Very few events can give you the kind of exposure a sporting
event can. As the leading financial services marketing agency,
we're looking at finance brands and sports sponsorship. Is it worth
it?
LIMASSOL, Cyprus, April 17,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Very few events can give
you the kind of exposure a sporting event can. Football undoubtedly
takes the crown for the highest viewership, with 3.5 billion avid
fans worldwide. That's massive brand exposure for finance brands.
Plus, sports sponsorship is also about making a psychological
connection. People don't just watch major sporting events, they
interact on social media throughout. Statistics reveal that 80% of
sports fans share their experience while watching live sports. And
it's this exposure, reach and psychological connection that lures
in finance brands. As the leading financial services marketing
agency, we're looking at finance brands and sports sponsorship. Is
it worth it?
How Finance Brands Have Capitalised on Sports
"The cost of sponsorship isn't just what
you pay to the team, it's also the cost of your marketing. If you
think the sponsorship is going to take care of your marketing,
think and budget again!" Contentworks Agency Niki Nikolaou
Visa is the official payment tech partner for the Olympics and
Paralympics till 2032. Citigroup also took the plunge in 2022,
becoming the founding partner of PARA SPORT, the International
Paralympic Committee's "grassroots-to-high performance" programme
that seeks to change the narrative about people with
disabilities.
Aside from maximising visibility and strengthening brand image,
sports sponsorships also build customer trust and loyalty. And
these benefits aren't restricted to finance giants who can sponsor
the largest and most expensive events.
UK-based Starling Bank, is now the official banking partner of
Team GB for the Olympic Games. Apart from giving Starling
international visibility, this sponsorship is also aimed at
aligning the brand with the values of teamwork and excellence that
the British Olympic team represents. Brokerage firm Plus500, which
started out as a back-of-shirt sponsor for Athletico Madrid moved
on to being their main shirt sponsor.
Some finance brands are also capitalising on the popularity of
sports personalities. For example, Poland-based XTB has signed former Spanish
footballer Iker Casillas and UFC
fighter Conor McGregor as brand
ambassadors. AvaTrade partnered with Usain Bolt, the famous Olympic
gold medalist.
Some of the most active financial services brands in terms of
sports sponsorships are Visa, MasterCard, PNC Financial Services,
Bank of America, Caixa Bank, American Express, Santander, HSBC,
Credit Agricole, and Citigroup, as of 2023. Sponsorships by the
payments sector alone were estimated at $2.5
billion as of June 30, 2023.
Unsurprisingly, soccer is by far the most popular sport for
sponsorships.
And while neither the sponsors nor the beneficiaries like to
reveal the financial terms of the deal, the cost can vary widely,
depending on factors like popularity and the type of deal. "To give
an extremely broad overview, packages range from $1 million for Global Partnership deals at top
European challenger clubs to over $50
million for top-level, premium uniform positions at the
Deloitte Money League's top clubs (e.g., Manchester United shirt
sponsorship / Barcelona shirt
sponsorship)," CEO and Founder of SportQuake, Matt House, told Finance Magnates.
Contentworks Agency Niki Nikolaou added "The cost of sponsorship
isn't just what you pay to the team, it's also the cost of your
marketing. You need an expert content marketing agency or a team of
writers, social media managers, designers, campaign managers and so
much more. If you think the sponsorship is going to take care of
your marketing, think and budget again!"
The choice of sponsorship really comes down to the region in
which you want to promote your brand. The UK, for instance, is home
to a massive football fan base. Barclays UK has partnered with the
Premier League for more than two decades now. When the Women's
Super League turned professional in 2019, the banking giant became
its first title sponsor.
A recently announced partnership is that of Exness with LALIGA
in Latin America. The brokerage is
using this strategic sponsorship to establish a strong foothold in
the burgeoning LATAM trading ecosystem. Latin America is home to legendary clubs, such
as Barcelona FC, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid. And LALIGA
brings together millions of fans from all across the LATAM region.
Drawing on LALIGA's impressive popularity, this landmark
sponsorship will boost Exness' reach in this key strategic region.
The Exness-LALIGA partnership will span the two seasons: 2023/2024
and 2024/2025.
Previously, PayRetailers, a leading payments processor in
Latin America, partnered with the
South American Football Confederation to be an official sponsor of
CONMEBOL Sudamericana. The PSP positioned themselves as experts in
the field for the LATAM region and with the tournament consisting
of 10 national teams – Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, it was a perfect match.
Measuring the Impact of Sports Sponsorships
According to Neilsen's 2022 Global Sports Marketing report,
sports sponsorships tend to drive an average increase of 10% in
purchase intent among the exposed fan base, along with an average
1-point gain in metrics such as brand awareness, and a 1% rise in
sales. However, less than 20% of corporate sponsorship executives
have a method to measure the ROI of sponsorships. To truly
understand the impact of such investments, consider using the
following metrics.
- Audience Reach: Understanding the demographics and size of the
audience your sponsorship will reach can help you customise
messaging for the greatest impact.
- Brand Exposure: This evaluates how prominently and frequently
your brand is seen throughout the sporting event, including on
athletes' gear, jerseys, stadium signs, etc.
- Social Media Engagement: Online dialogue is a major driver of
brand awareness and positive sentiment. So, the number of comments,
shares, hashtags, and, of course, likes on social media
matters.
- Sales and Revenue: Monitor any difference in sales,
registrations on your platform, and even inquiries as a direct
result of sponsorship.
- ROI: This is the difference between your investment in
sponsorship and the income generated consequently.
- Sentiment Analysis: How fans perceive your brand gives you
insights on whether the sponsorship has a favourable or
unfavourable impact on brand image. You can use social media polls
and sentiment analysis tools for this.
- Long-Term Impact: How long can your sponsorship impact consumer
behaviour? Measure the long-term connections forged and customer
loyalty.
Selecting the Right Sponsorship Opportunities and Campaign
The key is to align your business with not just the most popular
sport, but one that resonates with your brand image. So, listen to
your target audience and the sports team/club/athlete. Here's what
to keep in mind to optimise sponsorship opportunities.
Understand Your Target Market
Who do you want to reach through the sports sponsorship? Learn
about their demographics, media consumption patterns, needs,
aspirations, and behaviours. This will help you to identify which
sport or event can be the most effective in resonating with your
target audience and ensuring the widest reach for your message. For
example, with Barclays UK sponsoring women's football, it aligns
more with women.
Establish Sponsorship Goals
This means identifying outcomes that you want to achieve and the
metrics to measure the results. The most common objectives are
increased engagement, brand awareness, signups, and customer
loyalty. Set KPIs that will help you track and assess each of these
parametres to evaluate the effectiveness of your sponsorship.
Remember to also focus on long-term goals and not just immediate
monetary outcomes.
Research Sponsorship Opportunities
This goes beyond shortlisting available sporting events over the
next year. Be sure to thoroughly research the leagues/clubs, teams,
individual athletes, audience profile, size and reach. Plus, you
will need to check out the sponsorships packages available, and the
costs and benefits of each package.
Finalise the Agreement
Once you've decided who you want to partner with, it's time for
some hard negotiations to finalise the deal. Start by communicating
your needs and expectations clearly. Next, work out the terms and
conditions of the partnership that both parties can agree upon.
Make sure the agreement specifies sponsorship assets, rights,
deliverables, duration, exclusivity, payment, and clauses of
termination. It helps to also insert a contingency plan to stay
prepared for the unexpected that could impact the sponsorship. In
terms of financial services content marketing, you should
understand exactly what you can say, who you can mention and how
often.
Build Your Marketing Campaign
Once the sponsorship is agreed on, you need to activate it with
the most impactful marketing strategy that will give you more bang
for your buck. Large football clubs, F1 and tennis will provide you
with a library of approved images and videos that you can and
should utilise.
Monitor Progress
Make sure you track the campaign, collecting and analysing data
as it unfolds. This will help you tweak the campaign to best
achieve your KPIs. Identify what's working and what isn't to gain
insights on future sponsorships and campaigns too. Remember to
monitor audience sentiment too. Many finance brands post and walk
away, but listening is a significant part of social media
management.
Learn The Rules
Just because you become a sponsor doesn't mean you can do and
say whatever you want in your marketing campaign. Sports teams and
events have very specific rules and guidelines for sponsors. Even
the less popular or smaller teams and events will have guidelines
about what you can include in your marketing campaign. This can be
posts, images, captions, hashtags, tags and much more.
Contentworks Agency has wide experience building and
implementing marketing campaigns for leading finance brands
worldwide. Book a free Zoom call to align your marketing
strategy.
Media Contact
Charlotte Day, Contentworks
agency, 357 25103639, hello@contentworks.agency,
www.contentworks.agency
Twitter, LinkedIn
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