Brian Gainor of Freshwire and Partnership Activation on the Digital & Social Media Sports Podcast, episode 6

Best Snippets from Brian Gainor on the
Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast
Director of Strategy and Analytics at Freshwire and founder/publisher of
Partnership Activation, Brian Gainor, was the guest on episode 6 of the
DSMSports Podcast.
Brian offered several insights on how to pitch and execute brand
partnerships in sports. What follows are some snippets from the interview.
Hear the full interview at DSMSports.net or download & subscribe in iTunes.

@njh287
DSMSports.net

Brian's career path:
University of Florida - Got his start working in sports info dept. at UF, helping
with PR aspect of several sports
That experience led to internships with both Tampa Bay Bucs and Miami
Dolphins --> led to NFL Europe gig, doing PR for a team.
Then went to OhioU and got his MBA in Sport Administration and got more
into brand activation, led to GMR Marketing from OhioU
GMR gave him his sports love...

@njh287
DSMSports.net

Brian started the Partnership Activation Newsletter [and website] to share
best practices, network within the industry, differentiate himself, build a
thought leadership platform.
"I started the site as a young, aspirational sports marketer...I set out to create
an outlet to share my creative ideas, shsare what I think are best practices
across the world, and put my lens on it."

@njh287
DSMSports.net

“The last seven years in sports, it's amazing how much the landscape has
shifted; the way social media has impacted PR and the way brands see
themselves. Brands these days are so much more reactive and proactive.”
Cites Coca Cola: “Be liquid in length. They have to push out content on an
active basis, and all that content must tie back to their brand.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“Real-time content is a space that didn't exist five years ago, but now there's
such an interest in content marketing and the brands seeing themselves as
publishers. It's an exciting time.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net

How Brian keeps up with sports sponsorship activation best practices:
Brian relies on his network for people to share ideas, YouTube and its search
for brands and keywords, etc.; search by keyword on Yahoo images and
Flickr, Google Alerts based on keyword, Twitter with tracking keywords,
sports biz journals/publications
“The biggest thing is your mindset. I went from just reading articles to
actively seeking out great ideas and actively thinking about how things could
be different.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“When you're trying to reach a mass audience these days, there are not many
other platforms like sports, where you can reach and engage and message
fans around live viewing content.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“From a team and league sponsorship standpoint, it's such a unique
opportunity to engage with fans on a one-on-one basis. It's one of the most
natural ways for brands to enhance a consumer's experience doing
[anything]...”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“[Don't] undervalue what a partnership means versus a sponsorship...Brands
want some type of mutual benefits to both parties.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net

“It's dependent on [an] agency to help identify the most valuable situation
[and partnership] for a brand...Making the sure that the right match is made,
assuring both parties will benefit.”
The top 100 spenders in sportsbiz are typically aligned with an agency of
record; it's commonplace...For teams, some fit with the traditional model
selling relationships; others have looked to agencies to help them, especially
in college.

@njh287
DSMSports.net

“ROI [return on investment] and ROO [return on objective] differ so greatly
depending on what brands you're talking about...A lot of teams are selling
assets quantifying values based on engagement, comments, likes, [etc.]...
It's important to look at the qualitative things too, like access to specific
audiences and influencers...
Teams can measure it from an ROO [instead of ROI] perspective...we're
continuing to see more growth [there, and] in social media analytics.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net

“When brands and teams look at the social space, the biggest opportunity is
identifying ownable elements that can be brought to life to enhance the onsite experience...When you look at social elements as a standalone, it
doesn't make sense. When you can package it into what the brand is doing
with their entire partnership and finding ways to bring their typical activation
elements and brings those to life via social to a whole new audience is where
you see the value...
It's all about how properties approach the channel, as an extension of what
they're doing.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net


“Another opportunity is a lot of brands continue to want to test the waters
and be innovative; teams can leverage social channels to help brands do
something unconventional to reach fans in a different way.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“The biggest things brands are looking for when they're looking at offers is a
property that understands their business and delivers a custom solution that
makes sense for their business [like which asset]...It's important teams
convey that they understand a partner's business and the value and impact
they can deliver.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“Teams need to invest the time and resources in ideation in bringing forth
the best ownable platforms for the brand...focusing on areas where there has
been success in the past driving revenue [and impact].”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“It's all about: what is going to be the best platform[s] a brand can leverage
to maximize their sponsorship?...It's about figuring what compilation of
assets will work best to support an idea [across all channels]?
It all comes back to the platform and idea.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


This episode's Helpful Tool: Topsy, a Twitter analysis and archive and
tracking tool, searchable by keyword and hash tag; results can be filtered.
Topsy.com

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Brian's 7 Elements for A Successful Activation:
A platform/idea that is ownable, unique, social, brand-centric, targeted,
extendable, and measurable...Creativity drives the best partnerships. It fuels
everything.

@njh287
DSMSports.net


“It's really about finding that ownable element that no one else can replicate,
that has social extensions, ties back to the brand, is targeted against a key
audience, and is extendable across several mediums, and ones you can
measure.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


On being a proclaimed [by publications] a young, rising star in the industry:
“My mentality from the get-go is: find something in life you're passionate
about, then you don't mind putting in the extra time and effort. Also, finding
ways to help others along the way, by acknowledging and helping others.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


This episode's Shareable Stat:
(via Scarborough Research) Women represent 45% of #NFL fan base and
33% of the NFL viewing audience based on Nielsen data

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Best team with sports activation: Manchester City, they continue to push the
boundaries and use their players in new ways to create fun, valuable
experiences for fans.
For ballpark experience, the Giants have created so many unique, ownable
destinations in their stadiums and their social channels.

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Best brand activation: State Farm [I.e. Chris/Cliff Paul ads] “...[They] tell their message and leverage a player in a unique way...I'd love to
see brands leverage endorsers in more creative ways.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Social media platform best suited for parnership activations: Twitter, the
way it is positioned with real-time consumption is just beginning to scratch
the surface; especially with engaging fans worldwide in real-time.

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Best part about being a “rising, young star in sports world”: People you get to
meet and share ideas with along the way

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Brian's prediction for next big network: Instagram.
“I think Instagram is going to continue to be the platform people are going to
go to for new ways to engage fans.”

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Brian's recommended follow: JW Cannon @jwcannon, great resource for
brand activations, one of the creators of #sbchat

@njh287
DSMSports.net

Brian's recommended follow: JW Cannon @cannonjw, great resource for
brand activations, one of the creators of #sbchat
Where to find Brian: @briangainor on Twitter;
http://PartnershipActivation.com
http://freshwire.com

@njh287
DSMSports.net


Thank you to Brian Gainor for sharing his time, expertise, and knowledge
with the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!!!
For more info on the podcast, visit http://DSMSports.net and follow me, Neil
Horowitz, on Twitter @njh287

@njh287
DSMSports.net

Brian Gainor of Freshwire and Partnership Activation on the Digital & Social Media Sports Podcast, episode 6

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Brian Gainor of Freshwire and Partnership Activation on the Digital & Social Media Sports Podcast, episode 6