Brand Building & Sports Marketing
Bleacher Talk
Sept. 6, 2009
Brand Building & Sports Marketing
If we were to make a layman’s definition of the term “sports marketing,” I’d simply say that sports marketing is the use of sports to help build the image or personality of a brand. Make sense? Yes, sports can be used as a tool to help build or promote the image of products that we (as consumers) buy from the shelves of supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores or at sari-sari stores.
But why all the “sudden” talk about sports marketing? For the past two weeks or so, Milo has very much been in the news with its sports activities here in Cebu. The Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle basketball tournament kicked off last week, while the Milo Little Olympics started last Friday and will run for two straight weekends. If you visited the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday or today, you’ll see a wave of Milo green splashed across the entire sports complex. But that’s not just it. The Cebu leg of the Milo Marathon was also held last July, while the regional eliminations of the Milo age tennis tournament was also played recently. Note that I’m just talking about Cebu. All these are repeated in the different key cities of the country and will lead to a national finals after all regional legs are done. The national Milo Little Olympics will be held here in Cebu next month, while that of the basketball tournament will be held in Baguio in November.
I think it’s an understatement to say that Milo has chosen sports as its primary means of communicating its brand image or persona. Many of us grew up drinking Milo, accepting it as a drink that would make us stronger and generally more athletic. After all, it was called the “Olympic Energy Drink.” I don’t see Milo using the same tag anymore but you’ll notice that they’ve taken it one step further to “Building Champions in Life.” Milo is no longer making us just better athletes. It’s also making us champions, but not just in the filed of sports. Milo is now talking about champs in ourselves, our lives.
In the field of brand building, marketing experts have clearly emphasized the need for marketing communication efforts to go beyond just merely selling the product per se. In order for a product to have a competitive edge, it has to be more than just a product. It has to evolve to becoming a brand with a unique personality and image.
Milo was considered a simple chocolate drink before. But look at where it is today? It didn’t sell itself as a chocolate drink. It built an image of being an Olympic energy drink. Its main message was that Milo and sports were natural partners. If you wanted to become a great athlete, Milo is a must. Milo communicated this message through a combination of TV commercials, radio ads and a series of consumer-based activities that were held in selected key cities nationwide. From a marketing manager’s angle, it was the perfect mix of above and below the line activities. While the commercials took care of communicating the message, the various sports events reinforced this message, bringing the message closer to reality, closer to us the consumers. And so we’ve had 33 years of the Milo Marathon, 25 years of the Milo/BEST SBP Passerelle basketball tournament and 14 years of the Little Olympics. We’ve also had 27 years of summer sports clinics held across the country.
In the history of sports, I can’t think of any other brand that has done so much brand building through sports other than Milo. The irony of it all is that there are actually other products that are more “swak” with a sports image than Milo. I’m sure you’ve all heard about Gatorade, Powerade, 100 Plus, Activade and all those other sports drinks that serve as an athlete’s partner in against dehydration. All these are naturally more sports-related than Milo, but why do they fail in terms of image-building when compared to Milo? Gatorade would stand out primarily because of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, but they haven’t been able to follow through on this communication efforts with activities on the field. Ditto for all the other sports drinks.
Sports marketing & Milo will always serve as a perfect case study in Sports Marketing 101. They’ve been doing this for three decades and it’s all now fitting into place. No other drink can now claim the sports image more than Milo and that’s a testament to doing a great job of using the sports angle wisely and correctly in building the Milo brand. We take our hats off and congratulate them in helping the country in building champions in life.
oOo
Time-out: To our dear LTO office in SM. When will your office actually do what you’re supposed to be doing, i.e. give efficient, quick and quality service? Nagutana ra gud. >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
Sept. 6, 2009
Brand Building & Sports Marketing
If we were to make a layman’s definition of the term “sports marketing,” I’d simply say that sports marketing is the use of sports to help build the image or personality of a brand. Make sense? Yes, sports can be used as a tool to help build or promote the image of products that we (as consumers) buy from the shelves of supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores or at sari-sari stores.
But why all the “sudden” talk about sports marketing? For the past two weeks or so, Milo has very much been in the news with its sports activities here in Cebu. The Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle basketball tournament kicked off last week, while the Milo Little Olympics started last Friday and will run for two straight weekends. If you visited the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday or today, you’ll see a wave of Milo green splashed across the entire sports complex. But that’s not just it. The Cebu leg of the Milo Marathon was also held last July, while the regional eliminations of the Milo age tennis tournament was also played recently. Note that I’m just talking about Cebu. All these are repeated in the different key cities of the country and will lead to a national finals after all regional legs are done. The national Milo Little Olympics will be held here in Cebu next month, while that of the basketball tournament will be held in Baguio in November.
I think it’s an understatement to say that Milo has chosen sports as its primary means of communicating its brand image or persona. Many of us grew up drinking Milo, accepting it as a drink that would make us stronger and generally more athletic. After all, it was called the “Olympic Energy Drink.” I don’t see Milo using the same tag anymore but you’ll notice that they’ve taken it one step further to “Building Champions in Life.” Milo is no longer making us just better athletes. It’s also making us champions, but not just in the filed of sports. Milo is now talking about champs in ourselves, our lives.
In the field of brand building, marketing experts have clearly emphasized the need for marketing communication efforts to go beyond just merely selling the product per se. In order for a product to have a competitive edge, it has to be more than just a product. It has to evolve to becoming a brand with a unique personality and image.
Milo was considered a simple chocolate drink before. But look at where it is today? It didn’t sell itself as a chocolate drink. It built an image of being an Olympic energy drink. Its main message was that Milo and sports were natural partners. If you wanted to become a great athlete, Milo is a must. Milo communicated this message through a combination of TV commercials, radio ads and a series of consumer-based activities that were held in selected key cities nationwide. From a marketing manager’s angle, it was the perfect mix of above and below the line activities. While the commercials took care of communicating the message, the various sports events reinforced this message, bringing the message closer to reality, closer to us the consumers. And so we’ve had 33 years of the Milo Marathon, 25 years of the Milo/BEST SBP Passerelle basketball tournament and 14 years of the Little Olympics. We’ve also had 27 years of summer sports clinics held across the country.
In the history of sports, I can’t think of any other brand that has done so much brand building through sports other than Milo. The irony of it all is that there are actually other products that are more “swak” with a sports image than Milo. I’m sure you’ve all heard about Gatorade, Powerade, 100 Plus, Activade and all those other sports drinks that serve as an athlete’s partner in against dehydration. All these are naturally more sports-related than Milo, but why do they fail in terms of image-building when compared to Milo? Gatorade would stand out primarily because of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, but they haven’t been able to follow through on this communication efforts with activities on the field. Ditto for all the other sports drinks.
Sports marketing & Milo will always serve as a perfect case study in Sports Marketing 101. They’ve been doing this for three decades and it’s all now fitting into place. No other drink can now claim the sports image more than Milo and that’s a testament to doing a great job of using the sports angle wisely and correctly in building the Milo brand. We take our hats off and congratulate them in helping the country in building champions in life.
oOo
Time-out: To our dear LTO office in SM. When will your office actually do what you’re supposed to be doing, i.e. give efficient, quick and quality service? Nagutana ra gud. >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
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