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Sports Marketing Case
At the beginning of this year, GMK has specially launched the 2024 Sports Marketing White Paper. The White Paper distinguishes four sports audience groups, three types of brand marketing investment strategies and three sports marketing tactics. Among them, the sports marketing tactics analyze the brand media investment strategy from a macro perspective. With the upcoming Paris Olympics, brands are refocusing on the sports arena. GMK has specially planned a comprehensive sports marketing case study, starting from a micro perspective, to deeply analyze the high-quality sports marketing cases and trends of recent years.
The Transformation of Traditional Sports Marketing
For a long time, sports marketing has been favored by brands due to its efficient customer aggregation value. Traditional sports marketing revolves around events and sports celebrities, using marketing strategies to guide the audience's attention and goodwill towards the events and athletes, thereby transferring it to the brand itself. However, with the advancement of media channels and the evolution of marketing strategies, traditional sports marketing is undergoing changes.
Sports events and pan-sports lifestyles have carried with them symbolic images and expressiveness in greater varieties, such as Olympic spirt, national sentiments, etc. Consequently, brands have gained an edge over deepening audiences’ mindset in sports marketing.
——GMK 2024 Sports Marketing White Paper
Yili: Tribute short film for the dual Olympic city, enhancing the connection between the brand and the Olympics
In 2018, on the tenth anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Yili released a tribute short film titled "Ten Years," using the birth of a child as a metaphor for growth. Famous athlete Wu Dajing appeared in the film, sharing his journey from a sparring partner to an Olympic champion over the decade, and expressing his anticipation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Several ordinary people also appeared in the film, using their personal experiences to illustrate the "Ten Years" theme, interweaving the encounters of ordinary people with the changes in the country and society. The short film reactivated the audience's Olympic memories, featuring Yili ranch workers naturally, highlighting Yili's companionship with the Beijing Olympics for over a decade, and building momentum for the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.
The “woman+sports” marketing narrative has enriched the ethos for brand communication. The healthy, powerful and strong image of sporty women fits nicely into feminist awareness, which is thriving these days. Such an organic combination, to some extent, has broken existing discipline around women put by traditional marketing narratives of women’s consumer goods. Hence, new marketing territories have been opened to speak up for woman issues.
——GMK 2024 Sports Marketing White Paper
Mengniu: Focusing on the personal growth of female sports professionals, embracing the brand spirit of Beyond This
In 2023, Mengniu created a customized short film titled Beyond This for the Chinese women's football team as they prepared for the World Cup. In the film, head coach Shui Qingxia appears and tells the story of the women's football team:
"Do you love women's football, or just the news of women's football winning? If they lose, will you still say you always believe? If they win, is it just a trending topic, or will they be truly remembered?"
The short film uses the stories of women's football in mass media as an entry point. As an athlete, Shui Qingxia achieved the runner-up position in a past World Cup, but the team later fell into a low period. Many years later, Shui Qingxia led the team back to the top of Asia as head coach. The film highlights the harsh realities of competitive sports and the personal growth of women. It features female protagonists without falling into clichés or dwelling on common struggles in women's narratives. Instead, it uniquely conveys the brand spirit of self-surpassing, beyond this through the lens of sports heroism.
Greater collaboration and shifting the structure of media rights deals—making it easier for athletes to share live content—will only broaden reach and connectivity for the entire sports ecosystem.
——Nielsen Sports Fans are changing the game 2022
Xuperman: Popular athlete's personal brand,starting from sports and expanding into new consumption across multiple fields
In 2023, renowned table tennis player Xu Xin established his personal brand, Xuperman. The brand's visual elements and name are derived from popular internet memes during Xu Xin's athletic career. Currently, the brand has opened an offline table tennis experience center in Shanghai and adheres to the philosophy of starting with table tennis, but not limited to table tennis. It has also launched a flagship store for branded sports equipment.
Xuperman has partnered with RED to organize Table Tennis Activities Anytime And Anywhere, planning online table tennis challenges. Xu Xin personally releases videos, inviting table tennis enthusiasts to participate in the challenges, promoting nationwide fitness, and expanding the brand's influence among RED's audience.
On: Athletes co-participate in sports equipment development, empowering emerging brands with personal influence
The brand's founder, Olivier Bernhard, is a renowned Swiss athlete and Triathlon World Champion. In 2019, legendary tennis star Roger Federer invested in On, driving the iteration of the brand's tennis product line. Subsequently, the brand launched THE ROGER Pro Clay, a custom tennis shoe designed for Federer. These custom tennis shoes accompanied Federer in various major tennis tournaments, significantly boosting the brand's visibility.
After capturing public attention through star power, the brand further expanded its influence by engaging in community management and tying its presence to social media scenarios. This strategy has successfully positioned On alongside Lululemon and Arc'teryx as part of the Chinese middle-class trio.
The advancement of traditional sports marketing lies in using events and athletes as starting points. In the digital media age, decentralized mass communication has extended the traditional forms, creating richer marketing expression spaces. Whether it’s national sentiments, feminism, or popular memes and tags surrounding athletes, these elements have become leverage points for brands. This allows sports marketing to not only reach the audience of events and sports but also resonate with a broader audience. Under the attention economy of top-tier events and athletes, brands activate social consensus through diverse and rich emotional resonance, deepening the mental impact of sports marketing.
Mass Sports Activities
Rural Culture and Tourism: the human touch in local competitions, highlighting economic benefits under the overall strategy of rural revitalization
In 2023, the "Village Super League" in Rongjiang, Guizhou became a sensational hit on the Internet. This mass sports event, primarily involving local farmers, gained unexpected traction online, boosting the local cultural and tourism economy offline. According to data released by Rongjiang, in 2023, the "Village Super League" generated a total tourism income of 8.5 billion yuan, while the county's total GDP for the year was only 9.6 billion yuan.
With its sudden popularity, the “Cunchao (Village Super League)” demonstrated its brand effect. Products under it gained widespread recognition, and local specialty Mangosteen Cola became hard to find. Following the trend of creative collaborations, the brand effect also benefited other local delicacies. Tmall Food Brand Day planned a regional specialty food campaign to support the Village Super finals, with brands like Haohuanluo participating under the theme “One voice, One passion”
Yangshipin（OTV of China Media Group） set up a live broadcast room for the Village Super finals, and famous CCTV sports commentator He Wei was invited to host the program. JETOUR X70 PRO sponsored the Village Super spin-off program.
Under the overall rural revitalization strategy, more and more localism mass sports events are gaining traction. In addition to the Village Super League, there are also the Village Basketball Association, Village Sports Games, and others.
Youth and Campuses: Leveraging campus basketball fever, engaging mass participation and resonating with professional celebrities to enrich mental engagement
Tencent Sports launched the FIBA Basketball World Cup Mass Elite Tournament Basketball Storm. In the first stage, the tournament was divided into four city divisions, inviting top streetball players and campus teams to participate. In the second stage, the winners from the first stage competed against elite teams from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and Mongolia. Basketball legends Tracy McGrady, Zheng Haixia, and Guo Ailun were invited to support the event on-site.
The event was promoted through Tencent's full media ecosystem, including Tencent Sports, Tencent Video, Tencent News, WeChat Channels Aurora TV, QQ Browser, and QQ Small World. Yili Ambrosial was the title sponsor of the event.
Charitable Activities: Brand Global Running Day, organizing charitable relay races to honor the spirit of sports
On Global Running Day, Nike organized a charity relay run, inviting 41 running enthusiasts from 13 countries to participate in a 272-kilometer relay that spanned 22 hours. The event finished at Mount Olympus, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics. Female runners and disabled athletes took part, passing the baton to embody the spirit of participation and self-transcendence in sports.
In the era of traditional media, mass sports activities had no voice in public communication. However, low-threshold content creation formats, represented by short videos, have provided a platform for mass sports activities and the grassroots groups and cultures they represent. During extensive dissemination, the public has endowed these activities with extended meanings such as folk culture, campus youth, and public health. Under the appeal of genuine positive energy, mass sports activities, especially events, have been able to become IPs. They link online and offline, and the online traffic benefits offline derived scenarios, creating greater commercial value.
The mediatization of lifestyle leads tothe outdoors becoming the new battle ground for sports marketing
Sports Brands Building Communities: Connecting people through sports,creating brand communities, and securing the target customer base
In the post-pandemic era, the revival of offline scenarios and the heightened consumer focus on personal health have led to an increase in sports participation. Many consumers are becoming active participants in sports, and sports brands are widely leveraging this trend to launch community marketing, creating their own communities with the concept of "brand + fitness.”
Lululemon, during its initial brand promotion, identified yoga as a popular sport with broad participation. The brand expanded its target audience by sponsoring local yoga instructors with equipment. Subsequently, Lululemon used offline stores as significant venues to organize and plan various in-store fitness experience activities, enhancing audience engagement. The brand's mini-program, aside from its official e-commerce platform, uses community as a key entry point.
This summer, Lululemon invited its new brand ambassador, Jia Ling, who self-directed and starred in the sports-themed movie Yolo, to co-launch the fourth annual Summer Sweat Games. The challenge encourages fitness enthusiasts to form teams and complete fitness challenges, with the event divided into store competitions, regional competitions, and a grand final. The champions will receive medals and Lululemon gear worth 100,000 yuan.
In addition to Lululemon, multiple sports brands, including Nike and Decathlon, are also organizing brand-specific offline fitness activities through their stores and online communities. These activities aim to encourage more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle through active participation in sports.
Outdoor Trendy Lifestyle: Light sports become a lifestyle trend, expanding the boundaries of sports marketing
As outdoor scenarios revive and offline traffic restarts, outdoor lifestyles have become a trend among young consumers. Activities such as skiing, hiking, citywalk, camping, and frisbee, known as"light sports," have become new targets for brand marketing campaigns. Their lifestyle-oriented scene formats also expand the categories of sports marketing.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra, positioned as a professional flag ship for humanistic imaging, aligns with the citywalk trend. The brand launched the #Cityscape Slow Walk Project# in the popular city of Chongqing, releasing a special TVC. The professional lens captures city street scenes, making consumers feel deeply immersed in the lifestyle of strolling and photographing.
Anta's TVC for their lightweight shell sun protection jacket integrates various trendy outdoor lifestyle scenes such as hiking, cycling, kayaking, and urban commuting. In addition to promoting the product's functionality, the campaign emphasizes the integration of the product with trendy sports lifestyles.
During the frisbee craze sweeping the streets, Ele.me collaborated with Burger King to launch a "purchase mealand get a limited edition frisbee" campaign. Customers who ordered specified Burger King meal sets during the campaign period received a custom limited edition frisbee co-branded by Burger King and Ele.me.
The macro economic growth rate is shifting, and under the influence of multiple factors such as the pandemic, societal life is undergoing changes. Amid external uncertainties, consumers are turning from "outward exploration" to "inward stability." They are more concerned with the emotional value gained from consumption behaviors and expect to derive a sense of "identity" from high-energy lifestyles. As a result, the trend of "lifestyle mediatization" has emerged. An increasing number of brand marketing activities are centered around "sports lifestyles." With holistic integration, the synergy between online and offline is enhanced, and potential scenarios bring new growth opportunities. This attracts more brands from peripheral sports categories to organize brand activities using "sports" as a symbol.
Source:Public Interent Information，images and videos are all from the internet
Lucy Mo
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