Zack B.’s Post

The importance of building a brand moat for your recreational sports business cannot be understated. Just like a castle's moat and drawbridge offer protection, your brand moat ensures your business can continue attracting and retaining customers. 2020 taught us a vital lesson: a strong brand isn't just a logo and a catchy tagline. It's the heart and soul of your business that keeps your people coming back for more, no matter what. In the latest issue of The Sports Life, we share a few reminders when building your brand moat. https://lnkd.in/gcpKmeKE

Sports new brand building strategy has worked really well and created some surprising knock- on effects.

The oldest golf tournament in the world started today. It has what I consider to be one of the best brand identities of any golf tournament, but it took them 147 years to find it. The Open Championship has an unmistakeable brand. The Yellow and Blue with the bit of red, the custom type face, and the “O” logo with the Claret Jug, but for the first 147 years of the championship the brand would change with where it was hosted and who the past champion was. The R&A is the governing body for golf outside of the USA and Mexico. They set the rules of golf and run a handful of championships including The Open Championship. Long story short, the identity of their championships wasn’t top of mind while they were quite literally inventing the game of Golf. They also didn’t really have a budget for marketing and no one inside the organization was assigned to marketing outside of pushing ticket sales. Fast forward to 2007 and the R&A hired an marketing position to look at the brand of their championships and started what I think is one of the greatest rebrands in all of sports. They went back to the roots of the championship, focused of the Claret Jug, and created a cohesive brand that can be used no matter where the championship is played. The new brand was unveiled in 2014 and added a considerable amount of perceived value. It also started to get people, like myself, to quit referring to it as “The British Open”. Taking on a rebrand of an event with as much history as The Open was risky, and probably part of why it took 7 years to get it right. While you don’t need 7 years to get your branding right, or have to navigate 147 years of history, your event’s brand identity is something you should be paying attention to. Small details like a polished brand add perceived value to your event for both players and sponsors and will make your event far more successful in the long run!

There is no better spring time brand than The Masters. Every company wants to be associated with The Masters. Every golf fan wants to go. Part of what makes The Masters brand so good, is how well the brand is protected. The Masters sells merchandise that is only available on site. It retains editorial control over its tv deal. It can pick and choose its partners. For other brands that raises the question of how they can get some of that Masters magic. Monday I heard an ad read on a golf podcast that talked about Rhoback's new Azalea line and the big tournament coming up. The ad was obviously crafted with the help of a lawyer. Augusta National is known for its azaleas, but nobody can own azaleas. The "big" tournament, "the one you know I am talking about" is not a direct reference to any of The Masters trademarks. Then yesterday, I was served this ad for club cleaning brush. Here the brand used the #masters hashtag. That's already swimming in dangerous territory. What if the video featured the music that is so associated with The Masters? That music may well be a tournament trademark. Does your business rely on big sporting events? In north Mississippi lots of businesses rely on Mississippi State and Ole Miss football to drive sales. Can you reference big games in your advertising? Of course. But, if you are making direct references to others trademarks you need to be very careful.

Jose Mourinho is known for his blunt and brash behavior and has created a personal brand for himself based on this image Maintaining a bold and blunt brand like Jose Mourinho's is challenging, especially in sports where defeats can damage brand image However, his successful career has allowed him to sustain his self-acknowledged brand despite potential risks that come in the sports industry His arrogance has helped build brand loyalty, making him more than just a football manager but a charismatic and confident icon which allows others to forgive some of his mistakes Mourinho's successes with underdog teams have cemented his image as a winner, despite his often criticized defensive Mourinho's focus on winning and his combative nature lead to criticism and controversies, enhancing his brand image He prefers teams without big egos, allowing him to maintain control and effectively implement his strategies Mourinho's football style is defensive and strategic, relying on disciplined players rather than flashy talent Mourinho's brand, a mix of tactical genius, leadership, and controversy, is powerful and captivating, eclipsing many in football. If you find this post interesting give this article a read to learn more about Jose Mourinho's personal brand https://lnkd.in/gRdA6QW7 #personalbranding #footballmarketing #branding #brandmanagement #footballmanagement

Back in May, at Brand Finance, we placed a value on the Manchester United business that was significantly below the £6bn demanded by the Glaziers (£3.6bn to be precise, see original article here: https://lnkd.in/em2syUsg). The recent news that the deal is off, and subsequent dive in share price, supports our view that this price could only be justified rationally and economically (i.e. ignoring ‘trophy asset’ arguments) by taking into account the Soft Power benefits to a new, nation brand, owner. Our analysis was supported by data from the Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index, the world’s most comprehensive research study on the perceptions of nation brands. At Brand Finance our Sports Marketing and Sponsorship teams support clubs, franchises, rights holders and brands to evaluate and quantify the economic benefits from potential acquisitions and sponsorship deals, informing rights negotiations and budgeting/ ROI analysis. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more! #sportsmarketing #sponsorship #globalsoftpowerindex

👏 Mi3Australia thank you for the sit down, I loved talking about my time at Kayo and what the future holds at Tourism and Events Queensland. As I switch industries, I come armed with a few key learnings that have held me well in the past: 👉 **Speak Fluent Adaptability!**   - Each sector has its own language, learn it quickly. Being multilingual is the key to success. 🎶 **Mixing Beats Beyond Borders**   - Transferring across industries is like being a DJ. I've learned to remix my skills, taking the best from one industry and infusing it into another. 🏄♂️ **Embrace the Adventure!**   - Embracing the unknown, every industry switch is a chance to discover hidden treasures and untapped potential.

"How to build a Brand"? Well that's a very broad question I see people asking and discussing with each other's when they are planning to launch their business ( both online and offline ) Now it's difficult to answer it directly but let me give you a framework around which a Brand is built. 1. Functionality - How your product or service is going to render a service or solution to a consumer. Pretty straight. 🫰 2. Emotional Element - This is when you integrate an Emotion around your product or service. This could be a tagline, logo, Brand Ambassador, content, advertising etc. All the of these should be in sync with the Emotion. Ex- Axe or Set Wet - Talks about being attractive, alpha and assertive. LIC - Zindagi ke sath bhi Zindagi ke bad bhi. 3. Community - Now most of the brands ignore this concept and rather focus on things like environment and welfare - Now the challenge is it's very difficult to scale a purpose oriented brand in Price sensitive market. So I believe focus on building a strong brand first before you introduce these social responsibility part. Community is when someone who is using your product or service feels a part of a bigger family. Let me give you an example. Royal Enfield - They had a fantastic product, It had rough, adventure and strong emotions attached to the bike and they realised that people who feel such emotion get connected together and go on these rides which Royal Enfield started to conduct to make sure people feel connected and become a part a part of their community. Recently Yamaha has started the same where the "calling of the blue" campaign is being used and they are using professional motogp racers as an anchor which gives the customer a sense of being a part of the team. Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. Royal Enfield So always keep these three pillars in mind and hopefully you will succeed to create your own Brand. #digitalamarketing #branding #brandidentity #socialemediamarketing

Driving brand awareness, a value alignment and engaging with fans are the top three reasons why brands did #sponsorship deals this September. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eh5-_BU8

Great examples from BizBash of brands using larger than life themed props to drive awareness and engagement. #events #eventslife #eventmarketing #eventplanning #experientialmarketing #agencies #brandactivation #storytelling #brandstrategy #consumerengagement #fanengagement #sponsorships #partnerships #sportsbiz #sportsmarketing #entertainment #hospitality #tourism