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Nico Tuppen
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In March, Iris Worldwide announced the launch of its new sports marketing division, Iris Sport.
NICO TUPPEN, who has spent 16 years at the agency, was named the new division’s managing director. Tuppen most recently was managing director of Iris Culture, where he led a collection of sports campaigns that included Sony Ericsson’s “Night Tennis” and adidas’ “There Will Be Haters.” Tuppen, who is based in London, spoke with SBD Global about launching the new venture, reaching millennials and the future of sports marketing.
On what prompted the launch of Iris Sport …
Nico Tuppen: The real opportunity in sports marketing is being missed. Too often sport assets are being sold, bought and evaluated on the back of old-school media metrics. And often seen as an opportunity to badge, brand and broadcast. But badging is not a strategy. And sports fans have changed, the channels they operate in have been transformed. More than ever, brands in sport have an opportunity to participate meaningfully and vibrantly as part of culture -- but few are grabbing this with both hands. This generation of male and female sports lovers -- the slash generation -- want sport to be colorful, diverse, entertaining, social -- and as much about culture as it is about a specific sport.
On the challenges of heading up a new division …
Tuppen: We’ve always been an agile organization, ready to jump on opportunities we see in the market -- so we have some experience in setting up new things. Always the overriding challenge is striking the right balance of investment, resource and generating income. And of course, having a solution to a problem that the market recognizes and wants to buy.
On innovation in sport …
Tuppen: Sports properties are more likely to embrace innovation, for a number of reasons. Innovation will always be required in the selling of the property, in delivering the right kind of value for the brand money being spent. The business model, the access, the types of content, the evolution of rights, etc.
And of course the commercialization of sport means properties need to constantly re-engineer their product for their fans to give more back. The viewing experience, the access to different types of content across multiple platforms, the ticket and experience pricing.
On marketing to millennials …
Tuppen: This millennial generation of sports lovers -- we call them the slash generation -- want sport to be colorful, diverse, entertaining, social and as much about culture as it is about a specific sport. But the brands that do best are those that develop activations beyond the badging, harnessing insights beyond the culture of that sport, beyond the passion and glory of being a fan. This audience will participate, but they want brands, assets and campaigns to be more creative, more provocative and more challenging.
On the biggest innovation to happen in the marketing world …
Tuppen: It has to be digital and social -- I think we used to call it new media -- and its impact on how we now interact with brands, from devices, platforms and channels, to how the work needs to be optimized and formatted for roll out. Yes, the stakes are a bit higher -- it’s led to an increasingly complex purchase cycle -- but the potential reward is greater too. There will always be a new shiny piece of tech innovation that captures the imagination for a period of time -- projection mapping was the thing, then drones, now VR. These developments will always help make the impossible a reality, but it needs to be rooted in a brand’s purpose, with real consumer insight and an original idea.
On social media …
Tuppen: It’s never been more difficult to get their attention. There’s never been more choice, or more ability to edit things out. Social has also created a consumer expectation on how brands should behave, how they communicate, how they should converse with real people.
On the future of the industry …
Tuppen: The business of sport will continue to evolve. Sport, like music and entertainment, will remain reliant on brand money to support their product. So I expect increasingly innovative and agile models around how deals are struck, how the rights are managed and what rights are made available. And consumers’ relationship with brands will continue to change how they choose to participate and their expectations around content beyond the core product.
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