PR’s Top Pros Talk: Mitch Germann

Mitch Germann, Global Managing Director of Retail, Sports and Lifestyle for FleishmanHillard, shares how brands can get the most value out of their sports sponsorships. Mitch highlights the impact that the younger generation is having on sports culture and how organizations are marketing to those audiences. Mitch also explains his approach to securing earned media coverage.

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Transcript:

DOUG: Mitch, it’s great to have you on the show and I think it makes sense to start by you just sort of hitting some check boxes of some of the amazing job opportunities you’ve had during your career.

MITCH: Yeah. I’ve had a long career in sports communications and marketing and have had the opportunity to have some really amazing experiences. I was the director of communications for the University of Kansas Athletic Department, which is my alma mater. I was the VP of Marketing and communications for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA. I led global communications for Jordan Brand, which is a division of Nike, and I led media relations for Nike. So those are some of the in-house experiences I’ve had the opportunity to have. And along with that, at Fleishman Hillard, where I’ve had multiple stops, I’ve gotten to work with some of the biggest, highest profile brands in sports and sports culture and work activations and events like the Olympics, the World Cup, the Super Bowl and NBA all-star.

DOUG: Yeah. So what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in how sports marketing is unfolded over the last five years or so compared to what happened earlier in your career?

MITCH: The first is that the definition of sport and athlete have really expanded to match the view of the younger generation. It’s no longer just traditional competitive team sports. Things like yoga and dance and rock climbing and skateboarding are now just as much a part of sport as football and basketball. Second, it’s no longer just about sport on the field of play, but also sport culture more broadly. Things like fashion, sneakers, music, gaming, art, design. All of this has become part of the larger sport culture and they’re really important dimensions I think when engaging in sport.

DOUG: Yeah. So I think the cultural aspect has become so important. Like you mentioned, if a brand is looking to partner with an athlete or a team, what are some things they need to know?

MITCH: Well, they do need to know that it’s a very issues rich environment and that comes with a need for real preparation. Myriad things can happen with teams at events, with athletes, with coaches that might drive a negative news cycle. So, brands need to really know their thresholds, meaning what are the things that will bother you, but you won’t feel the need to say anything. What are the things that rise to the level of you wanting to make or state a position publicly, but you keep your partnership intact? And one of those things to hit a threshold that you’ll actually end your relationship. There are numerous advantages to using sports teams and leagues and athletes to build profile and grow business, but it also takes real preparation from an issues perspective.

DOUG: Yeah, and I think it’s easy to lose sight that the overwhelming percentage of athletes and teams that you partner with have good outcomes, don’t have those problems. It’s of course the few that of the problems and then become extreme because of their fame that really carry the day. So that’s something to maybe do some research and prepare on. Is there a way that you feel that brands can get the most out of their sports related sponsorships.

MITCH: Ensuring that the strategy for entering into the partnership is rooted in real, tangible business objectives. It’s not just about raising profile and raising awareness; it’s actually about growing business. So, building a framework that makes it crystal clear what business objectives are tied to the partnership, what audiences you want to reach, what you want them to do, that’s critically important. And the more specific you are about what you want to get out of the partnership, the more focused your message is and activations and programs can be in service of those business objectives.

DOUG: So obviously, the communications landscape, the media landscape have gone through huge changes in the last five years, pre-COVID to now as we enter the post-COVID, we hope, era. How can those be navigated to best advantage? Because it is a huge change and of course there’s going to be future changes.

MITCH: Yeah, I think the media consumption habits of younger generations specifically is what’s having the biggest impact on us kind of in the sports and sports marketing, sports communications field. They aren’t loyal to media outlets or reporters anymore. They’re loyal to topics. They go wherever the conversation is about the topics they’re most interested in. And so that’s caused a shift from what we call the social graph to the interest graph and the social media platforms, they’ve picked up on this and they’ve adjusted their algorithms to serve that behavior. So, it’s critical for us as communicators to pay attention to where the conversations are taking place and who is driving them, and then really focus our efforts on building relationships with those folks on those platforms. It could be media, creators, influencers, makers. It’s greatly expanded the definition of media for us.

DOUG: Can you explain your approach to securing earned media coverage and what you see as the value of it?

MITCH: Yeah, I think it’s a real balance between science and art. So, using intelligence to get surgical about where conversations are happening and who is driving them, but balancing that with on the ground relationships to bring real meaning and quality to interactions and engagement. I think we need to leverage intelligence to be smart about where we engage and with who. But we still need to be cultural connectors for our clients to help them connect to the right media creators, influencers, and events to help tell their stories.

DOUG: Yeah, and circling back to your experience that you outlined, obviously working with an NBA team with a major college within iconic brand, among the most iconic brands, with the Jordan brand. How is that informed and maybe changed the way you’re giving advice now and your role at Fleishman?

MITCH: Having the opportunity to sit in that seat in-house and work amongst a cross-functional team where some of the best talent in the world in advertising and marketing and digital and social, in entertainment, influencer marketing and retail marketing. I think it’s given me a real perspective on how to build a communications plan that fits within that cross-functional group and bring it forward in a way that it can be collaborative with that group and see the role communications plays within the broader mix. And also it’s really helped, I think, for me to understand how and what it takes to sell in a communications plan internally and think about what those dynamics are. And that’s what I try to bring to our clients today, is using that experience from in-house to bring it to a natural understanding with them of how they can help bring their plans forward in house where they are.

DOUG: Yeah, and I think from an agency perspective, being able to sell in ideas effectively and better understand what the client’s needs are, are so important. So, I would probably venture to guess that most people doing sports related communications work don’t have your full resume with all that experience. Are there some tips that you can share? Maybe they haven’t had that range of experience with you, that they should be thinking about that might help them do better work on behalf of their clients?

MITCH: I think really just getting immersed in the content. I mean it’s no different from any other sector where the more it’s natural and authentic to your daily interactions. So, I think if you’re interested in sports communications, consuming as much content from the different verticals. We talked about sport culture, which again is now fashion, it’s music, it’s lifestyle, sneakers consuming content of sport events itself, I think you and I talked previously about how live sports is one of the last things that isn’t, you know, an on demand watch at your leisure. There’s still a gravitational pull toward watching sports live and seeing all the interactions around that with the athletes, with the coaches, with the media. Just really immersing yourself in that world I think helps bring a better perspective to clients.

DOUG: Yeah. And flipping that around, given now that your role is at the agency side, do you have advice for brands, teams, etcetera, on how they can more effectively work with their agency partners to get the best results?

MITCH: It’s all about the brief. I think the more that brands put in, the more inputs they give to their agency partner, the better the outcome will be. And I think, you know, we talked about how brands can make the most of their sports sponsorship, and that’s a good example of where a brand thinks really critically about what specific business action they want to drive, what objective they have, what audiences they want to reach. Giving all of that goodness as inputs to the agency can help the agency turn around a much sharper and better plan for them.

DOUG: Mitch, I think you’ve given some great advice to help our viewers, whether they’re with brands or agencies, provide sharper, better advice and plans to help them achieve their goals. Thanks so much for being part of the show.

MITCH: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure.