A.C.T.

As we entered a new decade in January 2020, many people around the world were looking forward to a bumper year of sports events. The Tokyo Olympic Games and EURO 2020 hosted by 12 different countries are stand out events on the sporting calendar. Not to mention all other annual sporting events that form part of the sports business. Fast forward two months and the coronavirus has changed our lives in ways we could never have anticipated.

The events of the last few weeks make it difficult to focus and write this piece. I was due to attend  the SponsorLive conference in Brussels last Thursday with 250 sports marketing and sponsorship professionals, which has been postponed until a later date. A sensible decision but one that leaves me with less content than I was hoping to share with you in Chapter 14.

Does it even make sense to continue this monthly tradition I started some three years ago in light of the challenges we face with coronavirus? Eventually I came to the conclusion it would still make sense to share a few thoughts about action marketers can take when the virus has been contained or reduced and we can safely attend sports events and other social activities we enjoy.

Avoid short-termism

No doubt there will be many brands keen to recover lost trade due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, just like building a brand, a longer-term approach will achieve better results. In comparison to the human cost, any impact on the sports and entertainment business is almost irrelevant. Sports events will be canceled or postponed and there will be consequences but players, fans, media, sponsors and partners will return once it is safe to do so and if they are not exploited by over commercial brands. Don’t head straight to the contract or sponsorship agreement and see what compensation can be secured. Explore mutually rewarding solutions that will extend the partnership, not destroy it.

Cultivate the community

Most sports fans visit a live match or watch media coverage due to the appeal of the event, the players, the competitive nature of sport and the like-minded community they feel part of. Without the ability to engage around the central attraction of an event, maintaining the interaction of the community is still key. This was captured recently in a statement by Emmet Shear, the co-founder/CEO of Twitch, the live-streaming platform for gamers. Shear said “We thought we were starting an entertainment business, and it turned out we were starting a community-orientated business.” The loss of revenue from ticket sales, corporate hospitality, merchandise and sponsorships will be challenging but without cultivating the fan community, the recovery task will be much harder. Reconnecting with loyal fans and followers will be easier than replacing them in the short term so create favourable conditions to help fans remain part of the community – even without live events.

Test and learn

It is hard to imagine there could be any good coming from this coronavirus outbreak. Yet, we will have to ease back into work and explore new ways of engaging current and future customers. Digital first strategies or direct-to-consumer are often associated with challenger brands. In the US, Snapchat and NBC are planning their third partnership around the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, following Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 where more than 44 million Snapchatters engaged with curated stories, behind the scenes content, athlete snaps, filters and AR lenses. Now is the time to test and learn with different technologies to engage and enrich the fan experience. Online video has been a major growth area in recent years. In 2019, globally there was growth of 28% to 864 million subscriptions of online video services across the entertainment industry. Sport, like movies and TV shows has great content that can be used 24/7 all year round to create and extend dialogue with and amongst sports fans.

Whatever your thoughts and challenges over the coming months, when the time is right we can all use sport as part of the recovery process. As Nelson Mandela famously said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”

Be safe and take good care.