"Internet Plus Sports Marketing" Forum: How to market winter sports in the Internet age?

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On October 20th, the 2016 World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo (WWSE) - "Internet Plus Sports Marketing" Forum was held at the Beijing International Convention Center. The forum was hosted by Beijing Olympic City Development Association in association with International Data Group (IDG) and was co-organized by Yutang Sports.

In the second round table, speakers discussed how to sponsor winter sports. The Co-founder and Executive Director of Yutang Sports expressed his opinions about the sponsorship of winter sports in China. 

Host: Mr Li, as one organizing party of this forum, you are experienced in sports marketing and you have your own insight. Compared with other sports, what different values does the marketing of ice sports have? Taking the popularity of ice sports into consideration, what trends do you foresee in ice marketing?

Li Jiang: I want to talk about the difference between ice sports and other industries.

Firstly, sports differ from other industries in the field of sponsorship. Currently, most of the top brands in the world have been sponsoring sports for more than a hundred years. For example, XOM and BMW have been sponsoring racing cars for a long time. Many people, especially those in B class enterprises, may have misunderstandings about marketing. Firstly, many Chinese enterprises have invested a large sum of money in following trends. Some entertainment programmes, which include excellent singers, have 12 shows in one season. It costs at least 0.2 billion. However, Hisense reached their expected target from the sponsorship of the European Cup with only 0.1 billion. Overseas markets can drive the Chinese market forward. This is an essential difference. Many enterprises are just pursuing short-term returns.  

Secondly, in terms of the field of sports sponsorship, ice sport focuses on future development. Two groups are particularly fond of ice sports: free spirited people born after 1990; people in families with children motivated by family participation. Both groups have the potential to promote ice sports to thrive in the future. 

The differences can be summarized in three points: First, sports marketing boasts the highest level of sponsorship in all fields across the world, surpassing the entertainment and ticket businesses. Second, at the beginning, there is much room for the development of ice sports in the field of sports sponsorship. Third, the target consumption groups of ice sports are projected to increase in the future. 

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin

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