Mobile Marketing: FC Business Issue 42

FCB Page 70-71 12/23/09 12:57 PM Page 1 70 Research Winning Off The Pitch Mobile Marketing By Jon Busk D espite numerous headlines financial doom and gloom, there’s never been a better time for brands to of use football as part of their marketing mix, according to one industry expert. While many clubs have struggled to maintain sponsorship revenue in the current climate, the mantra of Tim Gentles, MD of the Football Fans Census (FFC), is that football sponsorship offers better value than ever before for brands seeking to extend their marketing reach. Economic theory suggests that the brands that prosper long term are actually those that spend more in a recession on marketing rather than less. The current combination of favourable prices, and crucially, highly specialised targeting techniques, makes football an attractive option for marketers. According to Gentles “there never been a better time for brands to use football in their marketing mix: good deals are aplenty, and more than ever before brands can monitor who they are actually reaching”. The profiling data now offered by the FFC and TGI joint venture, Football Fans Index, means brands and clubs can maximise the effectiveness of their marketing and ensure a close fit between the brand and the audience. To prove it Gentles showed me an analysis of the up and coming mobile brand, HTC. Using the data available to the FFI team, he plots the potential audience of ‘mobile savvy’ users at 3.5million consumers, based on a criteria of consumers using at least 10 more technical phone applications.

FCB Page 70-71 12/23/09 12:57 PM Page 2 Research 71 From there he is then able to paint a picture of the typical lifestyle of these users, again based on hard data. They are considerably more likely than the average to be in the 25-34 age group, spend over £70 a month on their mobile bill and agree they ‘love buying new gadgets before most of their friends’. Interestingly they have the potential to be active advocates of new technology and brands that provide it: they are twice as likely to talk to many different groups about their phones, and four times as likely to post phone comments or reviews online. “The data empowers marketers more than ever before; we can tell you what your audience had for breakfast, what clothes they’ll be wearing right up to what kind of car brands they will buy.” To illustrate the point further Gentles reveals that according to the data, the ‘mobile savvy’ audience is twice as likely to agree with the statement ‘I tend to buy from companies who sponsor sports events and teams’. On top of that their top four sporting events followed are the Champions League, The World Cup, the Premier League and the FA Cup. So in the example case of HTC, the case for marketing through football looks compelling. For the cherry on the top though, the FFI can even identify which clubs specific target audiences are most likely to follow. For HTC, their audience of ‘Savvy users’’ is 38% more likely to be an Arsenal fan, compared to 3% more likely to be a Liverpool fan, while Everton is the club they are least likely to support. The data is a powerful weapon for brands looking to maximise their ROI, or clubs looking to market themselves, according to TGI’s Russ Budden “the days of doing deals based on vague notions of brand fit, or cosy friendships in the boardroom are over; we have the data to tightly match clubs with brands their fans are receptive to.” Football sponsorship is clearly a credible option for brands seeking to invest in marketing. And for HTC, on the road out of recession, they might just want to stop off at the Emirates Stadium. For more information on football research please contact Tim Gentles on + 44 (0)20 7665 4127 / tim@footballfanscensus.com or Russ Budden +44 (0)20 8433 4094 Russell.Budden@BMRB.co.uk

Mobile Marketing: FC Business Issue 42

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Mobile Marketing: FC Business Issue 42 Document Transcript

http://www.footballfanscensus.com	29
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