- Game day is an all-day marketing moment, with opportunities before, during and after the match.
- DOOH reaches fans beyond the stadium across transport routes, malls, forecourts and fan zones.
- Real-time DOOH updates creative in seconds, reflecting live scores and key moments as they happen.
- Brands can leverage game-day excitement without the cost of traditional sports sponsorships.
- Integrated DOOH and broadcast campaigns create a continuous fan experience and stronger engagement. *
We all love the vibe of game day – everyone in their team jerseys, bars and restaurants pumping, the braai sizzling, the socials going off. Everybody is in a good mood and discussing tactics like they’re Rassie’s best friend.
By the time the players walk on the field, the game has already been going on for hours.
For marketers, everything that happens around the match is becoming just as important as what happens inside the stadium. Sport has always had a remarkable ability to bring people together, arms flung across shoulders as we cheer Cheslin across the try line.
All-day opportunities
What has changed is our ability to reach those fans throughout the day, from the build-up with friends to the walk to the stadium, the fan zone and the post-match celebrations or commiserations.
Big games also change the way people move, with fans using public transport or walking further. For marketers, those movements create even more ways to reach people beyond the stadium.The opportunity, then, is to follow the fans rather than simply surround the venue.
Out-of-home (OOH) has always played a role in sports marketing, but the growth of digital screens has given brands far more flexibility in how they use it. Instead of one message sitting in one place, a campaign can evolve wherever people are, building anticipation before kick-off and reacting to the action as it happens.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is particularly useful here, and it opens up exciting opportunities for brands who want to tap into the buzz around sport without the major price tag of a traditional sponsorship. The technology now allows creative to change in near real time, so the message people see can reflect what is actually happening on the field.
Game day as one experience
During game-day activations we have conducted, for example, it takes approximately 30 seconds after a goal or try for the updated score to appear across our network and be displayed to audiences in any location across South Africa.
DOOH also gives brands the chance to tell a story across the day. The message someone sees on their way to watch the game can be different from the one they see after a goal, and different again after the final whistle. That makes DOOH less of a backdrop to the event and more of a live part of the fan adventure.
It can also complement broadcast rather than compete with it – while television commands attention during the match, DOOH keeps the conversation going. Together, they give brands a presence across far more of the day.
Making that work requires marketers to think about game day as one experience. Sports marketing is still fragmented, with media, activations and broadcast often handled by separate teams or agencies. DOOH can then end up treated as another media buy, rather than a way to connect with fans.
Building a city-wide presence
Bringing DOOH into the planning earlier gives brands more scope to use changing creative and event-related messaging as the action unfolds. Polygon’s Urban Takeovers puts that approach into practice, using DOOH across areas that become busy around major events rather than concentrating activity around a single venue.
By tapping into thousands of digital screens across malls, forecourts, lifestyle venues and roadways, brands can build a city-wide presence around hotspots.
The opportunity also goes beyond the biggest matches. Whether an event is national or hyper-local, centred on sport, music or culture, it draws an audience with a common interest in a particular place for a limited period.
With so much sport competing for fans’ attention, brands will need to experiment with new ways to engage them and build loyalty.
Wherever people come together around something they care about, DOOH can give marketers a dynamic way to reach them.
* Summary created by AI
With over 16 years of experience in the digital-out-of-home (DOOH) industry, Remi du Preez is passionate about creating a more inclusive, transparent, and accountable programmatic ecosystem in South Africa and beyond. As the founder and managing director of Polygon, he leads a team of experts who are dedicated to connecting and unifying DOOH networks across the continent, creating new revenue opportunities for the OOH industry to reach and engage audiences with relevant and impactful messages.
