Keynote: Sports Brands. Digital Business Course, Laurea University of Applied Sciences. 5.11.2015

Digital Business Course:Sports BrandsLaurea University of Applied Sciences, November 2015

DR. ARTO KUULUVAINEN, M3 RESEARCH A/[email protected]+358 40 538 7515

Who is Arto Kuuluvainen?• Background in Academia (Turku, Strasbourg)• Now working for M3 Research A/S (& advising SK Motio Finland Oy)• PhD (2011, International Business, Turku School of Economics)• Family traditions & work experience in sports and sports business• Creator of one of the first university-level sports management

courses in Finland • Expert interviews given to numerous medias (f.ex. Yle, Yle Puhe and

MTV3.• Blog: Urheilujohtamisen sekatyömies (http://kuuluvainen.blogspot.fi

/)

@kuuluvainen

Fan = consumer?

1. Sports Clubs and Brands

The most valuable sports teams (Forbes, 2015)

1. Real Madrid, Football, 3.26 billion dollars2. Dallas Cowboys, American Football, 3.2 billion dollars3. New York Yankees, Baseball, 3.2 billion dollars4. FC Barcelona, Football, 3.16 billion dollars

Most important income sources for sports clubs

• Media deals (f.ex. NFL’s network deals worth over $5 billion a year, not including its $1.5 billion-a-year pact with DirecTV. The English Premier League has $2.7 billion-a-year pact with Sky; +70% compared to previous deal.)• Sponsorship (in Finland usually appr. 70 % of club’s income,

globally the share is clearly lower)• Merchandise• Ticket sales• New sources f.ex. NFL & Yahoo -partnership (streaming services

) and Fantasy games.• How to monetize social media?

BUILDING BRAND EQUITY IN A SPORTS CLUB(Gladden et al. 1998)

Brand identities; Espoo Blues vs. HIFK (Helsinki) (Jokinen 2013)

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2. Athletes as brands

2. Athletes as Brands

The most valuable athlete brands (Forbes, 2015)

1. Tiger Woods (Golf) $ 30 million2. Phil Mickelson (Golf) $28 million3. LeBron James (Basketball) & Roger Federer (Tennis) $27 million4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket) $21 million

Athlete as a brand• ‘ A unique, distinctive combination of unplanned and planned factors that mark out a player

as being different to other players thus enabling the immediate identification of the player and the activities in which they are involved’. (Burton & Chadwick 2008)

- However, unlike other brands and/or products, people are unique. It is difficult to imitate and impossible to replicate brands such as Ronaldo or Beckham

- Athlete brands are relatively short-living brands and ageing of the athlete will change these remarkably.

- Good theoretical framework for understanding superstar-brands in sports: TOPSTAR (Chadwick & Burton 2008)

- Case Teemu Selänne: http://

kuuluvainen.blogspot.fi/2015/01/henkilobrandin-anatomia-kirurgin.html

3. How companies can utilise sports in branding?SOME EXAMPLES

Case: Red Bullhttp://kuuluvainen.blogspot.fi/2015/03/tarina-punaisesta-harasta-miten-red.html

Case Jokerit & Huawei AUTUMN 2015

Activation examples1. Launch (3.8.2015): https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRbKqnufXe4

Activation examples, Autumn 2015

Social Media Activations, Autumn 2015

What was the role of sponsorship activation in increased sales?

More examples:• Unicef & Gothia Cup (CSR): #sweatforwater

• Rugby World Cup:http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1364494/rugby-world-cup-2015-brands-getting-action

The Future? (PwC 2015)“The interest of club sponsors, suppliers and broadcasters in knowing a fan’s daily habits, food preferences and other preferences will help clubs to derive greater value from their contracts, as well as enabling them to enter into new partnerships.”

“Hyper-targeting” will become the new norm for fan engagement: fans will have customised access to the official club application with special content display on their favourite stars, merchandise wish-lists and an interest-based, categorised news section.”

Role of social media Still increasing!