"We view sports marketing as a data-driven marketing channel"

Many companies today want to be able to measure the actual impact of their investments. How does ISP use data and insights to create results-driven sports marketing?
– We view sports marketing as a data-driven marketing channel rather than traditional sponsorship. Therefore, we always start with business goals, target audiences, and insights before recommending rights or activations. Among other things, we use our own driver analyses, media measurements, and data from Kantar Orvesto and other external sources to understand which contexts create the greatest relevance and impact for a brand. This helps us make better decisions, optimize investments over time, and create measurable business value, regardless of whether the focus is on brand building or sales.

Sports are increasingly moving from traditional sponsorship to a modern marketing channel. How are you noticing this change?
– The change is clear, but it's far from complete. More and more companies today view sports marketing as part of their marketing mix rather than a sponsorship line item. At the same time, we still encounter many large companies that claim they don't sponsor, even though they invest significant sums in other marketing channels to reach the exact same target audiences. What makes sports marketing unique is that we don't just buy reach; we gain access to a context where engagement already exists. This creates opportunities for stronger relationships, higher credibility, and greater impact than many traditional channels. We see an important task for ISP there. We want to contribute to market development by helping companies, clubs, and federations speak the same language regarding target audiences, impact, and business value. The better we become at this, the stronger sports marketing will be as a marketing channel.

How important is the interplay between strategy, content, and data for creating impact today?
– It is absolutely crucial. Strategy ensures we work towards the right goals, data helps us make the right decisions and measure impact, while content creates engagement with the target audience. Our strength at ISP is combining all three elements. When strategy, data, and content collaborate, it creates marketing that both builds brands long-term and drives business short-term.

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