Introduction
Communication has various forms and Advertising is one of them for organizations. The most important thing for the marketing manager is to target the immense range of people. Thus, in this contemporary business era, effective communication by using advertising in sports has become the best option for organizations. From retail to manufacturing, trends of communication in different sports events is integrated. It is an era of digital communication in which different firms are using internet technology to position better in the minds of customers. Organizations are using effective communication policies through advertising to influence those viewing professional sports, specifically the NFL, NBA, MLB and college football. This report is a comprehensive analysis of digital communication through advertisement in professional sports along with some key insight and its impacts.
Digital Advertising in Sports
Trends in communication with customers have changed with time. The journey of traditional communication to digital communication is interesting due to its remarkable response and impact on the business process. Digital communication using advertisement is a modern marketing technique for companies; however, it has become a key business function. At different sports events, firms use social media platforms, search engines, content marketing, blogging, video marketing, pay per click and the search engine optimization facilities for enhancement of the visibility of the communication (Armstrong, 2017).
Millions of people watch professional sports, and companies are using digital platforms to attract them. The digital communication is different as compared to the traditional communication and advertisement campaign. For instance, the technology company may use the sports content for the advertising of its services to the customer. People can view live score and analysis along with other sports contents. It seems to force people to use their products or services, as value is to be created by depicting the event detail. In this modern era, people usually use internet technology to watch live sports events. With their busy schedule, they do not have enough time to sit home and watch the event live on TV. Live event streamlining or broadcasting has changed the intention of people, and it created the space for organizations to communicate with customers effectively. During the live streaming on different digital channels, digital marketing traits, mentioned above, are used. Thus, it seems a cheaper way to contain the advertisement, and it also leads towards the immediate response of the customers. Organizations usually know the favorite sports event of people, and accordingly, the management targets these people (Bilos & Galic, 2016).
Global Digital Sports Sponsorship
Global Sports sponsorship is increasing. Traditionally, sports sponsorship was limited to ground advertisement and video campaigns on television. Now, online platforms come into the life with their significant impact. The live sport provides opportunities for organizations to explore its brand worth and reach. They can reach maximum customers. When people become fans of sports due to competition and unity, the intervention of digital communication or advertisement seems mandatory. People are using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to watch live sports events. It has been revealed that 80% of people are using social media channels. It creates newfound opportunities for firms (Kunz, Elsässer, & Santomier, 2016). These firms are using attractive visuals and a-few-second videos before starting the event video. It seems a robust advertising process as well, which is attractive for people. Attractive simulations of different products and services during the event video fascinate people, and ultimately, customers usually make buying decisions. The most important thing is to target the digital media channel, which has the broadest reach. For Instance, YouTube has become the main target for the advertiser. Based on the user behavior, they like to set the frequency of ads in the live game video. It seems important to integrate with the tuning habit of the people, and accordingly set the frequency to drive the utmost viewership (Gijsenberg, 2014).
Examples
According to observations, it has been revealed that the NFL viewership is decreasing due to many factors. However, due to the significance of digital ads, the total ad revenue is still increasing. The per unit ad price is rising, and it also helped to increase the ad revenue. Marketers score big from the digital advertisement during the peak seasons (Pyun & James, 2011). For Instance, with live NFL data, marketers are targeting people who are using smartphones to watch live football leagues. Geo-targeting has become a powerful tool for the advertiser in the digital marketing/communication process. In the national football league, companies’ assess the region and related teams and feature their local teams in events. It helps to better contain the brand positioning (Hing, Russell, Thomas, Lamont, & Vitartas, 2017). Thus, it can be said that digital advertisement/communication has increased its significance by offering the feature of customized advertisement to attract more customers.
On the other hand, from the perspective of sports teams and athletes, it is beneficial, as they can have good sponsorship as well. Furthermore, these organizations offer to develop a dedicated marketing strategy for the advertisers as well. For instance, the NBA has also created a digital media communication strategy for advertisers. NBA allows marketers to come up with some pre-roll commercials. It is a video ad, which is to be run before the live video, especially in NBA finals. During the live streaming on Netflix, organizations target customers, especially those who like to watch thrilling contests (Hing, Russell, Thomas, Lamont, & Vitartas, 2017).
Amazon is in the limelight, as it is intended to streamline sport. The management team is in talks with the NFL, NBA, and MLB. The purpose is to reach new customers and make different segments accordingly. It is a big opportunity for the company to create its digital platform to streamline videos and run different ads regarding its products and services. The premium package is introduced to integrate with the new communication or advertisement trends. Amazon competes with Yahoo and Twitter, as these companies are streamlining live videos for the audience of the position better in the minds of customers, as far as their service is concerned (Hsiang-Ta, Yi-Chih, & Tzu-Ying, 2017).
Digital Advertisement Benefits
Now, relative to the benefits of communication by using digital advertisement, the biggest benefit is brand awareness. It is a fact that marketers are leveraging market benefits from different sports teams and athletes. Interestingly, digital advertisement in different sports events enables rapid customer engagement. Thus, the visible or prominent benefit that companies such as Google, Amazon, and Toyota are in the shape of gaining the engagement of a million customers. Comparatively, digital advertisement/communication increases the return on investment. The advertisement money is to be invested effectively in getting some remarkable returns (Kim, Seo, & Chang, 2017).
When watching NFL, NBA, and many other leagues on online media channels, companies work on increasing the excitement around the brand. People are already excited due to their sports events, and it is a good opportunity to target these customers and get them more excited. The big advantage that the company can gain is the frequency of ads in the live event. Thus, through excitement, the company can contain emotional and sentimental attachments with millions of customers. Another benefit of digital advertisement/communication is driving the website viewer. In this digital commercial, companies usually depict their websites for information. Ultimately, it drives the sales, as comparatively, it is much faster and more massive than the traditional advertisement (Pitt, Thomas, Bestman, Daube, & Derevensky, 2017).
Television Contracts
As compared to television ads during live events, digital ads are cheaper. For Instance, the NBA and its broadcasting partners are looking to increase the contracts to generate more ad revenue. The main broadcaster ESPN holds a billion-dollar contract to run different ads. Thus, it seems expensive for different organizations to make a deal with the media broadcasters during the game season. The NBA contract with ESPN, ABC, and TNT is $24 billion. The broadcaster for NHL (NBC) contains the contract of $2 billion. Similarly, Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN are the broadcasters for the national football league, and these have a contract of $27 billion (CBC Sports, 2014).
Radio Contracts
The radio contract with sports companies is cheaper. Similarly, advertisers have to integrate with the best radio broadcaster that facilitates the maximum frequency of audio ads. Still, millions of people are using the radio as powerful media to listen to live commentary (Söderman & Dolles, 2015). Thus, the positioning can be enhanced through audio ads of different products and services. However, it is still expensive as compared to digital advertisement contracts with sports companies.
Strategically using Advertising Money
In this digital race, it is important for the company to use the advertising money strategically. The best thing that the company can do is search for the right online media channel. The company or market experts can forecast the user traffic for viewing different sports events and make the deal accordingly. From the advertisement content to the frequency of the commercial, the company can estimate the expected return on investment. Thus, strategically investing money in digital advertisements is a better way to derive some predictable outputs (CBC Sports, 2014).
Conclusion
In the end, it is concluded that digital communication through advertisement has helped companies to accelerate the customer communication process. In this digital era, it provides a great opportunity for companies to use different sports events, especially international events, for their marketing purposes. Companies are increasing sales and targeting different customer segments successfully by using digital communication as compared to traditional campaigns on traditional media channels. Sport is a powerful source to power up the brand strategy, and companies are quite up to it.
References
Armstrong, R. (2017). Television is the New Television: The Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital Age. Canadian Journal of Communication, 42(1), 172-175.
Bilos, A., & Galic, T. (2016). The Role Of Digital Marketing In University Sport: An Overview Study Of Higher Education Institution In Croatia. Ekonomski Vjesnik, 29(2), 453-465.
CBC Sports. (2014, October 7). NBA TV deal: How the new $24B contract stacks up against other leagues. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba/nba-tv-deal-how-the-new-24b-contract-stacks-up-against-other-leagues-1.2790143
Gijsenberg, M. J. (2014). Going for gold: Investigating the (non)sense of increased advertising around major sports events. International Journal of Research in Marketing; Amsterdam, 31(1), 2-15.
Hing, N., Russell, A. M., Thomas, Lamont, M., & Vitartas, P. (2017). Bet Anywhere, Anytime: An Analysis of Internet Sports Bettors’ Responses to Gambling Promotions During Sports Broadcasts by Problem Gambling Severity. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(4), 1051-1065.
Hsiang-Ta, C., Yi-Chih, T., & Tzu-Ying, W. (2017). A Study on the Impacts of Endorser Type and Involvement Level in Large-Scale Sports Events on Endorsers’ Credibility and Advertising Effectiveness. Advances in Management, 10(10), 6-17.
Kim, T., Seo, H. M., & Chang, K. (2017). The impact of celebrity-advertising context congruence on the effectiveness of brand image transfer. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, 18(3), 246-262.
Kunz, R. E., Elsässer, F., & Santomier, J. (2016). Sport-related branded entertainment: the Red Bull phenomenon. Sport, Business and Management, 6(5), 520-541.
Pitt, H. 1., Thomas, S. L., Bestman, A., Daube, M., & Derevensky, J. (2017). What do children observe and learn from televised sports betting advertisements? A qualitative study among Australian children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41(6), 604-610.
Pyun, D. Y., & James, J. D. (2011). Attitude toward advertising through sport: A theoretical framework. Sport Management Review, 14(1), 33-41.
Söderman, S., & Dolles, H. (2015). Unlocking advertising, activation and sponsorship in an emerging market: The case of Beijing Olympics. Sport, Business and Management, 5(5), 472-492.
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