Heading off Piste – Solving Platform Issues With Sponsorship 31st March, 2016

Fresh from the success of Snowboxx 2016 just this month, we thought this would be a great time to shine a light on how Snowboxx has utilised sponsorship to develop the event.

Snowboxx is a week long snow escape combining the perfect ski holiday by day with the excitement and hype of a festival hosting world renowned DJ’s by night. Based in the picturesque resort of Avoriaz in France the festival has grown year on year, welcoming over 4,000 attendees to this alpine getaway. However when planning the 2016 event, Snowboxx faced a number of challenges which it felt were creating barriers to the event’s growth & customer experience.

In order to overcome these challenges Slingshot worked with the sponsors to ensure all activation was curated to create a positive contribution to the identified areas, whilst supporting the on-point brand activity. This allowed sponsors to not only project their desired messaging but to also provide meaningful engagement to the festival and attendees alike.

Sponsorship Solutions

The four sponsors of Coors Light, Rockstar, Jungfrau & Dare2B all brought brand activations and expertise to the event, highlights include:

  1. Social Media & Content

A key challenge to rights-holders is social media, the management of content and how to engage with the attendees in an engaging manner. As such Coors Light, the brand for ‘Damme cold’ refreshment had a huge focus on amplifying their sponsorship outside of the festival boundaries of France. With a thirst for content and social interaction Coors Light developed a social media centric campaign to support their sponsorship including the curation of a unique Coors Light Igloo Party, a Twitter competition to win tickets for the Igloo Party, in addition to the chance to win a trip to Snowboxx courtesy of Coors Light – now that’s refreshing!

  1. New Audience & Reach

Ensuring an event is reaching new audiences and providing unique experiences are key to growth and attendee retention. With a platform seemingly made for Rockstar who embody the spirit of music and adrenaline fueled activity, Snowboxx was able to benefit from the launch of the new Freeze product variety and the supporting campaign. Launching with striking point of sale creative across a number of key retailers both inside and outside of the UK, Rockstar offered customers the chance to win the ultimate VIP experiences at Snowboxx including accommodation, lift passes, flights and even onstage viewing during the acts. In addition to this Rockstar was onsite throughout the festival providing the added revival to all the attendees for the long slope days and late nights at the main stage.

  1. Customer Experience

In a unique development for winter festivals, Snowboxx 2016 introduced a festival village within the heart of Avoriaz in addition to hosting bars and clubs across the resort. Due to the sprawling site it was imperative that the customer experience wasn’t impaired by the cold or misdirection. As the official clothing partner of Snowboxx 2016 Dare2B wanted to align with the youthful winter sport market and be seen as the equipment of choice for the slopes. By providing the clothing for all onsite staff Dare2B had over 70 branded customer service reps roaming the resort.

  1. Retaining Momentum

Captivating an audience outside of the core entertainment schedule is a challenge not only restricted to the festival scene. Highlighting the periods of most downtime for attendees Jungfrau hosted activity from the Jungfrau Igloo atop the main festival site, to be the saviour for all those forgotten, hats, hip flasks and shot glasses. Through the festival Jungfrau provided refreshments throughout the down days with sampling whilst providing attendees with branded merchandise including glasses, bobble hats and the ‘piste’ de resistance, the Jungfrau branded shot ski’s revered by all the attendees’ onsite. This coupled with an engaging social team to support and interact with all captured content allowed Jungfrau and Snowboxx to connect with the attendees outside of the core entertainment times.

Results

Snowboxx 2016 was met with roaring acclaim from attendees, with one group describing it as “the best week of their lives” whilst on the final chair lift. No doubt with the increasing allocation of tickets next year the event is sure to sell out once again.

So much emphasis is focused on alternative revenue when right-holders initially look to secure sponsorship, rarely are the other benefits spoken of until this topic is exhausted. However when looking at the challenges or weaknesses in your own platform you can utilise sponsor expertise to help upgrade this thinking much below the initial surge in the bank balance.


Will brands click play on creating an e-athlete megastar in 2016? 23rd February, 2016

E-Sports are fast becoming more popular as both a competitor and spectator sport in the West, with Wembley Arena playing host to large events such as League of Legends and a dedicated e-gaming space currently being developed in Fulham.

Despite numerous stalwarts’ draconian views and attempts to undermine the credibility of the platform, veteran e-sports journalist Rod Breslau commented in a VICE interview that it continues to surpass expectations in revenue and attention. A once tight knit community now draws in hundreds of thousands of attendees to events (surpassing many traditional sporting contests), eager to see their team take home cash prizes to $18million (The International 2015).

Already USA and Korea have ‘appointed’ superstar players (Faker, NadeShot), with the success of KSI (he would be the first to point out he is not a ‘gamer’) in the UK when will mainstream brands see the e-sports as a credible, substantial marketing platform? Red Bull were the first major brand to act signing Dave ‘Walshy’ Walsh in 2006 however relatively few brands have followed. Venturing outside traditional endorsements to capitalise on the expanse of the platform, Red Bull developed training labs focusing on nurturing and developing the e-sports athletes of the future, cementing their position and long term commitment in the sport.

E-sports is growing in size year on year with significant growth expected in 2016. The platform is already producing talent, major events and games which are capable of building and capturing a loyal fan base of elusive millennials. These can be reached through numerous, non-traditional channels including online streams and development YouTube channels, to note Matt ‘NadeShot’ Haag has over one million YouTube subscribers who follow his daily gaming sessions.

Yet Europe has yet to find their e-sports star on the same pedestal as their Asian counterparts such as Sang-Hyeok Lee, who is constantly in discussions with native Chinese companies interested in partnering.

There are a number of parallels with the growth of sports marketing in the 1970’s and the e-gaming platform of today with brands viewing the platform with trepidation as opposed to optimism. Brands should look towards e-sports as an exciting platform to engage with their market using all of the crucial buzz words of content and media coverage of the industry today (in 2014 over 70 million hours of content was captured from League of Legends online, with the BBC streaming the 2015 contest live on their IPlayer and Sport platforms).

2016 is set to be a monumental year for the growth of the e-sports industry, with tournament prize pools reaching up to $20 million and huge strides pending in the Western market.  With new launches of multiplayer sensations (such as Overwatch, Battleborn) sponsors will have the ability to engage in real-time with the audience something which is rarely achieved through traditional sporting means.

For those brands who position themselves as ground-breakers E-sports offers the perfect challenge. The only question is, who will click play?

Awards Programmes & Sponsorship: A Winning Combination 29th February, 2012

Awards programmes provide a unique opportunity to celebrate excellence across each and every area of a particular sector. Recognising those who are leading the way ensures the promotion of forward thinking, encouraging the overall progression of an industry.

In establishing a respected awards platform, an opportunity is naturally presented for organisations to sponsor the programme and be seen to support the leaders of their market place.

An association with those leading the way will always emphasise, and potentially enhance, an organisation’s reputation within their respective industry. Therefore awards platforms are often the first place to look when considering sponsorship opportunities, especially in the B2B arena.

Benefits of Awards Programme Sponsorship

  • Media institution association: Many major awards platforms are hosted by key publishers and media institutions within the industry e.g. Haymarket’s What Car? Car of the Year Awards, the most recognised awards programme within the UK automotive industry. Being recognised as the most respected publication for car reviews, the Car of the Year Awards was a natural progression in the acknowledgment of engineering innovation. Being the go-to brand for decision making on new car purchases, the awards not only provide the opportunity to partner with the automotive sector’s elite, but also allows for association with the authority on the industry.

  • Targeted sponsorship: Via category sponsorships, brands have the chance to associate with a specific area of the industry, whether it be a smaller brand aiming to gain brand awareness amongst the industry’s major players, or a larger organisation looking to highlight key performance areas. In doing so, brands also have the exclusive opportunity to network and establish a future relationship with both the winner and all shortlisted companies within their respective categories.

  • Networking: Award ceremonies provide the rare chance for all key brands within a particular market place to be in one place at the same time, therefore allowing for invaluable lobbying opportunities for all sponsors with the front runners of the industry.

Additional Revenue Streams

Although quite expensive to implement, awards platforms can prove to be a strong additional source of revenue when properly executed, offering an array of sponsorship assets and the opportunity for truly integrated partnerships. However, many organisers are yet to realise the full commercial potential of their awards programmes, simply sticking to the traditional revenue streams of ticket sales and basic sponsorship packages with partners only receiving the usual branding and standard PR presence around their involvement.

However, there are in fact a whole host of additional assets that can be added to the sponsorship offerings of an awards programme. The following are just a handful of ways in which value can be added:

  • Sponsored shortlist announcements: Being shortlisted for an award is still a major achievement and so the announcement is highly anticipated. This therefore presents an ideal opportunity for brands to get their name in the spotlight, as announcements are sure to be covered by all major industry media titles.

  • Ownership of on-site properties: In addition to headline and category sponsorships, there is the opportunity to break down the event by area e.g. VIP receptions and press lounges or even creating on-site brand experiences.

  • Luncheons: These events provide the opportunity to build hype leading up to the main event, whilst giving sponsors the chance to network with key awards stakeholders i.e. judges, comperes and major industry opinion formers.

  • Consumer promotions/competitions: Depending on the market place, sponsors can be given the opportunity to run sales promotions and competitions, presenting the opportunity for consumers to attend the awards and meet the stars of the industry.

  • Exclusive access: Awards shows are notoriously exclusive and sponsorship therefore provides the opportunity for brands to act as a gateway to exclusive content, including interviews, speeches, photos, performances and more.

With brands now adopting a much more integrated approach to sponsorship, it is crucial for rights holders to fully evaluate the assets offered to sponsors and allow brands to maximise their involvement with the platform as well as provide sufficient marketing channels for them to communicate their sponsorship activity.

By introducing new and innovative ways for brands to activate their association with an awards programme, the sponsorship can be developed from association with a single event to a year-round partnership, adding significant value at minimal expense either the rights holder or the brand.