Offline sales on Black Friday were big, but down a tick from last year (according to this CNN article). Here’s another story from Minneapolis Biz Journal.
Meanwhile online, retailers have started a new tradiiton. (CyberMonday)
Doug Hart, an analyst at BDO Seidman, an accounting and consulting firm, said Cyber Monday sales would account for about 12 percent of the expected $39 billion in online revenue this holiday season. That is similar to the 15 percent share of holiday sales recorded by offline retailers on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, he said.
Retailers clearly understand the value of the online channel, but all this discounting plays right into WaMart’s hands, doesn’t it?
Eager to let everyone play the discount game, WalMart is running onlne sales all week long
So why do retailers keep it up? Are they so addicted to selling high volume at low prices that they will expand their deep discounts online and make the problem even worse? Wouldn’t it be better to build brands and sell products at full price?
Here’s how this relates to sports marketing
I was just sitting here working on a PPT deck, and I was listing out all the reasons why national brands don’t typically sponsor NFL team Websites. One of the main objections we hear is that the Colts, for example, are local. Any promo a brand does with the Colts will have only localized / regional impact.
As I thought about it I realized that this objection is correct, but only offline. It is true that if Target were trying to drive Colts fans to Target stores, it would be best served to think locally. Logistics would prevent Target from running effective colts merchandising programs outside of Indiana.
However, online is a completely different story. If Target had a deal with the Colts, then the retailer could run specific promotions for Colts fans, send them from Colts / Target co-branded banner ads to co-branded landing pages and give them (barcoded) offers for retail or promo codes for online purchase.
Target (or any retailer for that matter) could use its Colt sponsorship for the best of both worlds…online and off. It wouldn’t necessarily have to cut its prices to drive store sales, and it wouldn’t have to worry about where in the world Colts fans live. And this strategy could be replicated easily on all team sites.
Given the fact that most NFL games are played on Sundays…people watch the games on TV, avid fans go to team Webistes in droves (all week)…see the sponsors’ messages…go back to work on Monday (and get online)…perhaps every Monday could be “green” Monday for retailers who sponsor NFL team Websites.
