{"id":238036,"date":"2019-07-16T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/sports-marketing-sports-communication-story-began\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T03:37:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T01:37:52","slug":"sports-marketing-sports-communication-story-began","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sports-marketing-sports-communication-story-began\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports marketing and sports communication: how the story began"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back to basics to find out the meaning of two phrases that are often used mistakenly:\u00a0sports marketing<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0sports communication<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What is marketing<\/strong> exactly? Although it may sound banal to say or to repeat, this is a very commonly used term in many different contexts, which tends to be misused by sector operators too.\u00a0 I firstly came across marketing when I started reading the books by the father of modern marketing,\u00a0Philip Kotler<\/strong>, who defined marketing as follows back in 1967: \u201ca social and managerial process directed at satisfying human needs and wants through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit<\/em>\u201d. In Kotler\u2019s view, companies become marketing-oriented<\/strong>, in other words they can somehow listen to and understand the market, identify still unfulfilled needs and respond to such needs with an appropriate and competitive offer of value. The next step is marketing strategy<\/strong>, i.e. how to tackle the market and one\u2019s own target effectively for a profit.<\/p>\n

What about sports communication?<\/h2>\n

How is sports marketing linked to sports communication? The link consists in the fact that the marketing mix<\/strong>\u00a0(i.e. the set of tools a company uses to promote its product(s) in fulfilment of its objectives) also contains sponsorship<\/strong>\u00a0or, as many define it, sports communication<\/strong>. Depending on the budget at hand for the promotion of the brand, a company may decide to invest in an advertising campaign<\/strong> divulged via various media (the television, the press, the radio, the social media, billboards, posters, etc.), or in\u00a0public relation activities<\/strong>\u00a0(events, congresses, meetings, exhibitions, etc.),\u00a0and in\u00a0promotional activities and sponsorships<\/strong>, i.e. commercial agreements by which the sponsor (company) acquires\u00a0the rights to use the image of the sponsored party<\/strong> (for instance, a soccer club, a motorcycle team or an athlete) with a view to promoting its products.<\/p>\n

Good reasons to go for sponsorship<\/h2>\n

As explained above, sponsorships<\/strong>\u00a0are a promotional form that companies use to involve their target. Agencies<\/strong> exist that specialise in sports marketing<\/strong> or in\u00a0sports marketing<\/strong>\u00a0and communication<\/strong> and provide specific consultancy services to companies that are willing to use sport as a marketing and communication tool. Why? Firstly, because sport is passion. We all follow or practise one sport, normally a sport that thrills us. Soccer,<\/strong>\u00a0F1,<\/strong>\u00a0MotoGp,<\/strong>\u00a0tennis,<\/strong>\u00a0the\u00a0Olympic Games,<\/strong>\u00a0swimming, athletics \u2026\u00a0<\/strong>I bet we all have, at least once in our lives, found ourselves with our eyes stuck on the TV set watching a sporting event or supporting our idol. Whenever we follow our sport favourites, or when we watch a movie or a show, advertising breaks bother us<\/strong> – a lot, indeed. The logo of a company on the jersey of a soccer player or similarly the logos on the fairing of motorbikes or the overalls of riders or skiers are no bother at all, instead. They are part of the show we are supporting and they very often contribute to its success. The relationship between the sport we follow and\/or the team we support and sponsor companies is positive and we are very likely to remember the brand when we go to the supermarket to buy a product.<\/p>\n

Over and beyond the displayed logo<\/h2>\n

There is far more at stake than a logo on a jersey, on a car or on the edges of a soccer pitch<\/strong>. Sponsorship offers the opportunity to use all marketing rights<\/a> that a company has purchased. For instance:<\/p>\n