Sports Fans Enjoy Branded Entertainment

Today, we continue our series on sports, and look at the importance of entertainment and video when marketing to Sports Fans.

As marketers and brands begin to prepare for the World Cup, video looks set to be a firm consumer touchpoint for sports marketers. A third of Sports Fans have watched a branded video in the last month, putting them 34% ahead of average. The youngest Sports Fans are especially keen to watch branded videos (36%) and almost a fifth of 16-24-year-old fans say that one of the top things they want their favorite brand to do is entertain them with videos.

Beyond deepening customer relationships, video content can play a key role at encouraging consumers along the purchase journey too. They’re 27% more likely than average to turn to video sites to research a brand or product, and over 30% ahead of average for saying that exclusive content and videos would actively encourage them to buy a product.

Sports Fans are demanding more and more immersive experiences from marketers in the form of exclusive videos. Content that makes fans feel closer to their sports idols is likely to have particular power, and younger generations in particular want real interaction with athletes. 46% of Sports Fans are following sports stars on social media, rising to almost two-thirds among 16-24s.

This shows the opportunity for marketers to team up with these stars to facilitate this direct video interaction. Olympics sponsor and furniture brand DFS did this well when it gave some of the gold medal winners’ homes a makeover, and provided fans with a peek into their real lives.

Sports Fans are defined as internet users aged 16-64 who have a strong interest in watching sports.