Helping brands to partner with athletes in their influencer marketing and sponsorship marketing campaigns

Regional marketing is important for all brands as it allows you to be more nimble, targeted and see a great ROI on your marketing spend. Influencers and particularly athletes influencers are a great way to develop your regional marketing strategy. Why use athletes for regional marketing? They LIVE in your regional market, they come on TV week after week competing and WINNING for your regional market, their followers on social media are mostly likely to be your regional CUSTOMERS. 

Regional marketing delivers higher ROI than national campaigns because: 

1. It allows you to focus your resources on the regions that need the most investment, maybe because they are the best performing markets for you, or maybe because they are under-performing cities that you want to grow, or even because they have relevance for other company objectives such as hiring, lobbying or where your executive team resides.
   
   
2. If you are a SMB or local business you want to ensure your marketing spend is focused on your target customer base and avoid the leakage from a campaign that is seen by people who can not be your customers.
   
   
3. If you are a Fortune 500 company you want to ensure some of your marketing spend is catered to the unique preferences, the competitive environment and needs of their local markets.
   
   
4. Using regional athlete influencers in your campaign means you can use deliverables such as appearances, local meet+greets, social media posts in your neighborhood vs. just a national TV campaign that does not touch the hearts of your customer base.  

Sold? Great. Now how do you find the perfect athlete influencer for your Regional Marketing campaign:

1. Check out our athlete roster and sort by location to see if we have athletes covering your market - with 140 countries and athletes in every state in the US, I am sure we will!
   
   
2. Sign up for a free account to do more detailed searches on the Instagram followers of the athlete influencers, you can filter by city, state, country and what % of their followers reside in the area. We recommend doing 5% if a city, 20% for state and 50% for country to find the athletes that are relevant. 
   
   
3. Use our free Regional Marketing campaign template that advertises your brand to our 7000+ athletes and your regional marketing needs, and our athletes will apply to work with you. 

Here are three regional marketing campaigns involving athletes that we love. 

Fast food chain Popeye's launches it's Chicken Sandwich in Chicago with Bulls, Redsox and Bears athletes including Tarik Cohen, Denzel Valentine, Tim Anderson, Pedro Strop

Menswear fashion apparel brand Bonobos ensure a strong launch for their new Charlotte store with the help of an appearance and some social media posts by NBA Hornets player Dwayne Bacon

See full case study here 

Sports betting company and Daily Fantasy Site Fanduel promote their new contests and activate local sports fans using regional idols such as NFL SuperBowl champion Aqib Talib

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jason Severiano Lampkin - that's me in the picture above - and I'm one of the new interns here at OpenSponsorship. Though many - if not all of you - will never have even heard of me, there once was a time when people thought the world would never forget my name. Instead, I became the man that many never even get the chance to know.

I excelled in sport from a young age and was touted - as is often the case for prodigious talent, particularly in soccer - as “the next Michael Owen.” Admittedly, we shared many similarities; we went to the same junior school and high schools, we played for the same local and county sides, we both played for Manchester United, and - as you'll see from the video below - we both possessed an electrifying turn of pace. But a cruel twist of fate and a wicked twist of my knee was all it took for my promising soccer career to take a quite drastic U-turn.

The only silver-lining with the ACL injury was that it meant that I was still following in Michaels footsteps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H1TimXcg1c

But enough of the sob story. Let’s fast-forward five years and focus on the positive.

After a fun-filled, success-sprinkled collegiate career on a sports scholarship at Long Island University, I’m finally heading into the final few weeks of my MBA. I’d never imagined that I’d be picking up a post-graduate diploma - I’d always fantasized about lifting trophies instead  - but I did envisage a future where I’d still be involved in sport in some way, so thanks Opensponsorship for making one prophecy a reality!

Working here has opened my eyes to the countless possibilities the modern-day athlete can be exposed to. I’d had a glimpse of it in my days as a first-team squad member at Aston Villa, and after a week of working on delightful deals for all the amazing athletes on our site, I decided to give it a go myself. I wanted a piece of the pie, so I applied to every campaign I could find and crossed my fingers for a bite. Within a week, I’d already partnered with two brands and was in discussion with a couple more. 

You can find my OpenSponsorship athlete profile HERE.

I was hungry for deals and OpenSponsorship served up some real delights. For instance, one of the brands I decided to work with - Yümmy Bazaar - offered partnered athletes tasty treats from their World Sampler Box in return for a simple social media post, meaning that I got to sample snacks from Spain, Georgia, Russia and Italy just for twiddling my thumbs. My fingers worked faster dipping in to the pack of Ibizan sea-salt chips than they did on the caption! Hardly hungry work.

The success I’ve experienced on OpenSponsorship - just as an intern and former professional athlete - has whetted my appetite for more and I can only imagine the feasts that awaits all of you big-hitters out there. And though I’m sure you’re all thinking that I’m operating on some insider information, please believe me when I say that the deals I’ve done have been completely my own doing.

Brands are looking for interested athletes that will interact with their product or service and engage their followers, and us athletes are looking for good brands to work with to make some extra income. It’s simple math and it always equals a favourable outcome for both parties.

So let's look at another OpenSponsorship example...

Take our skilled skateboarder Greg Lutzka for instance. He submitted a proposal that was accepted by one of our brilliant companies - EightSleep - and produced an awesome social media post telling his thousands of followers about the tremendous technology involved with the company's ingenious mattresses.

"Got great sleep last night !! Comfort meets technology with the @eightsleep smart mattress. I was super hyped to control everything from my I-phone including the smart alarm, bed warming, sleep trends data and much more !! Big Thanks to eight sleep !! #eightsleep #technology #smartmattress "

So not only does Greg now get a better nights sleep, he can also rest assured that we at OpenSponsorship will keep working around the clock to keep finding him - and all of our other athletes - fantastic partners offering outstanding opportunities.

Greg's social following easily trumps mine - just look at how our Instagram followings compare (seve_says vs greglutzka) - but OpenSponsorship's platform helps to level the playing field and make applying to campaigns a fair game for all of their athletes. There are deals to be done for athletes of all shapes, sizes and social stats; from the established pro's of the sportsphere - like Russell Westbrook and Rob Gronkowski - to the niche stars like myself.

There's plenty of promising campaigns - like the ones in the picture below - currently up on our site that have been recently posted by brands seeking athletes to promote their fantastic product or service.

Keen for a slice of the action?...

If you're an athlete and interested in partnering with some awesome brands and earning extra income, royalties and free product, CLICK HERE to create your free OpenSponsorship account. For all of our fantastic athletes already signed-up, please follow THIS LINK to view all of the wonderful opportunities just waiting for you to apply.

Apply intently to campaigns you’re interested in; foster a good relationship with the brands on our platform; accept deals that delight you; fulfil your requirements and reap the rewards. It's like anything in sport; the more you put in, the more you get out.

Stay hungry, my friends!

Last week, we helped one of our brands (Trago) work with one of our athletes (Amanda Ruller) for an amazing social media post.

Amanda is a professional football player, Olympic weight-lifting competitor, CrossFit fanatic, personal trainer & the winner of a Hyundai Sonata on The Price is Right TV show! For these reasons, she has a very loyal following of over 90k social media followers (well maybe except the last part) and is always looking on OpenSponsorship for the next best brand to promote.

Two weeks ago, she applied and was accepted to Trago's campaign on OpenSponsorship. They were looking to give a free bottle ($79 value) in exchange for exposure via social media. Even with her large following, Amanda agreed to post in exchange for free product because of how much she loved the brand!

Amanda Ruller posing with Trago product

Trago used OpenSponsorship to drive sales, increase brand recognition, and add a "coolness" factor by partnering with a professional athlete. And this is just one post! They've had more than 20 applications just in the last 2 weeks from more athletes like Amanda.

Want to get in on the fun? I'll give you the steps:

1. Create a free account on www.OpenSponsorship.com

2. Create a campaign (job posting for our athletes) to promote your brand on OpenSponsorship and attract interested athletes.

3. Start a 7 day (risk free!) trial with us to publish your campaign.

4. Receive incoming applications from professional athletes to promote your brand.

5. View all of your applications in one place along with different information and social media demographics from each athlete. Pick the ones you feel are the best fits for you!

To learn more or ask questions, reach out to an OpenSponsorship rep or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com today!

Manchester City's 2007/08 season started with new owner Thaksin Shinawatra splurging £30 million by adding eight relatively high-profile players to the first team squad. The main source of the funds? The Thai billionaire businessman's bulging wallet. Sure, the teams sponsorship agreements helped, but secondary shirt sleeve sponsorship, which would have added another stream of income, hadn't even been considered. In fact, the idea hadn't even been considered in the entire soccersphere.

City had spent three of the four previous Premier League seasons finishing in low mid-table positions (i.e., two to four places above the relegation zone). The team was badly in need of an influx of new blood if it was to avoid a similar fate, or worse, in the upcoming season. This meant that Thaksin would have to dig deep in to his pocket to get the ball rolling on the required turnaround. A decade down the line, it's fair to say that the initial investment has paid dividends. Three domestic cups, two domestic league titles, and one new owner later, the 2016/17 Citizens look a whole lot different.

Soccer aficionados will argue long into the night about the means that facilitated the Citizens meteoric rise from mid-table meddlers to top-tier competitors. They will no doubt call in to question the source of the funds and cite the rules of financial fair play, and ponder whether the transition would have been possible without Shinawatra and subsequent owner Sheikh Mansour bankrolling the process. One thing that cannot be questioned, however, is that their plan - both on-and-off the field of play - has been beautifully executed. The Blue Moon has well and truly risen, and City's groundbreaking shirt sleeve sponsorship agreement with South Korean manufacturer Nexen Tire could well shine a new light on the world of sports sponsorship and propel the team even further forward.

Next season, a new rule will come in to play allowing Premier League teams like City to have a secondary sponsor on the sleeves of their shirts. And it won't be long before we see other EPL sides strike shirt sleeve sponsorship deals as they try to keep-up with their cash-strapped and commercially savvy Mancunian counterpart. We can certainly envisage our super Spur, Erik Lamela, sporting a Tottenham strip with a secondary sponsor displayed just below his shoulder.

And as we gaze in to our crystal ball, we foresee a future where shirt sleeve sponsorship deals become commonplace right across the soccersphere. Foreign teams, keen to compete with the likes of City and Spurs in European competition, will soon start searching for such commercial opportunities of their own. So too will teams from other nations intent on tilting the axis of world soccer from Europe to a different continent.

So then that begs an important question. How long 'til we see other Opensponsorship soccer stars like Atletico Madrid's Koke and Juventus' Paulo Dybala sporting strips with sleeve sponsors on them? A bigger budget - derived from shirt sleeve sponsorship deals - would give their teams more purchasing power and enable them to attract the best talent. This would ultimately increase their chance of success. City have, after all, proved that cunning commercial craft goes hand-in-hand with lifting trophies and raising a global profile. And as the team becomes more and more successful, their sponsors are exposed to a greater number of potential clients. It's a cyclical, symbiotic and lucrative relationship.

Sports sponsorship is a big, big business, particularly in the Premier League - the most watched league in the world. City and their shirt sleeve sponsors Nexen both stand to make a pretty penny from the deal. Nexen - like City's Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra ten years ago - rightfully expect to see a return on their investment. A shirt sleeve sponsorship agreement with such a successful club will no doubt cover the South Korean company's outlay many times over. Their brand awareness will be significantly boosted both in Britain and abroad, leading to an increase in sales.

The benefits that shirt sleeve sponsorship agreements will bring both the sports teams and the brands they partner with are innumerable. Simply put, shirt sleeve sponsorships make sense: they are a win-win in a game that is designed to be win-lose. Perhaps Nexen read our "7 Reasons to Use Sports Sponsorship" as a brief before partnering with the boys in blue, in which case, Cheonmanaeyo! (You're welcome!)

And with the Philadelphia 76ers becoming the first NBA team to strike a shirt sponsorship agreement in May last year, it won't be long before other sports follow suit. The NBA will allow the 76ers to wear StubHub's logo on their jerseys starting in the 2017/18 season. Savvy business when considering that the move is expected to generate at least $100 million annually for the league.

"I've always been jealous of the English Premier League teams. NASCAR figured it out a long time ago," 76ers CEO Scott O'Neil said when he was interviewed after completing the deal. "For some reason, the big four sports in North America have not. I think it's an unbelievable opportunity." Opening up shirt sponsorship space is a big leap for the NBA. Opening up secondary shirt sleeve sponsorship spots would be a slam dunk. MLS, NFL, MLB and NHL take note, and sports fans...watch that space! Secondary sponsorship is coming to a sleeve near you soon!

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining (almost), and baseball season is upon us (almost again). All right, maybe its just spring fever, but the OpenSponsorship team could not be more pumped about the upcoming MLB season. Just a month removed from pitchers and catchers reporting, most teams already have about 10 preseason games under their belt.

This time of the year has huge implications for young MLB talent. Each MLB team has three minor league levels under their umbrella, A, AA, and AAA. For the guys who were chosen to play during spring training, this time could mean the difference between a multi-million dollar contract, and waiting another year to get one more shot at it.

A hit, an error, a big play, a tendency a coach liked or disliked could mean the difference between a life long dream come true, or another year making below minimum wage at the minor league levels. There are a million ways to impress a coach, and a million ways to show a coach that you may not have what it takes to play at the next level. Spring training is the optimal time to make your self stand out from the crowd, you just have to hope your training paid off, and the cards are in your favor on those days.

When connecting your business with professional athletes, it is incredibly important to be able to recognize talent and where a player’s career may be heading. Luckily for you, we’ve done that part for you and compiled a list of the hottest young talent in the MLB looking for business opportunities on OpenSponsorship.

So with no further ado, PLAY BALL!

Gary Sanchez, 24

Catcher, New York Yankees

Need I say more? I will anyway. This guy is holding the hottest bat in baseball and has a lot to prove this season. With any shot of making the playoffs last season a miracle and a half away, The New York Yankees decided to restructure in the last third of the season. They terminated A-Rods contract, made some position changes, and promoted some minor league players to join the squad. In that youth movement came Gary the Great. In 53 games played, the young stud belted 23 home runs, had 42 RBI’s, and was one of the best defensive catchers in the league. He is the whole package as well as a stand up guy with strong family values that any organization or business would be lucky to have in their corner.

Carlos Correa, 22

Short Stop, Houston Astros

Carlos has a resume that is near impossible to compare to. Number 1 overall draft pick in 2012. Rookie of the year in 2015 when he was transferred to the big leagues. He has the fire and hunger of a rookie trying to make a name for himself, and the poise of a veteran who’s been around the block once or twice. "I just don't want to be one of the best players -- one of the best shortstops -- to ever play the game,” Correa said “I want to be like Roberto Clemente, one of the best humanitarians to ever be around the game." This guy has an unbelievable work ethic with a selfless attitude that is admired by all who knows him.

Roberto Osuna, 22

Pitcher, Toronto Blue Jays

Coming out of Mexico, Osuna holds the record for youngest pitcher to do just about everything. He was drafted at the unimaginable age of 16 and has worked his way to the pros, making his MLB depute in 2015 at 19 years old. Osuna was invited to spring training in 2015 as a non-roster invitee. While initially not expecting to have any chance at making the major league team out of camp, Osuna impressed Blue Jays management through the first half of the spring. He has electric stuff and the peak of his career is in front of him.

Gleyber Torres, 20

Second Base, New York Yankees

Torres is our youngest on the list at 20 years old. The Venezuelan was drafted by the Chicago Cubs. He was a centerpiece in a blockbuster trade that sent Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees to the Cubs while Torres was sent to New York. Never having started at second base, he is one of the prime candidates for the Yanks at the position this year. He's been preforming tremendously in spring training and we see him as a potential starter if things go the right way for Gleyber.

Looking to make a quick buck? All you have to do is create a sport, and have it become America’s greatest past time. Sounds easy right? The MLB as a whole is thriving when it comes to sponsorship revenues. In 2016 it was estimated that sponsorship dollars from the top 9 companies involved with the MLB would reach $360-400 million. This number is solely league revenue and does not include individual team and stadium/property sponsorship. When adding those categories to the grand total, it is estimated sponsorship revenues would reach nearly $800 million by the end of the 2016 season.

The 2016 MLB season was a year of tremendous growth. League sponsorship activation and renewal is up from the previous year by nearly $120 million. Commissioner Rob Manfred made a strategic play in labeling all of the MLB’s assets as “One Baseball.” His idea was to put television rights, online media, and the traditional business of the league for sponsorship under one umbrella. What does that mean? Basically if you are a sponsor of the MLB, you now have access to every platform in which they control, including the MLB Advanced Media, a huge online streaming service.

Lets take a look at some companies that are leading the sponsorship push for Major League Baseball.

Chevrolet

The American motor company Chevy has been involved in MLB sponsorship since 2005. Just last year they renewed their sponsorship with the league, continuing their partnership as Official Vehicle of Major League Baseball. Aside from that, they are also the Official Automotive Sponsor of the MLB and USA Baseball’s Play Ball initiative.

“Chevrolet’s partnership with Major League Baseball is a natural fit and allows the brand and our dealers to connect with generations of Americans on a personal level through the support of hometown teams at both the professional and youth levels,” said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet Marketing

Not to mention, they gifted a pearly new 50^th Edition Chevrolet Camaro to the 2016 World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist.

New Era

The headwear company New Era has been producing on-field team hats since 1939. Come 1993 they became the exclusive on-field cap of the MLB and have been ever since. Prior to the 2015 season, MLB reached an agreement with New Era extending their exclusive hat rights through the 2019 season.

Our athlete Marcus Stroman in the #CAPSON campaign 

Taco Bell

MLB sponsorship partner since 2004, Taco Bell has been running creative and engaging campaigns for the loyal baseball fan base. For the 6^th year straight, Taco Bell activated its “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion. The deal is as follows, for every stolen base in the World Series, the deserving (IMO) citizens of the US are able to “steal” a taco. If you don’t like free tacos, what’s your deal?

Cleveland Indian's Francisco Lindor slides into second base, gracing the US with free tacos. Lindor for president!                                  

Partner with one of our MLB stars

Gary Sanchez  had a record-breaking rookie season with the Yankees in 2016. Belting 28 homeruns in just 53 games, he is widely considered one of the most exciting players to watch in baseball. Every time he gets to the plate, and behind it (catcher) you expect something extraordinary. Here’s an athlete that has been extremely active in player appearances since his come to stardom. Want Gary to come to your event or training facility to attract new customers? Lets set it up. #ElGary

Gleyber Torres ranked the no. 1 prospect in the Yankees organization right now. Gleyber has tremendous potential with his quickness and abilities at the short-stop position. This is another one of our young guys that we expect will do great things over the next few seasons. Get him while you can!

Don’t have a budget to work with professional athletes? Don’t have a marketing budget, period? This is where micro-influencer marketing comes in handy. Let’s get you the most bang for your buck with athlete sponsorships. Sounds too good to be true or confused how we do so? Let me explain.

We recently connected one of our brands (Trago Smart Water Bottle) to triathlete Tim Hacker. Trago gifted Tim a free product (worth $70) in exchange for social media help. Tim has 1.7k followers on Twitter and 400 more on Instagram. Nothing to write home about, right? Wrong.

Let’s think about it together. If Russell Westbrook had a blog, he’d have millions of followers, right? He’s so popular I can’t imagine someone NOT wanting to follow him. But if you’re following Tim Hacker’s blog (click here to see)? You’re following it for a reason and you actually NEED his recommendation for the best products. Either you’re a budding triathlete yourself, or just want to get in the same shape as a professional triathlete. Sitting behind my desk, I wish I was in the same shape as a triathlete….

But if you know Tim, you know him because he’s either running, swimming or on his bike 24/7. If you need a recommendation on a product made for an active athlete, you go to Tim. Oh did I mention he’s also a professional photographer?

This is the reason sport sponsorship is so great. If you’re a big brand, you can get national recognition from working with an athlete like Russel Westbrook. If you’re not a big brand, there are 100s of Tim Hackers out there for every Russell Westbrook that are looking for smaller, yet awesome brands (A.K.A. YOU) to work with.

“But Jason, where can I find all of these smaller athletes that will promote my brand for just free product? And how will I know if they would work with my product specifically?”.

This is where OpenSponsorship can help. If you know you have a great product, and just need more people to find out about it, we help post a campaign (think like a job application) to attract some of our 2,000+ athletes. If they like the product, they’ll apply. If they don’t, they won’t waste their time. You want to work with athletes who are genuinely interested and believe in your brand anyway, right?

Twitter is one of, if not the most popular way for fans and players alike to engage with each other. As a work week wrap-up, we're going to give you a look at some funny tweets our athletes have had with OpenSponsorship's Twitter MVP's of the Week.

 Chad OchoCinco

Our athlete Ocho Cinco AKA #FIFAKING chirping at his buddy 2 Chainz

As many of you know, our dude Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson) does not take FIFA trash talk lightly. You tweet that you can beat the king in his game, he'll jump on the next flight to your home town and show up on on your front porch with a controller. Ocho solidifies himself as one of our Twitter MVP's of the Week.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruyWWUY81W4&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

Check out the youtube video and see how the showdown went down.

Rob Gronkowski

Fresh off the social media post we made happen between Gronk and computer company Intel. In another episode of all-star athlete vs. music sensation, Gronk calls out Justin Bieber to check out his dance moves. Gronk is a funny dude, and a lot of people love him, I just wouldn't talk crap about his mom, or his moves.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8yBB2bqW-k[/embed]

This is just one of many ways on different social media platforms for brands and athletes to partner and promote their product. The opportunities for brands to hop in on the fun are there, no matter who you are and what your budget is. To get involved, reach out to an OpenSponsorship rep or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com. We're confident we can help you build the perfect campaign and find the perfect athletes to help you achieve your marketing goals, so reach out and let us help.

In highly competitive markets such as fitness apparel, having your brand or business stand out against your competitors is a major key.

What is it that pulls you ahead of the pack when it comes to brand recognition? In sports, specifically events like marathons, cycling competitions and other endurance races, someone comes in first and someone comes in last. As a company it is super important to be at the forefront of marketing trends in order to be at the front of the pack. Involving your brand in popular marketing trends early on can help separate you from the pack and get your brand noticed.

By the end of 2016, it was estimated that endurance sport sponsorship spending was to reach $125 million. The endurance sport bracket contains events such as 5Ks, marathons, triathlons, and cycling races. These events draw huge participation and fan attendance rates. Large sport minded crowds like these serve as a tremendous opportunity for brands looking to get their name out there.

Who does it right?

The current leading spender in endurance sport sponsorship is PepsiCo, successfully riding the wave for quite some time. It is estimated that PepsiCo is a registered corporate sponsor for 46% of all endurance sporting events. The company owns 22 iconic billion-dollar brands that are scattered throughout sports for the consumer to see. Their strategy is to target these events with their sports and health conscious brands such as Gatorade, Quaker Oats, Naked Juice, Sabra Dips, and Aquafina Water.

Do you have a brand that could benefit from the exposure of a large endurance sport sponsorship deal? Consider becoming a corporate sponsor through OpenSponsorship’s revolutionary platform where we make sponsorship simple! To learn more about these opportunities, reach out to an OpenSponsorship rep today or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com!