Sports has emerged as the most preferred marketing tool, over celebrities, events and product placements in movies, music or art for Indian companies, according to a study conducted by SportzConsult, a Bangalore-based sports management company.
While popular sports such as cricket and football are still the top choices for marketers, many realise that it may not always provide the real bang for buck, especially if it is addressing a niche audience.
For many brands (more than 40 per cent of the respondents) an exclusive sport such as golf or traditional sports such as kho-kho and kabaddi are a much better way to engage the relevant target audience. Moreover, the heightened need for a healthy and active lifestyle among working professionals is making marathons more popular among brands.
Passion, youthfulness and the association with active lifestyle came up as the top attributes for choosing sports over other options. Nearly 75 per cent of the respondents favoured one of these attributes as the key driver for a sports engagement. Only one quarter of the respondents cited iconic nature of the sportsmen as the key reason for associating with sport. Given the fact that over 50 per cent of the population is under the age of 26, marketers believe that sports are the most attractive platform to engage their target audience.
Event sponsorships
While over 70 per cent of respondents count TV advertising spots as the main component of their engagement with sports, almost 95 per cent cited professional event sponsorships as the best option for brands looking at stepping up their reach among the target audience. While over 85 per cent of the brands used existing sports properties, 45 per cent of them had also created their own properties around sports as part of their marketing campaign. However, the survey also revealed the perception that creation of sports properties is risky, as against investments in popular properties.
The study was done with over a hundred senior marketing professionals across sectors such as FMCG, Automotive, Telecom and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance). Of this group, 83 per cent have already used sports in their marketing campaigns and 72 per cent have seen positive results. Of the brands that have not yet used sports as a marketing tool, 77 per cent have affirmed it as a course of action in the near future.
Jitendra Joshi, Co-Founder and CEO of SportzConsult, said, “Sports has the power to mobilise and motivate. In the coming years, brand managers have a huge opportunity to leverage the positive attributes of sports and earn better ROI on marketing spends. The growing adoption of sports for marketing among corporate India will be a win-win for both brands and consumers.”