The Importance Of Proactive Purchasing Analysis In Sponsorship

BY ADAM GROSSMAN

In a post earlier this week in his The Sports Biz blog, industry thought-leader Darren Heitner analyzed ROKiT’s growing investment in sports sponsorship. For example, the company is already the current jersey patch partner of the Houston Rockets and is the official wireless partner of the Los Angeles Chargers (full disclosure: the Chargers are a B6A partner).

One critical reason Heitner featured ROKiT is that the company “partnered with the Rockets and Chargers before it even had a product to sell, and justifies the spend based on the fact that those opportunities may not have been present if it waited until true launch.”

Why would a company spend money on a partnership before it had a product to sell? For context, ROKiT is part of ROK Bands its core product will be mobile devices selling at lower price points than competitors with unique features that include, “NASA patented technology, life services like roadside assistance and telemedicine, and a 3D screen.” ROKiT will begin selling its phone to customers in 2019.

ROKiT is pursuing a strategy that is becoming more common for companies that partner with sports organization where companies want to target potential customers before they make a purchasing decision. ROKiT’s Chief Marketing Officer specifically sees alignment between the company’s target demographic and the sports audience and is seeking deals to maximize brand awareness with fans.

ROKiT understands that for its mobile device buyers to consider its new line of phones they first need to be aware that the company has entered this space. In our Block Six Analytics (B6A) Corporate Asset Valuation Model (CAV), we show how maximizing brand awareness, engagement, and sentiment increases the likelihood of purchase intent and a purchasing decision. ROKiT’s deals with the Rockets and the Chargers are designed to increase the probability that its target customer will interact with the brand because its target customer is a sports fan.

ROKiT is not the only company employing this proactive strategic approach to sports sponsorship. In a recent post for AdAge, Turner Sports vice president of property marketing and corporate partnerships, Will Funk, focused on Geico’s relationship with esports. As Funk states, “For example, car insurance may not come to mind when thinking about competitive esports. Yet, GEICO has had a multiyear investment as one of the largest brand proponents of the sport, adopting the tone and culture of the community from early on. The young millennial esports fan is likely in, or soon to be in, the market for a car. It's actually a perfect fit. [emphasis added].” Geico’s goal is similar to ROKiT’s goal of engaging with customers before they make a purchasing decision.

Companies will always be looking for ways to leverage sports partnerships to drive current top-line revenue growth and maximize their brand goals. Increasingly, however, these companies realize that they need to be proactive today to drive a future purchase. Sports rights holders have the unique ability to help companies achieve this goal given their demographic profile and ability to connect with their fans with sponsorship inventor that can maximize the likelihood of a future purchasing decision.