As a sports and entertainment business, you’ll know that true fandom is enduring. Your diehard fans aren’t going to stop supporting their hometown team, or following their favorite band, because of a disconnected cross-channel marketing experience.
However, if your marketing isn’t on-point, those fans will engage less – and they’ll spend less, less often.
Omnichannel marketing is the solution to this challenge. In this article, we’re sharing three stories of sports and entertainment businesses rising to the challenge of consistent cross-channel engagement, delivering compelling experiences that drive profitable revenue. Let’s dive in.
Founded in 1894, Gibson has been shaping the face of the electronic music industry since its very inception. Built on a foundation of innovation, quality and world-class craftsmanship, Gibson has a clear but ambitious goal: to own the largest share of sound. To achieve this, they knew engaging their fans directly was key.
Challenges: Before partnering with SAP Emarsys, Gibson Brands mostly relied on partner sellers to drive revenue for the business, like Guitar Center, Sweetwater, or Long & McQuade. However, they were looking for ways to expand their direct to consumer capabilities. This meant setting up retail channels and engagement tactics from the ground up while working with retail partners to help support their B2B2C strategy.
Solution: Gibson partnered with SAP Emarsys to develop a robust omnichannel strategy that would allow them to engage directly with their fans and reduce reliance on third-party sellers. By using Emarsys’ pre-built marketing tactics, they were able to create personalized automation journeys for their different customer personas.
Strategies used:
Results seen:
“Gibson has been shaping sound for over 100 years. We were fairly basic in the CRM world until we started working with Emarsys. We were immediately able to utilize data, immediately then take it into personas, ‘cause it’s not a one size fits all. That’s where Emarsys has continually come into play with us. I am very thrilled to just keep that relationship going because it’s been extremely fruitful so far.” – Josh Ehren, Global Head of Direct to Consumer, Gibson Brands
Established in 1900 and with a global fanbase of over 1 billion, FC Bayern Munich is a powerhouse in the football world. Renowned for their success on the field, FC Bayern is dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences to their fans, whether they’re cheering from the stands, watching from home, or engaging through mobile channels.
The challenge
FC Bayern faced several challenges in maintaining and enhancing their fan engagement:
The solution
To deliver the ultimate digital fan experience, FC Bayern first worked to create a unified view of its global fan base. The implementation of SAP Emarsys enabled the club to harness the full potential of its data, creating highly personalized, omnichannel marketing campaigns that engage fans wherever they may be – via email, SMS, ads, and more.
Strategies used:
“Engaging millions of global fans with different needs is no small task. To succeed, we must communicate with each fan on a 1:1 level, delivering personalized content that aligns with their unique wants.” Michael Fichtner, CIO of FC Bayern
Challenges: The Football Association (FA), the governing body of football in England, needed to find new ways to engage its vast and varied audience. With only 4% of their 30 million fans attending an England match in the last two years, the FA turned its focus to grassroots football, where they saw significant potential to drive deeper engagement and profitable growth.
Solution: The FA partnered with SAP Emarsys and Movable Ink to leverage data from their 1.4 million grassroots players and 300,000 volunteers. This data-driven approach enabled them to deliver personalized content and rewards to keep fans actively involved in the sport.
Strategies used:
These strategies helped the FA strengthen their connection with grassroots players and fans, driving long-term loyalty and active participation in the sport.
Kirk Donlan
Senior Content Marketing Manager
About the author
Kirk Donlan is a content marketing manager at Emarsys where he uses his marketing, customer success, and copywriting experience to develop engaging, industry-specific content for marketers and marketing leadership.
Connect with Kirk: LinkedIn
