Can content become a "marketing tool" for sponsor companies?

In this series, I—a specialist primarily in digital marketing outside the advertising sphere—will introduce the untapped potential I've identified within the sports industry and the strategies to leverage it.

Last time, we covered the service development strategy for the smartphone app " Club J.LEAGUE," jointly developed by the J.LEAGUE and Dentsu Inc., and the app's positioning within the J.LEAGUE's overall digital marketing strategy.

This time, we delve deeper from a digital marketing perspective:

• How do content holders' digital services contribute to sponsor companies' marketing activities?
• How can the "mechanism that delivers benefits to sponsor companies" within the J.LEAGUE official app be generalized?

We will explain these two themes.

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Table of Contents
▼ Achieving "Triple Win" Requires Service Development in Collaboration with Sponsoring Companies!
▼ Utilizing the "Loyalty Program" for Sponsor Branding
▼ Activities for Sponsoring Companies Directly Impact Fan Loyalty
▼Leveraging Fan Passion to Drive Sponsor Marketing
▼The Benefits Gained from Sponsoring Content Are Changing!

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Realizing the "Triple Win" requires service development in collaboration with sponsor companies!

As previously mentioned, the service development for "Club J.LEAGUE" aimed for a "win-win-win" for fans, sponsor companies, and the J.LEAGUE.

◆Figure 1: The "Triple Win" Aimed for with Club J.LEAGUE (Reprinted)

Sponsor companies hold the key to realizing this "benefit for all three parties."

Through "Club J.LEAGUE," we aimed to create "a new form of collaboration between content holders and sponsor companies." From the conceptual stage, we developed the service in collaboration with J.LEAGUE partners (sponsor companies), including Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.

Let's examine how the resulting service contributes to "sponsor companies' marketing activities."

Leveraging the "Loyalty Program" for Sponsor Branding

◆Figure 2: Meiji Yasuda Life J.LEAGUE Challenge

Figure 2 shows the loyalty program, a core feature of "Club J.LEAGUE".

In "Club J.LEAGUE," users earn "medals" for activities related to watching and supporting J.LEAGUE matches, such as "Stadium Check-in." Every three medals earned allows users to attempt a "Challenge" to win a pair of tickets to a match of their choice.

This entire service is named the "Meiji Yasuda Life J.LEAGUE Challenge," designed to strongly impress upon users that "Meiji Yasuda Life, the title partner of the league competition, is also supporting the revitalization of the J.LEAGUE through digital services."

In addition to these strongly branded initiatives, the system also incorporates ways to earn medals beyond traditional match attendance and support. Here too, the power of sponsor companies is fully leveraged.

Activities for sponsor companies directly translate into fan loyalty

◆Figure 3: "Together with Partners" Medal Acquisition

The "With Our Partners" section in Figure 3 is a feature where medals accumulate as users engage with J.League sponsor companies (※The J.League refers to sponsor companies as "partners") in some way.

For example, users can earn medals through activities such as:

• Receiving a code from a sponsor company's sales representative
• Visiting a sponsor company's storefront (※A push notification system to encourage visits is also implemented)

This mechanism encourages fans to engage with sponsor companies in their daily lives while supporting the J.League and clubs. This interaction has also led to increased activation of sponsor services.

Since the launch of "Club J.LEAGUE," data has proven that many users have actually visited sponsor company stores, demonstrating the app's effectiveness as a marketing tool.

Conversely, by offering various ways to earn medals, sponsor companies increase daily touchpoints between the J.LEAGUE and fans, providing benefits to the J.LEAGUE itself.

For instance, J.LEAGUE matches are often held on weekends, inevitably reducing weekday contact points with fans. A persistent challenge is that casual fans, in particular, may lose interest in the J.LEAGUE due to fewer interactions. By leveraging sponsor companies to create abundant touchpoints between the app and users, this helps prevent fan attrition and dormancy.

In essence, this loyalty program designed to engage fans is beginning to build a win-win relationship between the J.LEAGUE and its sponsors.

We view "Club J.LEAGUE" as a marketing tool for our sponsors and are preparing several additional services beyond those mentioned above. Moving forward, we will continue strengthening the environment for utilizing the loyalty program by collaborating with various sponsor companies.

Services currently in preparation for "Club J.LEAGUE"

• Providing medals linked to match result prediction content
• Providing medals linked to video viewing on DAZN
• Integration with each sponsor company's unique point programs
• Sponsor-led campaigns utilizing the app
• Realizing marketing that views J.LEAGUE supporters as potential customers for sponsor companies

Leveraging fan passion to connect with sponsor marketing

Of course, the utilization of mechanisms like those introduced here is not limited to the sports industry.

When generalized to include initiatives related to the content delivery business I am currently involved in—such as media companies and the film industry—the ecosystem enabling a win-win relationship between content holders and sponsor companies can be represented as shown in Figure 4. This spiral is designed to circulate through five elements: ① to ⑤.

◆Figure 4: Content Provision Service Ecosystem

Regarding the types of "marketing benefits that can be provided to sponsor companies," given the nature of digital services, the following four are currently considered to be the most compatible.

Of course, beyond these four, various other benefits can be created depending on the relationship and compatibility between the content and the sponsoring company.

The benefits gained from sponsoring content are changing!

As mentioned in the first installment, there is an increasing demand for "ROI on sponsorship for sports content." In addition to this changing environment, the idea for "Club J.LEAGUE" was born from the belief that "the benefits derived from the data of fans gathered by the content should be enjoyed not only by the content holder but also by the sponsoring companies."

As a result, some sponsors have begun working on ROI calculations, albeit partially, starting with KPI measurement made possible by digital marketing.

Once sponsors recognize that content can deliver substantial marketing benefits, they actively promote content provision services as part of their own marketing activities. For example, at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, employees frequently invite the company's customers to attend J.LEAGUE matches, driving an annual attendance of 220,000 people through this initiative alone. In this way, sponsors and their customers hold the potential to become key drivers accelerating the service's growth.

For both sponsors and content holders, "co-creating the service together" holds significant potential. This represents a different possibility from the traditional sponsorship model where "company names and logos are displayed."

A "co-creation marketing model" where sponsors, content holders, fans, and local communities unite to energize content, benefiting all stakeholders. Digital technology is now making this model visibly tangible.

I believe many marketing professionals are considering sponsorship opportunities across various content, including sports. The content industry still has considerable room for growth, and I am convinced that the key to unlocking this potential lies with sponsor companies. I sincerely hope we can explore this together.