Now in its eighth year as the official hotel partner of the NCAA, Marriott is hoping to benefit from the many fans who will travel to see their favorite teams compete in the March Madness basketball frenzy.
Click here to read the story at marketingdive.com.
Discussion Questions:
- What is fandom?
- Why is fandom important to sports teams?
- Why is fandom important to a business or brand?
- How does that explain why a business or brand would want to create a marketing campaign that connects with sports fans?
- How might “Game Day Rituals” represent an example of fandom?
- Based on what you learned in this story, describe how Marriott is hoping use fandom to its advantage from a marketing perspective.
- What is sponsorship?
- Brands only have so much money available to spend on marketing, so aligning with the right sports property is important.
- What factors might they consider when deciding which properties to sponsor to help them to meet their marketing goals and objectives?
- Why would Marriott want to invest in the sponsorship rights as the official hotel partner of the NCAA?
- What is brand loyalty?
- Do you think fans who have “game day rituals” might represent high levels of brand loyalty? Why or why not?
- Why are those fans important to their respective college basketball programs?
- Why is brand loyalty important to Marriott?
- What is sponsorship activiation?
- Why is activation important to the overall success of a sponsorship?
- Based on what you learned from this news story, how is Marriott activating their NCAA sponsorship in a way that could specifically help it build brand loyalty?