Thursday 14th April
With major sporting events like the Rio Olympics and UEFA Euro 2016 tournament on the way, now’s a good time to think about how your sports brand can capitalise on the inevitable rise in fervour. At Kru Live, we would be happy to supply brand ambassadors who, with their skills and enthusiasm, can significantly help you in this aim – and here are some tips for how you can reap as much benefit as you can from these ambassadors.
More sports have shook off the ‘niche’ tag
For a start, you probably don’t have to fret about the possibility that the sport your brand represents is too niche to be worth a fresh, dedicated campaign on your part. Paul Saville, joint managing director at Wasserman Experience, has pointed out that the UK public’s interest in lesser-known sports has grown as a result of the success of the Olympics and similar multi-sport events.
He remarked: “Brands can now shift their focus from tier one sports, such as football and rugby, to other sports such as athletics and cycling.” He added that the greater variety of sports enjoyed by fans has also widened not just the number of revenue streams, but also the platform through which brands can communicate with and engage fans. Saville observed: “Brands can now almost own the space and become synonymous with these sports.” So, if you’re promoting a more obscure sport, don’t be afraid to be adventurous.
Social media: a powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal
From the generous choice of event staff that we offer, you can readily choose ambassadors capable of meeting even highly specific needs for the marketing of your sports brand. These can include ambassadors who are social media savvy – people who you could come to heavily rely on this year in particular. With most of this year’s significant sporting events occurring outside of the UK, many fans on these shores will turn to social media to keep regularly updated on what’s going on.
So, setting up special Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for your campaign can help you to more directly connect with fans. Another good incentive to do this is being able to get around the ad blockers which many millennials now use as a matter of routine. In fact, 70% of people in this demographic now block irrelevant banner ads posted online by brands; you don’t want to spends lots of time on a campaign that few young people will even see.
Draw brand ambassadors from outside the world of sport
Brand ambassadors that we supply for your company certainly don’t have to be primarily active in the world of sport to be effective in promoting your sports brand. Just look to the example of Nike, which has model Karlie Kloss as a brand ambassador, and Under Armour, the products of which are often fronted by model Gisele Bundchen. Using ambassadors not strongly associated with sport could also have the advantage of helping you to reach out to people other than hardened sports fans.
