Sports have always been the purest form of entertainment. And attracting and engaging today’s digital-first sports aficionados with a gritty campaign is what brands are looking out for to drive eyeballs and engagement.

And whilst marketers sip on to their coffee and start working on the requirements for their brief, BigCity might have already executed many successful sports campaigns with compelling rewards that are in line with a sports buff.

How? By leveraging tactical solutions that marry instantaneous sports enthusiasm with interactive consumer engagement capabilities thereby creating a connected experience with the relevant audience.

IT's no longer just about being 'entertained'.

It’s about brands being a part of the ever-growing community of sports enthusiasts who live and breathe sports. Consumers crave convenience and brands have a huge opportunity to invest in technology for their sports-themed promotions.

So, let’s dive right into building a fanatical promotion for your true fans!

1. Start with the Construct

Right from ideation to fulfilment which includes attracting the consumers to gratifying them with relevant rewards is what the meal is all about. Today’s digital-first consumers crave to be a part of a promotion where they are gratified with rewards that build an experience or creates a connection.

For instance, conceptualizing sports trivia where consumers can express their sports commands, share knowledge, etc. builds a connection between them and the brand. Pair the trivia with exciting and relevant rewards like match tickets, sports memorabilia, assured cashback, or food/movie vouchers, and see to guaranteed reward delivery.

2. Envision spectators as participants, here comes Engagement!

India's rising interest in online fantasy sports onboarded over 180 Online Fantasy Sports (OFS) operators with 130 million users, making India the world's largest OFS market, surpassing the United States.

Engagement is the key! And you would want your audience to be involved in your promotional campaign. To attract and engage your target audience, brands must build relevant campaigns that encourage users to participate.

For instance, conceptualizing contests and sweepstakes, devising SMS and win mechanisms, or integrating a Predict and Win promo plays the game. The intent is to let your audience be a part of the promotion, connect & engage and win them an instant gratification reward.

3. Back it up with cutting-edge Technology

Embrace the sports fandom and create indelible moments with campaigns that boost actual time experience between the brand and the consumer. Introduce AR filters, gamified promotions with a global leaderboard, custom-built microsites, real-time APIs, and chatbots. These are some mechanics to turn heads.

Customized campaigns built around a sports theme will surely create buzz and encourage users to interact with the brand and its promotion. Imagine scoring goals in an AR game while a live match goes on and getting rewarded for it, yes, consumers are up for it.

For instance, BigCity created an AR filter for a leading FMCG brand where fans could click pictures and virtually relive the thrill of watching a match at a stadium, LIVE!

4. Communicate the right way

Leverage the sport and blend in the communication to create excitement and engagement. A successful consumer promotion can only be more successful if it is communicated in the right, relevant, and strong way.

In the case of experiential reward delivery, make your consumers feel involved right from purchasing the promo pack to landing on a microsite, entering a sweepstake (or other promo mechanisms) and redeeming the reward, and finally delivering an experience to the end user successfully.

5. See to a seamless Fulfilment – the ultimate goal!

It’s important to create intuitive and simple customer journeys. Give your consumers an end-to-end reward fulfilment guarantee through defined logistics, attending to last-mile concerns, contacting the winner management team, and with 24x7 help desk support.

Integrate the aforementioned techniques with easy reward redemption mechanics through SMS, WhatsApp, or a website that serves as the dessert of the meal.

In the Game to Win the Game.

How to lure your consumers with the right and relevant rewards?

a) Offer premium experiences

Premium experiences such as an ideal stadium experience with match tickets and encouraging fans to enjoy game day their way.

b) Games and more games

Re-imagine the fan experience via their phones by offering them a game of cricket, and by scoring runs on which, they stand eligible to win exciting rewards.

c) Gratify instantly

Extend your reach to your consumers through instant rewards to attract sports enthusiasts. Rewarding consumers with BOGO offers, assured merchandise, cashback rewards, etc.

d) Provide the comfort

Streaming sports on the couch with favorite food & drinks to go by is the comfort consumers eye on. Offering rewards that consumers can enjoy from the comfort of their homes like OTT subscriptions, food vouchers, etc. paves the way.

e) Delight digitally

Digital rewards play the best shot when gratifying digital-first consumers.

Looking beyond the Stadium through the Experts’ lenses

So how about you make your consumers feel like VIPs?

‘Because Sports and Promotions together create an overwhelming consumer experience.’ Over the years, at BigCity, we have been creating promotions that make consumers feel like VIPs for the past 15 years! We have been leveraging tactical solutions and strategies like these that have successfully sought brands the much-needed sampling and habit-forming loyalty.

BigCity has helped numerous brands across all sectors build the perfect sports campaign through innovative concepts and relevant rewards.

Right from ideating a campaign, inserting the best engaging elements backed up by AI & technology, to the delivery of seamless rewards to over 90% of pin codes in India supported by a 24x7 concierge team, all executed with a satisfied consumer approach.

So why not partner with BigCity to attain your goal through a tailor-made sports campaign for your consumers or your channel partners that is memorable & exciting? Reach out to us at marketing@bigcity.in.