Six agency executives anecdotally say marketers are considering the space more this year, with female athletes receiving more attention from brands ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris in July. Some people predict that it will collect .
“We have finally reached a tipping point where marketers and the general public are talking about female athletes in everyday conversation, not just to meet the needs of specific gender equality programs, but also as a key business growth area for brands. '' said Carmichael Lynch president and chief growth officer Julie Batreiner, whose store has acquired NCAA star Caitlin Clark in 2022 for client H&R Block. pointed out.
Batliner said Clark had two sponsorship deals at the time (grocery chain Hy-Vee first worked with Clark in 2021; H&R Block signed Clark in early spring 2022). ), but she said she has since signed multiple brand deals. Including those from Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm.
Recent attention to women's NCAA basketball has put a spotlight on the power of women's sports, and viewership in this category has increased in recent years.
“This didn't happen overnight. Women's sports have started to gain real traction in the last four to five years and continue to grow year after year,” said Amy Bigelow, Vice President, Publicis Sports, and State Farm ( We noted that companies like WNBA), Ally (NSLW), and Molson are gaining traction. (Women's Professional Hockey League) has been an early entrant into this field in recent years. “We expect marketer interest to continue this year and into the future. Women's sports will continue to grow as brands and advertisers gain long-term interest and investment.”
Changes to college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) policies will certainly help marketers engage with potential athlete partners earlier, leading some brands to increase investment in women's sports. It may also have been helpful. “Some of the most successful NIL athletes are women, and their increased visibility on social media and sponsorships has helped raise the profile of women’s sports as a whole,” Media by Mother content and said Paul Freer, Head of Creative Packaging. Now, with the Olympics on the horizon, “everyone is asking even more questions about women's sports.” “Women's sports is definitely a promising growth area.”
As women's sports begin to receive “the media coverage and television rights they deserve,” “broadcasters” [are] Jean Freeman, principal and CEO of Zambezi, added that the department is pushing for greater visibility in the women's sector, saying, “We've seen a huge change this year,” adding that the agency is pushing for greater visibility in the women's sector, adding that “we've seen a huge change this year” and that it's needed. He added that the department is working to provide better visibility. Sports. The broadcast deal with the NSWL is reportedly worth $240 million over four years and is an example of how women's sport is receiving more lucrative contracts and the sport's increased visibility as a result.
“People want to see women as brand ambassadors,” Freeman says. “We are currently working on upcoming brand campaigns with top female athletes. Brands should continue to find ways to incorporate women's sports into their marketing mix, whether it's league sponsorship or NIL sponsorship. . Marketing investments in women's sports are a smart growth strategy. ”
Three Questions with Joe Cano, CMO, Chief Merchandising Officer, and Head of Business Development at Zappos
Last year your team was experimenting with print marketing. How did those efforts pay off?
I think it was really well done. What we're really trying to do is ask, “Okay, does this solve the customer's problem?” It was beautiful and fun and nostalgic to take home, but would it really attract customers? The biggest thing about that catalog was that they actually had shoe size guides in the catalog… something like that is something we're going to continue to do.
We've talked a lot about how to keep those customers shopping, whether it's print, digital or through partnerships. One of the things that our custom customers have actually told us is they love the partnership and they love seeing the breadth of the brand. So this year, our 25th anniversary, we're doing something a little more innovative, which is great. We're hosting more real-world events (we call them sit-down events) and marketing his campaigns more like real-world events to show the power of Zappos. I plan to do more. We are an online retailer only, so we do not have stores.
As an online-only retailer, how are you navigating Google's crumbling cookie?
As new technologies emerge, and as the landscape evolves, we make sure that you evolve as well. In fact, we've had a really great partnership with the Google team…What we've done is we've crafted the story in a slightly different way. I can't give you all the secret sauce, but the truth is that our relationship with Google is still very good. I have achieved all my goals and am looking to earn more money.
At this time, there has been no major impact. But obviously we're diversifying the way we're interacting with consumers and what platforms we're actually looking at.Whether it's advertising on Amazon, TikTok, or any other meta. [shops] Not just Instagram, we actually have it. There are many ways to capture consumers and find out where they are.
What are the biggest challenges facing CMOs today?
There are a lot of companies out there with great, innovative ideas that are scalable, non-scalable, personal, and video. It's almost information overload. Again, it's all about how you talk to your consumers where they are and convey the right message. Time is limited. As we've seen with many consumers, the amount of time they spend on a site or looking at something has decreased dramatically. Previously, people watched 20-second videos.Now, it's something like [four-seconds].
So for us, instead of saying, “Hey, we need to go to Zappos,” instead of driving to Zappos, we take a step back and say, “Where are our customers going and where are they now?” is. Are they gone yet? ” You can actually put your own footprint into it. A lot of it is obviously social. — Kimeco McCoy
In terms of numbers
The end of the generative artificial intelligence hype cycle may not be over yet. In the advertising and marketing industry, there seems to be a lot of talk about future promise rather than current use cases. Still, most agencies say AI is already in use, according to a recent report from AgencyAnalytics, which develops reporting software for agencies. Further findings from the following reports:
- As a result of the survey, 78% of agencies are already using AI.
- another 13% A higher percentage of survey respondents said they plan to use it by next year.
- Only 9% of agencies report no plans to use AI — Kimeco McCoy
This week's quote
“It was shocking. It was a bar I didn't think a place like Forbes would sink.”
— An anonymous agency executive asked about how Forbes is dealing with the domain spoofing problem and why some marketers are having pause on spending with Forbes.
