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2020’s Sports Marketing Playbook

Sports are competitive, but grabbing a fan’s attention can be even harder for most brands. So what happens when seasons become shorter, when fans don’t have much to look forward to, and brands have less to work with? Here are some of our favorite ways brands have creatively pivoted their marketing tactics to reach fans during the 2020 sports seasons.

Postmates

Sports and food go hand-in-hand like chocolate and pretzels. So this year, Postmates has become the official on-demand food delivery partner of the NFL. This pairing is a perfect brand strategy for Postmates. Since many restaurants still can’t offer indoor dining, fans are going to need an alternative way to get their wings and pizza, and Postmates is the answer. Paying a delivery fee is the same as buying an overpriced pretzel at Lincoln Financial Field, right?

Lowes

With sports fans not being able to get together and celebrate their teams this season, Lowes is uniting homebound fans to celebrate their communities instead. With their new marketing campaign “Home Team,” one player from each NFL team will team up with its respective hometown to work on community-building projects. This campaign pairs Lowes brand values of ownership and teamwork, and merges it seamlessly into the teamwork the NFL displays, and the ownership of their hometowns.

Pepsi

Pepsi relies heavily on in-stadium advertisements, but since fans won’t be in the stadiums this year, Pepsi is bringing their advertisements into your home. With their new sweepstakes “Tailgate in a Box,” they’re focusing on a direct-to-consumer strategy. This sweepstakes is putting Pepsi right in the middle of fans tailgating, which is the scene Pepsi has often focused their brand around when it comes to sports. This is a smart strategy for Pepsi, and who knows, maybe by the end of the season fans will prefer “homegating” over tailgating.

Bud Light

There’s nothing like the excitement of a touchdown and the celebration with fans sitting in your section. But with restrictions, this season’s excitement is going to have to come from your home. Bud Light is focusing their marketing tactics around fans celebrating with their new “Showtime Cam.” Their “Showtime Cam” is going to rely on fans using #ShowtimeCam and #BudLightSweepstakes hashtags on Twitter for a chance to make it on the cam. With this cam, Bud Light is reimagining how strangers can still share a Bud in celebration of their teams while being virtual.