While news has broken that Real Madrid have become the first football club to make an astonishing one billion euros in revenue, it’ll come as no real surprise to those within the industry. The sports brand identity is an incredibly lucrative business and profits are only set to rise and rise again over the next decade.
With such dizzying profits, building and maintaining a valuable sports brand is essential. But what is a sports brand identity? And how do you go about building one? Let’s take a look.
What is sports branding?
First and foremost, let’s understand what sports branding is. In a nutshell, sports branding is the process of creating a distinctive identity and image for a sports organization, team, athlete, or event.
This type of marketing involves developing a unique logo, colors, slogans, and other visual elements that convey the entity’s core values, personality, and mission. An effective sports brand will have a very strong, instantly recognizable presence that resonates with fans, sponsors, and the broader community. This fosters a greater sense of loyalty, which in turn enhances marketability and ultimately drives higher revenue.
From merchandise to social media, advertising, and live events, an iconic sports brand will interact across the whole industry.
How sports brands foster an emotional connection using storytelling
So, if a strong sports brand identity is forged through resonating with the fans and community, how do you achieve that? The answer is through brand storytelling.
By presenting challenges, triumphs, and personal experiences, storytelling in sports allows the fans to see parts of themselves in the stories being told. This identification and empathy can create a sense of shared experience and understanding. The stories evoke strong emotional responses like joy, sadness, excitement, and nostalgia. This creates lasting memories and forges a deeper connection – the fans are personally invested and feel like they’re a part of this sporting brand’s journey.
One of the best examples of this was Nike’s launch of the Liverpool FC kit launch for the 2020/2021 season.
It’s bold, brash, and unapologetically Liverpool FC. While the message may not resonate with a wider audience, that doesn’t matter. Through scouse humor and dialect, Nike and Liverpool FC did in this video is, through scouse humor and dialect, appeal directly to their fans in the city of Liverpool, fostering a unique sense of pride and togetherness. It’s the clear message that you can only achieve this feeling, connection, and community with this particular soccer team. As a big fan, I purchased that shirt immediately.
Using Artlist assets to build a global sports brand
Building and maintaining a global sports brand is now more demanding than ever. You have to be across all social media platforms at all times, and many of the world’s top sporting brands have media departments that resemble high-end production companies. After all, they are essentially in the business of creating big brand commercials, so they need to act accordingly.
To help elevate their message and enhance the emotional connection of their content, many top football clubs and other sporting brands have been making use of Artlist music for business. Below, we’re analyzing a few of our favorite examples, showing how royalty-free music and sports go hand in hand.
Cristiano Ronaldo x Portuguese National Team
This Instagram Reel was posted to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo’s achievement of 200 appearances for the Portuguese National Team.
The song choice, Elevate by Frank Bentley is really high-energy, reflecting the fast-paced nature and emphatic cuts throughout the video. Not only does the video tap into the emotions of joy, celebrating Ronaldo’s achievement and his goals in the match that won the game, but it also taps into a sense of nostalgia with the footage of Ronaldo’s debut appearance at the start, shown on an old-school TV. There’s plenty of footage spliced into the edit showing the fans wearing his shirt and the crowd reactions, highlighting just how integral fans are to the success of the national team – you’re all a part of the journey, together.
João Palhinha’s first day at FC Bayern
There was a time not so long ago when soccer players and other sporting stars felt quite removed and distant from our lives – yes, we watched them play every week, but we never really felt like we knew them as people. With the rise of social media, that’s all changed. Videos like FC Bayern’s recent behind-the-scenes vlog covering João Palhinha’s first day arriving and signing for the club give the fans the access they crave.
Make no mistake – the world of elite-level soccer is one of luxury and money most of us can only dream of. It’d be easy to feel disconnected from that. But in this vlog we get a sense of what this lifestyle is like, from the moment João touches down in the private jet, through to his medical and media engagements.
By getting a look into the inner workings of the club, the fans feel closer and more connected to FC Bayern. They feel like, in some ways, they already know João, which is reflected in comments such as “The way he said “finally” after he landed sort of proves how much he wanted this transfer. I am hyped! Welcome to Munich” and “He’s simple and humble I LOVE HIM”
The vlog uses a number of Artlist tracks that help to break up the different scenes and pace the video nicely. As João lands and makes his way to the FC Bayern headquarters, Better than Ever by Vic Sage is playing. During the medical and meeting some of the staff, we hear Beam Me Up by Captain Qubz and finally, as he engages in a photoshoot for the social media announcements, we hear Getaway by Add9Audio.
Real Madrid x Visit Dubai
I mentioned previously how most top sports brands feel like production companies. They are also in the business of entertainment, too. In order to run these clubs and be successful at the elite level, a lot of money is needed (how do you think Real Madrid paid for that $1bn stadium upgrade?).
Sponsorships are a huge part of sports branding, generating significant amounts of income. This Real Madrid collaboration with Visit Dubai is a perfect example of that.
Throughout the video, we watch as three Madrid players partake in various competitions, inspired by some of the key selling points of Visit Dubai. Again, it’s another example of how social media allows fans closer access to the players than ever before – we get to see some funny moments, interactions, and personality from each of them. Additionally, while the audience is enjoying watching some of their favorite players, they’re also learning interesting facts about Dubai, prompting them to consider visiting. It’s a very natural, easy partnership between the club and the brand.
In this video, various Artlist songs, hip-hop beats, and even sports sound effects, Artlist can take your sports are used to build excitement and anticipation for the competition, as well as help to break up the different parts of the video. Rio Groove by Yarin Primak is featured as a nod to Rodrygo, who’s a Brazilian player. There’s no doubt plenty of Brazilian fans tuning into the video, so it appeals directly to them. Another track by Yarin Primak, Ride or Die, is a modern hip hop beat – it’s relevant music that the primarily young fanbase will have come to expect in their social media sports brand content.
Wrapping up
If you’re looking to build a sports brand identity that lasts and helps drive your club or athletes, allowing them to keep doing what they’re doing, then you need to engage with your audience. Forging real, emotional connections and community through storytelling is the way to do this.
No matter what type of video you’re looking to make as a sporting brand, one of the best ways to achieve great sports storytelling is through the use of music. From travel music to hip hop beats and even sports sound effects, Artlist can take your sport branding videos to the next level.
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