Marketing Communications and Sports Increasingly Term Paper

What advertisers do as an integral part of their marketing communications strategies is create small or what are sometimes called "micro sites" and heavily populate them with keywords that the advertiser pays for advertisements on Google with. This marketing technique is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the use of Google AdWords advertisements gives advertisers both organic and paid search advantages when a potential customer uses Google to find out what's new with their favorite driver or golfer. A prime example of an advertiser using this technique of creating a micro site, populating it with keywords and then relying both on Google AdWords in addition to organic search through Google itself is EA Sports. Using this marketing communications strategy on the Web, EA Sports' link comes up on Google before Nike, which is quite a feat given how much Nike invests in Tiger Woods' sponsorship. EA Sports also works with bloggers to get the word out on their most anticipated games in the areas of the PGA and NASCAR.

Event marketing is critical. Advertisers rely heavily on the actual events their sponsored athletes or driving teams participate in to get millions of dollars of exposure on television and the Internet they would otherwise have to pay for. Dale Jarrett's key sponsor is the United Parcel Service (UPS), and it is common to see their rotating banners at events and commercials during major NASCAR races he competes in. In golf, Accenture, Buick, EA Sports in the U.S. And BMW in Europe have become synonymous with golf tournaments. The intention of these vents is to continually reinforce brand leadership in each of the specific markets that the advertisers gain access to through these sports. it's all about attracting the segments of a market most likely to purchase the advertiser's product.Public relations and sports marketing. There is a significant amount of coordination that needs to take place on a daily basis between advertisers, their sponsored athletes or racing teams, and the sports agencies. Many organizations including Accenture, Epson, EA Sports, IBM, and others have an entire marketing department that concentrates purely on creating multi-channel marketing communications strategies that attain awareness and marketing objectives. Public relations efforts include often the project management that is required for significant events, the coordination of promotional events, development of media interviews, and the planning for large media events at races and golf tournaments. Public relations fulfills the role of generating awareness of the brand, its relationship to the sponsored racing team, driver or golfer, and also looks to accomplish the marketing communication objectives of any product launch that includes sponsorship partnerships with major sports organizations and agencies.

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