PRODUCT PLACEMENT - Good or Bad...

This area of Marketing is hardly EVER discussed. It's strange, because if it is done right and done well, then the results can be highly positive.

The most successful 'brand' to embrace this great form of advertising and Marketing revenue is Bond, James Bond. Bond is synonymous all over the world, so even a little glimpse of a product within one of their films can have a reach into the tens of millions.

Such brands that have been linked with bond include; Aston Martin, Martini, Heineken, British Airways, Perrier, Kodak, Calvin Klein, Sony Ericsson, Jaguar, Rolex and Omega - just to name a small handful.

The iconic brand of 'bond' has lapped up this idea of generating revenue and recouping a vast some of the costs of creating the films, allowing them to experiment with other methods of special effects or by getting a top line-up of actors and actresses, making it more appealing and drumming up a lot more hysteria and interest for the opening night.

However, this works for bond, but does this form of Marketing have a place within the sporting world??

Standard...

Well, the answer to that is - yes, it does. It has a vast attraction and can add value to the brands of the sport or sporting teams. Within the sporting industry product placement is actually termed as, Sponsorships, but it still has the same effect.

If you have noticed, sponsorship is huge within sport. Every professional sport or professional athlete will have some form of sponsorship.

On the other hand, it is a strange phenomena, as sometimes the sponsorships are relevant and sometimes they are completely irrelevant to the sports they are supporting. For instance, in the premier league, their kits are sponsored by a relevant sports clothing manufacturer, such as, Adidas, Nike, Umbro, etc, which makes huge sense.

It's not just the kit manufacturers that get involved it's big corporations that like to get a piece of this fruitful pie. A recent illustration of this can be seen with Wonga.com's partnership with Newcastle United FC, Darryl Bowman, Head of Marketing at Wonga.com, said on the partnership; "The [Premier] League has such a broad audience, and it's a massive platform to get your brand out there." (as reported in Marketing Magazine)

A fascinating example of this kind of sponsorship can also be seen with FC Barcelona and their shirt sponsor UNICEF. The arrangement that they have come up with has been the first in sporting history. They have struck up a sponsorship deal whereby they will advertise UNICEF, as they are a charity, for FREE.

You maybe thinking, how does that benefit Barcelona? Well, they get a huge amount of positive publicity. As Sports Marketers we have to get away from our monetary and financial approaches and think more outside the box, just like Barcelona have. The whole point of having sponsors and partners is predominantly to network in order to increase 'brand awareness'.

Subliminal...

A key thing to remember with any kind of sports advertising is that it needs to be snappy, colourful and eye-catching. Some examples are below:

 

Look and see how much advertising is within
this small image...



Smartly placed bottles of refreshments,
still including their wrappers...

You have got to be clever in the way that you approach having products placed within your sport. Supporters would be highly put off if it was crammed with advertising and logo's and slogans - it would get monotonous.

Celebrityisation...

Sports stars are no longer just athletes - they are now sporting stars. This is HUGE for sports, as each star carries their own brand with them.


David Beckham has not only been one of the best players to ever grace the England team, but he has established himself as his own brand. This drives clubs crazy. Clubs will fight for his signiture, as not only will he be a benefit and a good aquisition for the team, but he would bring his brand with him.

I hear you say,"bring his brand with him?"

Well, yes. According to The Richest, he is worth a staggering £160m ($260m), which is not just from playing football, but also from all the Sponsorship deals he has, with the likes of Calvin Klein, Armani, Adidas, Samsung and Diet Coke - just to name a few.

The Daily Mail reported earlier on this year that in 2011 David Beckham earned £13.3m in advertising and sponsorhsips, which shows, that no longer do sports and sporting clubs have the power - the athletes themselves now control not only their own destiny, but also that of the sport in which they compete.

In Summary...

A key thing to remember is to be selective. At the end of the day we have what all brands would love to have - a stream of supporters ready to engage with us, which means we hold ALL of the bargaining chips. Make it relevant or as irrelevant as you wish, but please remember, do not overcrowd your advertising material with sponsorship - that will not help you.

Sponsorships are key to any sport and are vitally important in either bringing in extra revenue or to increase the sports brand appeal or awareness. However, it is something that should not be taken lightly and when the time comes you will need to sit down with a cuppa, a notepad and have a good old think about it...

Football Business Awards 2012

On Thursday the 8th of November 2012, Chelsea FC played host to the inaugural Football Business Awards.

The evening was a delight and the venue was sumptuous and full of class. There were drinks and networking prior to the event in a lovely bar overlooking the immaculately kept pitch and goal posts. Then we were called into the lovely presentation area below the stadium where all the action was to take place.

Finding my seat amoungst the long, but impressive names of football, such as; Karen Brady, Bruce Buck, John Hollins, etc, it was most certainly humbling being in the presence of so many footballing icons. I was working for the London Football Association, networking and supporting the event at a local level; as The FA were supporting it on a national level. My seat was next to members of Sunderland Association Football Club, Martin Worrow (Supreme Engraving & Awards UK), Teamer and Zenit St. Petersburg FC. So, a very eclectic mix of people, which was enlightening. I must admit the conversation around the table was on a wide variety of topics.

"The Football Business Awards 2012 dinner was immensely enjoyable.  Besides giving us a forum to mix and converse with our colleagues, we were able to give due recognition to those in our industry who are at the top of their game." Bruce Buck, Chairman, Chelsea FC

The Evening was compaired by Sky Sports Presenter, Vicky Gommersall (left) and Comedian Ian Moore (right). Ian provided light entertainment prior to the awards, making the atmosphere very light-hearted and jovial, whilst Vicky, came on later in the evening to help announce and present the awards to the winners.

It was really nice seeing companies being rewarded for their Business initatives, and more specifically, their Marketing activities. A personal pleasure was seeing The FA win the award for Best Use of Social Media in Football, done for their efforts with the Women's Super League's social media activity - very deserved.

Above: FA representative collecting the Award for the 'Best Use of Social
Media in Football'.

The judges commented on their win by saying: "This was a very cost effective yet very impactful use of social media to tackle a very important challenge for the development of the women’s game which was sustainable over the whole season."

It was a night of celebrating the work of footballing companies who have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months to make the most effective Marketing Campaigns, Sponsorships and Brand Awareness to help their clubs grow.

Well done to all of the award winners (listed below) and here's to the Football Business Awards 2013 - watch this space...

WINNERS...

• Best Club Marketing Campaign in the UK - Winner: WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
• Best Business Serving Football (up to £2m Turnover) - Winner: STATSPORTS TECHNOLOGIES
• Highly Commended: PIGLETS PANTRY
• Best Use of Social Media in Football - Winner: THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
• Highly Commended: ARSENAL MEDIA GROUP
• Best Match Day Catering - Winner: AZURE part of ELIOR UK
• Best/Most Innovative Use of Technology by Clubs - Winner: MANCHESTER CITY FC
• Highly Commended: FC Internazionale Milano
• Best/Most Innovative Use of Technology (Football Business) - Winner: TEAMER
• Best Club Community Scheme - Winner: EVERTON IN THE COMMMUNITY
• Best Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme - Winner: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK "SEEING IS BELIEVING"
• Venue Team of The Year - Winner: THE AMERICAN EXPRESS COMMUNITY STADIUM - BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
• Best Club Marketing Campaign Overseas - Winner: CORITIBA FOOT BALL CLUB
• Best Business Serving Football (Over £2m Turnover) - Winner: CONTINENTAL TYRE GROUP
• Best Professional Service Business Serving Football - Winner: REDBOXDESIGN GROUP
• Best Retail/Merchandise Initative - Winner: ASTON VILLA FC
• Club Sponsorship/Partnership of the Year - Winner: MANCHESTER CITY/EA SPORTS (Circle Agency)
• Sponsorship/Partnership of the Year (Football Business) - Winner: BARCLAYS Spaces for Sport & FOOTBALL FOUNDATION
• fcbusiness Magazine Football CEO of the Year Award - Winner: KAREN BRADY

For more information on the awards - CLICK HERE, and for more information on any of the award winners - CLICK HERE.

Inbound Marketing UK 2012

On Tuesday I attended the Inbound Marketing UK 2012 Conference held at the Congress Centre in Central London.

It was an interesting day filled with a whole host of 'high profile' guest speakers, whilst keeping it very lively, with the use of a live twitter feed using the #imuk12 hashtag on Twitter, and keeping us active and involved in all discussions throughout the day, i.e. with the social media panel and the breakout sessions.

David Meerman Scott...

Keynote speaker at the event was none other than Marketing Strategist and Author, David Meerman Scott. He has flown over from his home in the United States, to chat to us all about the importance of Inbound Marketing. His keynote talk focused primarily on the Real Time aspect of Inbound Marketing, meaning that what ever we're doing it has to be Marketed there and then otherwise it would be lost to the sands of time.

Some of the key quotes that I noted throughout his talk were:

• "The biggest barrier that Marketers have towards Inbound Marketing is: FEAR."
• "On the Web you are what you Publish."
• "Companies plan so much for the future that they FORGET what is happening RIGHT NOW!!"
• "Real Time is a mind-set; Social Media are the tools."
• "News Jacking: Developing your real time mind-set so you can generate attention instantly."

Check out his blog HERE.

Check out his books HERE.

Paul Berney...

Next up onto the Inbound Marketing stage was Paul Berney. Paul is the Global CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association. His task for the 30 minutes allotted to him was to introduce and enlighten us to the world of Mobile Marketing - of which he did a grand job.

Paul provided various case examples of how effective mobile marketing can be, and to be honest with you, I was amazed at the variety and scope of stuff that you can do with this. Seriously folks, the mind boggles at the mere thought of producing such material. But what his talk actually did was narrow it down and refine the way of going about it. Which is FAB.

Here's a video of the award winning Chevy Game Time App:

Paul showed this video within his talk and as soon as I saw it I realised the power of Mobile Marketing. It's fascinating because the way I saw it, from a sporting point of view is that you don't have to be a lone ranger on this - in fact the more the merrier. I mean with the VAST amount of things you can do with Mobile Marketing, why not get your partners and sponsors involved too?? That way it creates a sense of synergy within your organisations, it definitely makes sense.

Some of the key quotes that I noted throughout his talk were:

• "Mobile has both caused and enabled an irrevocable change in consumer behaviour."
• "The change in consumer behaviour directs mobile marketing."
• "We are now more likely to trust each other than what BRANDS are saying."
• "Think like a Marketer: Aquisition, Retention and Brand Building."
• "Map the touch points and understand how mobile can extend and enhance, not replace other channels."
• "Once you have opened up Mobile as a channel it has to be done properly!!"

This talk was REALLY enlightening and definitely made me think seriously about mobile marketing. I think it's definitely something I can dip my fingers into.

For more on the Mobile Marketing Association CLICK HERE.

For more on Paul Berney follow him on Linked In - HERE.

Other Speakers...

    Mike Vole - Social Media                     Alex Balfour - Head of Digital Media London 2012

              Hubspot

       Jennifer Yorke - Hootsuite                                                       Frank Belzer

Breakout Group Topics...

First Breakout Session:

• Content and Content Marketing - Rob Lawrence, Will Corry and Emma Rudeck.
• Social Media - Jennifer Yorke, Robert van den Heuvel and Richard Young.
• Lead Nuturing and Marketing Automation - Richard Strange, John Hornell and Jenny Mone.

Second Breakout Session:

• Future Think: Personalising the Customer Experience - Graham Scholtka and Richard Strange.
• Convert: Mastering Landing Pages and CTA's - Daniel Lynton and Emma Rudeck.
• Internalise Your Marketing - Robert van den Heuvel and Steve Kermish.

Sponsors...

 

                Hootsuite                                            Hubspot

     Strange PR                                                                 Strange IM

Introductory Thoughts...

www.LondonFA.com

When I was first appointed as Marketing & Communications Officer for the London Football Association I was given a free-reign to tackle the Marketing issues and tasks that needed to be done.

This was most definitely daunting, as I had never had so much freedom given to me before. It was great, because I could tailor it to match me and my personality, however, it was also a lot of pressure put on my tiny shoulders; but as always, I love a challenge.

The first thing that I noticed was that I needed to get organised - and quickly.

There is no point in dilly-dallying when it comes to Marketing. In other words, ‘you snooze – you lose’, and rightly so. Gone are the days where it took weeks, or even months, to reach a company’s target audiences. Now it is done with a click of a button.

Marketing is now available for anyone and for anything - at anytime - this is a scary thought. If an individual can market themselves, then they can achieve celebrity like status, all by clicking a few buttons and posting some images or videos onto a website. This is seen with the dramatic rise to fame of a certain Justin Beiber. "While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber’s 2007 videos by accident. Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber’s school."

This shows how easy it is today to be spotted. That is the fantastic effect of self-marketing for the individual. It is the same within most industry’s, not just the music or sporting ones. Today many company’s are addopting these techniques in order to communicate on their audiences level and make sure they are easily found by them.

This change is great, as it has eradicated the elitest attitudes of marketers of the past, to a more free and democratic way of advertising and Marketing within todays society.Marketing has a much bigger role to play today, than it did yesterday. Instead of a two-way marketing strategy, as was the norm a few years ago, with companies targeting and using only either print media and using the same strategy within their online presence; they now have a much more multi-dimentional way of reaching the consumers of their advertising. Good marketers tend to embrace this fully and adopt a more broader and wider Strategy.

Ever Changing World...

You may have noticed - but nothing stays the same, and that is the same in the Marketing world.

Many contributing factors add to the changes within the social, and therefore, the Marketing worlds. One major contributing factor is the technicological age that we now find ourselves in. The old practices of Marketing have been made virtually redunadant with the introduction of new technologies, such as; social media, websites, RSS Feeds - the list is becoming endless in regards to the amount of tools now available to Marketers.

This is fantastic, as it has opened up so many doors for Marketers to be able to reach the people they are targeting. However, this is where a new problem arises - where one issue is solved - another one is created and put in it’s place. What Marketers now battle with are the ways, and the best way, to use these new tools. 

Another seperate area where the world is changing is with the economic situation. Today companies find themselves scrimping and saving at any opportunity and one area they see as expendable or available for cutbacks - is Marketing.

So, long gone are the days where Marketing Budgets range in the millions and individual projects are in the 10’s of thousands. Today it seems nonsensical to spend these vast sums on idealistic marketing programs that has a vast and very untargeted audience base, these are not needed. Instead a much more refined and thoughtful marketing program will have a bigger reach and, therefore, a much wider and well-rounded approach.

From the Old and in with the New...

David Meerman Scott’s key message in his book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" talks about the clear divide between the two practices of marketing - old and new. What he mentions is that the new practices have overtaken the old ways of Marketing. There are certain aspects to which I agree with in his book; as I mentioned previously, the world is forever changing, which means that we, as Marketers are forever having to adapt ourselves, our practices and therefore our strategies alongside this.

However, I don’t fully agree with what he is saying. There is no way that we can move forward without knowing entirely where we have come from.

David mentions that, "Organisations that understand the new rules of Marketing and PR develop relationships directly with consumers like you and me." This is true, by applying the new rules, you are providing a new and fresh approach towards the way that you engage with your intended audience.

Say I have a news story about a recent event that I held. I will adopt all of the new strategies, including; website, social media, links, blogs, etc, but I will not ignore the old and traditional approaches that have worked for so long, i.e. I will still send out a press release to my press contacts and I will still engage with the media, as well as with my target audience. Only then can you have a well rounded approach to your marketing practices.

David is right when he implies that the new practices are more relevant within today’s society, but in order to understand where we are going, we first have to understand where we have come from.　

Marketing Psychologies...

Before you start doing any form of Marketing activity sit down grab a Tea or Coffee and think about the type of person who you are trying to engage with. This is crucial to any and all Marketing programs and inicitatives - and the good Marketers do this frequently, and do it well.

You do not have to be a Psychology Lecturer/Professor to understand that if you can get into the minds of a group of people then you can tailor what you offer to meet their needs. It’s a win-win situation.

This is not static either - peoples views and opinoins change with the information that they are presented with, so well-informed and constructed content, either on your website or social networking sites will engage with them positively and have an impact on their individual decision making processes.

A fantastic use of this can be seen on the content driven site of Umbro. What it cleverly does is it gets into the mind of its target audience. There are no sales pitches or demands made of the reader. It is an interactive experience, with music playing in the background and videos of, not only athletes, but also celebrities wearing and talking about their products. At the top of the page the three headings are Shop Online, The Blog and About Umbro, making the navigation of the site simple and easy to use. Umbro’s social media is splashed all over their homepage, allowing potential customers to see how active they are being. However, they would not be able to act in an engaging way if they did not already have some preconceived notion about what it is that their consumers are wanting from them.

There is a need within Marketing to not only understand the mind of a consumer, someone who might be interested in what you have to offer, but also the mind-set of the athletes and participants of the sports that you are Marketing. In order to be successful with this you need to make sure that the knowledge that you have for this sport is top-notch and is regulary monitored and updated. This will provide a more approachable manner, therefore, your content will be considered more engaging.

All of these practices are really good at reaching the audience it is intended for. Now it’s your turn to put these into practice within your Marketing strategies/programs.

Until the next time Marketers - Happy Marketing...