Brand Management assignment on Brand Building via X Games

1. BRAND BUILDING
Submitted By Amit Saini
PGP31131
BY

2. • The X Games is an annual sports
event, controlled and arranged by
American sports broadcaster ESPN
• X stands for Extreme, focuses
on extreme sports
• It happens biannually (Summer and
Winter games)
• Participants compete to win bronze,
silver, and gold medals, as well as prize
money
• It is defined by various forms of
skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing,
and BMX biking
ABOUT
X GAMES
HERE's "Generation X" and "The X-Files," "Madame
X" and X marks the spot. Now, ESPN Inc. hopes to
add one more name to that list: the X Games
- The New York Times

3. GROWTH STORY OF
X GAMES
• Started off in 1995
• Continue on a growth trajectory in
terms of legitimacy, participation,
public interest, and sponsor/
business investment
• Have become increasingly profitable
• Skate, snow and surf gear, apparel,
and accessories jumping from a $5
billion to an $11 billion market in
the last eight years
• Getting evolved and involved,
globally

4. “The ‘X’ in X Games stands for Extreme—and the name is no
exaggeration. The fans are as diehard as they come, the courses are
state of the art and the event showcases some of the most jaw-
dropping athletic stunts known to mankind”
- eventmarketer.com

5. X GAMES OFFER A POOL
OF OPPORTUNITIES TO
BUILD A BRAND
• Grew into a franchise that with more than 65
events attended by more than 2.5 mn fans
• Successfully launched a variety of brand
extensions in consumer products and home
entertainment
• Touches all seven continents
• Positioned it well in terms of:
1. Brand perception and relevance
2. Live event attendance
3. Record-setting broadcast viewership
and ratings
4. Increased sponsor investment
5. Overall popularity and incorporation
into the mainstream

6. HOW THE MARKETING
STRATEGIES ARE DECIDED?
• Sports marketer identify and manipulate
the youth culture consumption habits of
Gen Y
• Accordingly, position brands with the
lifestyles of action sport stakeholders
• They look for marketing the youthful
lifestyle, apt for the X games audience
• This eventually opens avenues for research
into how X games market itself to attract a
certain lifestyle

7. D I G I T A L A D S

8. S O C I A L M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G

9. P R I N T A D V E R T I S I N G

10. HOW
SPONSORS
ARE MATCHED
• Based on perceived fit and common objectives
• Advertisers specifically requested X Games
• Advertisers wanted to target a certain
demographic (males 18–34) and asked the
ESPN sales team for recommendations
• Advertisers wanted to conduct a
promotion/push a certain product or air
commercials within a particular time, and
X Games event timing matched
• Advertisers had a certain budget/amount of
money to spend, and the ESPN sales team
offered the X Games property based on that
budget and the perceived fit

11. LIST OF
OFFICIAL
SPONSORS
S o m e r e t u r n e e s p o n s o r s a r e
AT & T; N i k e ; G e n e r a l M o t o r s , f o r
C h e v r o l e t t r u c k s a n d P o n t i a c , a n d
P e p s i C o , f o r M o u n t a i n D e w s o f t
d r i n k s a n d Ta c o B e l l f a s t f o o d
BFGoodrich
Ford
Shark WeekAmerica’s Navy
Red Bull

13. LIST OF
EVENT SPONSORS
Casio G’zOne Commando
Shark Week
Shark WeekMobil 1
Sony

14. HOW PREVIOUS SPONSORS
HAVE MARKETED
THEMSELVES
• challenged consumers to take the “tuck
test” by riding a mechanical bull while
donning the redesigned, stay-tucked men’s
undershirt
• Partakers competed with others to make it
onto the leader board with the top riders
for the weekend
• Received a free pair of boxers for
participating
• Anyone walking past the booth couldn’t
help but stop and stare at the spectacle
before moving along
F R U I T O F T H E LO O M

16. • offering different activities in each room of the
dollhouse-like structure
• Attendees could get a temporary tattoo in one
room, shred on “Guitar Hero” in the next, then
take photos using a whole host of silly props
and cap it off with a cold beverage from one of
two bars inside the footprint
• A well-placed viewing balcony atop the house
offered a VIP-esque experience
• brand ambassadors flooded both the footprint
and the event at large, using iPads to record
consumers’ bucket lists
B U D L I G H T
HOW PREVIOUS SPONSORS
HAVE MARKETED
THEMSELVES

18. • In addition to sponsoring the inaugural Flat-
Track Racing competition, the brand offered
LiveWire Jumpstart riding experiences, which
gave consumers a chance to take a simulated
ride on Harley’s new electric motorcycle
• hosted appearances by X Games athletes and
offered a photo engagement in front of the
XR-750 racing motorcycle
• Fans could additionally enter the Choose Your
Ride Sweepstakes to win a 2016 Harley-
Davidson motorcycle of their choice via
various iPod stations sprinkled around the
footprint
• A variety of bike models on display appeared
to increase consumer dwell time, although the
scores of booth babes probably didn’t hurt
H A R L E Y DAV I D S O N
HOW PREVIOUS SPONSORS
HAVE MARKETED
THEMSELVES

20. SUMMARY
• We discussed about facts about what X games
are and its growth story
• We also discussed about how a great pool of
opportunity, X games provide, for companies
to market and position themselves
• We then talked about various marketing
strategies for X games with respect to print,
digital and social media ads
• There are 5 different criterions that are
considered while matching a sponsor
• The official sponsors for X games include
BFGoodrich, Red Bull, America’s Navy and Ford
• List of event sponsors include Mobil1, Casio,
Shark Week and Sony
• Lastly we talked about how differently,
previous sponsors have build their brands via x
games

21. D I S C L A I M E R
Submitted by Amit Saini as part of
PGP Brand Management course taught by
Prof. Sameer Mathur at IIM Lucknow.
T H A N K Y O U .