What do your favorite book and the LA Lakers have in common?
They’re both affiliated with Libby, a reading app for public libraries and universities and one of OverDrive’s major platforms. OverDrive is also home to Kanopy, a streaming platform available through libraries and Sora, an educational reading solution for K-12 schools.
Libby announced its sponsorship of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Lakers Literacy League on July 23, 2024.
“Everything we do ties back to our core mission, which is supporting lifelong learning, accessibility of information, education and literacy. Like it’s not optional, but it’s essential,” said Jennifer Leitman, CMO of OverDrive.
Here’s what PR pros can learn from this partnership:
Values drive partnership
Sports teams are deeply tied to community life, much like libraries.
“We’ve got an unwavering commitment to empower libraries, schools and universities that provide true brand resilience. Every campaign, every piece of communication, every partnership is really filtered through that lens,” said Leitman.
This PR partnership is a reminder to PR pros that value-driven marketing can open unexpected doors. Libby can promote the resources offered by the Los Angeles Public Library and other local libraries to the Lakers Literacy League, the Lakers Girls book club and general fan community.
At the heart of every great partnership are brands that have a shared alignment or values. Both partners have a mission to promote literacy, which allows OverDrive to use purpose-driven messaging with the Lakers community. Because of this, Leitman explained that their partnership is one that is authentic.
“We didn’t just pick them out of nowhere. They have a literacy foundation. It’s important to them to support reading,” said Leitman
Reaching new audiences
Leitman explained that the mass appeal of sports offers OverDrive an opportunity to reach demographics and audience segments they might not typically engage with through traditional outreach.
The core audience for Libby is mostly women from the Millennial and Gen X generations, while the Lakers reach a more male and diverse audience, including a large international fan base.
“And when you think about libraries and who they serve, they serve everyone and they serve audiences that maybe need the library more than anybody else and they may be the toughest segments for us to reach,” said Leitman.
Leitman said sports fans are particularly valuable because they have high levels of emotional investment, often translating to strong loyalty.
“And I want for all those segments to realize that the library is there for them. There are a lot of great resources there, including Libby, of course, but a lot other things that are meaningful to them and available to them, free within the community,” said Leitman.
Libby and the Lakers will work together by layering strategies and tactics over the next several years, including monthly book recommendation series and the Lakers Literacy League Minutes Challenge, which encourages students to read at least 400 minutes every month.
Measurement
For many PR pros, measuring the impact of a sports partnership can be challenging because of the length and complexity of the partnerships.
During OverDrive’s three-year deal, Leitman explained that much of their measurement focuses on media value and reaching their audience of educational institutions and libraries.
“Eventually that trickles down to converting to customers and converting to revenue,” said Leitman.
For all partnerships, OverDrive uses a brand health study to track progress. Their team is specifically looking for an increase in unaided brand awareness within the Los Angeles DMA for their work with the Lakers.
Leitman also shared a reminder that it’s important to also look at how partners are promoting your brand. Her team looks at partners’ use of their logos, language and voice for consistency in how OverDrive’s brands are showcased.
“I expect to see more collaborations between brands and organizations that champion the same things that we do, whether social, environmental, educational causes. I think that especially speaks to younger consumers who increasingly expect brands to stand for something meaningful and not just to sell a product,” said Leitman.
Topics: PR