industry interview Get SMART
Sports Marketing Surveyswas established in 1984 when there was very limited information on the sports goods industry. Today, it provides the sporting goods industry with SMART DATA and sports insight consultancy on sports participation, sports behaviour and sports lifestyle. MD John Bushell spoke to SGB
In layman’s terms, what is SMART DATA? Putting research data into context through the application of other sports information and our specialist sports experience and understanding, and providing robust, evidence based sports insight and recommendations. It is taking research data – and making it SMARTER.
What is its point of difference compared to other companies offering similar services? Our point-of-difference is that we take sports passionate participants and fans, and train them to be sports researchers – you only deal with knowledgeable sports insight professionals. Our researchers are truly sports-literate.
Do you use social media as a company? Is this in a client or consumer facing capacity? Yes. We use Twitter – we are @SMSINC_UK. We provide fast, relevant and interesting sporting facts – or retweeting and commenting on the important social media commentary for the sports industry. We also have a LinkedIn presence – with top-line findings from our latest research and comments on topical issues facing the industry. It is a good way for our clients and the industry to keep up with the company.
What would you say is your company ethos? Professional, trusted, and appropriate SMART insight, delivered with integrity by a dedicated sports literate team.
What do you think are the biggest issues currently facing the sporting goods retail trade? 1. How to get sports participants to play more often and more regularly. Play frequency impacts on spend. What we term ‘the core participants’ are those who spend the most on sport. In golf, these core golfers who play 12 times a year or more account for over 85% of expenditure on the sport. There are multiple time pressures on modern life (both family and work) and also many alternative leisure activities against which sport is competing. We need to ensure sport embraces an approach that encourages ‘the fun’ in sport, ‘flexibility’ in how people play and what they wear, and also to be welcoming to ‘families’. If you can involve your
family in your sport – this enables more frequent involvement – so sport should be ‘fun, flexible and family’.
2. The changing sales channel. The sports consumer has many routes to purchase their sports equipment – the first is the traditional bricks-&-mortar specialist retailer or specialist sports-outlet. The second is the many online sales channels where a sports consumer orders without visiting a physical retail outlet, or more challenging for the retailer where a sports-consumer uses their outlet to ‘trial’ or window-shop before ordering online. Finally, a newer trend towards selling-direct from the sports manufacturer to the sports consumer, which gives the manufacturer the opportunity to retail all of their equipment, but removes the traditional retail outlet from the equation. How can the sporting goods retail trade compete with this? The point-of-difference is the personal touch - on being able to advise or fit the sports consumer properly, in by ensuring that the sports consumer is given the best advice for their skill-levels. It is not about up-selling, but by being the best, specialist and personal adviser to the end sports consumer.
3. The price and discounting issue. The end consumer wants their equipment cheaper and available faster – and every consumer market is evolving this way. The sporting goods retail trade has to operate within this framework. I do not know the solution but it is a major issue.
What is next on the agenda for SMS INC? We have a new initiative in tennis and golf called the ‘Brand Health Check’; a third wave of multi-sport participation reports this Spring in partnership with the ITF and the USTIA, and we are developing our VENUECHECK offering through work with three major rights holders. One sport where there is some real need – as there is no longer double digit growth – is cycling. We have a dedicated sports business manager in this area and have just released a four-market international cycling behaviour report. At the same time, it is more of the same – focusing on providing appropriate, sports- intelligent insight for our clients. We believe in building long-term relations with our clients, and I think we are moving in the right direction.
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