IMG World Congress: Effective Ideas A Cornerstone Of Marketing

Woodward Stresses The Importance Of Fresh Ideas In Sports Marketing

While the science of return-on-investment measurement is important, the ability to develop effective ideas remains the cornerstone of sports marketing, brand experts said yesterday during a panel at the IMG World Congress of Sports presented by SportsBusiness Journal/Daily entitled “Sports Marketing Roundtable: Value, Partnerships and Returns.” MillerCoors VP/Marketing Services Jackie Woodward said, “At the risk of sounding heretical, the science is very important, but the reason all of us got into this business is because of the art. I don't want to lose the creativity, the ideas and the inspiration that bring sports to life for consumers because at the end of the day the ideas create momentum and the momentum does create sales.” EPL club Arsenal Chief Commercial Officer Tom Fox agreed and added that every brand continues to try to quantify its sports investments against the objectives it sets, but the only way to understand the full effect is to analyze the collective effects of an activation from corporate morale to distributors to retailers to consumers. Fox: “Results are what matter. If you've got good marketers who know what drives their business, who know which set of the consumer market they're talking to, who know exactly how they want to talk to them and what's going to work, you can put a variety of tactics in there and find success.” Callaway VP/Sports Marketing Nick Raffaele said that to achieve that, marketers have to filter an array of ideas and possibilities and stay on task. He added, “The thing we talk about always is -- how does that line up against our ladder of objectives? If it doesn't fit and it's more of an idea, you just have to set off in an idea box and come back and use it later.”

Mater Says Red Bull Saw Sales Increase Despite Down Economy

RIDING OUT THE RECESSION: The recession affected each of the panelists' businesses differently. Woodward said that Coors Light and MillerCoors took share last year; Fox noted the U.K. remains in a recession; Raffaele said Callaway trudged through without having to make major marketing cuts; and Red Bull Head of Sports Marketing Chris Mater said the energy drink's user base grew and its sales increased while its heavy users cut back on consumption. Woodward said the beer category is directly affected by unemployment, which among MillerCoors drinkers is more like 17% than 10%. But she said efficiencies that resulted from the merger between Miller and Coors helped the company gain share in a tough economy. Woodward: “The scale play we have been able to make in media defined 2009 for us.” Fox said that Arsenal had not been out in the market selling aggressively, which was probably a good thing because marketers in the U.K. are “probably a little more reticent to spend” right now. Raffaele said the company's decision to cut its sports marketing in '05 and '06 as part of cost restructuring helped the division avoid making major sports marketing cuts '08 and '09. Raffaele: “Our values were in line and we lowered some of our costs in athlete endorsement.”

Raffaele Says Tiger Situation Has Not Affected Way He Signs Golfers

TALKING TIGER: Raffaele said Callaway was disappointed initially when the Tiger Woods scandal broke, but the company has since changed its mind. He added, “He's come back. Augusta is the season opener. There's a lot of pent-up demand. Now we're looking at it as a positive. Tiger's going to come back and he's going to win.” He said the Woods fiasco has not effected how Callaway signs golfers. It continues to spend time with athletes and makes a decision based on its impression of the golfer's personality. Raffaele: “We spend an extensive amount of time making sure an athlete's values align with ours. It's not foolproof.” Red Bull sponsors 110 athletes, and Mater said the company makes decisions about who it endorses based on personality first and performance second. He added, “At the end of the day, they're going to open their mouth, and if they open their mouth and they're a dick, that's not good. It reflects really badly for the brand.”

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