Sport is taking a lead in fan culture and engagement, with opportunity for brands to capitalise its space in advertising.
We Are Social's latest report, Winning Fans & Feeds in APAC, explored how sport is evolving into a cultural force across the region, and what that shift means for brands, sponsors and marketers.
F1 has been taking reins in culture spaces through fandom, aesthetics and high-profile creatives, according to the report.
Shell Motorsports collection has utilised the new motorsport fandom with miniature car models for fans to collect.
Behind the creative, Spinach executive creative director Dom Megna told AdNews that sports stars add credits around the physical benefits for product or services.
“That’s body physical, not material physical. They also bring a very distinctive fan base along with them, which should line up nicely with what you offer,” Megna said.
“Of course, the pairing needs to make sense for both parties. Think Musashi = good, Carpet Call = not so good.
“If they are the right personality match, they can be your person ongoing too. If it’s done right, even beyond their playing career.”
Their latest campaign featured racers Will Davison, Brodie Kostecki and Dick Johnson.
Megna said that if done well, the reception with fans and audiences is brilliant.
“As the sportsperson, your fans love you even more for showing another successful facet of yourself. The brand enjoys a lovely halo from it.
“If you butchered it, you’ll be mocked for a bit, then forgiven. If you just kind of did it and it was a bit meh, then you’ve suffered the worst fate of the three: you’re ignored.”
Global financial app Revolut featured New Zealand rugby star Ardie Savea in its campaign.
Revolut head of growth APAC, Charlie Short said the collaboration focused on building an authentic and effective partnership with the talent, starting with foundational alignment.
“This is achieved by first ensuring a strong brand fit and shared values to guarantee the connection feels natural and credible," Short said.
“The process then moves to partnering with a creative agency to develop a concept that connects Revolut to the individual's strengths and ensures the content feels organic.
“Execution prioritises contextually relevant settings and includes room for improvisation to maximise authenticity.
“Ultimately, the final concept is designed to mutually highlight the best aspects of both Revolut and the talent, resulting in a genuine and impactful campaign.”
The primary challenges are logistics of scheduling, and creatively driving the campaign that appeals to the audience, according to Short.
“It’s critical to factor in the athlete’s often busy schedules and travel constraints for effective content creation and approvals,” he said.
“Creatively, since athletes are not always trained actors, it requires allowing sufficient time to provide guidance and iterate during the production process to ensure a high-quality result.
“A secondary risk is the potential for audience segmentation by focusing on a specific sport, which could potentially alienate other fan bases; however, we mitigate this by leveraging multi-channel strategies to engage our wider target demographic.”
Brands can measure success of the campaign through through a blend of quantitative performance metrics and qualitative sentiment analysis.
"Quantitatively, we track incremental uplifts in key growth areas, including sign-ups, customer acquisition rate, brand awareness, and ad recall," Short said.
"Qualitatively, we monitor and aggregate positive media attention and overall customer feedback gathered across social media and various online forums to gauge brand perception and engagement.
“The reception is generally very positive. Fans appreciate seeing their sporting hero in a fresh and engaging light, especially when the content is unique and entertaining, providing a disruptive contrast to typically bland advertising in the financial space.
“Ultimately, the best campaigns are those that are designed to be highly relatable and authentic, ensuring strong resonance across diverse audience segments.”
Golf has also seen a rise in rebranding towards a younger demographic.
Golf brand Five Iron Golf released a global campaign in April, rebranding itself as authentic, accessible and inclusive for everyone.
We Are Social chief strategy officer Richard Parker said that as fashion has become integrated in sport culture, brands have begun to accommodate to the changing demographic.
“The more younger people want to play golf, the more brands try to create golf attire for those young people,” Parker said.
“You’ve also got your brands who are creating high end versions of traditional sportswear.
“There's not a single thing brands can do to stay on top of the changing culture. It's more about staying in touch with culture, where it's moving and trying to be part of it.”
What once could be seen as inauthentic, brand sponsorship has become anticipated between a fan and their favourite star.
“In the past, any kind of movement that took money from a brand would be accused of selling out, and that would be seen as incredibly inauthentic behaviour," Parker said.
“The culture around that has changed a lot. There’s a very different attitude now between artists and communities and movements that are offered brand money, and they see that as actually a completely legitimate way to further their court.
"I don't think audiences see that as selling out either.
"A lot of brands are also seeking to sponsor women's sport because they want to show that they have good credentials around equality and diversity.
"It’s a symbiotic relationship that works for both parties, because women's sport needs money and brands need outlets to demonstrate their commitment to diversity. So I think it works well for both parties."
2026 anticipates big sporting events in Australia, including the Australian Open, F1 Melbourne, NRL, AFL and more.
"It's great to see sport opening up to more walks of life, from that stale tail kind of image of sport, to a much more diverse fandom today," Parker said.
“Sport is that last vestige of monoculture. it's the last place where we tend to come together around something that's meaningful and drives emotion that crosses the political divide.
“And I think when you've got these big events, hopefully they can act as a counterpoint to what's going on in politics and in the world more generally at the moment, which feels more and more divided.
"I hope that sport will have an effect on culture and potentially make us feel a bit more together."
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