Inside Sponsorship

We’ve all seen some great examples of sponsorships adjusting, doing something different, and really creative activations this year because of COVID-19. A lot of those have been driven by necessity. Probably the most talked about activation of 2020, however, has been Burger King’s sponsorship of Stevenage FC, who, at the time of the sponsorship, in 2019, were last in the fourth division of English football. It left many people scratching their heads. It is, of course, the sponsorship that ultimately gave us the hugely successful Stevenage Challenge. This amazing partnerhsip wasn’t driven by COVID-19 or necessity. It was driven through vision and creativity, and, as our guest phrases it later on in the show, “a leap of faith”, to pull off a truly brilliant activation. One of the reasons it was so brilliant was because the opportunity was right under so many people’s noses, yet so many didn’t see it. The activation is both amazing in its boldness yet so jarringly simple. Tap into the already huge, but growi

One thing that sponsorship professional’s fear, mostly those at rights holders, is a crisis; a situation that may see sponsors walking away from the organisation. Let’s be clear, when we say “crisis” we mean an athlete or staff member brings the organisation into disrepute. For those that are high profile rights holders, it almost feels like it is only a matter of time before a crisis will impact their commercial portfolio. How long can a sponsor put up with, or how bad does, a crisis need to be before a sponsor seriously considers whether their values are still aligned? In a commercial world, particularly one where a rights holder may still be providing great ROI on the sponsorship, it can be a cloudy question. It almost feels like it is only a matter of time before today’s, or this week’s, bad news story directly affects you and your sponsorships. That’s why, knowing how to communicate with sponsors during a crisis, and being prepared for the inevitable crisis, is where the focus should be in quiet tim

There’s no doubt that the pandemic whacked us all and there was a period where we were so reactive to what was going on, and how it played out in different markets, that it felt like we just couldn’t catch our breath. These days, however, we have mostly started moving forward, some markets differently to others. And in that, we’ve seen some really innovative work. One section of the sponsorship industry that has been a source of great wisdom, guidance, leadership, and innovation, to both rights holders and brands, has been agencies. Of course, brands and rights holders are full of really smart people, lots of our listeners, but, interestingly, the smart people at agencies, combined with their unique views from working with a wide array of rights holders and brands, gives us a much more holistic view of the industry right now and where it is going, especially considering that so many agencies work across multiple geographic regions. In this episode, we continue hearing from inside an agency by welcoming St

At Octagon, their purpose is, “to create work that earns attention. Through smart partnerships and generous ideas -- always built around the stuff your audience really loves -- we help you compete for, capture, and ultimately earn the attention of those who matter most to you.” In these current times, it could be argued that that is more important than ever and it aligns very nicely with what we so often talk about on this show, that sponsorship is about brands accessing an audience that they would otherwise not be able to or as easily be able to access. Octagon understands that we live in a world where time is our most precious commodity and that audiences’ patience has never been shorter. As an industry, sponsorship has never had to work harder to gain the attention of the people we are trying to reach. The way Octagon see it, “ … there’s two ways to go about it. Attention is either bought. Or it’s earned”. We all know which one sponsorship truly seeks to achieve! Joining us on the show, to give us a cur

Born in 2008, the Indian Premier League, the IPL, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India contested during March or April and May of every year by eight teams representing eight different cities in India. The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and is ranked as the 6th most attended sport in the world, beating out leagues like the MLB, NBA, NHL, and La Liga and, in 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event in the world to be broadcast live on YouTube. The Rajasthan Royals are one of the eight teams in the IPL and, from a sponsorship perspective, they have fairly unique story in that they were the first team Red Bull have sponsored without actually owning the team. The Royals, sometimes considered as the "moneyball" team of the IPL, because they have a reputation of unearthing obscure, high potential talent, have a real focus on evolving into a global brand, leveraging technology in their sponsorships, and building partnerships through education and academies. Joining us on

ONE Championship is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural treasure and its deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. Their mission is to unleash real-life superheroes who ignite the world with hope, dreams, inspiration, and strength. It has been an impressive rise, to say the least, for the Singapore-based ONE, having launched in 2011 and reaching their 100th event inside eight years. It has seen them grow to be Asia’s largest global sports media property in history with a global broadcast reach of 2.7 billion potential viewers across 150+ countries. As the world’s largest martial arts organisation, ONE has achieved some of the highest TV ratings and social media engagement metrics across Asia. With a focus on both martial arts and esports, ONE Championship is Asia’s largest global producer of live sports content for youth and millennials.  And that success, on a commercial front, attracts a coveted client roster of blue-chip Fortune 500 spon

Like any crisis, throughout COVID-19, many of you have had to deal with managing events and making decisions on canceling, postponing, or pivoting those events. Further, some of you have events on the horizon where a decision will need to be made soon. Chris Baylis is President and CEO of The Sponsorship Collective but also a founder of the Partnership Conference, held annually in Canada, and which was meant to be held what ended up being right in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. However, early on, like so many of you, Chris and his business partner for the conference, had to decide whether to cancel, postpone, or pivot. Ultimately, the decision to postpone was made and Chris joins the show to talk, in great detail, about how they came to that decision, worked through all of the elements, and have now gone above and beyond in what they have and will continue to deliver for the partners. Also, joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, COVID

We have contracts for a reason. They set out the rules and expectations for us all to operate in a sponsorship for the good of all and they are set out with all the right intentions – to do good work but also to protect ourselves. What happens, however, when we get blindsided and things change so quickly, through no fault of any of the contracted parties? Sure, we know that the contracts all have force majeure clauses but how does that reconcile with our often-spruiked approach that sponsorships should be a true relationship? Also, how does that reconcile with sponsors, as a collective group, who would want the sport and entertainment industry to return to normal as quickly as possible so that they can activate sponsorships and reach their target audiences? Surely there is a vested interest in working things through? Yet, how does that happen when so many businesses are directly threatened and are dealing with an ever-changing landscape and one where there is no certainty about what the other side looks like?

Part of the complexity around the conscious consumer is their expectation that brands stand for something, that they believe in something, and that they will actually do something about it. As such, if brands don’t stand, believe in, and do something, around social causes, then, these days, they are at a massive disadvantage. The nagging question is, however, can brands and rights holders truly achieve great, commercially beneficial sponsorships where a cause is positively impacted? One man who thinks they can is John Balkam who has written a great book called, 3-Win Sponsorship, The Next Generation Of Sports & Entertainment Marketing. John joins us to discuss how to create and execute sponsorships that achieve commercial goals for brands and rights holders while not just treating the cause element as an afterthought and, instead, truly integrating it. During the chat, John mentions some great examples including: Hellmann’s® Feeds a Stadium Food Waste – Real Food Rescue. More Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Says

Data has become such an essential part of the world and doing business that if you aren’t actively collecting your own first-party data, and then utilising third-party data, you really are at a massive disadvantage; especially considering that your competitors and partners are making very good use of it. As such, for those in working in rights holders, where it is often hard to differentiate your sponsorship offering and positioning, in a crowded market, not only is data powerful and essential, it may just be your biggest differentiator. Clearly, big brands and their agencies are using data, first and third-party, and you really aren’t keeping up with best practice if it isn’t an essential part of your proposals, execution and reporting. Joining us on the show, to talk all things data, digital, and analytics, is Eddie Fitzgibbon, VP, Global Solutions at 4FRONT, the global sports agency. You can connect with Eddie on LinkedIn or visit team4front.com. Daniel Collier-Hill also joins us to discuss his latest

Player appearances can be immensely powerful as part of a sponsorship. And it seems simple enough - put a huge star on stage, in front of a room of people you are trying to impress, or in a marquee as part of an activation, and you’ll engage your audience and there will probably be lots of digital to help spread it all. However, not everyone can afford the superstars and, even if you can, it isn’t always the best play when it comes to appearances. Like all sponsorship assets, it depends so much on what you are wanting to achieve. Add to that that so many sponsorship deals get ‘topped up’ with player appearances, as a bit of an add-on and a feel-good gesture, and a lot of brands, and rights holders for that matter, can miss out on the huge benefits available through appearances. This is an especially important point when you consider that many athletes are on the lookout for more paid opportunities and the chance to broaden their experiences and engage with the community. One man who knows the space well i

2019 has been a great year filled with lots of amazing chats with sponsorship professionals from all over the world. As such, we thought we’d wrap up 2019 and visit the other 13 episodes of Inside Sponsorship. You might have seen on social media that, for each show, we pull out a 30-45 second snippet and turn it into a video to help whet your appetite. As such, we’ve gone back and pulled the question and entire answer for that snippet and created a best of 2019 show for you. Along with some great highlights from the 13 episodes of 2019, also joining us is KORE’s Head of International Business, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at Expanding Competition Geographies And How Sponsorship Needs To Be Approached. Enjoy.

The right look for an event can make or break the impact it has not only those attending but also those watching from afar and definitely on how sponsors, and even potential commercial partners, perceive the event. Rights holders can significantly enhance the experience for fans and corporate partners with the right look, the right environmental branding, whether it is dressing whole cities, a stadium, or an activation space. Obviously, on the partnership front, there are elements of the look of an event that will be assets or inventory that can be sold to sponsors e.g. signage, or, if you are a brand, assets that you can activate as part of your sponsorship. How the overall look is planned and executed, however, can really elevate the prestige and engagement of an event and, without putting to crude a point on it, means that rights holders can command more sponsorship dollars and brands can extract greater ROI and ROO. Interestingly, when we are immersed in an event with a well planned and executed look,

There are a lot of great minds working in the sponsorship space, across brands, rights holders, and agencies. We often see a lot of movement within the community, with people moving from one rights holder to another or maybe from brand side to the rights holder side or vice versa. Although it does happen, it isn’t common, however, for someone to move from agency side to a brand, especially a large global brand with a wide-ranging sponsorship portfolio. Someone who has made the move from agency land to the brand side is Katherine Butterworth who is Mastercard Australasia’s Director of Sponsorships. Not only does Katherine get to manage amazing, big-ticket sponsorships with rights holders such as the Australian Open, Cricket Australia, and the Opera House, and work with brand ambassadors such as Richie McCaw, Katherine and her team also get the opportunity to work on, and be exposed to, international properties such as the Rugby World Cup and the Grammies. The whole Mastercard business works really hard to c

It’s an age-old question, and challenge – how do we value our sponsorship assets? Unfortunately, there are still large parts of the rights holder section of the industry pedaling pre-determined packages, largely based on the income they are looking to generate and not necessarily the value that they can deliver. Despite some of the best brains in the industry consistently counseling against such approaches, we still see it. Yes, there are many factors that come together in an organisation that means that end up just offering pre-determined packages, but not deeply understanding the value of their sponsorship assets, as stand-alone assets, is always a contributing one. No one pretends there is a simple answer. We’ve had conversations with rights holders where they’ve been convinced there is some magic formula that can be applied that will spit out the market value of their sponsorship assets. They’ve begged us to share it with them. Sadly, there is no secret magic formula. However, led by Rob Mills, Turnsti

Some brands are just constants in the sponsorship landscape. Sure, they may move properties from time-to-time but they are always part of the experience, somewhere. How do these brands consistently figure out ways to stay relevant, engage audiences, and yet not distract from the experiences that audiences are actually there to experience? How do they keep coming up with new ideas and not go stale, while still working as part of the brands overall marketing, because those brand’s objectives and goals don’t generally experience big shifts in small amounts of time? Plus, how does sponsorship remain an important element of that overall marketing when the brands are household names already; we are highly unlikely to forget who they are? Further, while the highly visible assets are obvious, the naming rights, the signage, the uniform branding, etc. what other assets are they utilising to help achieve their goals? What do they find most valuable? To help answer all these questions, Alison Tyson, Senior Manager,

We’ve all seen it; the awesome creative execution in a sports sponsorship. Sometimes it is big, bold, and complex, while other times it is so simple, both in idea and execution, that we think to ourselves: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Those executions engage and excite us; not just as consumers but as professionals in the industry (even if you don’t work in the sports sponsorship sector specifically). There is no doubt that the global sports sector is booming. eSports has quickly established itself as an important player with so much potential. That catches the eye of brands. Then there are sports that are venturing out of their homelands more and more as they try to engage with global audiences who can now stream games wherever they are. For sponsorship, it has been recently reported that global brand spend on sports sponsorships will grow to US$65 billion in 2019. That’s an average of 4% growth, per year, since 2014. As a result of this continued growth, this year, Cannes Lions created a new category tha

Airlines have been major players in the sponsorship space for some time and their affinity with sports, fashion, and other major events makes sense considering some of their passengers travel to not only these events but also for business and other leisure activities. Further, a lot of airlines in the sponsorship space have a global footprint and are transporting passengers both in and out of their home countries. As such, their audience isn’t just locals who are attending events in-country, it is also those traveling from outside their home country to attend events. Finally, add to that how the travel industry has become so much more accessible to the world’s population, and utilizing sponsorship in their marketing, makes sense for a lot of airlines. One airline that has been very active in the sponsorship space is AirAsia, a Malaysian low-cost airline. It is the largest airline in the ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia Group operates scheduled domes

Just like data and measurement, activations is a topic that comes up in sponsorship discussions a lot and that’s why we have been focussing a lot on activations at the moment, almost like a mini-series. However, the last episode focused on physical activations, while this episode focuses on experiential activations. There’s no doubt that an activation that moves people from just engagement to one where they are truly touched by an experience is very powerful. Maybe, experiential activations are the equivalent of viral content on social media? With truly great experiential marketing, the brand and message are amplified so much by those who have experienced the activation, because, they really want to share how awesome it is and they’ll often be doing that with people in the same demographic. It certainly leaves a lasting impression. Sounds like an amazing thing for rights holders and brands to be working towards and the end goal sounds achievable, right? “Let’s create memorable experiences that get people t

Activations, just like data and measurement, is a topic that comes up in sponsorship discussions a lot. Physical activations, the ones designed to engage with audiences, can absolutely drive massive ROI and ROO; when executed well. Those well-executed activations are the ones that bring us closer to a brand or compel us to share on social media even if we haven’t seen the activation in person. The best ones cross over into entertainment and that’s powerful for engagement and resonating. On the other hand, however, we’ve all seen activations that appear to have just been thrown into a contract, probably because there was some unused space in a precinct, and audiences are greeted with bored looking staff, wearing corporate polos, standing outside a drab looking white tent, handing out flyers, and stress balls. Most likely, that's because the rights holder rang the sponsor a fortnight before and asked: “So, what have you planned for the activation?”. Someone who has a lot of great experience, and executed some