#49 The Ballketing Letter
Anta´s journey in the sport apparel industry, a bunch of awesome marketing & sales masterclasses, lessons from Brentford FC, why categories make brands, owning your arena & much more!
Hey there Ballketers,
Welcome to issue #49! Another week packed with awesome content and ready to help you “hit it out of the ballpark” this September:
In the Ballketing Brief we analyze how Anta´s is challenging the status quo in the sports apparel industry and their fantastic results as their foundation to do so. On a related topic, earlier this week we published this post on some opportunities for sport apparel brands; if you have any feedback, please reach out!
We have a few podcast episodes with marketing and sport industry masterclasses, life lessons from sport legends and a series of articles that can change the frame with which you approach certain aspects of your strategy.
As always, we have updated our “Resource Center" in Notion and we have already surpassed the threshold of 400 resources between podcasts, articles, books and more!
Let´s get down to business!
We saw the following quote Josh Spector´s newsletter, and we thought it was great! had a great observation:
"There's nobody who talks to you in a day more than yourself."
WNBA player Elena Delle Donne
Choose your words wisely.
And in that regard, we could not help but think about this Tweet from Naomi Osaka since it touches upon the same topic:
Anta, in a quest to change the status quo of the sportswear industry
When looking into the "sportswear" industry, many will think about brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance or Under Armour but they actually may be surprised that the third brand in terms of market capitalization at the global level is actually Chinese group Anta. The business published their amazing interim 2021 results last month and this week´s brief we will look into some of the major details.
In terms of financials:
The Group's revenue grew 55.5% and reached record breaking results
Gross Profit Margin by 6.4 pps to 63.2%, also a historical high.
Diving into the performance of their specific brands vs 2020:
ANTA's revenue grew 56.1%
FILA's revenue is up 51.4% yoy and what stands out is that it has been able to maintain growth for 10 consecutive years (Anta took control of the brand back in 2009).
Total revenue of all other brands increased by 90.1%
What are the the main levers behind their success?
The groups reports a growth of 70% coming from eCommerce and their CEO recognizes that "D2C will become a critical success factor for every brand."
A favorable macro-environment: Asia, and China in particular, are thriving. GDP is showing remarkable growth (+12% in 1H 2021), consumption of retail consumer goods is up 23% and online sales of physical goods has grown 18% in 1H 2021. In fact, McKinsey considers that the Chinese market is a huge opportunity for sporting goods brands.
The move towards "Nostalgia-based marketing": Nostalgia is being used by brands all over to tap into emotions of fashion customers. In that sense, Anta has a powerful resource in FILA, which was one of the most relevant brands in pop culture back in the 90s.
Sponsorship agreements: Anta sponsors one of the most recognized stars of the NBA, Klay Thompson and in our view, it is a partnership that makes a lot of sense given the potential brand associations. Klay is a beloved player among fans and players but is also known for a unique lifestyle that stands out vs the rest of the NBA players. He breaks the norm, which is actually what Anta is trying to do in their industry. Anta also partners with players with similar "odd" profiles like Rajon Rondo or Gordon Hayward but that are also beloved by their teammates.
The comeback of sporting events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter games; Anta actually sponsors the Chinese Olympic team, so it is massive opportunity for them.
The success of their technical apparel for kids in a move aimed at acquiring new customers.
James Zheng, Executive Director and Group President, ANTA Sports, and President and CEO, Amer Sports also cites supply chain efficiencies as a key success factor in this McKinsey report. As he points out, their "time to market for new shoes is around six weeks, compared to 15 to 18 months of our competitors," and that "strategic alliances and partnerships with key suppliers will be essential for the future, in order to respond quickly to market change and reduce lead times."
The sports apparel industry is "on fire" and we are excited to see the moves that will come in the upcoming years…Stay tuned!
Let´s start by leveling your marketing game…
Marketing lessons from Chris Walker on "Offense vs Defense" & "How To Win"
Another brilliant marketing masterclass by Refine Labs discussing the state of marketing and with awesome tactics to adopt within our marketing strategy. The summary? Your goal should be to understand your customer and market to them in the channels where they are, adapting to the way they buy rather than focusing on attribution and measurement.
Then, Peep Laja interviews Chris Walker (CEO @Refine Labs) on his new podcast "How To Win." Some awesome lessons from this one:
What is strategy and how it is applied to Refine Labs
Tactics to succeed on LinkedIn
Focus on your customer, not your competition
Offer different strategic & tactical approaches
Forget being too transactional and focus on creating value / relationships
The issue with "Blue Ocean Strategy"
Another awesome episode of "Everyone Hates Marketers" which digs into the issue of focusing on "Blue Ocean Strategy." The essence is that there is not an ocean per industry, we actually all are in one giant ocean given the potential choices customers can choose. Louis Grenier then shares a framework to compete in any given industry:
Understand the triggers behind your customer´s decision to purchase the category
Develop curiosity for the market dynamics
Establish presence in the channels where they are so you can be there when triggers activate
Identify the way in which you can stand out
If you enjoy Louis´s content, be sure to sign up to his newsletter. It´s simply great! Click here
Use intent data to drive revenue
Interesting episode in the Inbound Success podcast which even includes examples from the fitness industry. It basically discusses the importance of intent data to drive revenue across the different phases of the marketing funnel and the tactics you can follow to match your copy / keywords to what the customer is actually looking for.
The Role of Marketing & Branding in organizations
Magnificent episode of Brandingmag´s podcast about the role of marketing and branding for businesses. They discuss the difference between advertising your purpose vs executing on it, why CFOs should be the marketer´s best friends or the core competencies marketers need:
1 Understanding (with regards to customers and market dynamics)
2. Translating (What are the mental models you can apply to interpret that data?)
3. Executing (Define how you will carry out the strategy that lets you tackle your insights?)
4. Storytelling (How can your brand promise resonate with your target market?)
Rethink the marketing funnel
Another great episode of Social Media Examiner in which they re-frame the marketing funnel using new terms:
Know
Like
Trust
Try
Buy
Repeat
Refer.
The episode goes into details with examples you can learn a few things from…
Closing the sale by being your true self
The Predictable Revenue Podcast shares this awesome masterclass on how to develop your sales process and closing the actual sale. What we liked most? The approach towards being your true self during the entire sales process. You do not need to become a "pushy salesperson" at all... The episode is full of practical advice, tips and examples which will take your sales process to a new level.
And speaking about masterclasses, don´t miss this one!
Sports business masterclass: Brentford FC
Sports Pro Media shares this masterclass on how a football club makes its way into the English Premier League. Brentford FC´s CEO shares lessons on running the business side of the club from all angles but we found particularly interesting:
The transition of moving into a new stadium for fans and the club
Sport organizations need to understand that brand identity is defined by the fans
Purpose driven sponsorship is critical to stand out vs the "big fish" in the pond
And, get ready to become a better version of yourself…
The social & business opportunities behind Paralympic sport
With the upcoming closure of the Paralympic games, this episode from Sports Pro Media comes in handy to understand the opportunities (both from the social & business angles) that Paralympic sport can drive for the industry. Why should you care? Well, other than the fact that the world needs to become more inclusive, the Paralympics are the 3rd largest sport event in the world, trailing only the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. Paralympic sports are a fantastic way to align your brand to values such as grit, ambition and excellence but the truth is that we need, as a society, to improve inclusiveness in terms of resources and access to job opportunities. So, what can you do to help out?
Own your arena
Inspiring interview in the "Finding Mastery" podcast where Dr. Gervais interviews Tennis legend, Katrina Adams. While the entire interview evolves around the concept of "grit," "believing in yourself despite the obstacles," and so on, we wanted to highlight an awesome quote Ms. Adams left during the conversation:
"Because an arena can be anywhere. Your arena is where you are right now in your home or in your office, in your car, on your court, on your field, at the beach, wherever it is, that’s your arena and the space that you are filling. And I think everyone needs to understand that, because if you can own your arena, then you’re owning your own presence. You’re owning your own will as to what it is that you’re trying to accomplish."
Life & Business Lessons from Sir James Dyson
Although not tied directly to sports, this inspiring episode of The Tim Ferris Show is for any person with an idea out there to improve the world. Sir James Dyson shares invaluable lessons on grit, believing in yourself, stories about getting his inventions to the market, not trusting "product/market" fit, why he decided to launch his own brand, testing out new futures one at a time. He ends the episode with an awesome quote you should ponder:
You do not have to be an expert. You have to have enthusiasm, curiosity, thirst for learning and determination.
And with two powerful ideas:
There is nothing wrong with always looking for improvement
Do not fear failure
Categories make brands
The Category Pirates shared this awesome post explaining the difference between "Category Marketing" & "Brand Marketing." The entire post is fantastic but if we had to summarize it using their own words:
Brand marketing is what you do TO your customers
Category marketing is actually about you can do FOR your customers
Remember, categories make brands and not vice versa.
Why / Who / How: The 3 pillars of your content marketing strategy
This framework shared by CMI is based on three main pillars:
Why – The marketing and business goals to achieve and the reason to create content Who – the audience to target (who they are, what they need, and what path they follow in their customer journey) How – the unique brand mission or story, what sets your content apart from anything else your audience might choose to engage with and act on
The winners of the sponsorship Olympics
Great summary by Sam Carp from Sports Pro Media on the brands that "won" the Olympics based on "aided and unaided awareness in the minds of consumers, as well as the impact their association with the Games had on their brand preference, brand image and purchase/usage." Toyota, Nike & Adidas completed the podium.
And that does it for The Ballketing Letter #49! Thank you once again for reading and “beeing on the other side.” If you have any feedback, let us know so we can keep making this newsletter more useful and help you take your sport brand or fitness business to another level.
And, if you believe somebody else can enjoy The Ballketing Letter, don´t hesitate to share it with them so we can grow the community together.
We hope to be back next week with more amazing content but meanwhile, keep safe.