The torch is aflame and the torchbearer afoot. He sprints towards London as Olympics 2012 approaches. Marketers and consumers alike, are gearing and preparing to sponge the quaternary flicker they are about to witness. With one of the highest numbers of viewers tuning in to the live feed, sponsors beating a path to the organizers' doors and worldwide audiences adjusting their schedules to catch the game, it will be marketer's heaven of sorts.

Marketers, brands and advertisers are in cahoots, preparing for the mounting pressure. In the spirit of this, a Sports Marketing workshop was held on February 10th at the Sime Darby Convention Center. Total Sports Asia's CEO, Marcus Luer, put marketing and associative marketing into perspective for industry professionals, highlighting the potential and possibilities in sports marketing.

Associative marketing, or associative conditioning in sports marketing works when a brand pairs with another positively associated brand. This is true for sports marketing, where fans who identify with an athelete, team or league are provide opportunities of sorts for marketers, brands and and advertisers who are able to leverage audience affinity and dramatically increase the impact of their marketing. Sports related events create and exciting and emotional environment and can drive people to shop or buy such branded products and services.

This one day workshop took on a comprehensive view of sports marketing with a showcase of how sports marketing campaigns have worked for international brand names. It also gave participants an overview of marketing strategy and recommendations on how to associate the brand with the sport.

Luer has more than 16 years of working experience in the sports marketing field, having worked with international companies like American Airlines (CONCACAF Gold Cup, 1993) and ISL Marketing (Fifa World Cup '94, USA) in his early career.

Other speakers included James White, vice president of Total Sports Asia who spoke on promotional licensing and partnership activation, with a a few of the Euro 2012 and the London 2012 Olympic Games. And Shahid Sen, executive vice president of Repucom International, who presented an evaluation of partnerships in sports marketing.

The coming Malaysian Media Conference (MMC) 2012 is themed as 'Digital Disclosures'. MMC will attempt to unravel the issues in terms of understanding the new connected user, optimisation of current working processes (role of technology), managing client expectations and Big Data through these exciting times ahead. The Malaysian Media Conference will frame this scenario and the way forward for all thinking media practitioners... Email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register your participation!