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Sports sponsorship: the need to seamlessly mix digital and on-field activations
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted December 23, 2024 | In Marketing Sportivo
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted December 23, 2024 | In Marketing Sportivo
Sports sponsorship: the need to seamlessly mix digital and on-field activations
The sports sponsorship represents an extremely effective marketing tool for companies, capable of creating deep emotional bonds with audiences through the passion and enthusiasm that characterize sporting events. However, to maximize the impact of a sponsorship, it is essential to find an optimal balance between online and offline activations. Focusing solely on digital could dampen the emotional component of the message, while a strategic combination of physical experiences and digital content provides a more complete and memorable experience.
The Balance between Online and Offline Activations.
Digital activations enable targeted outreach to large audiences, leveraging social platforms, video content and interactive campaigns for immediate visibility and measurable feedback. However, offline interaction-such as face-to-face contact, event attendance and hospitality activities-plays a crucial role in creating lasting memories and emotional connections with consumers. Studies indicate that firsthand experiences are more memorable than virtual ones. Sensory engagement and active participation generate emotions that stick in people’s minds. According to a report by Eventbrite, 78 percent of respondents prefer to invest in experiences rather than tangible goods, highlighting the importance of sports-related brand experiences in eliciting positive, shared emotions.
The benefits of field activations
Offline activations in marketing offer numerous advantages that complement and enhance digital strategies. These initiatives, which include physical events, traditional advertising campaigns, and direct interactions with consumers, have several strengths:
Emotional Involvement
Direct contact with the brand through on-field experiences allows fans to experience the brand in a tangible way. The excitement of attending a live race or participating in exclusive events creates indelible memories, strengthening the bond with the brand. Nielsen research shows that 81 percent of consumers trust sponsorships of brands during sporting events, underscoring the effectiveness of physical activations in building trust and brand recognition.
Networking opportunities and B2B relationships
Sports events such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix o MotoGP offer ideal platforms for hosting clients and partners in exclusive settings, fostering the development of business relationships and strategic partnerships. Hosting during these events enables companies to offer unique experiences to their stakeholders, creating opportunities to strengthen ties and generate new business opportunities.
Why focus on digital activations
Ability to amplify the message
Digital platforms allow brands to interact with millions of users, creating engaging and viral content. For example, sharing race highlights on Instagram or YouTube can significantly increase brand visibility. In addition, the ability to track all interactions and collect data on audience tastes and preferences allows brands to increasingly refine their marketing strategies.
Continuous Involvement
Online activations keep audiences engaged beyond the physical event, allowing fans to feel part of the brand story through updates, contests, and shareable content. This ongoing engagement is crucial to keeping attention high between events, fueling interest in the brand.
Creating Hybrid Experiences
Combining physical and digital elements can amplify the impact of sponsorship. For example, holding exclusive events during a Grand Prix with a digital storytelling component allows the experience to be extended to those not physically present, increasing the reach of the brand message.
Gamification and Interactivity
The use of gamification involves both physically present and online audiences. Sweepstakes that require participation via app or social media not only create immediate interaction, but also generate user-generated content that amplifies brand exposure. In addition, incentivizing the download of a dedicated app allows the brand to build a proprietary database of interested fans and consumers, facilitating direct and effective communication.
Measuring Success
Assessing the impact of online and offline activations through specific metrics is critical to optimizing strategies. While offline can be evaluated through participant feedback and quality of experience, digital offers data on engagement, reach, and conversions. Integrating this data allows for a thorough understanding of the effectiveness of the strategies employed.
In Closing
Sports sponsorship offers companies the opportunity to build strong relationships and create memorable experiences with audiences. An integrated approach that balances online and offline activations is essential to maximize the impact of sponsorship. Direct experiences and on-field activations, combined with effective digital strategies, can multiply the value of sponsorship by creating an authentic and lasting connection with consumers. For marketers, it is crucial to develop hybrid experiences where each activation contributes to building an engaging narrative for fans and the brand. With the right balance, sports sponsorships in motorsports can leave an indelible impression in the hearts of fans.
Riccardo Tafà
Managing Director for RTR Sports, Riccardo graduated in law at the University of Bologna. He began his career in London in PR, then started working in two and four-wheelers. A brief move to Monaco followed before returning to Italy. There he founded RTR, first a consulting firm and then a sports marketing company which, eventually, he moved back to London.
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Read MoreWhy choose RTR Sports Marketing
In an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
Save time and money
When first approaching a sponsorship or sports marketing project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Sports is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
The right information, the right choice
Sports is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the beating heart
Activations are the real heart of sports sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Objective measurements for a certain return
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
Sit back, relax, we’ll take care of it
We have been involved in sports sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
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