Overview

In 2021, Teamworks, the leading operating system for Sports in America, embarked on an ambitious project, creating a marketplace that connected students, universities, and brands. This innovative marketplace wanted to capitalize on new NIL (names, images, and likeness) laws that allowed college athletes to get paid for brand sponsorships, creating a new paradigm in athlete- brand collaborations.

Challenge

The primary challenge was develop a compelling messaging and positioning strategy for The Local Exchange to captivate student-athletes to sign up and lock in universities on yearly retainers. The existing connections with Athletic Directors (ADs) at universities provided a foundation, but there was a gap in conveying the unique benefits and features of the platform effectively.

Solution

We took a methodical and multi-faceted approach to ensuring Teamworks go-to-market strategy included quality messaging

Conducting Focus Groups and Surveys: To understand the core needs and expectations of our primary stakeholders, we conducted in-depth focus groups and surveys with both student-athletes and Athletic Directors. This research provided valuable insights into what features and services would make The Local Exchange most appealing and useful.

Refining the UX Experience: Leveraging the insights gained, we ideated and wireframed the user experience (UX) of The Local Exchange. Our focus was on creating an intuitive, user-friendly interface that would resonate with the tech- savvy student demographic while ensuring seamless navigation and interaction for brand representatives.

Creating a Comprehensive Messaging Framework: We developed a robust messaging framework to effectively communicate the unique value of The Local Exchange. We focused on communicating the features that was most important to universities and students. For universities, we highlighted the safety and compliance aspects and for students we highlighted the access to hundreds of local brand deals. This framework was consistently applied across various communication channels, including press releases, our website, and blog topics, ensuring a unified and coherent value proposition.

Designing Sales Enablement Materials: To empower our sales teams and ensure they could effectively convey the benefits of The Local Exchange, we conceptualized and designed comprehensive sales enablement materials. These included detailed one-pagers, best practice guides, and customized talk tracks, all tailored to highlight the platform’s features and benefits.

Outcome

The strategic initiatives resulted in significant achievements within six months:

• University Adoption: Over 50 prestigious universities, including UCLA, Clemson, and the University of Michigan, were onboarded onto The Local Exchange.

• Student Engagement: The platform resonated with the target demographic, evidenced by over 60,000 student sign-ups nationwide.

• Brand Participation and Deal Flow: We successfully engaged over 200 brands, generating an impressive endorsement deal flow exceeding $1 million for the student-athletes.