I found this article in Forbes and wanted to talk about it before it was too late. Sports marketing is a personal interest of mine and this piece does a great job of showing how sponsors of the U.S. Open do more than just plaster their logos around the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
Tennis, like golf, attracts a high net worth fan. While most companies leverage their sponsorship of a sports event or team through venue signage, the U.S. Open is an event that warrants a more interactive approach.
"Marketing is getting more experimental, more aggressive and more direct," says Andy Glaser, brand director at Heineken USA, who adds that the four annual tracking studies the company performs show that its U.S. Open sponsorship improves its recall with customers. In addition to its Red Star Cafe sampling site, the company is unleashing vendors with funky-looking space age backpacks to dispense Heineken beer to fans in the seats.
I like this tactic - why not be proactive in getting your product into the hands of potential customers? Especially when a high concentration of your target market is in a setting that fits well with the brand attributes you want to highlight.
I hope more sports sponsors take this interactive approach. The Fan Fests are nice, but let's see more experiential attempts that allow consumers with a more enriching experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment