Sports Marketing Agents in the Social Media Era
The article I chose explores how social media has altered the field of sports marketing and specifically how sports marketing agents have had to adjust to the changing environment. As social media avenues, including Twitter and Facebook, continue to expand, the old-school method of reaching potential merchandise clients has become less incentivized. The changing scenery regarding traditional marketing has altered the dynamic to which, and to what extent, companies can continue to be successful in the social media era. One example that the article cites of a traditional marketing strategy that continues to flourish is the basketball shoe endorsement. The article cites the recent deal Adidas struck with James Harden that totaled $200 million dollars. However, the effectiveness of reaching a wide audience that social media marketing offers has largely taken away from how agents have traditionally pushed the branding of sports players and products. The major factor for why this is the case is because social media offers a similar, if not greater, audience while enabling a large decrease in expense. All of these reasons appear to point towards the majority of sports marketing agents having to define a unique niche that creates a necessity for their skills or having to be forced out of the marketing field.
This article has the immediate relation to the course’s material as it explores the impact of one of the more important networks by examining one of the effects of social media. It does so in a sense that has not fully been explored in class though, as it examines what can be lost as new networks are formed. However, another interesting relationship to networks is how traditional marketing agents will form positive and/or negative connections with social media stars. A new network is in its beginning stages and it will be important to see who forms alliances with whom as well as the strength of those connections. The ramifications of this new network are apparent as we, both nationally and globally, invest largely into the sports industry.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/08/07/has-social-media-killed-the-sports-marketing-agent/