Our regular column shining a light on retail trends takes a look at a season of sport and whether fan conversations add up to retail engagement and sales.
After the weather, talking sport is the nation’s obsession and this summer has given us plenty to talk about on both – one more positively than the other.
Whether it’s seeing England & Wales Cricket team battle it out with the favourite foe and the exciting style of play named ‘bazball’. Or seeing the Lionesses come painfully close to the World Cup… sport fever took over this summer. But do fan conversations add up to retail engagement and sales?
Despite the Women’s World Cup final taking place over a couple of months ago, who can forget the public outrage and ‘own goal’ by Nike when it didn’t make a goalkeeping kit available for fans? Engagement it definitely received but not in the way it intended.
Mary Earps described her reaction when informed by Nike, “That is a huge problem and it is a scary message that is being sent to goalkeepers worldwide, that you are not important.” And to compound her feedback and those of the fans, not only did Mary showcase how important she was on the pitch and inspiring off it, she was awarded the Golden Glove at the close of the tournament. Women’s sport and the Lionesses in particular’s rise is stratospheric and that was highlighted by this widespread outrage.
Since the Women’s Euros, the opportunity for retailers and licensees has continued to be recognised with M&S extending its partnership with the FA as Official Tailor of the England Senior Women’s Team. Panini also traded up launching its first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup Adrenalyn XL Trading Cards to celebrate the event. From calendars to trading cards, merchandise celebrating our Lionesses was out in retail but Licensing Source Book previously shared that ‘England women’s shirt’ and ‘England bucket hats’ were filling baskets on eBay during the course of the tournament – so is this suggesting lack of availability at traditional retail?
Following this we’ve also seen the world of rugby come together in France to battle it out for the Webb Ellis Trophy. But how has this been capitalised at retail?
When our team walked the shop floors we saw a promotion with Asahi with the partnership offering fans the chance to win tickets to the final or 100s of other prizes to be won through purchasing, with this promotion being supported in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.
However, other than this there was not much evidence of the public’s imagination and purchasing power being captured by the Rugby World Cup at retail – or is the engagement at this level from buying and customer not there?
Harnessing the power of sport personalities is certainly not lost to us in licensing, but it’s the ‘new kids on the block’ that created one of the biggest phenomena in 2023 with the demand for Prime outstripping supply. Created by influencers-turned-boxers, KSI and Logan Paul not only built engagement to boiling point but continued to sign partnerships with brands their target audience are most influenced by – Bayern Munich, Arsenal FC and most recently announced its sponsorship of Erling Haaland. Prime and its founders have also made appearances at the likes of WWE and UFC, further demonstrating their understanding to be appearing in the places potential and existing Prime fans spend their time.
Endorsement by sports personalities is not a new formula but one the budding boxers have nailed. The more cynical among us might say that Tyson Fury jumped on the bandwagon launching his range of energy drinks, protein bars and caffeine gum, Furocity, seeing the opportunity demonstrated by his peers. An extension of the Fury empire, it will be great to see if the range is a knock-out at retail.
When visiting my local high street, I also noticed Clark’s ‘Back to School with Raheem Sterling’ campaign launching a range of footwear and bags for toddlers to school-age children. The range is aimed to encourage playground fun while also being comfortable – as expected from Clarks. With wellies and school and travel bags featuring footballs to be a sure hit with any future Sterlings, Kanes or Earps.
Other than football, have other sports capitalised on the licensing opportunity? US sports organisations have captured the imagination of fans and purchasers overseas with an increasing number of fixtures being hosted this side of the pond. Confidence in their European fan-base is best demonstrated by Primark at the forefront supporting the likes of NFL and NBA. If they can do it, then why can’t so many UK-based sport favourites?
At the time of writing, we still have the Ryder Cup and Cricket World Cup for us to kick back and get us through the autumnal months but will see this translated at retail? Woe betide any licensing partners not considering the caddy or wicket keeper – there may be an ‘i’ in Nike but there isn’t in team and this year reminded us of this fact.
Mary Lewis is retail manager at Spotlight.1888, created in November 2021 to help brands and licensees with retail services, and retailers with licensing strategy.
Based on an extension of The Point.1888’s retail-first model, whereby new products are created based on the gaps seen at retail as well as what it thinks the brand’s target demographic might like, Spotlight.1888 works directly with retailers and brands to help them fill the gaps themselves using the agency’s retail team expertise.
