A BLOGPOST BY Robbie cop,Flying colours
Every time I elevator pitch business contacts and friends on what we do at Flying Colours, I almost always get a reaction that contains the word ‘fun’. No other industry drives so much passion and customer loyalty than the sports business. Is it thanks to its ability to create engaged communities, crosses borders so easily or because it talks directly to the heart? What are the challenges to it and where are the threats in a constantly disruptive world?
Marketing automation and technology today have the potential for sports clubs, brands and organisations to optimize engagement with existing and new fans monetizing growth of worldwide audiences. But there is more to it: technology also brings new challenges such as disruption, as traditional revenue flows are under threat and new rights and sponsorship models emerge.
In a growing industry going through a period of unprecedented change, we want to analyse and address what sports businesses and brands need to adapt and develop sustainable business models to ensure ROI in the rapidly growing world of tomorrow.
Based on research, interviews with industry experts and club stakeholders, five areas of focus can be identified for sports organisations:
- Understand market disruption
- Learn from other industries
- Deliver digital customer experiences
- Adopt the right technologies
- Secure enterprise capabilities
Let’s look at five recommendations in order to cope with the disrupting forces and how organisations must transform and adapt:
- Constantly evaluate the landscape – Fan and sponsor relationships change and disruption is the norm rather than exception in the sports industry
- Think and act like other industries – Look at less emotionally driven industries to adapt and see how they turn fans into loyal customers
- Deliver unparalleled digital customer experiences – Sports organisations must harness the power of technology to create compelling digital engagement to enhance fan and stakeholder experiences and conversations where ever they take place. Emotional connections are moving to digital environments
- Embrace emerging sports marketing technologies – Embrace new technologies, cloud and AI capabilities. Ask how your organisation can understand the right investment options that are going to drive the most value for your fans
- Secure your own enterprise capabilities – Sports organisations stake their global brand sponsorships and athletes’ reputations on the quality of the experience that they offer their fans. Technology is just one piece of the jigsaw; organisations need to transform in order to deliver enterprise capabilities and deploy innovation effectively