“Sports transcends boundaries and cultures uniting people of all ages. People treasure the experiences before, during and after any game, across devices, in any environment, be it live in the stadium or in their living rooms. Just like players get ready for a game, fans do too,” says SMG SA’s MD Ravi Bhaya. “However, the cost of a match day experience is inhibiting fans making the physical trip resulting in video screens (TV and mobile) the sports fan’s companion of choice and the new norm.”
“In this new era of Velocity Marketing, where the pace and purpose of people is accelerating rapidly, attention spans are scarce and content is harder to control. We discover more and more the need to keep fans in the zone and bring the energy to life in real time, all the time. Fans also wish to celebrate a victory or a loss.”
Robin Clarke, MD International for SPORTS at SMG commented: “The globalisation of sports and sports fans continues apace and the African continent and its billion+ people represents huge opportunities for brands and the evolution of sports marketing partnerships.”
By launching SPORTS at SMG here in Africa we will focus on ensuring our SMG African clients understand the landscapes, the opportunities and the routes to high value ROI from investing in sports. As part of a world class media network, we are armed with the best supporting capabilities in digital, content, social, data and media planning/buying to do just that.”
According to Africa Investor and SportsBusiness Deals, the business of sport in Africa is potentially a billion plus dollar game with markets like South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya leading the way in the region. “With the SPORTS at SMG practice within the Starcom MediaVest Group portfolio, we are confident of working as partners and consultants to rights owners, content distributors and brands and bringing this expertise across the entire Africa region,” says Bhaya.
SPORTS at SMG capabilities include expertise across strategy and insights, acquisition, activation and evaluation through its IP tool SPORTS Evaluator.