Features
Sports Marketing Summit: Suncorp’s sponsorship manager emphasises the importance of aligning mutual values
Mumbrella's Sports Marketing Summit returns to Sydney this month. Suncorp's executive manager of sponsorships and community response Jenny Hutchison uncovers the behavioural science of why sport and storytelling trigger powerful neurological emotional responses that result in long-term positive brand association.
Story-telling is a highly effective sports marketing tool to connect with fans in a meaningful and engaging manner, sharing not just the wins but the lows and challenges of a team or athlete’s journey.
Suncorp’s executive manager of sponsorships and community response Jenny Hutchison believes sports partnerships are most successful when marketers take the time to find mutual values and a purpose between the brand and the organisation.
Hutchison is locked in to present at the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit 2024 where she will delve into how athletes and sport can be the catalyst for positive societal and cultural change.
We sat down with her to chat all about it.
Marketing is at the heart of what you do. What key brand and marketing principles do you follow in your role?
- The customer is at the forefront – what insight, behaviour and/or connection are we seeking, and how will we measure the impact?
- Be single-minded and purposeful across our communications.
- Is our brand differentiated and connecting to our desired audience?
- For sponsorships, specifically, how we appeal to our desired target audience and broader communities through social, entertainment, and other initiatives that matter to our customers so we can meaningfully connect and provide non-product reasons to engage.
What lessons from sports marketing do you think are applicable to brands outside sports?
Marketing campaigns that tell the best story or leverage ‘moments‘ are the most impactful, and the concept of building ‘fandom‘ within your customer base can relate to any brand, not just for sports.
With sports marketing, story-telling is a highly effective tool to connect with fans in a meaningful and engaging manner, sharing not just the wins but the lows and challenges of a team or athlete’s journey.
For sports content and story-telling fosters greater emotional connection, engagement and accessibility with a fan’s passion and interests. However, these principles and the power of story-telling apply beyond sports marketing and into other realms of culture and society.
Consumers are harder to reach and connect with due to increasing media fragmentation. Brands should use their knowledge of consumer behaviour and data, whether through social interactions or other channels, to identify insights that give the brand a licence to engage through story-telling and 1:1 content, further driving brand affinity and deepening connections with consumers.
Jenny Hutchison
When you deal with internal stakeholders and align the business to your campaigns, what works best for you?
Collaborating with and engaging stakeholders early in the concept planning and across the development process. It’scritical to the success of any strategy to co-create with key stakeholders and align on purpose and business objectives of any campaign.
Importantly, it’s also about celebrating the wins and sharing the challenges and campaign learnings internally for future consideration and optimisation.
What advice would you give to brands looking to leverage sports partnerships for maximum engagement?
Take the time to find mutual values and a purpose between your brand and the organisation that will enable the development of an authentic creative connection strategy to the desired audience and fan base.
Be single-minded, consistent and prepared to take some considered risks in order to build genuine equity and ultimately drive longer-term brand outcomes and results. Invest in the partnership through innovative engagement initiatives – don’t expect strong ROI just through the contractual benefits.
How do you measure success in a sports marketing campaign?
We have a robust measurement framework and align metrics to each strategy. We analyse media performance metrics for broadcast-led campaigns and, importantly, brand health metrics that drive top-of-the-funnel uplifts, as well as customer metrics such as trust, NPS and other engagement metrics.
Whilst brand-led sponsorships are measured via longer-tail metrics, we also monitor short-term metrics such as unique visitors on sites, quotes and social engagement. It’s also important to measure mutual success for our partners and the sport’s fans to drive long-term collaboration and engagement.
What role do social issues and inclusivity play in modern sports marketing, and how can brands do it well?
Sports should be a place for everyone to connect and enjoy. Sporting organisations and athletes can genuinely advocate, influence and interact with their audiences on important issues that can help people connect and, in some instances, feel like they belong as part of a community.
For purpose-led marketing, brands need to genuinely invest, beyond just capturing audience attention, to authentically show up working side by side with their sporting partner/s to make a positive impact. If it’s done well, it can be the foundation of a very powerful brand strategy.
What do you hope the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit 2024 attendees take from your presentation?
Purpose-led sports sponsorships drive results beyond reach and awareness. Be brave, innovate, and leverage creativity to deliver longer-term brand strategies aligned to a social purpose that can make a difference. A prime opportunity for brands, particularly in women’s sports, is leveraging the power of creativity and community connection to drive differentiation and impact.
What are you hoping to gain from the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit 2024?
The role of AI is on everyone’s mind. I would love to hear insights into how this technology is enhancing sports and fan connections.
Mumbrella’s Sports Marketing Summit takes place September 19 at Australian Turf Club, Sydney
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Have your say