Sport Industry Group

02 Jun 2010

Fiona Ross, Head of Brand for Virgin South Africa, explains to Sportindustry.co.za why sport is such a powerful marketing tool for brands.

Q. From a marketing perspective, what does sport offer a brand?

Fans love their sport and teams. They devour stories, they debate about every aspect of the game and if a brand helps their sport/ teams they seem to really appreciate it. Research we did some time ago demonstrated that spend on sport sponsorship is seen as community support rather than a marketing tactic. Because of this sport can offer brands a positive and meaningful platform to engage with people. It can be used to position a brand to whole new audience or keep brand loyalty alive with an existing audience.
 
Q. How should a brand without an official tie-up with the tournament exploit the attention that the World Cup brings?

Use the World Cup platform to add something of value to current and potential customers. A good example I saw recently was Property Magazine. They know the world will be watching South Africa and are making the most of that window of opportunity by using their June and July issues to showcase local property to international investors. They have increased their distribution significantly to make sure this happens. A copy will be in every major hotel room, in each luxury car rental, shipped with each case of wine leaving SA and sent to people on the Time 100 and Fortune 500 list. This activity is relevant and it respects FIFA’s rules and regulations.

Q. How sophisticated is the general marketing approach in South Africa?

Relatively sophisticated, we have some very strong, well managed local brands and we have an advertising community that produces some exceptional work. The USA and Europe are probably further down the line with social media and its impact on brand relationships and purchasing decisions, but we’re not too far behind.

Q. Do you think that the World Cup will help improve marketing techniques in South Africa?

Yes, hopefully it will have sharpened skills given the size of the audience (FIFA estimates 2.2 billion people will watch each game). I’m looking forward to seeing the various campaigns play out over the next few months. I saw BP’s “divas and taxi drivers” TV commercial recently and loved it. I wonder if an international audience would also find it funny? Maybe once they’ve been to Joburg!

Q. From a brand perspective, what does it take to communicate successfully with the South African consumer?

I think communication principles hold true wherever you are. Start with a product or service that delivers what people need and then let people know about it, in a relevant way. The business objectives and market share expectations will dictate what communication channels you use and how much you spend. Getting good word of mouth going with your customers and staff remains one of the best communication tools.

Q. What do you think is the biggest marketing lesson that South African brands have learned in recent years?

I think the global recession has taught us all a big lesson. Project Reboot* talked about the move from “conspicuous consumption” to “considered consumption”. People are buying less now and are more thoughtful about what they buy. They seek out quality and good value, no matter how small the purchase is. In addition word of mouth has reached epic proportions with the introduction of social media and one bad experience can be communicated to millions. This is making marketers get back to basics and focus on the most important elements of marketing – quality, value and customer service.
*Source: UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing 2009.

Q. How has the way that South African brands are communicating their message changed?

Yes I think the way messages are conveyed has changed quite dramatically with the introduction of new communication channels. How and what you communicate on Twitter or Facebook is quite different to what you communicate on TV and savvy marketers have adapted accordingly.

Q. As a member of the judging panel for the Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards 2011, what’s the biggest single attribute that you are looking for from the campaigns that are entering?

The campaign idea needs to be inextricably linked to the brand, you want the investment to be in the brand not in a creative idea that can have any logo after it. Results obviously count too!