Whether we’re talking to brands, rights holders or other agencies, it’s amazing how many either don’t know the specific audience/fan segment(s) they are targeting with their activity, or simply haven’t asked the question. Instead they get caught up with their own point of view or the creativity of a ‘great’ idea, with little understanding of if it will be seen in the same light by the receiver of the message, as it is by them – the communicator. The anatomy of a sports fan – Leader’s report showcases various approaches being taken by sports entities around the collection, interpretation, and ultimate use of fan data; whether it’s measurement systems that allow for tailored content strands to ensure different audience demographics are engaged how they prefer to be engaged; or ever-sophisticated fan experience platforms that drive engagement and capture data; analytics dashboards that collate data from numerous touchpoints and drive business intelligence across the organisation or an understanding of sponsor data expectations and how to exceed them.

The objectives and strategy parts of a partnership or campaign are nearly as much ignored as the evaluation stage (which often becomes a ‘justify my decision making’ exercise). This is no coincidence as they are inherently linked from a point of view of understanding return on investment (ROI), whilst also being essential to building and delivering an effective plan and activation.  Strive spends a lot of time with our clients understanding who they are trying to reach, what change they want to effect in the audience’s behaviour, how they can reach that audience and what value they might be able add in a credible and authentic way that will have a meaningful impact. At regular intervals we measure the effectiveness of what we’re doing and optimise, based on what we have learnt and are trying to achieve.

Personal data is a sensitive and newsworthy topic at present. Who holds our data, which bits of information do they have, and what will they use it for? These are all important questions and ones to which we are all entitled to answers. Fundamentally, though, an understanding of our behaviours – our likes, dislikes and how they all come together to form a picture of what we’re likely to want or need in the future – is enormously helpful for service providers who want to offer us products or experiences that make our lives easier, surprise, delight or entertain us. The anatomy of a sports fan – Leader’s report helps start you on that journey.

Please click here to download the The anatomy of a sports fan – Leader’s report.

If you would benefit from the advice of a sports agency, Strive Sponsorship can help. Contact us for sports sponsorship, commercial, content, operations, investment and communications consultancy services.