Sports Marketing Executives: 3 Action Items to Help You Leverage the Next Big Thing in Sports Marketing

For sports marketers, advertising mediums are constantly changing, due in part to advancements in technology and in part to disruptions in the ad tech industry. After spending the summer working in the digital marketing department at Under Armour and spending four years at Northwestern University studying marketing, I have come across two articles on the future of sports video game advertisements that can help you improve your company’s return on ad spend.

The article “‘NBA 2K19’ And Other Sports Games Have Gone Overboard With Ads — And it’s Ruining the Fun” comes from Business Insider gaming reporter, Kevin Webb. Webb discusses the current state of aggressive advertising in sports games and how as games try to become more life-like, they are adopting a similar ad strategy to the actual sports leagues. Webb mentions the popular basketball games, “NBA 2K19” and “NBA Live 19,” which both have sponsorships with Nike and Jordan brands. However, the in-game ads transcend just equipping players with their product, but also include non-traditional marketing tactics like the Jordan-branded Parisian streetball tournament mode.

 

Citation: https://www.statista.com/statistics/516094/value-video-games-advertising-market-usa/. 

In Yahoo! Finance’s piece, “Teens Are Obsessed With Watching Netflix And Playing Video Games," Brian Sozzi explores a recent Piper Jaffray survey of 8,500 teens, which found that about 83 percent of teens own or expect to buy a current generation gaming console. The study found that teens are spending more time playing video games each week, and that “male teens spend almost as much on video games (and consoles) as they do on basic elements required for survival,” Michael Olsen, author of the report, said. The report also found that stocks were soaring for video-game publishers like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take Two Interactive.

Based on these articles and my experience in the sports digital marketing industry, I’ve developed three action items you should consider when planning your next digital advertisement buys.

• Capitalize on Video Games - Teens are increasingly obsessed with video games, making effective video game ad content that much more important for garnering exposure to young audiences.

• Find Your Game - Finding the right video game to advertise in is important because advertising with an already crowded game can create negative consumer sentiment.

• Attract Gen Z - A recent survey conducted by Piper Jaffray showed that about 83 percent of teens own or expect to buy a current generation gaming console, making it that much easier to reach a broad generation through one advertising medium.

The next time you’re thinking about diversifying how your company shows up in the digital ad space, consider these three important items about advertising with video games.

Dan Waldman is a senior at Northwestern University, studying Journalism, Business Institutions, and Integrated Marketing Communications. He has previously worked for Under Armour and the National Basketball Retired Players Association.

You can connect with Dan on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Artificial Intelligence? It Doesn’t Seem So Fake Anymore

Artificial intelligence has been on the front lines of innovation for years, and now its making big impacts in the world of digital marketing. As an undergraduate in the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, pursuing a certificate in Medill’s IMC program, I have found two articles on the topic of artificial intelligence it’s intersection with digital marketing that examine the importance of AI and how we can expect it to transform digital marketing.

The first article is titled How AI Will Alter the Digital Marketing Landscape, written by Jennifer Lux and published on AdWeek’s ‘Creative Disruption’ section in June of 2018. Jennifer analyzes several ways that AI has infiltrated digital marketing and shaken up the marketing landscape. She believes “AI and its related technologies will run parallel to nearly all marketing tactics in the future”, working with marketers to enhance their products. The primary function AI will serve to digital marketers will be in it’s ability to lighten the ‘cognitive load’ of employees. By automating processes that have traditionally burdened marketers, they are able to focus on higher-level projects without getting caught up in the minute details of lesser tasks.

Source: The Telegraph UK

The second article I examined, How AI Is Changing the Future of Digital Marketing, is written by Shane Baker and published on HackerNoon. Baker sees AI as a way to enhance the customer’s experience with marketing. As data has grown more accessible to marketers, AI has the power to predict consumer interests and habits, and target them with more relevant content. The algorithms behind AI are able to provide consumers with targeted recommendations and information to tailor their online experience. AI also allows consumers to interact with a brand in an almost human-like manner, conversing with chat bots in the place of human employees.

Based on these two articles and my experience at Northwestern University, I have developed 3 action items you should consider the next time you’re thinking about implementing artificial intelligence into your digital marketing strategy.

·      Create competitive advantage – adopting artificial intelligence is a surefire way to stay ahead of the competition and keeping up with the latest developments in the digital marketing world.

·      Enhance user experience – using AI will allow your business to enhance user experience with your brand, and is the best way to learn more about who you are interacting with and what they are interested in.

·      AI = Efficiency – implementing artificial intelligence will allow your employees to be freed from the burden of day to day tasks that could easily be automated, allowing them to spend their energy on more important projects.

The next time you’re thinking about artificial intelligence, remember these 3 action items to help you stay ahead of the game.

Brian Fogarty is an undergraduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He studies Political Science and Integrated Marketing Communications. You can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Food Brands: 3 Key Trends to Stay Relevant Going into 2019

Food trends come and go quite quickly, but they always reflect advances in technology and culture that your consumers use in all aspects of their lives, including in their daily meals. As a young, self-proclaimed foodie studying digital marketing, I have found two articles that identify some of the biggest trends in food and restaurants today, and I’ve selected three of these trends that I think are most important for brands to know.

The first article, by Cathy Siegner for FoodDive, gives six of the major food trends of 2018. These six build upon trends from 2017, including healthy ingredients, complex flavor profiles, and environmental sustainability. Siegner also notes that consumers today are looking for greater transparency about the ingredients in what they’re eating as well as new international options. Aside from sustainable foods and international dishes, Siegner highlights the use of plants and flowers in food and beverages, more indulgent flavors like butter and other fats or oils, and technology to be used in meat-replacing proteins. The idea of transparency comes into play with trends such as product traceability, which allows shoppers to know where their food comes from and how it was handled along the way.

source: 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/10648419/Is-it-wrong-to-photograph-your-food-in-restaurants.html

The second article, by Greg Maloney for Forbes, details five similar trends, not only for food and beverage companies, but for retail in general. Maloney explains some of the most interesting concepts that food and beverage brands are leveraging to draw in customers. The experience economy, which Maloney likens to his childhood love of collecting baseball cards, means that almost 80% of millenials would rather spend money on an experience than on an object. Sustainability and transparency are also key trends in this article, and relate to one another in the way consumers value knowing how their food is sourced. Finally, Maloney notes that consumers today look for both convenience and personalization in choosing their meals, both of which can be developed using today’s technology to speed-up the processes of food preparation of delivery.

Based on my reading of these two articles and my experience studying marketing at Northwestern University, I have developed three recommendations for food brands to stay relevant with their customers:

·      Embrace the experience: consumers no longer want to just sit and eat their meals, they’re looking for a full experience to immerse themselves in the meal and then share it with their friends.

·      Convenience is key: consumers want you to make it easy for them to get their food, and you can do this by using the latest technology to make and deliver your product.

·      Show the science: from sustainable options to meat-free alternatives, consumers love high-tech gastronomy that makes eating feel like a new experience.

These three recommendations should help any food brand navigate the rapidly-changing realm of food trends.

Mary Parker is an undergraduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She studies sociology, Spanish, and integrated marketing communications. You can connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.