DiscountIF have been discussing the way brands use sporting events to engage with their target audience, whether it’s through sponsoring the event or the teamor advertising through the different marketing channelsavailable, brands will shape their marketing messages around a sporting event.

Below is the 4th and last way brands can choose to communicate with their audience around a sporting event.

VISA, who were the main sponsor for the summer Olympics in Rio, ran a campaign to support their sponsorship of the event. They’ve given all customers who have a VISA the opportunity to win a free ticket to the summer games.

By doing this they have not only reinforced their image as the main sponsor, but also engaged with their entire customer base. These kind of marketing campaigns are not very costly to run; in fact it’s probably costing them ‘peanuts’ to run in conjunction with their sponsorship of the Olympics.

“There is possibly less of a chance to win this competition than a lottery”

However although the rewards a campaign like this can reap for the brand, they are not engaging their customer base. Most of these promotions, in which one winner is announced from hundreds of thousands (if not millions), rarely influences the customer into purchasing more or opting in for the promotion.

Even though all VISA users are automatically enrolled in the competition when they make a purchase with their VISA card, they are not directly linked to the promotion. Thus customers’ buying patterns are not really influenced by the promotion as the chances of winning are extremely slim and most customers don’t believe they have a chance of winning. There is possibly less of a chance of winning this than a lottery.

Through the use and implementation of DiscountIF, brands have the opportunity to enable offers were their customers’ chances of getting a reward is in their own hands. DiscountIF help create a more relevant and personalised experience for their client’s audience. For example had VISA implemented DiscountIF’s platform, they could have ran a campaign offering customers different levels of cashback if they correctly predict the country with the most Gold medals.

This would enable VISA to still run a marketing campaign and support their sponsorship of the Olympics; however they would be engaging with the individual on a personal level when using DiscountIF’s tool.

Written by the team at DiscountIF