Instabrand courtside: a content analysis of marketing strategies by food and beverage brands during the 2021 Australian Open tennis tournament

Abstract

Objective. To examine the marketing techniques food and beverage brands use on Instagram, as part of their sport sponsorship strategy. Methods. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 31 Instagram accounts during the 2021 Australian Open tennis tournament. Branded food and beverage posts with tennis-linked content were coded based on an initial screening and previously published frameworks. Results. Of the 152 included posts, 92% were made by food and beverage companies that were official ‘partners’ of the Australian Open. Products in posts were mostly discretionary foods and alcohol. The most frequently used strategies were ‘Engagement’ (89%) and ‘Branding’ (80%) and nearly half (45%) of alcohol posts invited direct consumption of their product. Conclusions. The powerful combination of sport and social media are utilised by brands to interact and build relationship with consumers while promoting the consumption of alcohol and discretionary foods – products which impede rather than promote health. The indirect marketing techniques favoured by brands make this form of advertising difficult to identify and control. Implications for public health. These results highlight the need for counter-marketing, policy and regulatory actions to remove unhealthy food and alcohol from sport and reorient sponsorship of sporting events towards products that promote health.