcase a healthy but delicious snack afterward. Then change the key ingredient/weight each week. Give people a reason to come back and choose you over others. I’m just typing what comes to mind, but we can make big things happen this year.

Amongst the biggest of things in this world, are major corporations. They’re running the world and playing a major impact in everyone’s lives. With that, we’re fortunate enough to have some corporations with a sense of social responsibility. Paying it back, paying it forward, and ensuring they leave this world better than they found it. One of the major issues, the world has lacked in recent memory is human connection, experience, and community. Sports play a major role in bringing people together and developing a sense of togetherness. I, myself, have sports to thank for numerous things. Not only is it the career I’ve found myself in but when I was the only Canadian attending the 7th grade in an American middle school, football broke barriers to building connections. A kick-off return TD can go a long way, literally ; ). Whether it’s at the upper echelon of sports and building activations for fans to experience and connect, or if it’s working with youth sports, we want to see sports, marketing, and/ or sports marketing deliver a few more smiles on everyone’s faces.

As I said at the beginning don’t worry, but that will only be the case if white whale mktg is by your side in 2022.

Published: January 14, 2022 - Issue 22 of The Sport Marketeer