Sports Marketing 360 a new service for the sports industry.
Sports marketing has a bright future in the hands of the smartest brands and practitioners even against a background of budget cutting and economic gloom. That was among the key messages to emerge from the first Sports Marketing 360 event, SportBusiness Group’s exciting new service to the sports sector. Staged in conjunction with sponsors BT at their City of London headquarters, Sports Marketing 360 broke new ground by engaging a global online audience throughout its five hours of high-level debate and discussion. “The future is bright for the bright” concluded Sean Jefferson, CEO of Performance Mindshare who shared the stage with Havas Sports CEO Lucien Boyer and Giles Morgan, head of sponsorship at HSBC for a session which aimed to chart the future of sports marketing. While the fallout form the worldwide economic downturn is sure to be felt by in the sports marketing sector as elsewhere, speakers agreed that pressure to be even more accountable for sponsorship spend would lead to an fresh focus on setting clear objectives, and adopting robust and accurate measurement and evaluation techniques. “This will be a Spring Clean for the sector,” said one delegate. “And although that might mean that some are swept away in the process, those who come through will be stronger that ever.” Sports Marketing 360 went way beyond the impact of the credit crunch to tackle many of the key issues facing the sector today including the value of athlete endorsement, strategies for reaching a youth audience through sport and the potential for brands to drive change through sport. “I wasn’t sure what to expect from Sports marketing 360 but it as an excellent conference - the best I have been to for a long time,” said FIFA’s Alex Koch who addressed a fascinating closing session which underscored sport’s power to act as a catalyst for change in society. “We were delighted by the response to the launch event of Sports Marketing 360,” said Phil Savage, publishing director of Sport Business Group. “The participants were all thought leaders in the sector who produced the most stimulating, thoughtful and insightful discussion which delivered exceptional value to the live audience and those around the watching the live webcast.” All the content from the inaugural event will be available along with additional comment, opinion and insight at the online home of the Sports Marketing 360 community.
For more information and to sign up for Sports Marketing 360 today then please contact Debra.Lestarde@sportbusiness.com or call +44 (0) 207 954 3427.
Printer-friendly version