Sports dominate the entertainment industry in live-viewing, engagement and marketing potential. That’s because sports content is bigger than any “game” itself—it’s a powerfully symbolic story of us, our shared human experience. From crowning the “Greatest” to the Cinderella story, every athlete, every team and every season has a story we can’t resist.

So, when it comes to effectively positioning your brand, why not let the world of sports be your playbook? An excellent example of using the sports narrative to your benefit is branded content, especially the type of branded content that blends imagination with the eternal story of human struggle and triumph. That’s something sports teaches us: good storytelling with a compelling human element will always elevate your brand.

Even when the latest sports story is mired in controversy, sports remain the ideal sector of entertainment for this growing advertising medium.

Data shows that branded content is increasingly effective. According to Ad Age, branded content’s engagement is up 52% from 2014. Meanwhile, the NBA, NFL, WWE and NHL comprise more than 12% of consumer engagement that’s tied directly to brands. It’s no wonder sports and branded content play well with each other. Look no further than content creation models by GoPro, Nike, Adidas, ESPN, Red Bull and Fox Sports Engage.

While not all content is created on an equal “field of themes,” non-sports brands should still take heed, particularly of how sports uniquely tap into history, culture, and legacy. Whether you’re a fan, athlete or both, a profound connection to the competitive experience will help you go beyond traditional marketing boundaries; moreover, studying sports through the lens of American culture and history offer insights that no brand should ignore.

Looking Forward Back: A 21st Century Perspective Sports in America

From folk games to global spectacles like the Olympics, organized competition has long played a role in not only shaping America, but also helping better understand its own identity. From figures like Jesse Owens to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sports have helped break down every social barrier imaginable.

Modern sports, as we know it, emerged out of the American dream at the turn of the 20th century. Much like the ever-changing landscape of our current digital age, industrialization was transforming how we understand and connect with one another. Urban influx presented profound social, economic, and demographic implications. Economic prosperity was spreading, but unevenly. Municipal leaders were grappling to accommodate new immigrants and displaced rural workers – whose quality of life was, by most accounts, miserable. Laboring through long hours for little pay, these people navigated this sea change through sports. Competition taught valuable life lessons while spectating unified communities. In essence, sports allowed Americans to be a part of something bigger than themselves, regardless of class.

When it comes to sports and marketing, it pays off big to know a little history. Whether you’re targeting Millennials, Boomers, Gen Xers or trying to broaden the ethnic blend of audiences, integrating culture and history through a branding lens will help you connect meaningfully with audiences.

Play for Freedom’s Sake

Play was a pressing social matter a hundred years ago. Educators and public figures alike tried to use sports as a form of social control. Others advocated the social value of play while some framed athletics as “conscious exertion,” emphasizing the mind and body working together.

Notable figures like Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget even connected sports to a path of authenticity. By getting outdoors, you could flee the unwritten rules, habits and conventions of the status quo. Contrasted with cramped housing and deadening workplaces, the world of sports took on the patina of an idealized, rustic place of escape and identity-making.

For those on the field, it was a social exercise of personal freedom. Sports historian Allen Guttman famously characterized this as the focal point of men’s “associational lives,” especially as municipal sports grew in popularity. Organized sports became vital social networks in this post-aristocratic world where title, birth and rank held little sway; moreover, “spontaneous… human outbursts” could happen in controlled, open environments and were even encouraged.

Sports were not only an outlet, but also a barometer for personal ambition in the fast-changing early-20th century – a direct path to self-improvement, per author Benjamin Rader. This was vital in cities where loneliness, social isolation and feelings of powerlessness were common. With its unwritten “creeds” and physical challenges, sports were not simply a means to blow off steam; they challenged players to be their own mythical heroes in a new world where titans, captains of industry and Monopoly politics were crumbling.

Triumphant People Beat Cats

You don’t have to be a sports marketer to benefit from adding history and culture into your brand work. Social media is already the world’s platform of individual storytelling. All of our shares, likes, posts and activities create a story; who we are in the digital age. But don’t let digital dictate your brand entirely. What people “like” and engage with are often two distinct sets of interaction.

If you’re not yet convinced, consider one last piece of evidence. In a study done at the Ehrengerg-Bass Institute for Marketing, researchers studied the ways emotions converted into media behaviors; specifically, the sharing of video content. The research concluded that “triumphant people beat cats.” Sports are intrinsically human, and the human story triumphs all.

I’m rooting for all of you to win the hearts and minds of your audiences on your next campaign by crafting wildly ambitious content firmly centered on a brand vision.

Kate Canada Obregon, PhD is Chief Strategy Officer/Co-Founder of Oishii Creative, where she heads strategy and research for the creative solutions company. She writes regularly and tracks the latest research on social science and the neuroscience of creativity, incorporating her findings into the Oishii Creative methodology and practice.

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