It Doesn’t Always Have To Be The Super Bowl
I've always believed that the four most important things that PR people can do for clients are: 1) to prevent trouble for the client by making sure that anything disseminated to the media is not misleading or untruthful; 2) to do extensive research into a client's past history to make certain that during the crafting of a program or speech that it contains nothing that can be a road map that will lead reporters to revisit any problems the client might have had in the past; 3) to do the best to promote that client's wants, and 4) to provide the client with new thinking and alternative ideas.
As the sports marketing guru for 10 years at Advance Public Relations, a respected national public relations agency that worked with leading advertising agencies, and which went out of business when the owner died, and for almost 25 years at Burson-Marsteller, during its heyday as the number one international PR agency, I've worked on many national and international mega-sports marketing accounts, because that's what the clients wanted.
But I always believed that clients should consider other sports marketing tie-ins than only the big, mega ones and developed the below questions that I would pose to clients:
Have you considered other promotional vehicles for your product?
Have you considered that your brand will be mixed in with numerous others brands during the telecasts of events — some hawking similar products — making it difficult to stand out from the clutter?
Are you aware that products in direct competition with your brand that do not advertise will benefit from your mega-event association, when people search the web?
Do you realize that unless you add an after-the-event aspect to a sports marketing sponsorship, it will have a short life
Will banking a sports marketing program materially affect your overall marketing budget?
And most important: Why do you think a sports marketing program is best for your brand?
I crafted those questions a long time ago. But they are still relevant. However, as sports marketing tie-ins costs have been sky rocketing. Fox charged $8-million for a thirty second commercial on the recent Super Bowl, not including the talent and production costs than can add millions more. I would add another question, perhaps the most important one: What proof do you have that spending mega bucks on the two major sports marketing programs — the Super Bowl and the Olympics — are helping your brand?
The truthful answer might be, as one longtime Olympic sponsor confidentially told me, “We don’t know for sure. We only want to keep our competitor from taking our slot.” The rep from another Olympic sponsor told me, “If it was up to me, I’d drop our Olympics association.”
Which bring me to the recently concluded Super Bowl.
It is indisputable that the Super Bowl is the most watched event on television. But where’s the proof its that ratings mean that a sponsor will achieve an ROI that justifies the expense. Ad agencies and brands sprout many theories why the multi -million of dollars spent in order to say "official sponsor" is worth the money. But ask to see the scientific proof that it does deliver the desired results and the answer often is "with that many eyeballs, it has to."
That’s Neanderthal man type thinking. There are now so many TV channels that televise sports, in addition to streaming and newer advertising techniques, like digital ads, short-form video content, social media posts, blog posts and emails that make it easier for an advertiser to determine the efficacy of the ad.
There is no fool proof way of knowing that viewers paid attention, or even witnessed an ad. After all, it’s not easy to concentrate on small screens for more than three hours without taking a break. Just because people tuned into the Super Bowl doesn't mean that they paid attention to an ad, despite the advertising industry, not an impartial party, saying the ad delivered, as do brand sponsors, even if they didn't.
So here's my advice to a sports marketing clients: At the very least, do not turn a blind eye to other growing sports options instead of relying on one mega-sporting event. Consider sponsoring a variety of growing sports – especially women events. Doing so can assure a sponsor of a year-round audience and create a relationship with appreciative consumers who are more eager to keep their sports growing by supporting brands.
Consumer attitudes have changed regarding sports. Popular sports like thoroughbred racing and prize fighting, once heavily covered by the media, have been reduced to afterthoughts, except for a few big events.
The one thing that hasn’t changed for many sports marketers is that associations with mega sporting events like the Olympics and Super Bowl are a must, even though because of the clutter of ads, consumers might forget which brand is sponsoring which event, or the countless viewers like me who decide to stretch their legs or go to the bathroom when a commercial is being televised.
That’s why sports marketers should take off their blinders and consider sports marketing options other than the few mega events.
In addition to women’s sports such as NCAA basketball, the WNBA, and women’s FIFA World Cup, I would advise a client to split the sports marketing budget on other fast growing sports. — pickleball, volleyball, soccer, rugby and lacrosse. Doing so can position a brand as the whale in a pond instead of being a guppy in the Super Bowl and Olympics ocean.
Add in a well-constructed publicity program and sponsors of these sports can achieve major earned media year-round with sponsor identification, as well as the loyalty of a demographic that most brands want — young people.
