Sports and brands are synonymous with one another. The Boston Red Sox are known for the famous Citgo signs that resides beyond the Green Monster. The University of Oregon goes hand-in-hand with apparel and shoe giant Nike, and the University of North Carolina is tightly associated with  the jump man himself and the Jordan Brand logo that graces its uniforms. There is no doubt that brands have made a lasting impact on fan bases everywhere thanks to sports.

“Brands have a really interesting opportunity to actually create traditions around game day that are synonymous with the brands and finding things that are meaningful to the brands and become great traditions. A carpet company rolling out the carpet for a team to enter the field, or a particular sign being reminiscent of the kind of offering that a company can bring, or a sponsor of a particular segment or kind of content that becomes part of a game tradition.” 

But how brands become one with a university is a sticky topic. It requires identifying the right fit between brand and school or sport, implementing a proper strategy, and activating the sponsorship at the right time. With another year of collegiate athletics around the corner, Jennifer Davis, the CMO at Learfield, joined the show to discuss how the company brings big partnerships to life between brands and universities. Plus she explains how sports marketing has become a much more integral piece of the overall sales funnel. Enjoy this episode!

Main Takeaways

• Branding 101: Brands need to view sponsorship opportunities as a way to not only build gameday traditions with fan bases, but also as an opportunity to align your brand with the university and become synonymous with it. By building out these activations, whether it’s a highlight sponsorship, player of the game, or in-game sponsorship, you are creating memorable moments with fans, generating brand awareness, but most importantly, you are organically aligning your product with the university.
• Let’s Get Specific: As traditional broadcast mediums have changed, it’s afforded brands to take advantage of targeting specific markets with ad inventories. Instead of just placing a commercial spot across multiple networks, schools can now work with companies to identify specific markets outside of their home base to target, which could help lead to future conversions.
• You’re Now Free to Pre-Board: Any CMO who is about to take on a new role with a company should design their own pre-boarding/onboarding strategy. Rather than stick to the predetermined path a company has always used for onboarding, this could be an opportunity to take the initiative to meet with key stakeholders in the company to understand where you can best serve the company once you start.

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