2014 Schedule
Interactive: March 7–11  •  Film: March 7–15  •  Music: March 11–16

Brands Can Champion the Power of Sport

#sxsw #BrandSport SXsports

Brands want to be loved. Consumers seek happiness. Brands make consumers happy by creating strong emotional connections to the things consumers are most passionate about.
Sport is an inspirational power for good. Sport enhances the lives of individuals, communities, countries and the entire world. It promotes healthy living and teaches life lessons; it has stopped wars and ended injustices.
From a brand perspective, the passion that consumers have for sport represents one of the most underutilized raw materials in marketing… especially for brand marketers looking to make their brand more loved.
Simon Wardle, Octagon’s Chief Strategy Officer, will reveal how Octagon research has quantified what drives fan passion and how fans indulge their passion for sports. The resulting insights will help brands use content, positioning, messaging, timing and channel selection to harness the power of sport… and make consumers fall in love with their brand.

This session is part of the brand new SXsports programming at SXSW 2014.

Presenters

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Simon Wardle

Chief Strategy Officer

Octagon Inc

Octagon’s Chief Strategy Officer Simon Wardle, Phd oversees Octagon’s multi-faceted strategic research to ensure the broadest and most effective impact for Octagon’s clients.

Among his successes is the creation of Passion Drivers®, pioneering research designed to understand why fans are fans. In addition, he developed the architecture for many of the interactive measurement and management tools that Octagon uses to help clients engage consumers and drive business results.

With nearly two decades in the industry, Wardle’s favorite sponsorship experience was seeing a FIFA World Cup public viewing area sponsored by MTN that was placed in a township in Johannesburg. “Seeing the people of the township come together for that shared experience—and seeing how powerful that type of community engagement is—was pretty incredible,” he said.

Thanks to our sponsors

Miller Lite Monster Energy Esurance Chevrolet AT&T IFC Subway Austin Chronicle

Music sponsor

Sonic Bids

Interactive sponsors

Deloitte American Express Pennzoil