TOP 10

EXPERIENTIAL SPORTS MARKETING

TRENDS 2017
From the Director’s Desk…

Dear Reader, decisions. As with any other medium of brand SportzConsult is thankful to all the clients who
engagement, sports marketing too has been leveraged sports and gave us an opportunity to
2017: A  prodigious year  for Indian sportspersons,
following certain trends. This document attempts work with them. Partnering with big brands,
who outperformed opponents to attain a major
to record some of the key trends we’ve observed in retaining happy clients, and the accolades and
share of podium finishes in battles of will and skill,
the space over the past year or two. recognition we won for some of our major
bringing fans worldwide to the edges of their
projects, catapulted us to greater heights this year.
seats.

P V Sindhu’s epic performance in the World We are obliged to all our partners and associates
Championship Finals in Glasgow still lingers fresh who helped us deliver great sports experiences.
in the mind.  Srikanth became the first Indian to
The New Year is synonymous with new resolutions.
win back-to-back Super Series titles, and achieved
But we don’t have any new resolutions for the year
an all-time career-high ranking of No. 2 in the
– we will keep working persistently towards our
BWF Rankings. Mirabai Chanu bagged the Gold in
credo of making India a sporty nation! Here’s
the Weightlifting World Championship. Within
wishing you health, happiness and holistic growth
four years of launch, the Indian Super League has
all through 2018. Looking forward to another
led to the resurgence of football’s popularity in the
exciting year ahead!
country, with the FIFA U-17 Football World Cup,
Jitendra Joshi is the Co-founder and
successfully hosted by India this year, giving the
Director of SportzConsult
sport an additional stimulus. While the ‘Men in
You can reach him at +91 93236 35488 or by
Blue’ stamped their supremacy in all forms of email at jitu@sportzconsult.in
cricket, the ‘Women in Blue’ reached the Finale of
ICC World Cup only to be beaten by a team that
was marginally better on the day.

Looking back at the year gone by, I can say with

certitude that 2017 was a year of innovation and
impact for SportzConsult.  We have created
playing opportunities for over 4.5 million Indians
in 2017, including young children, youth, adults
and corporate executives.

Through the year, and indeed in years past as well,

we have observed how sports changes behaviour
and how it can influence purchase and other

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 TOP 10 EXPERIENTIAL SPORTS MARKETING TRENDS 2017

1 WORKING WITH WOMEN:

Targeting an Unexpected 7 ASSESSMENTS MAKE IT PERSONAL

‘Sporty’ Demographic – Women

8 INFLUENCING INFLUENCERS:
Working with Local Celebrities

2
With high

REACHING A RURAL AUDIENCE:

growth rates
and increasing
purchasing power
and aspiration, India’s
villages are the new

9
market that marketers
are looking to access.

Rural Marketing Through Sports SPORTS – THE NEW DIFFERENTIATOR

in Real Estate

3 SPORTS PROGRAMMES:
A Brand-New Route to School Contact
Programmes 10 KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING:
Year-Round Engagement through Sports

4 THE MILLENNIAL SHIFT AWAY

from Marathons, to New Platforms –
with a Twist

5 AMPLIFYING YOUR CAMPAIGN’S

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT: Go Digital

6 USING TECHNOLOGY WITH SPORTS:

An Enhanced Participant Experience

3
4
 Sports, Engagement, and Marketing

Ask marketers what they’re looking for, and the
answer is likely to be: a way to engage consumers
efficiently and organically. Brands have started
to take notice of the marketing opportunity that
amateur sport in India (today, an annual market of
`24 Billion) offers. The visceral connect and
passion engendered by sport is unparalleled by
Cricket or hockey, any other medium a brand could leverage.
tennis or badminton, 2017 has seen a great deal of investment in sport
of all kinds, with a few trends beginning to
football or wrestling emerge – trends that may stick and influence the
Given that our team has been working in
experiential sports marketing for more than a
decade now, we at SportzConsult felt that it would
be interesting to share with you the trends, ideas
and concepts that have made an impression on
us. While we’ve named this handbook the Top
Experiential Sports Marketing Trends 2017, it’s
not restricted to a single year or even a single
market. It’s our pleasure to bring to you trends
that we believe will help you better plan your
marketing spend, going forward.

or kabaddi… there’s development of this nascent industry. If you have queries, doubts, concerns, or want to
hear from us on how you could implement ESM
a certain visceral Experiential sports marketing is rapidly gaining techniques for your own brand, don’t hesitate to

connect to sport acceptance from brands around the world, so if drop us a line! We’d love to hear from you.

that resonates with you’re interested in tapping this new avenue for
marketing in a new India – or if you’re already
most people.
doing so – this document is a must-read.

Recreational (`430 crores per annum)

Local Tournament (`321 crores per annum)

Coaching Academies (`302 crores per annum)

Summer Camps (`87 crores per annum)

Sports Tours (`59 crores per annum)

TYPES OF SPORTS SPEND

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Working with Women:
Targeting an Unexpected ‘Sporty’ Demographic – Women
1
Women have always been a sought-after
audience, as influencers and consumers. The
feminist awakening perhaps came slowly to India,
but stereotypes are beginning to change.

P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Dipa

Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and Mithali Raj have
shown that sports are not restricted by gender.
These superstars have inspired more and more
women to take up sport on a regular basis.

The growing consciousness of the importance of

Ask a marketer
health and fitness has also significantly how to target a female
contributed to this burgeoning interest in sports
for women.
audience, and he might
once have recommended
The Mumbai daily newspaper, DNA, was one of the
first brands to take notice. They created India’s first a saas-bahu series. There
ever women’s only half marathon – the DNA are now new routes
Women’s Half Marathon. The phenomenal
response to the platform has opened up access for to reach women –
DNA to more than 6,000 households every year. including sports.

DIVERSE BRANDS
SPONSORING
WOMEN-CENTRIC
EVENTS

6
 Working with Women:
Support their efforts, win
their hearts
The team at TI Cycles On a similar note, TATA Tea demonstrates
realized that a major their commitment to women’s safety by
issue preventing girls investing in workshops and camps
from buying their teaching self-defence techniques to
products was that many women. The camps take inspiration from
teenage girls hesitated to martial arts like karate, taekwondo, and krav
take their cycles out for a ride. maga.
They felt unsafe on the road.
Nike places the focus on bringing women
TI Cycles saw a great way to together. The Nike+ Training Club App for
engage a major target market and women is the digital heartbeat of the club of
do some good at the same time. the same name. This full-body training
Workshops were organized in schools app caters to women at every level of fitness.
to teach girls how to tackle uncomfortable In addition, sessions are organized every
situations. A much-needed confidence week for members to gather and train
boost! together, absolutely free of cost.

The app gives women the freedom to set

their own goals, to exercise at their own
time, at their own pace, and free of cost…
making it easier for women to engage in
healthy, fitness-oriented activities. All while
There are plenty of reasons why engaging with Nike!

people don’t play sports or exercise.

Lack of space, time, company… as a
general rule, though, women face
greater barriers than men.

7
Reaching a Rural Audience:
Rural Marketing Through Sports

Traditional marketing media like billboards, Judging by the amazing participant interest and
mainline dailies, TV and radio are not suited to rural turnout at the event, Hero created a strong
markets, as populations are relatively dispersed. emotional connect with these young people, who With high
Brands are therefore looking to reach this audience
could soon be planning their first vehicle growth rates
purchase.
via below-the-line activations and events. and increasing
purchasing power
The unprecedented success of Rurban sporting Don’t forget the rural market!
events in the recent past, however, has prompted and aspiration, India’s
marketers to think out of the Hero Honda sponsored the Commonwealth Games villages are the new
Queen’s Baton Relay 2010, perpetuating its
box, beyond the traditional
relationship with the spirit of sport. This ultimate
market that marketers
van promotions and mini
melas. brand building activity saw a convoy that covered are looking to access.
20,000 km on various modes of transportation –
For instance, the rural helicopter, ship, and of course Hero motorcycles!
marketing team at Hero
MotoCorp created a Covering nearly the entire country, the three-month
multi-sport platform, Hero long Queen’s Baton Relay gave the brand a great
Grameen Khel Utsav, for opportunity to showcase their vehicles in the
school children in convoy. More importantly, Hero got great visibility
under-privileged areas through the Relay in some offbeat locations,
around Kolhapur. Popular local sports such as including some smaller towns and villages.
Kabaddi, Kho Kho, Volleyball and Athletics were
Going through cities, towns, and villages, the event
included, so kids could engage with the event, and
gave Hero an opportunity to showcase its
brand, at an emotional level.
leadership in the space. The convoy met and
This tournament created happy, unforgettable motivated 115 Hero Honda dealerships along the
moments. An intra-school sporting event, the Hero way.

2
Grameen Khel Utsav inspired students to push
themselves to the limit.

8
 Sports Programmes:
A Brand-New Route to School Contact Programmes
School Contact Programmes have long been the
best channel to reach out to impressionable
young minds. Targeting schools has genuine
advantages, especially when your message offers
real value to the students. First,
institutionalizes the otherwise mammoth task of
reaching out to children across territories. Second, it
minimizes the challenge of managing logistics and
ensuring safety of the children. Third, the school tie-in
adds credibility to the programme in the minds of the
parents.
School Contact Programmes today are
trending towards sports and games,
against earlier trends of lectures or
presentations.
Sports Programmes at schools bring the
brand authenticity and brand associations
of health, well-being, and mental strength.
And that’s of value to every brand!
3
Education through sports
Schools are institutions for learning. Brand engagement
initiatives, therefore, should be tailored to teach students
it something new. Such initiatives are welcomed with open
arms. The cue is increasingly being taken by marketers to
engage children in schools with real value-added
programmes.
By their very nature, children accept games and sports quite
readily. Adding an educational component, or any other
real-world value-add, gives schools and parents incentive to
embrace the brand’s school contact programme.
as
For instance, Mattel won the hearts of parents and school
teachers alike with the Mattel Scrabble Challenge. This was a
multi-level challenge, with children competing across schools
within their own age groups.
Designed ultimately to encourage kids to play more Scrabble,
the Mattel Scrabble Challenge placed the emphasis squarely
on improved English vocabulary. Teachers were delighted to
see their students put in the effort to learn new words,
sharpening their spellings to excel at the competition!

TI cycles similarly championed the cause of teaching school

The focus on school students how to ride a bicycle. Workshops were organized
extra-curricular activities inside schools to promote a better understanding of how to
ride safely, with a focus on essential road safety. Trainers also
is at an all-time high today, demonstrated the basics of self-defence in order to help
with the stress on activities that young girls feel more comfortable when riding alone.

add real value to the student.

9
The Millennial Shift Away from Marathons, to New Platforms – with a Twist

Millennials (the generation born between 1981 and Mirchi Neon Run brought together a
1997) are forcing marketers in general, and sports family-friendly run and a dance party experience.
marketers in particular, to continuously innovate This 9.83-km run (3-km fun run for families)
and create unique experiences. Some voices in the included neon glow sticks, headbands and neon
West have already begun to proclaim that the coloured batons, to add to the runners’
running boom is over, attributing this shift experience. The runners were then treated to a
mainly to the decline in millennial participation in night of fun-filled music, dance and neon paint
marathons. celebration, post the run. Around 8,000 runners
participated in the Mirchi Neon Run, across three
According to Running USA, an industry-funded cities in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore and
research group, the number of frequent runners – Madurai) in 2015.
whether or not they run competitively – has
dropped over the years, a trend most pronounced The event saw more than 15,000 people
among millennials. Similar observations have participate in both competitive and
been made with marathons in India as well. non-competitive versions in 2015, a staggering
60% increase from the previous year.
However, while they may be moving away from
marathons, millennials aren’t eschewing all forms In another unique running event, over 8,500
and platforms of mass participation. A large Bengalureans took part in the second edition of
section is simply bored with marathons, which Fastrack Music Run 2017, which brought together
Worldwide, obstacle
they see as ‘just running’. They want to move on to
something new.
a 5-km run and a music festival. The run ended races are overwhelmed
with a music festival of rock, pop, old-school and
hip-hop music, with artists like DJ Zaden, DJ
with a rush of popularity.
Devil’s Circuit, sponsored by Maruti Suzuki, is a
5-km long obstacle course that includes
Shaan and Best Kept Secret. It can be no With macho names like
surprise that the Fastrack Music Run was
military-grade hurdles… and loads of excitement!
especially appealing to millennials!
the ‘Spartan Race’, the ‘Ultra
Participants can choose to compete against their
peers, or run the entire
Beast’, the ‘Viking Race’ or
course untimed for ‘Tough Mudder’, these races
the sense of
are challenging the fittest.

4
participation
and pride. The trend is picking up in
India as well.
10
 Amplifying Your Campaign’s Emotional Quotient: Go Digital!

Money can’t buy mileage Post event, any participant could simply punch in his/her
barcode online for access to his/her exclusive photos. With a
Sports events offer unique bragging rights, increasing branded
seamless link to the participant’s Facebook page, the
chances that consumers will share the news online with no photos were easily and efficiently transferred onto social
added incentive. After all, don’t we all love to share pictures of media… maximizing the digital reach of the on-ground
ourselves taking a diving catch, saving a goal, or posing with a activation.
medal?! Digital media provide brands a unique opportunity to
leverage these shareable moments, earning
high-value word-of-mouth publicity.
Customer first
Brands are shifting social media messaging from information
PNB Metlife’s innovative use of social media in
about company, product and events, to information about
the PNB Metlife Junior Badminton Challenge is
consumers and their accomplishments… especially achievements
a good example of how digital marketing can
work with sports marketing to amplify branding.
in brand events.
HCL Enterprise, for example, showcases exclusive content from
Using an auto photo upload technology, all photos
sports programmes it conducts throughout the year across all
taken at the event were automatically screened and
its social media pages, including videos, photos, and athlete
segregated based on participant, live during the event.
stories.
This was done by assigning a unique barcode to each
participant.

As with any other form of

branding, digital media amplify

5
the impact of experiential sports
marketing too… at a nominal cost.

11
Using Technology with Sports: An Enhanced Participant Experience

Thanks to technology, marketers today can operating in India to promote the league and the Experience – the best teacher
enhance the experience for any given audience. sport of basketball among Indians.
Taking "experiential" to another level, Nike
Technological advancements are beginning to Using a unique marketing push, the NBA used constructed a pop-up track in the middle of
influence the amateur sports market as well. virtual reality to give young Indians a chance to Manila. When participants ran the track, their last
peek into the dressing rooms and courts of the lap was recorded and projected on an encircling
Keep it real, virtually… NBA, the world’s most popular basketball league. wall of LED screens – so they could take
Games played hundreds of thousands of themselves on in a virtual race! Runners also got
kilometres away lap by lap feedback.
are, today, being
brought to young Technology today enables measurement of
fans in India. enhanced metrics, including serve speed,
concentration level, heart rate, pedal speed, in
Rugby sponsors addition to traditional metrics like steps and
O2, similarly, used calories. With these metrics, innovative brand
VR technology to programmes can be intuitively designed.
bring the training
grounds of the HCL, for example, engaged tennis enthusiasts by
national rugby encouraging them to record their fastest serve at
team to their 90 a tennis promotion event in Pune.
O2 stores across
England. The fully
interactive VR
experience allows players to take part in virtual
drills ranging from scrummaging to
Virtual reality (VR) helps brands give their
tackling to kicking, with the
target audience a unique experience that money
national rugby team. Fans
can’t buy.

6
can even go head-to-head
Take the National Basketball Alliance (NBA), which against the English
has been leveraging VR. The NBA has been team!

12
Space, time and reach no constraint
Reach is no longer a concern for the proponents of experiential marketing. In
another masterstroke, NBA created a Guinness World Record for the world’s
largest basketball lesson (multiple venues) ever held. As many as 3,459
children participated in the training programme simultaneously!
Kevin Durant taught the class from The NBA Academy India in New Delhi,
while boys, girls, parents and local celebrities followed the lesson via screens in
Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Reliance Foundation Youth Sports’ launch

was ‘technofied’ like no other amateur sports
tournament in the country. It was launched
digitally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who was connected from New Delhi via live
broadcast to eight sports grounds
simultaneously – at Kochi, Chennai, Goa,
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Pune.

13
Marketers are
using technology
Assessments
Make It Personal
7
to incentivize
consumers’ own Play and improve… courtesy us!
participation Nestlé Milo, for instance, positioned as a health
in sports. drink, has created a special fitness band for
children – their primary target consumer.

This band helps parents monitor the number of

steps their children took.Parents can then
encourage them to become more physically
active, to reach the recommended number of
steps (10,000 a day).
The app also allows parents to assess if their child
has achieved energy balance by tracking calories
consumed against calories burnt. Through this
amalgamation of technology and sports, Milo
not only captures its target audience, but also
strengthens its brand positioning of making kids
fitter.

Similarly, HCL conducted assessment-based

on-ground activations in schools and public
areas in Delhi NCR to promote its association
with the HCL 74th National Squash
Championship. A squash assessment zone was
designed, testing kids on various skill sets
important to the game, including among others
hand-eye coordination, racket grip, model swing,
flexibility, and body strength. In the end, every
child was provided a squash assessment report
with a rating across all nine skill sets.

14
 These are unknown names at a
national level, and hence more
Influencing Influencers: affordable than national stars,
Working with Local yet command an enviable
Celebrities popularity among a tight
In this unexplored territory, brands can find real gems to target audience.
act as their local ambassadors. They bring heart to a
campaign as no international celebrity could. The iconic
face, symbol, and brand ambassador of Nestlé India’s ‘100
Years and Running’ campaign, for the Airtel Delhi Half
Marathon, was 104-year-old marathon runner, Fauja
Singh, also known as the ‘Turbaned Tornado’. A statement
of running for the love of running, the association inspired
others to participate in the Marathon too.
The NRC organizes Special Runs for these
Nike uses a similar influencers/celebrities, combining the run with what the
philosophy with the Nike influencer is popular for! For instance, a documentary was
Running Club. They screened before an actor’s Run. A beach run was followed
leverage the potential of by a concert, for a musician’s Run. On these Special Runs,
influencers in some influencers are encouraged to bring along their close
interesting ways. Every circle of friends and acquaintances, both personal and
Club has what is known professional, so that a large group of influencers and local
as a ‘Pacer’, who celebrities can run together.
maintains a steady pace
Some of these influencers are later invited for new
so the entire group running together can finish their run
product launches or for special runs like a Women’s Day
young
at a particular time. NRC has 15 Pacers; usually

8
Run. This provides a tie-in to the NRC, bringing the
local or digital celebrities with large social media
followings. They are encouraged to post high-quality connection with these local influencers into Nike’s
NRC pictures on their social
mainstream marketing and branding.
media handles, thus driving
precious eyeballs to the brand

15
Sports – The New Differentiator in Real Estate

Today, residential property buyers are spoilt for The residency is also hosting a seven-a-side
choice. football tournament called the Palava Junior
League for U-10, U-12, and U-14 age groups,
Basic amenities, fittings and fixtures are not opening doors, and the residency itself, to
deciding parameters any longer. It is the parents… in other words, to prospective buyers!
emotional advantage that sways the consumer. Eighty teams from schools, clubs and football
Thus, to cater to premium home buyers, academies of Thane, Navi Mumbai, KDMC,
developers are setting up exclusive sports Andheri, Churchgate and Dadar participated.
amenities for their complexes; cricket grounds,
golf courses, basketball courts, tennis, soccer, and
hockey fields.

But how do you make the public aware that

these facilities are available? Experiential sports
marketing comes to the rescue!

Lodha Palava in Dombivali, Mumbai hosted the

Premiership Football League (PFL), a
three-month-long event played at the

9
FIFA-certified 11-a-side football ground in the
complex, giving participants a competitive
experience. The PFL logged 125 games across two
divisions, with 700 participants playing across 24
teams. Every game was video recorded, and
highlights posted on YouTube.
Consumer Product Brands
have been using sports to promote
their products for a while. A new
segment taking to experiential sports
marketing is Real Estate.

16
Keep the Conversation Going – Year-Round Engagement through Sports

Creation of multiple
interaction points
Milo created a nation-wide school platform called
the Milo National Quiz, to communicate its
product attributes to its core target audience as
well as strengthen its positioning, ‘Grow with
Sports’. The Milo National Quiz tested the sporting
knowledge of children from Classes 3 to 8 via fun,
The final interaction point was Felicitation Day.
The winners were rewarded during morning
assembly, providing more Milo even more brand
visibility – this time, in front of the entire school.
In a nutshell, by implementing a simple event
in a unique way, Milo created not one, but three
interaction points over a three-day period. This
enabled them to reinforce the brand image.
Repeatable weekly/quarterly
programmes
Nike, Adidas, Asics have all started clubs through
which free running sessions are organized every
week or so for club members.
These brands have identified an ongoing core
need among their target audience, which they
customers engaged through the year is to nurture
participant interest through regular engagement
on social media. Some brands are also studying
the prospect of niche mobile apps to capture
audiences on their own platforms.
The power of digital media is also being tapped by
brands developing web content tailored to the
interests of their sporting consumers, such as local
events, athlete stories, tips and tricks. To a large
extent, though, this trend is still in its nascent
stage and brand managers and sports marketing
companies may take some more time to crack the
right model for this form of engagement.

10
engaging trivia challenges. address through these sessions organized on a
regular basis.
To extend their interaction, the Milo National Quiz
was structured as a multi-day three-stage Brands want to be part
programme. Staying active on
of the entire ‘consumer
digital media
In the first stage, students were given preparatory
material for the quiz. This was also used as an
journey’. Brands seek out
opportunity to chat with parents, conduct product
Another way to keep
opportunities for continuous,
sampling and talk about the Milo brand.
year-round conversation with
On Quiz Day, students participated in Word prospects. Sports programmes provide
Unjumble, Photo Trivia, Crossword and other
challenges.
an effective way to achieve this goal.

17
About SportzConsult
SportzConsult, India’s premier grassroots sports
management company, was founded in 2003 with
the aim to get more amateurs to play, and slowly
transform India into a sporting nation.
Over the last 14 years, SportzConsult has facilitated
playing opportunities for over  4 Million Indians,
including young kids, youth, adults and corporate
executives. This year, the team won 3 Awards at
WOW Asia including a Gold for the RF Jr. NBA
program.
Applause and accolades have continued for the
squad at SportzConsult, which received 3 more
awards at Exchange4Media BW Applause Awards
2017, including a Gold for the Rajasthan
Government’s Women Empowerment Project.
Jitendra Joshi, Co-Founder and Director
SportzConsult, was conferred with the prestigious
Public Relations Council of India’s ‘Entrepreneur of
The Year’ award for SportzConsult’s phenomenal
contribution towards grassroots
development in India. SportzConsult’s
competency lies in consulting and making
connections that aren’t immediately clear – be it  Mattel Hot Wheels, Mattel Scrabble, Nike, BBC,
connecting Brand Managers with their TG or
taking a creative approach to Leagues and
18
massive Grassroots Sports Development
programmes.
Based on the team’s extensive experience in the
field, we have authored a White Paper on
‘Experiential Sports Marketing’ to help Brand
Managers looking to gain a competitive edge by
developing a positive brand image among their
target audiences. In May 2017, ‘Leaderonomics’ a
Malaysia-based Business Magazine  focussing on
developing leaders, published an article written by
Co-Founder Director Jitendra Joshi on Sports
Parenting, titled: ‘Parents kill child’s source of
happiness’.
‘Our View Point’, published on ‘A Practical
Approach towards building a Sporty Nation’ was
appreciated by key stakeholders and the sports
of
fraternity. It has been discussed in detail at forums
organised by ET NOW, CII, IISM, ISB, India Sports
Forum, Indian Football Forum and PRCI.
sports As on date, SportzConsult is working with clients
core like Star Sports, Reliance Foundation Youth Sports,
TATA Tea, Hero Motocorp, TI Cycles, Nestlé Milo,
HCL, Vodafone PBL and Gold's Gym, to name a
few.
19
 GET IN TOUCH FOR WORLD-BEATING
EXPERIENTIAL SPORTS MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Yogesh Shanbhag Rajesh Kumar

+91 93246 45694 +91 75060 55980
yogesh@sportzconsult.in rajesh@sportzconsult.in

info@sportzconsult.in