Milestone Brandcom launches Sports Marketing Division

Milestone Brandcom has extended its service offering through the line with the launch of Milestone Connect, an on-ground event, sports marketing and promotional marketing solutions division. Milestone Connect will focus on the experiential aspect of consumer marketing, playing a pivotal role in the consumer’s daily life that influences brand experience at various touch points.

Taking about this new initiative to exchange4media, Nabendu Bhattacharyya, Founder & Managing Director, Milestone Brandcom, said, “Cricket is the only common religion that Indians follow despite the diversity. However, the popularity of F1, soccer and tennis is also gaining traction with the Indian youth, who are the potential consumers today and the next 40 years. This high consumption power of Indian youth and increasing attraction towards sports is what makes ‘sports’ a religion that Milestone Connect will bracket together.”

He further said that the time was right with India rising on the global stage and worldwide marketers entering India, creating a healthy competing environment, which made logical business sense for Milestone to set up the experiential division as a natural extension in connecting with the consumer more meaningfully. “We see a huge and untapped potential to establish brands and delight customers by creating unique as well as practical and engaging experiences in public places, simultaneously integrating them into their digital social life. By creating such opportunities to interact with the consumers, Milestone Connect will drive marketing efforts that aim to create, stimulate and influence customer behaviour in the lighter moments of their life helping brands resonate emotionally and deliver measurable results,” he added.

To lead the new unit, Milestone Brandcom has brought on board Shivneet Singh as VP & National Head, Milestone Connect. Prior to this Singh was VP at Kidstuff (the promotional marketing arm of Mudra Max) and was responsible for North India & East India operations. With 18 years of rich experience in handling product launches, brand promotions, sports and events across a broad range of businesses. Singh has played an instrumental role in bringing brands to life both nationally and internationally. Singh has also worked with TIC-Integrated Marketing Solutions, CS Direkt Events & Exhibitions Pvt Ltd, Lemon Tree Media Pvt Ltd and Sporting Ambition.

“Shivneet’s appointment strengthens Milestone Group’s service portfolio significantly and will give a jump-start to the experiential marketing and brand promotions for Milestone Group,” said Bhattacharyya.

On joining the new division, Singh said, “Looking at the spirit and momentum of team Milestone I am all excited and geared up for the ‘Big Challenge’ to take-off Milestone Connect. My immediate task is to attract the best talent in the industry and spur Milestone’s growth trajectory to its natural level integrating events, sports and promotions with its proven capabilities in the OOH advertising space.”

Milestone Connect will cater to brand activation in an inclusive sense, connecting brands with consumers in the lighter moments of their life at diverse touch points – at malls, multiplexes, sports events or even cultural fairs and social gatherings, while they are having fun and are receptive to information which is creatively delivered. Their deliverables on sports arena is to create brand experiences at the event venue, on ground, managing sports celebrities, organising corporate tournaments around sports like golf, cricket, soccer, etc., including ownership of sports advertisement space rights.

Milestone Connect already has a 30-member team on board in Mumbai and Delhi and in the next 30-45 days they would be operational in five other metros (Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata).

SOURCE : http://www.exchange4media.com/OutOfHome/news

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NPD Releases Global Sports Estimate Report 2011

The NPD Group, Inc., a leading market research company, released the results of its fifth annual study on the global sports market, Global Sports Estimate 2011.

According to the Global Sports Estimate Report 2011, the worldwide sports market has returned to growth in 2010. Globally the sales of sports equipment, active apparel, and athletic footwear are valued at $ 315 billion USD (€ 226 billion) for 2010, which represents a four percent increase from 2009.

NPD’s Global Sports Estimate* Percent Change

2009 – 2010 4%
2008 - 2009 -2%
2008 - 2007 0%
2007 - 2006 4%
2006 - 2005 4%

*Estimate based on sales of athletic footwear, active apparel, sports equipment, and bicycles in USD.

“Sales of running, hiking/walking, and football/soccer products are the primary drivers behind this growth,” said Renaud Vaschalde, global sports industry analyst, The NPD Group, Inc., “Overall growth in the sales of footwear and bicycles out-performed apparel and equipment and as expected the 2010 World Cup helped the sport brands associated with it post growth.”

NPD’s Global Sports Estimate Report shows that there are now seven countries in which the sports market size exceeds 10 billion USD in 2010 and another 11 countries with sales estimates between three and 10 billion USD.

Countries with Sports Market Estimates* Over 10 Billion

USA
Japan
Germany
China
France
UK
Italy

*Sales at retail of Athletic Footwear, Active Apparel, Bicycles, and Equipment
(Countries ranked in dollar sales order)

Additionally, the Global Sports Estimate Report finds that products that are designed for sport use+ are less vulnerable to economic conditions than products that designed with a sport style++ focus.

“Sales of products that are for use in a specific sport (or sport use products) have held up pretty well despite the recession,” said Vaschalde, “It was only in Japan and Spain that there was a slight decline in the sales of sport use products during 2010.”

*Exchange rate calculation: 1€=$1.39

+ Sport Use is product designed for use in pursuit of a specific sport.
++Sport Style is product that incorporates features of sport specific product but has more of a fashion focus.

The survey: The NPD Group is now able to estimate the market size for almost all countries in the world. For the top 15 countries, NPD measures or estimates market size broken down by sport. For each sport within those countries, NPD estimates footwear, apparel, equipment, sales intended for sport use and sales NOT intended for sport use separately. The estimate covers the years 2010 and 2009.

Methodology: This study’s estimates of the global sports market’s size are based on The NPD Group, Inc.’s consumer panel tracking data, statistical projections, and the company’s extensive sports industry expertise. The NPD Group measures the athletic footwear and sports apparel markets in 10 countries, representing 70% of the global sports sales. For the remaining 30%, NPD estimates are based on assumptions related to Gross Domestic Product development.

About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food, home and office, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless.

SOURCE: http://www.prweb.com/releases

Best Uses of Digital Sports Technology Today

Digital technology has come a long way. At first the sports universe was hesitant but now they have embraced it with open arms.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Training camp is hard enough. The days are long and filled with practice, weight training, meetings, and watching game film. During their off time, players use the extra time to recuperate and study their oversized playbook.  For this season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff decided to get rid of the heavy binder and take advantage of technology.

Every player on the Buccaneers was handed an iPad2 with the entire playbook, team materials, and videos stored on it. Instead of being confined to a facility to watch film or dragging around a phonebook-sized playbook, players have the luxury of studying or analyzing game film at their convenience.

Another digital benefit is how easy it is to track the iPad2 compared to regular notebooks. If the iPad2 ever fell into the wrong hands or was misplaced, all of the information stored on the device can be erased with a simple push of the button.

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball has always been one step ahead of other leagues in embracing digital technology. A few of their achievements are:

• Streaming live games on their website in 2002
• Launching MLBlog.com in 2005
• Joining the iPhone app market in 2008

What is impressive about MLB is how innovative their ideas are and how hard they try to give their fans exactly what they want. For example, during the final three games of the 2010 season MLB and the Philadelphia Phillies test piloted the “At Bat” iPhone App which allowed fans to order and receive food without getting up from their seat.

During this current season T-Mobile rented out Android tablets to fans at Angel Stadium for only $10 per game. The goal was to give fans more options during the game. For the passionate fan this meant they could read the game program while the other fans could play Angry Birds between innings.

SOURCE : http://www.sportsnetworker.com/

Why Sports Marketing is proving to be the future

Lord Tim Bell is well-known as a maverick. He was a legendary adman at the founding of Saatchi & Saatchi and also Margaret Thatcher’s press adviser. Now herunsChimeCommunications, the biggest owner of PR agencies in the UK.

But he said something at Chime’s interim results recently that surprised many. He predicted that almost half of his business, which also includes ad agency VCCP, would come from sports marketing within a few years.

Bell’s sports marketing arm saw a 7 per cent boost in net revenues to £19.2m year-on-year. Indeed, right across the PR industry, revenues fromthe sports sector are bucking the generally sluggish trend.

So what is driving this buoyancy? In part it is the London 2012 bandwagon, with myriad brands trying to prove their sports credentials as the Olympics buzz comes to these shores. This stretches beyond official sponsors, and those with a natural “fit” such as Nike or Paddy Power, to the likes of Cadbury, Red Bull and even financial institutions.

With few entertainment vehicles still able to provide brands with young, engaged audiences on a scale they demand, big sporting events are becoming relatively much more powerful.

Digital media also make such events genuinely global. So we see savvy British sports consultancies opening outposts in destinations such asBrazil, which will host a World Cup and an Olympic Games within the next five years.

At a time of global unrest, it seems that sport provides a welcome diversion to consumers everywhere – and an increasingly lucrative opportunity for media operators with a background in the sports world.

SOURCE : www.independent.co.uk/news/media/advertising

Career in Sports Marketing

Who is a Sports Marketing Executive..??

Sports marketing executives are the people who usually handle the business side of sports. Some of them work for a league or sports association. Some others usually work for teams. Then there are also some who work on behalf of major companies; they manage promotional campaigns and sponsorships of domestic and international sporting events.

There are also some in the field of sports marketing who work as sports agents. As sports agents they represent professional athletes, and negotiate contracts and endorsements, and they otherwise simple manage an athlete's career.

Also in the field of sports marketing, there are some who organize sports-related events on behalf of sports organizations, associations, teams, or companies. There are many tourism offices and convention and visitors bureaus that hire sports marketing executives specifically to work and help a particular city lure important sports events and teams to the town.

In the near future the opportunities in the area of sports marketing in India are only growing. There are not too many sports marketing executives working specifically in the area yet, and therefore poses a large scope for growth.

Out of all the possible areas of work in the area of sports marketing, the most lucrative and untapped market in India is in the area of sports agents. Some of the specific duties of sports marketing executives working in any of the above areas include one or more of the following duties:

-Negotiating and preparing contracts for athletes
-Strategizing about how best to leverage sponsorship
-Planning and coordinating sports events
-Conducting market research and analysis
-Producing promotional material, including mailings and web-pages
-Talking with athletes and sports organizations about their needs
-Monitoring sports activities and new trends
-Overseeing the development of new merchandise and products associated with a team, player or a particular sport
-Overseeing the upkeep and maintenance of a sports facility
-Overseeing ticket sales

In order to get into this field in India, one might require a master's degree in business administration with an emphasis in sports marketing or sports management from one of the reputed colleges in India. There is no doubt that the most prestigious jobs with well-known organizations, teams, and companies go to people with MBAs.

However, there are of course smaller teams, organizations and agencies that often accept people with only a bachelor's degree in sports management or business.

 Sports marketing executives usually get ahead by gradually representing bigger, more important and more prestigious sports teams, companies, associations, and athletes. The jobs in the sports marketing field in India is expected to grow faster than average through 2012. This is because there is an increasing interest in sports in India.

SOURCE : http://www.indianchild.com/marketing/sports-marketing.htm

Sports marketing history and Future

Brief History and Trends in Sports Marketing

Sports marketing is a relatively new field and dimension within the broad concept of marketing. It is constantly evolving and changing today as society battles the free market to decide the legal and ethical boundaries of business today. It is import ant to note that this discipline within marketing is not clearly defined. Sports today utilize corporate sponsorships and television money in order to compete and pay for top quality athletes. Those companies use teams, leagues, colleges, and individual s to differentiate their products in a very competitive business environment. What constitutes sports marketing to one person could be considered "selling out" to some critics. The business world keeps pushing to find a competitive advantage an d the sports world has generally welcomed the money offered. Every level of sports from peewee leagues to the pros has been affected by the sports marketing trend. It will be difficult to point out where it all began or where we are today in the develop mental cycle, but that is still easier than figuring out what will happen to this emerging discipline.

Things to be careful in this field

Now the dangers of sports marketing are becoming more apparent as the business world dives into this domain sometimes without much research. The Fuzzy Zoellers, Latrell Spreewells, O.J. Simpsons, Art Modells, and Nike university contracts all point out important lessons to those in sports marketing. If you are associated with racist remarks, violence toward superiors, domestic violence, turning your back on a community, or unfair labor practices you stand to lose a lot more than you might gai n by sports marketing. It is important to research and understand individual sponsors, as well as have an out or behavior clause in contracts. No publicity is not only cheaper, but better than bad publicity.

No marketing plan is fool proof and celebrities are famous for reasons generally other than their perfection in hawking product. Some people even resent sports taking corporate money, even thought the athletes rarely mind. Money has given sports grea t things in the past 25 years and sports have paid huge dividends for companies who have invested wisely in sports marketing. For every Winston Cup or Air Jordan, there are at least as many ineffective sports marketing campaigns, and even some disasters such as O.J. Simpson.

The threshold for message clutter, consumer ambivalence, or worse yet contempt, could be fast approaching. Some sports have teams that are more overt in their corporate relationships than others. Watching 10 minutes of Washington Capitals hockey from the MCI center on HTS this January showed at least 24 different sponsors on the players, rink, stadium, etc. Then there are the commercial breaks. A highlight reel of a Georgia Tech basketball game that same night showed 6 obvious sponsors in only 60 se conds. Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of the infamous Blue Devils seems to be sponsor free, but if you look at their scoreboard there are several sponsors there. Of course a Notre Dame basketball game had only 5 corporate logos obvious in an entire half ( and most of them were put there temporarily by ESPN), but they have their own TV deal with NBC for football that may be all the cash they need. UNC has no obvious signage in Kenan Stadium or the Dean Dome, yet Eurosport and Adidas signs are common and ob vious at soccer matches. At UNC football games you can get Beefmaster hotdogs, Subway subs, Wendy’s Frostees, Cokes, Dominos Pizza, even if there are no big signs telling you their availability. Nike only gets to have the focus of every spectator on the ir products, and a few pages in the program (low key by some standards, but still very noticeable).

In the professional realm the NBA’s Indiana Pacers play at Market Square Arena and only about 5 sponsors could be seen even occasionally on the screen. On the other hand a NASCAR race would not be very easy to count the sponsors for two reasons: there are so many and the cars move so fast. Another interesting example is The Masters. They have just three sponsors and CBS can only run advertising from Cadillac, Traveler’s Group Insurance, and IBM. Dean Smith’s campaign to eliminate beer advertising f or Carolina Basketball games seems very possible when comparing the University’s bargaining power to the Masters.

Baseball teams in the Minors have outfields full of advertising. Now the Major leagues are catching up with Gap signs in the gaps of the outfield, in addition to the huge Budweiser signs seen all over the league. Look around Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, and you’ll see all sorts of signs. Disney’s California Angels advertise prominently all the corporations many interests like ABC, ESPN, and of course Mickey. The Dallas Cowboys are possibly the most interesting case; they have shunned the NFL’s c ontracts with Reebok and Coke. The owner Jerry Jones signed with Nike and Pepsi and since he owns the stadium, not the league, he can get around those league-wide contracts. Clutter is a risk when using teams like the Cowboys to market your products, bu t consumer sentiment towards this type of sponsorship could change as people become fed up with commercialization. It is important to be aware of the risk and in touch with the consumer when attempting to market through sports.

Today and the Future

The examples of pro teams with less than overexposed teams are likely to decrease. As for college athletics, that trend should not be the same. While it is financially responsible to take sponsors, it does not seem as positive in amateur athl etics as a rule. Colleges have alumni and interests other than merely winning at all costs. Colleges will not be where sports marketing trends will usually develop; they are more at the will of the public opinion towards sponsors, unlikely to take as ma ny risks as the pro organizations.

Sports Marketing has made its way into the budgets of many companies around the world. The stakes keep rising to get into this game and the returns may be diminishing. The importance of sport and how the consumer perceives its relationship with busin ess is very important. Sports and athletes are incredibly dependent on TV and endorsements today. Those sources of capital will pull back if the consumer becomes disillusioned with sports and ratings drop. The most recent NFL TV contracts were for more money than it would cost to buy every team in the league. Players salaries will hit limits at some point (probably when TV deals decline), and players will seek even more outside sources of income.

Sports marketing cannot grow at the pace it has forever, but it still has room to expand. The sports marketing trend’s success or failure will hinge on sports’ role in society in the coming years. Many issues arise everyday between fair play and big

money. Its important for a company to stay clear of the troubles sports can be a victim to, while it is important for sports to keep their integrity to stay popular with the people. It is important for sports marketers to increasingly police themselv es in order not to ruin an effective marketing tool and sport in general.

By:-Professors Andrews, Didow, and Peacock

Source :-http://www.unc.edu/~andrewsr/ints092/weikel.html