Sports teams are huge all around the world. Various sports have different marketing models, but to have a successful marketing strategy you must have an established brand. Establishing a quality brand for a sports team can be difficult because you want all the fans to like it. Here are seven tips for creating a quality sports brand.
1. Create A Recognizable Logo
The logo is the most important part of any kind of branding campaign for a sports team. The logo is going to be put on all kinds of merchandise for the team such as die cut stickers. Along with the merchandise, the logo will serve as a reference point for fans. Just logos are often referred to when teams are brought up in national media.
Since logos are extremely important, you will want to incorporate aspects of the community into the logo. Also, you should make the logo modern to help compete with other brands. General fans may buy merchandise because a logo is cool-looking, so you will want the logo to stand out.
2. Create An Identity
Creating an identity behind a branding strategy can be difficult. However, the sports team may do that for you. If your team is known for something, or the city is known for something, then you should work to incorporate that into your branding strategy.
An identity will help create an atmosphere around the brand. For example, the New England Patriots have been incredibly successful. Their brand exudes success, which makes it popular to wear Patriots merchandise around the world. You should make the identity relatable, but it should also be unique from other brands.
3. Research Your Target Market
Researching your target market is important in the creation of the brand. Your main target market will be the individuals that live in and around the city where the team is located. You should try and find out the interests of these individuals and cater to them to help the success of the brand.
If the team has a long history, then you may want to try and resemble the team’s past in the current branding. Things such as throwback uniforms and merchandise from a successful point in the team’s history can help the new brand’s success.
4. Establish Great Endorsement Relationships
Endorsement relationships can be vital in the success of your branding. Endorsements can play a large role in the exposure and reputation that the branding gets. You will want to find companies/individuals that are liked amongst the fans to endorse your brand.
Popular endorsements throughout sports include Drake endorsing the Toronto Raptors, Snoop Dogg endorsing the USC football team, and Matthew McConaughey endorsing the University of Texas. All these individuals are well liked, which has led to the attraction of more people to the fan bases.
5. Consistency
Being consistent with your advertisement and message is important. If you are constantly changing things within the brand, then it can be difficult for fans to follow.
If a team changes its logo every couple of years, then it will be tough for fans to have the right merchandise. It can really discourage fans from buying merchandise because it will seem like the team is only interested in making a profit off the fans.
6. Engage the Fans
Engaging the fans in the branding of the team can be huge for the success of the brand. There are plenty of sports teams that are known for interacting with their fans, which has grown their popularity.
The best way to engage with the fans is to create a social media presence. Many sports teams now have social media profiles that are funny and allow their fans to interact with the team and each other. This is not an easy thing to do, but it can skyrocket your brand’s popularity when done well.
7. Capitalize On Success
If the team you are working with is successful, then you should do your best to capitalize on it. If your team makes the playoffs, then you should increase advertising and get all the publicity you can.
Very few teams in professional sports get the opportunity to compete in the playoffs each year, so you should take advantage of the relevancy.
Conclusion
If you are trying to create a brand for a local sports team, then you should try and follow these tips. The tips will vary depending on the prestige of the sports team that you are working with, but you should be able to adapt these tips to any team that you are working with.
