Black Friday is a perfect opportunity for Sport Brands to bring forward exciting new campaigns for their fans. This year, it’s the 27th of November which marks the occasion of incredible discounts. As a Sports brand you will be looking to improvise your campaigns for the day given the COVID-19 scenario and lock-downs, around the globe.
Alongside harnessing the power of your e-commerce platform, here is a list of ideas deployed by the juggernauts of the sporting industry, to inspire you along your journey.
1) Release a new Jersey
Boston Bruins, a sports franchise competing in the National Hockey League (NHL), announced the launch of their third jersey in 2019 as the epitome of their Black Friday campaign. They featured their players in the new jersey 5 days before they would go on to take the field in it, on Black Friday itself. Not only were their fans more interested and engaged, they were also easily introduced to the supplementary deals which the sports franchise had to offer.
2) Leverage a partner/sponsor in the Black Friday deal
West Ham United — one of the oldest clubs in London and the regular features of the English Premier League — used the Black Friday campaign in collaboration with the apparel sponsor; Umbro. They capitalized on their campaign by offering a 35% discount on their sports apparel range, especially designed by Umbro.
3) Offer to Donate a Percentage of Sales to Charity
Beaver Sports was quick to identify that “Give Thanks, Give Back” was a wonderful idea to employ over their Black Friday strategy. A sporting goods brand; Beaver sports announced that to get the very best deals, their customers had to donate a certain amount to any of the three local non-profit charities they had picked to support.
4) Offer Discounts on E-Gift-Cards
JD Sports is a house-hold name for sports lovers in the UK. They came up with a bright idea for their Black Friday campaign to offer massive discounts on gift cards. Users could gift someone a gift-card, purchased at a discounted price, so that the receiver could use it at will and get the JD-gear they want. Most importantly, whenever they want.
5) Tease your fans
Sometimes, as a sports brand, you have to let the imagination of your fans run wild. FC Barcelona, from the Spanish La Liga, did exactly that for their Black Friday campaign. They invited their fans to sign-up for their offers and be the first to receive, and subsequently reap the benefits of, their upcoming Black Friday deals.
6) Let your stars shine
Liverpool, champions of the English Premier League, used their star-power for their Black Friday strategy. Their campaign involved Mohammad Salah, the star-studded Egyptian winger, grabbing the attention of the people off the field as well with his promotion of the Black Friday campaign for Liverpool.
7) Promote your match attendance
The LA Lakers of the NBA promoted their ticket sales during one of the many Black Friday campaigns they ran. Sports fans were allowed to get premium level tickets of the upcoming fixtures at a discounted price. This not only allowed their fans a chance to experience the premium level at a cheaper price, but also boosted their attendance confirmation for the rest of the season.
8) Promote travel and your hotel partner
Real Madrid, the giants of the European football scene, promoted traveling through their hotel partner; Palladium Hotel Group. They named their Black Friday Campaign: A Hotel for Champions, announcing massive discounts on 50 of its locations around the globe. Why wouldn’t a fan want to stay there with the club they love offering such discounts.
9) Extend your promotions and make a week of it
Juventus Football Club was quick to announce that their Black Friday campaign would run for a whole week back in 2019. They gave ample time to their fans to avail discounts on not just the sports apparel as a part of their campaign, but also their exclusive club and Tv membership. What a great way to extend the festivity.
10) Wrap it in a whole package
The Anaheim Ducks of the NHL wrapped their Black Friday campaign into a neat little package for the fans. They offered adventure, match tickets, and included their apparel as part of the package for their sports fans. Not just that, a sense of urgency was created on certain articles in order for the fans to receive free giveaways. A limited number of first-come-first-serve customers were to receive the goodies.
11) Special reveals during Black Friday on Social Media
The mammoth sports fans industry of EA Sports has a special place for Black Friday when it comes to FIFA game releases. In their Fifa 19 FUT campaign, they let their fans know that Black Friday would continue to be the occasion when their special edition player packs would become available. It is now an occasion that all Fifa gamers look forward to. Not just that, they also promoted interactions on Twitter by announcing it to be the selected medium of information and release for this Black Friday campaign.
12) Boost your e-commerce store
Reading FC from England announced on their website that their retail stores will remain closed over the Black Friday campaign due to the Covid-19 situation in the country. They encouraged their fans to get accustomed to their e-commerce platforms where all the deals would be available. This was a great strategy to get more of their fans to sign-up to their digital platform and to utilize the opportunity to understand their audience’s demographics even better.
13) Offer discounted memberships
Kickly is one of the leading platforms out there for sports templates and designs, ready to be used by sports franchises for an aesthetically pleasing and professional outlook. Kickly is not just saving your time and effort over the Black Friday season, it is saving your money too. Offering a 1+1 membership, now you can get two years’ worth of graphics secured for the price of just one. What a fantastic way to reward their customers.
There are tons of more ideas you could use to get the best out of these 13 Black Friday campaigns we presented. You could run a competition for your fans to meet your players, announce your new signings, create an event and so much more. You know by now where we are going with this. Now it’s up to you to take your Black Friday campaign where you want to. Inspire away!
