Octagon Launches Sports Panel

Sports and entertainment marketing agency Octagon has added to its portfolio of research and measurement tools with the launch of Octagon Sports Panel. The Panel is a database of genuine sports fans selected to represent the views of fans from different demographic and geographic backgrounds.

The Sports Panel will enable Octagon clients to have the ability of instantly gauge the views or reaction of real sports fans to industry events or issues and will enable clients to create up to the minute marketing communications. The Panel was recently put to the test to garner the opinion of sports fans about the identity of the new Football League sponsor. 

The results showed that the fans believe the retail and telecoms sectors have the most natural alignment with the values of the Football League, both scoring 17.2% when fans were asked from which category the new sponsor should be from.

A selection of high profile brands were specifically called out as potential sponsors - ranging from Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco, through to Vodafone and EE, illustrating that fans see brands with an everyday connection to communities across the country being the right fit for a sports property like the Football League. 

Full details of the results are provided in the following infographic http://bit.ly/Yv6J1R which includes all data from the Panel in addition to a selection of other data points about the Football League. 

Joel Seymour-Hyde, Octagon UK’s VP Strategy said, “Social media in particular has changed the speed with which brands need to communicate their messages to their target audiences, no more so than in the sports space, where the success of sponsors’ activations can hinge on timing and the ability to react quickly to events both on and off the field. The Octagon Sports Panel ensures that our clients our constantly up to date with fan attitudes, and can adapt their programmes accordingly.

With ever increasing discussion in the media about the identity of the new title sponsor of the Football League, and the play offs around the corner, we felt it was an ideal time to see what the fans felt. It was clear that fans see the Football League as a property with ties to local communities and everyday British life, and it would offer a great opportunity for a national brand looking to exploit this territory”