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The existing sporting industry within Australia is continuously aiming to uphold quality service to attending away supporters however, is slowly but surely deteriorating as a direct result of the lack of away supporters attending. To establish a business model co-dependent on this potential challenge could be extremely difficult. Through establishing key marketing elements, connecting with sponsorships and partnering with sporting teams across Australia specifically, the following application 'Away Days' can thrive. The following article outlines the A-Leagues current struggles with away fans attending games due to the little service provided that caters for them. Can this application be a gap in the market to fulfil that lack of service?

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How can A-League clubs entice away fans to games?

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This weekend bore witness to what could become one of the fiercest rivalries in Australian sport. What made Western Sydney’s win over Melbourne Victory…

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The most recent COVID-19 outbreak caused major concern for the global sporting event market and continues to do so with the ongoing restrictions placed upon numerous countries. The following article outlines the significant impact COVID-19 endured on not only sporting businesses but also the health and wellbeing of individuals personally affected by the pandemic. Despite some major organisations including the UFC having strong contingency plans, the global sporting world stopped for 12-18 months which saw major sporting franchises and arenas close, directly affecting the market by 80%. The potential for COVID-19 to outbreak again is possible and therefore should be considering a major challenge when entering the event business market.

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The following link directs you to an Australian based NFL Facebook group which connects existing NFL fans across Australia to share their thoughts and opinions on ongoing matters and is often used to schedule meet ups and events for game-day experiences. Online supporters groups are becoming more and more prevalent across the globe to connect supporters to create long-lasting relationships. These groups are often segmented by sports, teams, geographical terms, opinions etc. This outlines the current demand for our application due to the sheer amount of supporters in these groups, as Away Days looks to revolutionise this aspect and further develop a central hub for these supporters.

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Isolating rival supporters from each-other - outbreak in violent conduct

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Isolating rival supporters from each-other - outbreak in violent conduct

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Sporting teams are very much considered a second religion to global supporting fans which often causes violent conduct amongst each-other. The outlined report indicates the increase in violent conduct outbreaks creating hostile environments for families attending sporting events and more cautious measures to be taken by police. Away Days attempts to isolate away fans from home fans in a direct attempt to restrict these ongoing violent conducts from further happening. Organising events away from local supporters group events will hopefully see a decrease in this ongoing trend.

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Wild scenes as violent fight erupts outside Sydney FC soccer match

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An angry mob outside Leichhardt Oval were seen throwing flares and poles in front of terrified onlookers. Find out more.

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Globalisation within the sports industry is becoming increasingly more prevalent with the accessibility to broadcasting of sporting events becoming more available. Australian sports are increasingly trying to become global entities and are continuously striving to push towards this aspect to increase engagement and viewership specifically across their online social media platforms. Applying this concept to the Away Days business model will eventually allow it to become on a more global scale, hopefully operating across all sports and teams worldwide. The following report suggests the globalisation of sport is on the upwards trajectory, further suggesting the demand for creating a home for away supporters will only enforce the necessity for this business model to exist.

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11 Important Future Trends In The World Of Sports

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With technology gaining traction,changing demographics and consumer habits it is extremely important to adjust quickly to these 11 emerging trends (plus two bonus trends) in sports in the future

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Away Days is mostly considered a run-for-profit organisation and needs to be either generate mass amounts of revenue or to be sponsored by major sporting teams across Australia. The immediate struggle to enquire and attract national sporting brands to an organisation would result in creating enough sustainable wealth independently first. The Away Days model will implement a subscription based service to the application in the immediate affect to help generate a sustainable revenue stream. The following article outlines the issues associated with subscription based services and identifies the total cost margin being minimal in respect to the service subscription price. Funding for such application is essential to ensure consistent amounts of post-match events are being scheduled and organised for match going fans.

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The subscription industry is growing at an astonishing rate, with reporting more than 100 percent growth per year, over the past 5 years. As the availability of subscription services has grown, brands are starting to face many of the challenges their traditional e-commerce and brick and mortar counterparts have been dealing with for decades. The challenges such as high cost of acquisition, difficulty growing average order value, and high churn rates span all Shopify subscription services. But, the subscription model, whether replenishment or curation, can have a huge impact on the answers to the problem.
In this guest post, our partners at Annex Cloud will break down the specific strategies their customer success team recommends to tackle these challenges based on the specific subscription model.

Replenishment

Customers who subscribe for the purpose of replenishment are looking for convenience, utility, and reliability. They want to buy the products they're familiar with and feel assured that they will arrive at their home when they need them.
Unfortunately, with big-box stores and companies like Amazon diving in, the space is getting noisy and harder to compete in. Amazon's Subscribe & Save service currently has the highest overall subscription rate in the industry. But all hope isn't lost for the smaller competitors.

Reducing Cost of Acquisition:

According to , the two leading reasons customers choose to initiate replenishment subscriptions are financial incentives and recommendations. These factors represent a lot of opportunities for brands who are looking for ways to break into or grow their replenishment subscriptions.
20% of respondents to McKinsey's poll say that a recommendation was the trigger for initiating their replenishment subscription. With this in mind, referral marketing is a great way for brands to proactively pursue recommendations. A tailored referral marketing program gives brands the flexibility to create incentives their subscription clients will respond to.

An astonishing 24% of consumers reported financial incentives were the biggest reason for initiating a replenishment subscription. Unfortunately for brands competing against the goliaths like Amazon, discounting isn't always an option. It can quickly become an unsustainable race to the bottom. But, loyalty marketing can help smaller brands compete on price without the aggressive discounting techniques. A well-designed
loyalty program can offer customers the same, if not better financial incentives over the long haul. Smaller companies also have an advantage in their ability to adapt quickly. As competitive pricing gets worse, seasons shift, or other factors impact their customers, brands can adjust their loyalty rewards and offer special promotions to continue to attract new customers. Limited-time, high-value loyalty promotions are a great way to get customers in the door with your replenishment subscription.

Growing AOV:

For obvious reasons, increasing the average order value (AOV) of replenishment subscriptions can be especially challenging. For most customers, a replenishment subscription is a set-and-forget. But, a loyalty program that focuses on rewarding customers for engagement-based actions in addition to purchases can go a long way in combating this mentality.
By regularly engaging with customers in meaningful ways outside of their regular replenishment related communications, you keep your brand top of mind. You can also create a loyalty communication schedule that has built-in opportunities to suggest products they may want to add-on to their orders. This also gives you an opportunity to remind customers of the financial and time-saving benefits of adding products.
When you have established a rapport with customers through your loyalty communications, you can then use that channel as a way to suggest add-on products. Utilizing user generated content such as reviews and visual commerce in these suggestions is a powerful way to increase the conversion of add-on items.

Your loyalty structure can also play a huge role in increasing average order value. One option is to create tiers for replenishment orders so as customers spend more on each order they earn a higher rate of loyalty points or high-value rewards. Depending on your business model, this can mean increasing loyalty points for each product added to a subscription or adding additional points or high-value rewards when customers add one-time products to their regular subscription.

Reducing churn - Driving higher Rretention

For any subscription service, churn is the number one fear. Unlike curation brands, replenishment brands don't typically have to worry about their service losing novelty. But, they do need to make sure that their service is always adding value to their customers' lives. According to the McKinsey poll, the biggest reason for churn in replenishment services is dissatisfaction with the product or service.

Slow moving large corporations are at a disadvantage here - the adaptability of smaller brands puts them at an advantage. Smaller brands can keep better tabs on their customers' satisfaction levels and react much more quickly when they notice an issue.
Subscription brands have a few strategies they can tap into when they are looking to tackle the issue of churn. Routine surveys are a great way to evaluate what your customers like and dislike about your service. And, loyalty rewards a great way to spur participation.
For brands that sell more than just replenishment products, creating stackable loyalty rewards is a great way to keep your customers repeat business. If customers are interested in buying other products (potentially at higher price points), giving them stacked rewards and effectively communicating these reward opportunities keeps them actively engaged with their subscription as they work towards the reward amount they want.
Finally, surprise and delight rewards are an excellent way to keep replenishment customers active. Regularly surprising customers with points and rewards make them feel genuinely valued, which goes a long way in reducing dissatisfaction and ultimately churn.

It's no secret that customizing your packaging jazzes up the look of your product, and reinforces your brand. It persuades people to be peaked by your product, and take the initiative to learn more about what it's all about.

While custom packaging helps you acquire your customer, it also helps you retain them. It allows you play around with different themes, and gives you the opportunity to keep the experience interesting and exciting for your customers. The suspense of what packaging theme they'll get really makes things playful and memorable.

Arka is a custom box company that allows you to order as few as 10 custom boxes. This allows you to customize your packaging monthly to quarterly without worrying about high minimum orders.

Curation

For curation brands, a loss of novelty is the biggest killer. Customers who subscribe to curation services are looking for something exciting to receive in the mail each month. Afterall, the biggest reason customers join a curation subscription is simply "to try something new". This makes acquisition a little simpler, but unfortunately churn is significantly more challenging.

Reducing cost of acquisition (CAC)

For curation brands, acquisition is relatively straightforward. Saturation is the biggest factor that can impact acquisition, but it varies widely depending on the industry segment a brand is operating in. believe recommendations from friends and family are the most trustworthy sources of information. Using your already
Acquiring new customers to a curation brand comes down to convincing customers that your brand is exciting month-over-month and offers the most value for the cost. This can be accomplished in two key ways.
Referrals are the first strategy that a curation brand can capitalize on. 84% of global consumers
The second strategy for acquiring new curation customers is capitalizing on user generated content. Because of the role curation brands play in customers' lives and the nature of social media, the internet is rife with customer-generated content. From blogs to Instagram posts and Youtube videos, customers are regularly creating content about their latest box or monthly delivery. Collating this content and collecting permission to use it in marketing is an excellent way to convince customers of the value of your curation subscription. happy customers to recommend a curation service is the best way to convince potential customers that your brand will bring them more joy and satisfaction than your competitors.

Growing average order value

Much like the replenishment model, the best way to increase the average order value of curation brands is through add-on items. And again, similarly to replenishment, the most effective way to encourage customers to add-on to their regular subscription is through strategic loyalty rewards. However, curation brands can take a unique marketing approach when it comes to their product add-on strategy. Curation brands can utilize loyalty to offer even more points or higher-value rewards for adding on products a customer previously received in one of their curation orders. The high-value of the reward combined with the recent familiarity and excitement around the product increases the likelihood of a customer adding it to their
monthly subscription order.

Reducing churn - driving higher retention

Curation brands are discretionary services which means churn is one of the biggest areas of concern. 29% of customers leave because they don't see the value for the money and 27% of customers leave because they are dissatisfied with the product/service.

For curation brands, making customers feel valued and delivering high-value products and services is key.
Surprise and delight loyalty rewards are a great way to make customers feel valued. When you give customers rewards without any apparent effort or investment on their end, they will see more value in their subscription as a whole.
For some segments of curation such as beauty brands, a big factor in churn is simply an accumulation of product that a customer can't keep up with. For these brands, their loyalty programs need to adapt and deliver rewards that aren't just more products. Experiential rewards and unique services are a great option. Beauty and cosmetic subscription services can host exclusive events like workshops and meet-and-greets for specific loyalty tiers.
The subscription industry is exploding. The right combination of customer loyalty, user generated content, and referral marketing strategies can help any subscription business grow and retain their customers.

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How to Tackle the Unique Challenges of Subscription Businesses - Recharge Payments

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The subscription industry is growing at an astonishing rate, with reporting more than 100 percent growth per year, over the past 5 years. As the availability of subscription services has grown, brands are starting to face many of the challenges their traditional e-commerce and brick and mortar counterparts have been dealing with for decades.

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Away Days is an application dedicated towards connecting away supporters from sporting events across Australia available on IOS and Android. Throughout ongoing investigations and after analysing numerous amounts of data, mass amounts of away supporters are increasingly more likely to leave a sporting event upon completion due to factors including - violence, going to an event independently or in small group and/or not knowing where to go. Away Days aims to implement a subscription based service in which connects match going away fans to national sporting events and providing a central hub to attend events hosted by Away Days. The subscription based service will aim to segment away fans from home supporters to ensure violent conduct remains less prevalent and will connect people from different parts of Australia. Providing a central hub in which hosts events strictly for away fans will ensure the challenges away fans currently experience will diminish, and hopefully will encourage more away fans to attend match day sporting events. Not only will this be extremely appealing towards Australian Tourism, however will allow our Australian sporting teams to further generate more revenue to become global entities. Major sporting teams including Manchester United, LA Lakers, Real Madrid etc, are generating billions annually from their attempt to be globally renown brands and their support base is extremely crucial towards that. Away Days within the immediate future will aim to connect people primarily in Australia, however will look towards growing on a global scale.

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The following report conducted by Deloitte US 2021, suggests the upwards trajectory for sports based analytics is furthermore becoming more prevalent post COVID-19. These sports based analytics cover the basis from athletic performance to match attendance and match-day revenue. These analytics are essential in order for such business to thrive, in order to being able to critically analyse the importance of certain aspects of sporting events. With such information, it will be extremely beneficial to adapt this method and align it with the current business model. Being able to measure not only the applications success, but also the amount of away day fans attending a sporting event will make scaling an event post-match more suitable.

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New opportunities to connect with fans

In this global golden age of sports, 2023 is expected to bring organizations and athletes more chances than ever to deeply connect with their fans. This includes engaging through some important international events, such as the Cricket World Cup (India), Rugby World Cup (France), and the FIFA Women's World Cup (Australia and New Zealand). This year will also see new media deals and more innovations from streaming providers as their influence grows.

In a challenging economic environment, sports will likely still be seen as an attractive option for investment, with investors endeavoring to take a responsible and sustainable approach. Technology will continue to infuse every aspect of sports, empowering athletes and creating a more immersive experience for fans at live events and at home. In general, 2023 will be about making the most of these near-term opportunities while managing associated risks with the longer term in mind.

Our 2023 outlook in brief:

The blending of physical and digital experiences will move from proving concepts to creating new functionality and better experiences.

With the possibility of new sports betting restrictions emerging around the world, there will be a greater emphasis on risk management and responsibility as the industry seeks more growth and profitability.

Interest and involvement by private equity investment in sports will continue to grow. How will sports organizations respond to new types of investors and their expectations? How will investors act during a potential economic downturn?

After a breakthrough year, women's professional sports are in a strong position to further advance in 2023, but additional work is necessary to improve awareness, expand sponsorship, and grow media rights valuations and investment.

College athletics in the United States are undergoing unparalleled change. It will be a challenge to balance the extraordinary opportunity with responsibility to student-athletes, schools, fans, partners, and alumni.

Download the full report to learn more about the impacts of sports industry trends, key actions to take, and critical questions to ask.

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Our annual sports industry outlook provides a scouting report on five major sports trends expected to shape the industry in 2023.

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Dedicated management towards such a niche aspect of event hosting is essential towards creating lasting experiences and creating a reputable brand. As a direct result of such event hosting being within its own niche, several aspects must be considered before creating an event on the application. Although the Away Days application aims to connect away supporters and host events dedicated towards them, hiring and educating the workforce on this specific aspect at first will be extremely challenging. The management must take into consideration many different situations which occur and ensure safety measures are aligned with the event. For example, the management must find a venue to host an event in which is segmented away from where usual home supporters would attend to avoid violent conduct potentially happening. With several measures set to be taken out before confirming an event, the immediate challenges faced will be difficult. Potentially aligning with different venues and creating a relationship with them further down the line could become a suggested solution, however will take numerous amounts of trial and error.

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Major sporting events such as the World Cup are internationally trending topics. So it's quite possible that world cup conversation could trickle down into your workplace and grab the attention of your employees.

With our Socceroo's in a tough group pitted against France, Denmark and Peru they will need all the good vibes they can get, being beamed to Russia.

With sports socials sweeping the nation (and the world this time), it can even be tempting for those not usually invested in sports to get seduced by the social atmosphere. As a small business owner, you could encounter difficulties if half your workforce suddenly come down with football fever.

But with some planning and a few processes in place, it is possible to keep your team focused and on a winning streak. Read our tips below on how to deal with major sporting events at work.

Communicate your game plan or policy

It's important that your employees are aware of your company policies. You may wish to revisit your current policies to ensure that communication is clear regarding topics such as internet usage or employee code of conduct, as these can sometimes be challenged when a huge game is on.

If you have a team of keen sports enthusiasts, you could add a sports policy. This will clarify to your employees what is and isn't acceptable.

Bend it like Beckham (if the shoe fits)

If you anticipate that your employees' minds might be wandering when a match is on, think about bending the rules a little to allow flexible working hours. Adapting schedules could be a winning formula all round. You are likely to earn your employees' respect and reduce the chances of a dip in productivity.

If you're unable to do this and think your employees might try to live-stream football during working hours, you could consider having a TV in the staff room with a cover schedule for breaks.
Just remember to make the same allowances for anyone who isn't following the football if you want to keep your dream team running smoothly.

Embrace the moment

With all the emotion tied into major sporting events, the occasion could be an excellent opportunity to bring people together. This could be through a sports themed team social, setting up a five-a-side company team or that old classic - an office sweepstake. These invariably appeal to more than just the sports fans amongst us.

Will you be making allowances at work for the World Cup 2018? Tell us about your plans in the comments below!

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How to manage your workforce during major sporting events - HR Dept Fremantle and Cockburn

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Major sporting events such as the World Cup are internationally trending topics. So it's quite possible that world cup conversation could trickle down into your workplace and grab the attention of your employees. With our Socceroo's in a tough group pitted against France, Denmark and Peru they will need all the good vibes they can [...]

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Developing relationships with major Australian sporting teams and event hosting venues will be essential in creating forever lasting experiences in which will hopefully create a reputable brand image. Attempting to engage with such organisations will massively increase engagement and revenue for Aways Days, however will also create a relationship with the potential consumer to ensure the event hosted is 100% safe. Partnering with these organisations will also create another monitoring aspect, ensuring more people will tick off on the event being able to go ahead with zero issues. This will hopefully influence Away Day supporters to attend more sporting events and hopefully increase revenue streams for surrounding businesses close to the event. Our aim is to ensure the challenges associated with Away supporters attending events is minimal.

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Before you dive in, if you are interested in sport sponsorship, check out these titles in our "sponsorship for sports" series:

5 Sports Sponsorship Valuation Strategies
5 Examples of Bad Sports Sponsorships that Missed the Mark
Sports Sponsorship Measurement and ROI Metrics to Track
7 Best Sports Sponsorship Activations
How do Sponsorships Benefit the Sports Organization and the Sponsor?
How to Write a Sports Sponsorship Proposal
The Best Companies for Sports Sponsorship
Why is Sponsorship Important in Sport? The Definitive Guide to Sports Fan Engagement
The Rise of Insurance Companies in Sports Sponsorship
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Alcohol in Sport Sponsorship

While professional sports have attracted sponsors to finance major aspects of the business including the cost of managing major stadiums through naming rights, brands can benefit from sports sponsorships across all levels of sports. Sports provide a widespread audience that can be reached in many different ways today. Brands have the opportunity to raise awareness and change their images to suit their changing marketing objectives.

Today, as we are fully immersed in the digital age, there are even more opportunities for brands to leverage sports and engage with their audiences in very meaningful ways. Our complete guide to sport sponsorship looks at the opportunities available to sports teams of all levels and shows you how you can use your audience to entice some of the most relevant, high profile brands.

Why is Sport Sponsorship Important?

Live sports, even on an amateur level bring large groups of people together. The more prominent the sport and team, the more attention the events get. Sports have a very interesting effect as they gather together groups of people who are both united and in competition with each other. While professional sports can reach billions of viewers making it an attractive prospect for international brands, amateur sports have their own appeal, especially within the local business community.

Demographics

Sponsorship opportunities are vast and can reach an interesting demographic. The audience in hand with the chance to develop interesting ways to engage the audience allows sports teams to use sponsorship dollars to enhance the experience of fans, while also improving what they offer their players.

Celebrity Status

The power of athletes at their best provides an aspirational outlook that brands find attractive. It offers new ways to present their brand in support of an active, healthy lifestyle. Put a can of soda in the hand of an athlete and suddenly it is a magic potion that can do everything from make you perform like a superstar to living a life of luxury. People don't realize the athlete was paid to drink the soda, and instead associate drinking the soda with the athlete, their abilities and lifestyle. An entire team using a brand can have the same effect.

Improved Funding

The funds gained from sponsorships can be spread around to provide the tools the team and supporting staff need to keep the team successful. In a small town, sponsorship might make the difference of having a single soccer ball for practice and a ball for every team member. It might mean having better quality uniforms, or a well-maintained soccer field. For a professional team, it can mean attracting the best coaches and medical care with better salaries and more services at the stadium for fans.

Improved Performance

When funds are raised through sponsorships, team management focuses on training and performance instead of coming up with ways to raise money. This improves team performance and brings them closer to championship status.

When you get sponsorship right, you create emotional connections that help drive fan loyalty that differentiates casual fans from those who can't miss a game. In other words, you create not just fans but fanatics. When fans are happier, they invest in the team via ticket sales, and stadium purchases that come full circle to support the needs of the team.

Improving the Fan Experience

Improving fan experience sells tickets and helps fans become more supportive of their team. Sponsors allow teams to hold special events on game day, or even create fan experiences off-season. A good example is fan days where stadiums are opened up and fans are invited to walk the field, participate in activities, enjoy some stadium food and often meet the players. This shows appreciation for fans and allows teams to bond with them. As a sponsor for such events, brands get their name as the host of the event, the right to participate with handouts, offer contests and prizes and more.

Each game can also feature a special giveaway or contest during breaks such as choosing stadium seat numbers for prizes, allowing fans to try to score a goal, hit a homerun or take a shot at the basket to win a major cash prize. These experiences offer a form of entertainment, but also allow fans the chance to interact with other fans, try their skills and often meet their favorite players.

Sponsorship Properties and Assets

Properties are distinct entities that cater to a specific audience. Each property has its own assets, both tangible and intangible benefits. Examples of properties would include:

Advertising in the arena, stadium etc.

Broadcast rights

Sampling rights

Pouring rights/rights to food and beverage

Contests

Stadium naming rights

Logo placement on tickets, jerseys etc.

It is not uncommon to confuse assets and properties. However, assets are packaged under each property to make them a more worthwhile investment such as:

Naming right of physical spaces

Naming rights of events and attractions

Signage

Product giveaways and samples

Exhibiting opportunities

Webpage

Social media

Newsletters and mailings

Pass through benefits

Use of venue

Paid media

Traditional media

Employee benefits

Hospitality opportunities

Your goal is to create packages that offer the most relevant properties with an impressive list of assets. It is always best to go for a larger sponsor for a property so you can improve audience response by helping reduce all the noise they are hit with at a sports event. Including exclusivity for the most intriguing assets will also help you find higher investments to ensure a clear connection between the fee paid and the benefits received through the properties and assets.

Defining Your Audience

Although sports can have a general audience, there are segments to be found in any audience. For sports, more specifically professional or semi-professional teams you can usually break down your audience into the following:

Viewers at home

Attendees

Dedicated fans vs casual fans

Annual pass holders

Corporate ticket holders

This is important because each of these groups should be approached in a different way, and in fact, should be offered different benefits through sponsors. For example, it doesn't make sense to offer general attendees the same privileges as someone with season's tickets. As well, you can come up with different opportunities targeted at specific corporate ticket holders based on their industry.

Your job is to understand each audience segment so you can accurately place value on each group and base your sponsorship offerings on each target. This expands your sponsorship levels while helping you create more defined, targeted activations.

Sponsors will determine their level of involvement on their own criteria, and therefore you really do need to know your audience. They will typically consider things such as:

Buying habits of your audience segments

Level of intimacy the audience might feel with properties and assets, causal or intimate

Reach of each property

Does the lifestyle of fans associated with the sport align with their brand?

Are we paying for too broad an audience so reducing ROI?

They will also look at the activations and potential challenges or conflicts:

Is the image created by each activation compatible with their brand?

Is the team or sport bigger than the brand potentially posing issues for them to break through the noise?

Who are the other sponsors, how do they align with their brand, and does it make sense to participate in multi-brand properties?

Will the activations lead to logistical nightmares during execution?

Can they provide enough staff to manage activations?

How did activations work in the past?

If you can match up your segments with these common questions and criteria, you make it easier for sponsors to see how they fit in and whether it allows them to meet their objectives.

Creating Experiential Activations

Just about every audience today, sports fans or not, have higher expectations when it comes to brand experiences. They are even more judgmental when there is a chance a brand is using them to get sales. Therefore, creating experiential activations that are honest, enjoyable and meaningful is very important for sponsors. So, you are caught between pleasing fans while also ensuring sponsors feel they are getting their money's worth.

From a fan standpoint, they expect the following from their stadium visits according to a report by Deloitte:

1. Safety, comfort, and cleanliness.

2. A view to match their expectations.

3. A high-quality game.

4. An exciting atmosphere within the stadium.

If you get #4 right, you can generate funds that improve #1 through 3. The report also showed fans want the opportunity to share experiences unique to the stadium targeted at their personal interests in hand with live entertainment options before, during, and after the game. These insights allow you to find focused sponsorship opportunities that deliver:

One of a kind memorabilia available for purchase in the stadium, or equivalents in giveaways

New ways to use mobile devices to enhance the stadium experience such as watching replays and game highlights

Fan exclusive entertainment available post and pregame

New ways to interact with the team, sponsors and other fans

In-event experiences tied to fan interests, new ways to review highlights, real-time fan stories and experiences

Keep in mind that different fan bases have different needs. For example, while NHL and NFL fans put little emphasis on pre- and post-game entertainment, NASCAR fans expect and want to experience unique entertainment. The NFL was the highest when it comes to expecting to enjoy an exciting stadium atmosphere. So, knowing your fan base is key to providing the right kind of experiential activations.

Leveraging Social Media

Social media is becoming more important for sports fans that use it for many reasons. From streaming live sports events to getting the best clips following or even during events, to commenting on plays in live streams, mobile devices and online opportunities are becoming far more diverse and exciting. There are way more platforms for sponsors to enhance the fan experience taking away from the traditional sports medium, television.

In fact, athletes themselves have their own social media pages that are becoming the preferred channel for "accidental" endorsements showing them using brands. New revenue opportunities for both sponsors and teams now exist that can work well when combined with full connectivity at stadiums, not to mention high-quality screens and other forms of beacon technology.

Engagement with fans through social media allows sponsors to be present to offer all kinds of experiences. This can include calls to action to attend their pre and post-game entertainment, contests, encouraging fans to be one of the first 10,000 to get a free product at the door, encouraging fans to engage in heavy discussions on a certain play of the day, or complaining about a recent trade.

Your properties should include social media assets to help sponsors meet their objectives. This can include:

Sharing and participation opportunities

Impactful use of images and video shared between the team and sponsors with rights to use them in their own social platforms

The ability to live stream highlights for fans

Collecting comments to better gauge fan reaction to their sponsorship

Social media also provides social proof activations are working, while also allowing for a collection of fan input via quick surveys. This leads us to the next key to successful sports sponsorships: Surveys and focus groups.

Evaluation and Surveys

Measuring sponsorship impact and success provides proof to sponsors their investment was worth it. But you should be combining the measurement of current events, with the input of fans so you can better determine what is expected, what works and what is a waste of time. When you can provide survey and focus group input with social proof certain activations have been successful, you can help sponsors decide where they want to invest for future opportunities.

Tracking user engagement and collecting input helps you target the best brands for the right opportunities. You can drill down to find important information that will influence sponsor decisions such as:

Where fans spotted logos most often

Which channels/platforms they are most likely to use during and following a game

Which experiences they would participate in and which ones they feel are a waste of time

The types of giveaways that would get them out of bed, and the ones that would keep them on the couch at home

The brands they choose of a list they would like more engagement with, etc.

Apps they feel improve their fan experience

You can then present your findings during brainstorming sessions, pitches and other points of contact to help bring sponsors onboard.

The Audience and Prospect Tie In

The right sponsors will have a direct tie in to your audience. Therefore, when making your list of prospects you will use your surveys and focus groups to come up with logical prospects that will be most likely to connect with your fans. In general, your prospects would include:

Companies with the same target segments

Companies that are sponsoring similar properties, fans and teams

Companies that align with the sports fan profile and lifestyle

And of course, companies that fans have called out in your studies

From there, you can develop packages that will meet the needs of these brands.

Beyond Basic Packages: Leverage

We've already listed the basics of properties and assets. This provides the base for your packages. However, sports sponsors tend to look for an expanded list of opportunities that allow them to participate on a more exclusive or unique level. Some ideas they might be looking for to leverage their sponsorship sponsorship might include:

Added value: Fans can bring proof of purchase from a sponsor to get a discount at the door or reverse this and provide a discount voucher at the point of purchase. This can also be connected to something different to add value such as a seat upgrade with proof of purchase to improve the viewer's experience.

Self-liquidators: Merchandise offers either at the game or at the sponsor, locations can include something like a sports reel of the best plays of the year, or a high-ticket item such as an official jersey for a very low price.

Team recognition for better optics: Allowing a brand to include your team name in an official capacity such as the official cereal can often gain brands more shelf space across chain retailers for improved exposure.

Co-sponsor cross-promotions: Arranging options for sponsors to work in partnership with other aligned brands can reduce costs while still offering equal benefits to you and the sponsors.

These are just a few ways you can allow sponsors to leverage their sponsorship to get more bang for their buck. This can encourage continued participation. Basically you offer them an added menu that allows them to "exploit" their relationship with the team whether it is to increase traffic to their stores, sell more products, boost sales with borrowed imagery for their marketing, or get their product to more people through sampling and discounts.

Package Values

In sport sponsorship sales, you will still be expected to appropriately price your sponsorship packages. You can find similar value in a number of places including:

Ad prices in industry publications

Digital ads on popular sports websites

Industry conferences and events

Your average fan attendance for regular games versus special event sponsored days

What other sports teams are charging for their sponsorships

Other teams will be the best resource to get some good average prices to help you put a fair value on your properties.

Activation Strategy

Your activation strategy should address each phase of the sponsorship including:

Sponsor Onboarding

Onboarding will address objectives and each aspect of activation, so everyone is on the same page including:

The audience segment each activation will target

The problem each activation should be solving for the audience

Any problems each activation should be solving for the sponsor

Better ways to customize the activation to see better results

Clarify Sponsorship Agreements

Don't let poor communication ruin your chances of effective activations. A checklist shows everyone what's what to avoid confusion including:

What logo placement, company name mention they are entitled to

Who provides what for events and activities

Production schedules for all marketing collateral

Clear schedule and locations for sponsor speakers, talent, etc. so they know when and where they are to appear

Clear schedule for things such as players appearing to sign t-shirts

Clear instructions on set up including when sponsors can access the venue, how to access the venue, etc.

Delivery schedule and deadlines for anything the sponsor might have to provide that they will not be handling themselves such as handouts at the door, prizes for the event, t-shirts to be worn, etc.

The more customized the activation, the more detailed the list will become.

Confirm Execution and Activation

To avoid conflicts on whether activation took place or not, you should ensure everything is being confirmed including:

All event collateral should be signed off by sponsors to ensure you have approval for logo and company name usage.

Have your own representatives available at the site of each activation to ensure everything is being done properly, whether it is ensuring handouts reach fans' hands, discount coupons are handed out, discounts are offered with proof of purchase and proof is collected, etc.

Take pictures of each activation

Encourage fans to post to social media pages using game and activity hashtags

Do screen captures of anything online so you can prove it was done just in case it is deleted after the game

Provide social proof an activation was successful whenever you can

With a plan in place, you can ensure everything is organized and nothing gets lost in the hectic stadium the day of the event.

Annual Sponsor Summit

Sponsor summits are not only an excellent way to collect information on how sponsorships can be improved, but also thank sponsors for their partnerships. They invite sponsors to meet at an event with food, drink and, most importantly, scheduled group work and presentations that allow people to network, learn from each other and pick each other's brains. For your most exclusive sponsors, you can include more private time with your reps as well as influencers or speakers in attendance. This helps build goodwill and nurtures relationships, so sponsors see their investment is appreciated and brings value to your fan experience.

Evaluation

Monitoring the impact of sponsorships provides sponsors with the numbers they need to justify their marketing dollar spend. Data and tracking are more important than ever, as sponsorship opportunities become more specialized and harder to monitor. One way you can prove success is to include brand and logo detection. As mentioned above, social proof works wonders to prove activation was successful, as does surveys in real-time to capture fan reactions to experiential marketing activations.

Sport sponsorship is a huge money generating opportunity allowing you to build relationships with brands wanting to get in front of your fans. This guide provides the tips you need to put together effective packages that will attract top brands to invest in your team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Baylis is the President and CEO of The Sponsorship Collective and a self-confessed sponsorship geek.

After several years as a sponsor (that's right, the one investing the money!) Chris decided to cross over to the sponsorship sales side where he has personally closed tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship deals. Chris has been on the front lines of multi-million dollar sponsorship agreements and has built and coached teams to do the same.

Chris now spends his time working with clients to value their assets and build strategies that drive sales. An accomplished speaker and international consultant, Chris has helped his clients raise millions in sponsorship dollars.

Connect with Chris via: The Sponsorship Collective | Twitter | LinkedIn

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The Complete Guide to Sport Sponsorship: Professional, Amateur and Everything In Between - The Sponsorship Collective

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Before you dive in, if you are interested in sport sponsorship, check out these titles in our "sponsorship for sports" series: 5 Sports Sponsorship Valuation Strategies 5 Examples of Bad Sports Sponsorships that Missed the Mark Sports Sponsorship Measurement and ROI Metrics to Track 7 Best Sports Sponsorship Activations How do Sponsorships Benefit the Sports [...]

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The significant importance of having an IOS and Android application within this current market doesn't go unnoticed. Aligning this business model with the ongoing trend of online social media groups will translate perfectly with an application. Online forums and groups are fundamentally clunky and disorganised, whereas an application breeds the opportunity for a more functional layout. The application can include segmented options for Discussion, Events, Media etc in a forum based layout, showcasing the amazing community we could potentially build.

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It is well known that we have moved into the age of smartphones. That is why mobile app development is playing a key role in digital marketing. This is basic information that will help you get the most of your app.

There has been a surge in the global demand for smartphones. Every smartphone uses at least one app, and this has completely changed the world we live in.

To create the best apps, developers need to be up to date with the fast-paced and ever-changing landscape of mobile phone technologies.

Statistics for Mobile Usage
According to a study by Yahoo, 90% of people's mobile usage comes from apps. Google reports that 91% of people owning smartphones say they go to their phones for ideas while doing a task, and 82% of them do some kind of research on their phones before making a purchase.

The number of mobile users is expected to be 3,8 billion in 2021.

How to Get the Most out of your App to Boost Digital Marketing

Experts recommend including app development in digital marketing campaigns. For many reasons, it is one of the best ways to boost the growth of your business with an investment.

1. Mining Customer Data for Decision Making

Apps can be used to mine user data. The easiest way to do this is by attaching the app to a cloud. This will allow marketing and sales representatives to study and process data to find trends through long term monitoring.

They can use the data to create more effective strategies based on unchanging behavioral patterns found from the organization's user base.

If you create a customer-friendly app and monitor how users are engaging with it, you will be miles ahead.

2. Expanding your Audience

An app will expand audiences because people can easily connect to your business through it. You get the opportunity to communicate with a wide audience effectively, instead of restricting them seeking you online.

On a global scale, this is a significant increase in accessibility, as you may have been drawn back by geographical location.

Having an app will make your brand available around the world, not just for a niche or for local people. Simple activities such as switching to a mobile-friendly theme can go great lengths when it comes to user engagement and mobile search rankings.

3. Using Push Notifications

Push notifications are an effective and efficient way for app developers to remind users of updates or opening the app. For a business, it informs users about new deals, products, and services.

All these notifications are located on the lock or home screen of their smartphone but aren't intrusive. It allows turning off unwanted notifications, which is better than desktop site pop-ups that users lack control over.

Push notifications need a whole marketing strategy. You must be keen on word usage and timing because you have limited patience and time in which you operate.

For example, frequent notifications may make users uninstall your app. Also, even if the timing is perfect but there are too many words or it sounds poor, you may get a swipe away.

Always test your push notifications carefully as you would with other marketing content.

4. Pay special attention to Long Term Metrics and Strategies

A singular boost in engagement or traffic upon first launching your app indicates success. But you must take into account how that measures up in the long term.

Impressive short term results don't necessarily mean you will be successful in the long run. But it is at least a good way to start something you have to maintain.

Long term plans are always important for businesses, in line with this you must create an app strategy that focuses on the long haul.

Getting customer's feedback before developing an app is the best way to achieve this. Also, you should create a clear, realistic roadmap for features that will help customers in the months and years ahead.

Even if you create an app that will be relevant for years, and that won't be completely overhauled when you release it, will miss out on some features that most users agree they need or want.

Don't worry, even the leading brands with experience tend to have a problem with this.

5. Simplify Signing Up and Use

This is the most important and basic step that developers tend to miss, and it can water down your efforts. Your app must be usable from the first to the last step. You should make it simple to sign up using social media including Facebook or to attach it to a website.

Make the interface easy and clean to work on many types of screens, using the latest adaptive design techniques. Every part of it should be very clear, especially in the settings.

6. Connecting the Dots

Your phone apps are like your whole life consolidated in one small device. Making a good business app can become an important element that connects your service and products to your customer's life.

The best test for your prototype is giving it over to kids to play with it. If they have trouble with something, users will have it too.

Why is an App Important for your Business?

1. Better Response

With an app, you can respond to your customers in a timely and effective manner.

Apps are very effective in tracking rising customer's demand and accessing customer's information.

Developing a good app will help you stand out in the crowd in many ways. Be sure to include all the important features in your mobile app development.

2. Customer Loyalty Value

The power of a mobile app can be reliable, and it builds the customer's trust. There are many ways to do this. For example, providing customers a chance to review a product or service through a mobile app or helping customers locate the nearest seller of a product they are looking for.

By building customer loyalty, you will find more returning customers and increase the chances of long term survival.

3. Innovative Approaches

No matter the type of business you run, your existing customers will contact you at some point. Including an app in your marketing mix can simplify the process of contacting you.

When customers access your app, they can find out service or product availability without having to call. This creates convenience for them and that means less trouble for you.

4. All Time Visibility

There is no doubt that anyone who owns a phone has installed an app.

The truth is that some apps out there enjoy full-time visibility. If your app is relevant and has featured a function for users to engage with your business, they will most likely use it beyond the initial download.

5. Direct Marketing Channel

An app gives you the opportunity to be ever-present with your target audience and by providing marketers a direct means of communication with customers.

Specifically, the push notification feature allows you to inform customers about new arrivals, and send them reminders about your service or product at any time.

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The Role of Mobile Apps in Digital Marketing - Marketing Media

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It is well known that we have moved into the age of smartphones. That is why mobile app development is playing a key role in digital marketing. This is basic information that will help you get the most of your app. There has been a surge in the global demand for smartphones.

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With the potential of sponsorships from Australian based sporting teams and venues coming to the helm and joining the Away Days family, creating incentivised events for this service sponsored by those organisations will create long lasting experiences and will reward those for who attend our events. From potentially giving away match-day tickets, merchandise, holidays etc, you provide incentive to joining the Away Days family. With the current market having zero other alternatives to this business model besides private events, there is a clear gap in the market for this business model and those who decide to use this service should be rewarded for doing so. Away Days could also potentially introduce a loyalty program to further develop that relationship outside of purely hosting events.

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Sydney Photographers, Expert Photography in Sydney, Australia

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Incentive events are a win for everyone involved

Incentive events are a win for everyone involved, from the hosting company, sponsors, venues, clients and to the lucky invitees.

People are highly motivated on a psychological level.

Team bonding and shared memories out of the office are priceless.

Important employee retention and loyalty

Employees feel appreciated in ways money doesn't

Memories that last a lifetime.

Highly shareable photos

Builds excitement about employee performance for next year.

Plan and budget for your events are for photos to be captured of your teams coming together, celebrating and being motivated. Also a great reward for the executive team to see as an acknowledgement of the nurturing business leaders can have towards their staff.

Experiential Incentives

Rewards in the form of an experience are very common nowadays. This gives businesses the ability to gather their best employees and clients for special lunches, motivational guest speakers, live or music entertainment, sailing in the harbour or meeting celebrities.

Some companies will organise these special events inhouse by their event or marketing manager and on occasion lease out to freelancers or event organising specialists who will arrange everything.

Photography Suitability

The experience sector lends itself very well to photography. Any time you have even small teams of people catching up to celebrate a milestone or rewards achievements at any venue is great to have photos captured.

Not only to enhance the experience at the time but to also share on Social media and expand the reach of your good news for a few more accolades to your industry peers.

Employee development

A critical path to organisational growth is employee development. Having great candidates join the company is a good start, when or if they are able to achieve their targets is just the beginning as most companies have target increases every year and the market, many markets change frequently with competitors taking advantage of their strength and changing consumer needs.

For a business to thrive they must continually invest in employee development of risk stagnation and or the good staff leave to your competitor.

The solution is a continuous program of training and development such as conducting inhouse or external workshops, structured training, Self-Directed Learning, unstructured tutoring and one on one with more senior experienced staff.

Each one of these in essence can be broken down into either group training events or individual one on one development.

Photography opportunities

Workshops and grouped training sessions lend themselves well to being photographed. Individual sessions are ok but usually not required unless you are using the photos for promotions activities.

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Incentive Events, Travel, Motivation & Photography

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Incentive Events in Sydney Incentive, Travel, Motivation and Recognition Photography Photography Question? Build a Culture of Excellence with Rewards Everyone loves an incentive especially when there's an event to follow and celebrate the achievements of individuals and team performance.

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As a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak, businesses across the globe shifted their attention towards ensuring safety measures were in place through check in service applications. Millions of people across the globe became familiarised with this approach and now businesses are adapting and utilising this method for their business models. With Away Day's aim to connect people at match day events and hosting post-match events, Away Day's aims to provide a service which allows you to connect and see where people are seated that you are familiar with at the stadium or venue. Having direct access to see where your friends you may have connected with through the app will be an extremely valuable service which no other similar business model follows.