My Placement Year In The Sponsorship Industry 27th June, 2019

University is a platform for a higher earnings potential, but it certainly doesn’t guarantee it. With few real-world skills, more and more graduates are finding that 6 months to a year post graduation: they have yet to find a job in their preferred industry.

 Naturally, this is an alarming reality for anyone attending university, but there is something that can be done to increase chances of employment: placement years. Placement years are a ‘sandwich’ option, allowing UK students to defer their final year in order to get a taste of the real world and in my case, a taste of sponsorship.  

 There are nearly 2 million undergraduates in the UK every year, I need to do something to stand out.

Away from the often-rigid restraints of university assignments – “this is the task, and this is how you must do it” – the real world is sometimes a stark contrast. There are a thousand ways to complete a job and often, there’s little instruction on how to do it, one must use their initiative. You know it. I know it. Employers know it. Hence, those with a strong employment history appeal more than a green undergraduate.

 I deferred my final year. I applied for over 70 internships. I landed at Slingshot Sponsorship. A small yet renowned agency who weren’t even looking for a new team member but were willing to take me under their wing.

Working a year in an agency has been so highly advantageous to my career development, its hard to put into words (However I will attempt to for the remainder of this blog). I’ve learnt a lot: not just about the sponsorship industry, but about the workings of an agency, how to be malleable and more importantly how to balance multiple tasks, leads and clients at once: something university definitely doesn’t prepare you for.

 One Key Thing I’ve learnt:

Learn. I have always been a keen learner. But having little experience within the industry and little experience in a 9-5: you really have to open your eyes and open your ears. Being able to be taught is an invaluable skill and it is essential to progressing in any career. Sponsorship is an ever-evolving landscape and coupled with working in a small agency – where job roles aren’t necessarily heavily defined – it’s crucial to adapt your skillset and learn new ones as quick as you can: if not, you’ll be left behind.

The top 3 favourite aspects of working in sponsorship:

  1. Insight. Working in a small agency has given me the opportunity to grow my knowledge beyond what I could have imagined 12 months ago. My role at Slingshot as been sales and yet: I’ve valued sponsorship properties, created proposals, liaised with clients, pitched global brands, managed social media accounts and taken care of the blogging. Additionally, our clients aren’t just sport. I’ve worked across all industries from B2B conferences to government initiatives to entertainment and live music, making me think on my toes and adapt my skillset on a daily basis. On top of this: my directors have even made me coffee. I doubt there’s many large agencies that give the same opportunities; I sure as hell wasn’t going to waste a year doing admin.

 

  1. Creating relationships.As mentioned, my main role at Slingshot has been sales, and I’ve enjoyed (nearly) every minute of it. Working in sales for 12 months has allowed me to build my contact base exponentially and create some great relationships along the way. Relationships are the key to the sponsorship industry (insert classic tale of the Manchester United/Chevrolet deal here) so to have been given the platform and guidance to make so many connections will prove to be extremely beneficial down the line.

 

  1. Working as a team. Coming from a team- sport background, working in a small team that co-operates and thrives has been one of the most enjoyable factors of my experience. Especially as there’s been no hierarchical malarkey: Slingshot is one of the most open and transparent workplaces I’ve experienced. I’ve really jelled with the team here and to say I’m going to miss it would be a BIG understatement.

 

Presenting to sponsorship students at Leeds Beckett University

 

Placement year has exceeded my expectations. 

I truly never expected to have learnt so much in a relatively short space of time, and on top of that: didn’t expect to enjoy it half as much as I have. But most importantly I’ve given myself a head-start against my fellow graduates, the skills I’ve learnt will put me in best stead for sealing that all-important grad job and will certainly differentiate me for other candidates.

I cannot recommend a placement year enough. 

Whilst university teaches you time management and a degree demonstrates your knowledge in a specialist field: neither provide you with a well-rounded skillset or real-world industry knowledge. Slingshot and my placement year have delivered on both accounts and given me a deep pool of industry contacts which are crucial for success in the sponsorship industry.

Now, just got to go and write that dissertation.


Evolve With Social Or It Will Pass You By 12th July, 2017

Social is soaring and it doesn’t look set to slow down anytime soon. The majority of online users are moving away from computers in favour of smartphones. Figures released by OFCOM show 66% of the UK own a smartphone, as do 90% of 16-24 year olds. It’s the latter group that makes brand sponsorship on social platforms very profitable to those targeting their content at millennials. Social media sponsored content is fast becoming the best way to reach out and inform a digital generation.

Brands generally prefer the  method of sponsored content as it differs from usual native advertising and its purpose is to inform and not necessarily convince its audience, keeping the brand message much more authentic.

A case study posted on the Instagram website claims that sponsored posts results in 2.8x higher ad recall than other online advertising. The soft nature of the posts and the tailored way in which Instagram integrates the posts are the likely reasons for the higher re-call rate. The company has also moved to close the gap between celebrity endorsements and sponsored posts by placing them under one umbrella. Snapchat has also introduced it’s sponsored filters campaign, where brands can sponsor a filter for a specific amount of time. With 150 million users daily it makes for a very lucrative opportunity.

Facebook has gone a slightly different way and created a unique sponsorship system, which  is now in high demand. The company allows brands to sponsor user activity instead of posts. Partner’s simply pay to highlight an action that users have already taken on the social network or within a Facebook-connected app.

Social platforms have created great ways for brands to capitalise through sponsored content and thus far, audiences have been receptive to this influencing method due to sponsorship’s credibility to not be so intrusive. With social media continuously evolving and creating new opportunities for brands, rights holders must ensure that they are constantly up to date with changes so that they too can offer relevant opportunities for brands. It is not enough anymore to offer Facebook or Twitter posts as part of a sponsorship package. Rights holders need to understand how brands will want to use social platforms to ensure maximum cut through.

Why Big ATL Agencies Can’t Crunch Numbers 5th April, 2013

Walking into a fabulous advertising agency the other day, I will admit, I was envious.  Envious of the beautiful office building, elevators, stairwell, art work, great tea  – even the receptionist wooed us with her timely wit. There were whispers of “…and they also have a free cafeteria!” when we entered the large doors into a reception area that is bigger than the entire Slingshot office.  It was hard not to be smacked in the face  by success the moment you walked  through the front door.

And yet, the meeting with over 15  bright young things – planners, account managers and creatives left me feeling slightly underwhelmed when it came to brainstorming ideas for driving additional revenue to a project and it got me thinking about sponsorship and the future of the agency model (which I will also be discussing at the ESA Summit, read more here).  Now I am not saying that all creative media and marketing agencies and the people that work in them can’t understand sponsorship – many of them can.  The point really is that they don’t have to.  They don’t spend an agonising amount of the day working client budgets to meet targets through multiple revenue streams.  They don’t spend hours on the phone negotiating media rights and convincing brands to provide free products in order to drive the event forward.  They don’t have midnight calls with overseas clients on how to then find a way to pay for the distribution of said product.  Unfortunately, this is my job.  Again, cue my envy.

Yet envy aside, I have come to the conclusion that the thousands of hours I have spent agonising over a successful route has inevitably given me a very strong aptitude for understanding how to generate revenue – effectively and sustainably.  These hours spent have gifted me the ability to valuate a platform fairly quickly, just by a call, because this is what I do – day in and day out.

I can whole heartedly admit that I cannot come up with the creative idea.  I cannot even draw stick people properly. Of course, I  recognise the huge value in the idea and implementation  – but I think the tables are turning.

The Mad Men days where creativity is king is difficult to validate in an era where ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ has over 520 million views.  Where budget cuts, the economic recession, and overall increased scrutiny on budgets continues to rise.   I think it is time to recognise that it is now the era of ROI.

As I am in the business of ROI, I am sure you’d expect me to say that. However, look around you – it really is everywhere.  From the daily Groupons, to free content on ITV player, value is something we are all looking for and delivering that value can be a difficult challenge.

I truly believe the way forward is  through building partnerships – creating true synergies between organisations, understanding all parties objectives, and working together to reap mutual rewards.  The shift has already begun with major brands pulling funding out of the major kit deals in favour of smaller, more integrated campaigns and partnerships.  It can also be seen with the huge success of our own agency, which has doubled in the last year purely through the increase of new incoming business. People are beginning to recognise (whether forced or not) the value of building lasting commercial partnerships.

Now I am not claiming that I am the next Sir Martin Sorrell, David Ogilvy, or William Bernbach – but I do see a future  that features free meals for Slingshot employees.