Tag: Award Sponsorship

Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) announces Top 25 for Fifth Annual Competition 25th October, 2018

Passion, purpose and innovation are key characteristics of the Top 25 Challengers poised to take on ACTAI Global’s Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) 2019; the fifth annual race to Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island. Unveiled during the XTC 2018 Finals on the island this week, the Top 25 contenders will now embark on the world’s ultimate startup competition.

XTC 2019 unfolds across key stages throughout the year leading up to the finals on Necker Island, scheduled to take place April 3rd 2019. This year’s top 25 features companies from twelve countries including Thailand, Estonia, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Australia, Turkey, USA, Mexico, and more.

There is also a wide variety of industries represented, with this year’s top 25 featuring an increase in energy, environment, and wellness categories. Other highlights include almost half of the companies represented on the list having female founders. More info on the top 25 below in alphabetical order!

ActiveProtective: A belt that promotes safer mobility of older adults using wearable airbags. The company is based out of Philadelphia and focuses on the wearable industry.
bitlumens: Based out of Switzerland, their mission is to offer a peer to peer platform where users adopt off-grid Solar systems to reduce carbon emissions and get access to lighting and water in places where there is no power grid.
Civic Eagle, Inc: This Atalanta based company helps organizations automate their discovery, tracking, and analysis of important legislation with artificial intelligence.
Earth Ledger: Based out of Estonia, Earth Ledger looks to resolve climate change using blockchain technology.
echoAR: A cloud platform for augmented reality (AR) apps based out of New York City.
Einride: Based out of Sweden, Einride provides a system for autonomous and zero emission road transportation.
Elevian: A company that develops regenerative medicines to treat and prevent age-related diseases. They focus on the Biotech industry and are based out of Boston.
Empower AS: Based out of Norway and focused on the environment, Empower AS is a digital plastic waste deposit system.
EnlightAID: A company fighting corruption in aid through transparency technology. They are based out of Norway and focus on the FinTech industry.
eWATERpay: Based out of the United Kingdom, eWATERpay uses IOT & Mobile Money to deliver sustainable water supply to 1 billion. Their main industries are energy and cleantech.
Liven: A digital currency company based out of Australia that focuses on lifestyle rewards and a mobile payment wallet.
Lynq: The only location tracker that works over miles – without phones, networks or infrastructure, founded in New York.
MicroEra Power – CHPplus: Based in New York, the company was founded on the belief that Engine + Fuel cell + Storage = onsite cooling, heat, power, and a fast payback!
Mymee Inc: A healthcare focused company from New York City that has created a digital therapeutic program to reverse the symptoms of autoimmune disease.
Nori Carbon Removal Marketplace: Nori is a Seattle based company that is creating a new way for anyone in the world to pay to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Its purpose: to reverse climate change.
NurtureCo: A healthcare focused company out of New York City that makes elder home care management easier.
Nyx Technologies: A Neurotechnology company out of Israel that is currently developing a wearable headband that monitors and changes brain activity in real time.
re:3D: A company out of Houston making human-scale 3D printing accessible.
Synapbox: Based out of Mexico City, Synapbox is a content testing platform that helps you measure consumers’ emotional and visual real-time responses that turn into sales.
Team uSens: Launched in 2013, uSens is headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley and build interactive virtual experiences.
The Last of Ours: A platform for conservation initiatives to raise awareness and funds. They are based out of blockchain and centered around the blockchain industry.
Uizard: Based out of Demark, Uizard has created the world-first AI to transform user interface images to code automatically.
WeWALK: A smart cane for visually impaired. The company is based out of Istanbul and focuses on the world of accessibility.
WILD Technologies AI: Based out of San Francisco, WILD Technologies AI empowers humans to reach their personal best.
WOMIN.IO: This New York City company provides a platform offering peer to peer engagements, verification, and the use of escrowed compensation through smart contracts on a blockchain.

Beyond the top 25, XTC would also like to provide an honorable mention to three companies with scores close to the finalists. These companies are Chai Energy, Norby Robotics, and ZON Products, all creating functional consumer products that improve people’s lives.

If you are interested in getting exclusive access to any of these start ups – or looking for one of the most unique B2B marketing and networking opportunities on earth – get in touch with Slingshot Sponsorship to discuss partnership opportunities.

Original: http://www.extremetechchallenge.com/2018/10/24/xtc-2019-top-25-announcement/

Charity Sponsorship: Change your mindset – change your fortunes 21st August, 2018

Charity partnerships have shown they can be extremely effective when done right; you only have to look at partnerships between LEGO and WFF, Pampers and Unicef and the I am Shaquem Griffin video, which shook the internet to see this. But for many years, there has seemed to be a reluctance to maximise charity sponsorships.

In the digital age, modern high-level sponsorships have formed a crucial component of the strategic marketing mix, but it could be argued that CSR focussed sponsorships have seemingly been behind the curve. Although in recent times there has been a noticeable shift in CSR sponsorships, Slingshot believes that more can be done so that brands and charities can harness each other for a greater mutual gain.

Charities have the potential to offer brands so much more than CSR alone. In many cases, charities can offer everything that a normal rights holder can: brand awareness, experiential opportunities, direct sales, digital marketing and access to high-profile ambassadors. On top of this, CSR partnerships offer great client hospitality opportunities, and are generally linked to internal stakeholder and employee satisfaction. However, for more charities and brands to take advantage of these benefits, attitudes to these types of partnerships need to change.

Changing the Charity Mindset

Firstly, the charities themselves need to realise their commercial potential. Historically, charities have fallen into the trap of leading with a philanthropic pitch when in-front of brands rather than showcasing the value of a sponsorship deal. Charities are so unique and varied that they have assets and activation opportunities that many properties cannot offer, so charities must invest in the understanding of their audience, realising their USP and harnessing this for their commercial benefit. Additionally, we stress that charities need to be proactive! To get sponsors, you can’t wait for the proposals to come to you, you need to make them yourselves.

Changing the Brand Mindset

Attitudes of brands need to adjust too. There’s generally a timid behaviour towards charities: ‘we have to do this for goodwill, but we can’t use this as a commercial opportunity’… Of course, you can! Charities want to work with relevant brands to create value for their audience just like a music festival or sports team does. Being actively involved in a sponsorship that has a strong fit with your demographic will create value for the charities consumers and help your brand reach a more holistic set of objectives. This will lead to a more authentic long-term relationship, which will be far more effective than simply donating to a goodwill cause.

One charity that is following our approach is Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK). We spoke with Ramon Smits, the charity’s Business Development Manager, to understand what they think sets them apart and what their advice for other charities is: “MDUK understands that charities usually represent an opportunity for corporate philanthropy, but in recent times we have realised the commercial value of our own brand. We are the leading charity for muscle wasting diseases, which is a great title for partners to align themselves with! Through Slingshot, we have understood how to use our unique assets to boost our sponsorship revenue. We believe that other charities can benefit massively from truly understanding who their audience is and what they could offer potential partners; knowing that is vital to showcase your value and attract sponsorship!”

Slingshot can help with any enquiries about sponsorship. If taking your sponsorship strategy seriously is of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Slingshot heads to India 7th April, 2016

Slingshot Sponsorship are heading to India later this month to work with IDBI Federal Life Insurance, one of India’s fastest growing life insurance companies.

Slingshot’s remit is to help build sponsorship strategy into the marketing team at IDBI Federal and support the team in their role to maximise the potential of their current and any future sponsorship investments.

Karthik Raman, Chief Marketing Officer, IDBI Federal Life Insurance, said:
“As a growing organisation operating in a highly competitive marketplace, it’s important for us to have a differentiated marketing approach. In the last couple of months we have taken important steps to boost our brand building efforts using sponsorships and experiential marketing initiatives. We’re eager to work with Jackie and the team at Slingshot to help us to further derive the long term value of our brand and brand associations. We know that bringing practical implementation solutions to our sponsorships will result in increased benefits to our customers which we’re always striving to deliver.”

Jackie Fast, MD of Slingshot explains; “We’re looking forward to working with IDBI Federal and helping them leverage their sponsorship assets further than typical logo badging. It’s also very exciting for us to be working with firms in India as expanding our client portfolio within the World’s largest democracy is a central element to our global growth strategy.”

What Car? Win Excellence Award with the help of Slingshot Sponsorship 16th February, 2016

What Car? was awarded the Rights Holder Achievement Award at the prestigious European Sponsorship Association Awards held at Café de Paris in London.
Overcoming strong competition from around Europe, What Car? impressed the judging panel after turning around dwindling interest from sponsors in their flagship event and bringing numerous new sponsors on board.
In 2011 the What Car Awards only had one sponsor which signalled the lowest event revenue in its 36-year history, at this point they enlisted the help of Slingshot Sponsorship to overhaul the commercial strategy and attract new sponsors.
Four years later, the first sponsor Slingshot brought on board in 2012 are still sponsors today, despite signing one-year contracts each year. What Car Awards and Slingshot Sponsorship have achieved this by creating the right partnership for each sponsor, delivering results year in year out – ensuring the delivery of truly sustainable sponsorship.
Jackie Fast, MD of Slingshot Sponsorship commented; “We are really proud of our work with the What Car? Awards who were actually Slingshot’s first ever client, the Awards are a fabulous event which now has the sponsor partners it deserves.
Slingshot are unique in the fact that we exclusively specialise in sponsorship sales – particularly how to creatively build a commercial proposition. This award win (one of many for this client) supports how our innovative approach significantly impacts our client’s bottom line for the long term without compromising the culture and personality of the event. We are thrilled!”

To find out more about the What Car? Awards please click here.
To read the Slingshot case study on What Car please click here.
To find out more about Slingshot Sponsorship please click here.
To see more news from the ESA Excellence Awards 2015 please click here.

How Sports Sponsorship is helping to bring Communities together 16th May, 2013

Last Thursday I attended the Innovation in Sports Business Summit, which was focused upon the theme of last weekend’s Euroleague Final Four. It brought together sports experts from various fields such as media, gaming, digital content, marketing, sponsorship and social responsibility. In times where marketing and CSR budgets increasingly overlap, the second panel, “The Power of Sport. How can Sport create a legacy?” was especially poignant . Headed by former Chelsea FC legend Graeme Le Saux and Simon Cooper, Head of Sport at Mayor’s London Office, the panellists discussed the influence and more importantly, responsibility that sport has on communities.

The European Sponsorship Association’s market trends survey revealed that CSR is increasingly becoming an integral part of sponsorship campaigns. Whereas in the past businesses and brands tended to spend their CSR budget on supporting arts or environmental based causes, they are beginning to acknowledge the power that sport has in terms of reaching and engaging with people on an emotional level.

There are many examples of how sports rights owners and brands are beginning to collaborate as a means to make a difference in people’s lives rather than just purely about the sponsorship – which in turn, is creating true value within the campaign. Here are three of my favourite sports sponsorship & CSR partnerships.

1. One Team – Euroleague Basketball & Turkish Airlines

The One Team CSR Marketing Programme was, of course, a focal point of the second panel at the Innovation in Sports Business Summit. Launched in 2012 in collaboration with Euroleague’s main sponsor, Turkish Airlines (their Founding Patron), the programme is additionally supported by eight Founding Partner Clubs and seven further Euroleague basketball clubs (by 2014 this will be extended 24 clubs in total).

The aim of One Team is to use the power of basketball to change lives. All 15 clubs involved in the initiative tailor and invest their community outreach with the aim to challenge key social issues faced by their communities. The clubs use an innovative methodology of assessment, outreach and results oriented analysis to create the maximum impact and results.

When discussing the success of the programme, panellist and architect of this European-wide development programme, David Butler, pointed to the importance of having the right measurement: “When asked ‘how is it going’, organizations tend to talk about increasing numbers, more children, more projects, more people, more scale, more geography. But that does not answer question properly. The question should be asked: ‘how much impact are you having? And how much positive change is happening?'”

Each one of the clubs works with disadvantaged individuals from their communities, with basketball as the integrating tool. An overview of all the different projects can be found here.

Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines, expressed the importance of initiatives such as these stating “At Turkish Airlines we believe that sport is a unique language that can inspire and One Team uses that language to talk to those who most need to hear its message of positive values.”

2. NBA Cares – NBA & Kia

One of Euroleague’s benchmarks was the NBA Cares programme. Similar to Euroleague’s One Team programme, NBA Cares is a community outreach initiative that addresses important social issues such as education, youth and family development as well as health and wellness. Since 2005, the league has partnered with NBA teams in order to support a range of programs, partners and initiatives that strive to support children and families on a global scale. So far, more than $210 million have been raised for charity and more than 2.3 million hours of hands-on service has been provided by the National Basketball Association and its clubs. Through TV-Spots (such as this one featuring Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade) at every NBA game, the league uses this content as a marketing tool to raise awareness about the issues surrounding many communities. Click here to see how the different teams and players are currently supporting NBA Cares.

Due to this success, the NBA has created a new sponsorship platform within the NBA Cares programme: the Kia Community Assist Awards that honour the NBA player who best reflects the passion that the league and its players have for giving back to their communities. This sponsorship deal is one step ahead of Euroleague’s partnership with Turkish Airlines as it engages with fans on a far bigger scale using Social Media channels such as Facebook.

3. Hamburger SV – “Hamburger Weg”

Football is probably the sport which has naturally the strongestbond to local communities. Hamburger SV is a very traditional football club in Germany and was one of the first clubs in the world who integrated sponsors into its CSR plans. The “Hamburger Weg” is a partnership between the football club Hamburger SV and local companies. The programme combines classical sponsorship with CSR, through donations. The club donates 1/11 of its sponsorship revenue to local organisations and charities to help them find the right footing in life. Hamburg’s sponsors are specifically branded with white logos on a blue perimeter advertising background which adds an additional affiliation between brand, charity and club.

Deloitte Digital Partner with D&AD on their 2013 Award Ceremony 11th April, 2013

Deloitte Digital has been announced as Digital Design sector sponsor for the 2013 D&AD Awards, raising industry awareness of their new digital solutions service.

Globally renowned as the pinnacle of any creative’s career, the annual D&AD Awards celebrate and honour the best work produced from around the world within that year.

The Awards have developed to now stand at over 130 categories spread across 25 diverse disciplines – each rewarding those brave enough to challenge modern creativity.

The Digital Design category recognises groundbreaking work that pushes the limits of what can be digitally developed – from websites to apps, and everything in between, this is one of the most exciting and innovative categories within the awards.

Deloitte Digital expressed that ‘The D&AD Awards set the bar for the industry for the coming years and we are proud to align ourselves with such a well-respected and thought provoking creative body. At Deloitte Digital, we are truly passionate about all things digital – we seek to offer innovative and unique solutions for our clients and we are proud to do things differently.’

D&AD continues to redefine and challenge the creative community, and every year this is reflected through the awards. Previous winners including The Guardian, The Wilderness Downtown, Google Chrome, DDB Paris and Dentsu Tokyo.

Amanda Moorby, D&AD Partnerships Director said ‘D&AD are honoured to be joined by Deloitte Digital. As a company, they represent the future of digital agencies. We are excited to develop and explore an engaging and value-led partnership with Deloitte Digital for the 2013 D&AD Awards.’

This sponsorship deal was brokered by Slingshot Sponsorship.

Slingshot Sponsorship’s Mark Mylam Highly Commended for Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2013 27th March, 2013

Slingshot’s very own Mark Mylam was Highly Commended last night for the Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at Hollis Sponsorship Awards which were held at the Marriott Hotel in London.

Having only been in the sponsorship industry for two years, Mark’s High Commendation reflects how far he has come in such ashort period of time. The Barrie Gill Awards for Most Promising Young Executive recognsises young executives working within agencies, client companies or rights-owners who are making a significant impact within their organisation or sector. The awards seek to honour excellence, recognise effectiveness of campaigns, and in Mark’s case, his High Commendation is testament to his hard work, creativity and driving energy that he has contributed to Slingshot.

Mark stated ‘I am delighted with the High Commendation I received for the Barrie Gill Award. The Award itself celebrates emerging talent within sponsorship and I am honoured to be recognised as a part of the new generation breaking through.’

Mark’s achievement is not only reflected through his High Commendation but in the work he has done whilst at Slingshot. Having Account Managed three of Slingshot’s largest clients – British Heart Foundation, Mencap and Outlook Festival; Mark is set for great things in 2013 – Congratulations!

Slingshot Sponsorship is Shortlisted at the Camden & Islington Business Awards 11th October, 2012

Jackie Fast, Managing Director of Slingshot Sponsorship has been nominated for the second consecutive year at the Camden & Islington Business Awards for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The category is open to business owners who have shown exceptional business acumen and achieved consistent business growth since launching.

Slingshot Sponsorship delivers and develops long-term brand strategies that engage targeted audiences through sponsorship rights. Integrated and tailored in each approach, Slingshot diversifies across a range of industries with an extensive client list that includes Red Bull, Caterham, Outlook Festival and BBC Worldwide. Since its launch less than 3 years ago, the sponsorship agency has grown dramatically in Islington moving offices over 3 times in less than 8 months due to its expansion. Slingshot currently employ 10 staff and are looking to recruit additional team members to fulfill the new clients that continue to look for sponsorship services that are more innovative in their execution.

Jackie Fast is thrilled to be nominated, commenting:

It is an absolute pleasure to be nominated again, for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Since launching Slingshot Sponsorship three years ago, our business has grown exponentially – which truly shows how valuable our unique business proposition is. It’s a real honour to be recognised by the local community.

The awards celebrate the work and efforts of businesses across Islington and Camden and look to recognise those who have successfully grown and maintained their business positioning throughout 2012. Miss Fast’s repeat nomination illustrates Slingshot Sponsorship’s capabilities in creating successful partnerships as the company continues to go from strength to strength.

The winners of the Camden & Islington Business Awards will be presented at the Islington Chamber of Commerce on Thursday 1^st November 2012.

Warranty Direct is Associate Sponsor of the What Car? Green Awards 2012 13th September, 2012

The What Car? Green Awards 2012 will take place on September 19 at the Imagination Gallery, London, and Warranty Direct will be associate sponsor as well as sponsor of the executive car category.

The What Car? Green Awards include the best green cars in each category, as well as an overall winner. The What Car? judging team evaluates more than just CO2, because cars emit a whole concoction of polluting gases, including nitrous oxides and particulates. The judges also evaluate whole-life costs, driveability and reliability.

Awards will be given for the best supermini, small family car, family car, executive car, MPV, alternative-fuel car, SUV, fun car and an overall winner.

Warranty Direct managing director Duncan McClure Fisher said: “Society is becoming more and more concerned with its environmental impact. Motorists are constantly seeking ways to lessen their personal carbon footprint, and that’s why it is important to highlight greener, low-emission car options to the consumer. Green technology may throw up new reliability challenges, but at Warranty Direct we will protect customers whatever their choice of car. We are, therefore, delighted to be associate sponsor of the What Car? Green Awards.”

What Car? publishing director Andrew Golby said: “The What Car? Green Awards advise an increasing number of motorists looking for greener motoring. The industry is delivering ever-greener and cleaner cars, and our awards will help narrow down the choice for consumers in what can be a complex arena.”

What Car? named the Vauxhall Ampera its overall winner in 2011, as well as the best alternative-fuel car.

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