Our regular column shining a light on retail trends looks ahead to a summer jam-packed full of sport and, as The Point.1888’s sport brand and product development manager, Sadie Wright explains, it’s been great to look at how sport brands are brought to life at retail.
As excitement builds, there will be little room for rest this summer with a variety of sporting events taking over from the UEFA’s Euros, the Wimbledon Championships, the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games, Formula 1 British Grand Prix, Men’s & Women’s T20 World Cups, Tour de France and Women’s Open to name a handful. But how will all these major sporting events translate to retail commitment?
There are sure to be special moments for many licensed sport brands across the retail landscape, from grocers to specialists, giving shelf space to some of our sporting favourites and tapping into the excitement that they build across the nation. We anticipate retailers will be maximising on sport brands throughout the summer not only via licensed product offerings, but through product ranges associated with iconic sport brands under sponsorships as well.
With the cost-of-living crisis still in our midst, when it comes to licensed products retailers seem to be more focused on ‘easy pick up’ items, as well as ‘tried and tested’ brands which come with perceived less risk attached. ‘Safe options’ are being prioritised, such as smaller items at lower price points that make less of an impact when added to consumers shopping baskets.
Also, tried and tested formats that retailers are confident with, will be successful with historical insight giving them the confidence to make commitments. Using these strategies to de-risk licensing definitely has its benefits for retailers, although may make it harder for new properties to emerge into the current retail market.
H&M for example has built on its success with Formula 1, expanding its apparel offering with additional styles but also complementing its range with a Hot Wheels design launching in recent weeks. A great demonstration of harnessing the success of a brand they know is loved and using this to branch out into different but related areas, although still within a ‘safe’ space.
While in the sponsorship space, we’ve spotted Hellman’s limited edition UEFA Euros 2024 condiment bottles taking over in various retailers. Proving successful for both brands, playing into the barbeque space and how essential these skus will be for those wanting to ‘Up Your BBQ Game’. Finding categories that appeal to a shared audience is a recipe for success!
Again, in the booming food category, Old El Paso has also found a fun and exciting way to engage with consumers via its Team GB sponsorship, featuring the chance to win VIP tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Resulting in not only an eye-catching range but offering a tangible incentive for consumers to engage further with both brands as they literally buy into the partnership.
We anticipate retailers will also be looking to maximise on the optimistic atmosphere of this year’s summer of sport with own brand ranges of not only merchandise and souvenirs but summer get-together essentials for those that might be hosting their own ‘watch along’ parties. We spotted Tesco’s power aisle offering everything from drinkware and dinnerware to outdoor toys and games to harness the excitement of the sporty summer ahead in a subtle and flexible way. Weather allowing!
Nevertheless, retailers are certainly preparing for this year’s summer of sport in various ways and no doubt we’re yet to see a raft of licensed product ranges hit the shelves from June onwards.
We’re also seeing US and collegiate sport brands continue to build presence at retail especially in apparel with the likes of Primark and H&M – proving the relaxed, ath-leisure trend shows no signs of stopping.
This includes innovative food brand collaborations such as Kellogg’s retro style featuring across caps, t-shirt and trainers from Hummel in its latest collection.
Sport as a theme is still scoring at retail with apparel this summer across all ages; especially with football-themed designs helped by the Euros this summer or licensed with the likes of Team GB ahead of the Olympics in Paris this year.
When walking the shop floors, it was clear to see football is a must-wear with boys and girls with the likes of t-shirts and socks featuring footballs and football boots in Next. In the girls section, there was also a NFL range of shirts sporting the league’s top teams – again showing how American sports continue to steal hanging space.
In Matalan we also saw football-themed apparel for all ages – including the popular mini me matching offering optimistically claiming, ‘It’s Coming Home’.
Whether that is the case we’ll have to wait and see but, as a nation of sport fans, we hope the feel-good atmosphere that comes with international sporting events will lead to customers proudly purchasing – whether it’s t-shirts, footballs or food!
