YMM and ZK Sports

SPORTS MARKETING: HOW FINANCE BRANDS ARE PLAYING THE GAME

Elizabeth Rayment, Director and Founder of YMM, the marketing and PR agency for financial services, has been at the forefront of sports marketing since she started her marketing career in finance over a decade ago, she commented:

“Sports marketing in the financial services industry can be an effective way for companies to differentiate themselves in a competitive market, reach a passionate audience, and build strong brand connections. We’ve also found that by working closely with our clients when forming these types of partnerships we have helped them overcome issues such as a lack of consumer trust and negative brand perceptions. By leveraging the emotional appeal and widespread popularity of sports, financial services firms can enhance their visibility, engage customers, and establish themselves as trusted partners within their communities. We recently partnered with the sports marketing agency ZK Sports for the Formula 1 in Monaco and it was an unforgettable experience from start to finish.”

As July arrives and we are quickly approaching summer, a quieter time of the year starts for financial services, investors and traders. Many will take this time to review their Q1 and Q2 strategy and realign their goals and objectives for the second half of the year. Sports marketing will be included in many of these plans and conversations. SponsorUnited, one of the leading global sports and entertainment intelligence platforms, mentions that sponsorships and activations within Consumer Financial Services are on the rise up 25% YoY in terms of the number of brands activating.

With that said, in recent years we have witnessed a more diverse mix of sports events, teams, athletes, and related content used to promote and enhance a brand’s image including (amongst others) F1, sailing, golf and polo. All of these sports are becoming more popular in terms of related imagery being used to enhance visibility amongst a certain audience and customer e ngagement being streamlined within financial services marketing strategies. Marketing departments are focusing on the strategic integration of sports-related activities in their marketing campaigns in order to broaden their reach and connect with target audiences in specific sports communities. Whilst in the realm of increased use of social media, we see brands concentrating on brand identity and focusing more on digital activations and creative content.

Oliver Kent, Managing Director at ZK Sports & Entertainment has been running his agency for over a decade and commented on how he has seen the sports sponsorship industry evolve over the years:

“I’ve been working in the sports marketing and sponsorships industry for over 13 years and have seen an increase with financial services brands moving away from the popular football team branding to widening the field to other sports such as F1 - FXPro is a perfect example of this. Through these partnerships, companies gain exposure to a wide range of sports fans and create brand association with the excitement and passion of sports which is very closely linked to the adrenaline that can be felt when investing in the financial markets.”