Despite the fact it falls on different days in different countries, Father’s Day has long been an annual pillar event for sports marketers to engage and reward their core fans.
Americans alone spend $15.5bn on Father’s Day gifts, cards, dinners and ballgames. So it is no surprise that US marketers spend $2bn on advertising around dad’s day (which for them is on the third Sunday in June).
Of course, there is no hard and fast rule as to what makes the perfect Father’s Day sports campaign. From emotional and compassionate family narratives and product relevant promos, to personalisation initiatives, humour and even subverting stereotypes there are plenty of popular approaches.
But, as always, we argue that inventive creativity sits at the heart of the best work.
This year, as well as the usual avalanche of sports rights-holder dad’s day montage spots (like the MLB’s video – the MLB and New Era even have Official Father’s Day Caps) and father-led family bonding events, experiences and emotional creative, 2019 saw some campaigns which avoided the cooker cutter commercial approach.
Some of the more notable 2019 sports marketing Father’s Day work from around the world included a classic ‘Hero Dad’ surprise experiential and social stunt from Liverpool FC sponsor Nivea, a Facebook/MLB ‘Game Day’ campaign focused on dads taking their daughters to their first ever baseball game and an inventive Father’s Day themed campaign from Indian sports broadcaster Star Sports promoting its coverage of the India v Pakistan Cricket World Cup game.
The Activative team has chosen its Top 10 Father’s Day Sports Marketing Campaigns.
1: Nivea/Liverpool ‘Hero Dads’
3: Star Sports ‘CWC19 India v Pakistan’
4: Foot Locker ‘Lonzo Ball NBA Draft’
5: Taylor Made/PGA Tour ‘Dash & Jason Day’
6: NBA Players Union ‘Everyday Dad’
7: Under Armour/PGA Tour’ Golf Season Is Back’
9: Buffalo Wild Wings ‘Watching’
10: Nike ‘Tiger & Earl’ (not strictly a Father’s Day initiative, but worth revisiting)
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