Sir Bradley Reminds Us It’s About More Than A Logo 24th July, 2014

Sir Bradley Wiggins’ comments on the eve of the Commonwealth Games that the Emirates branding on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow might have left Sir Chris feeling a little “done over”.

For those of us in the sponsorship industry though, Wiggins’ comments provided another reminder of just how important it is for sponsors to clearly demonstrate the value they’re adding to an event.

For Emirates, who have activated their sponsorship pre-event by spreading the excitement of the Games across the Commonwealth through the Queen’s Baton Relay and unveiled a new Emirates Lounge at Glasgow Airport just in time for the Games, it will be interesting to see how the airline actively engages audiences now the Games are underway.
The recent World Cup in Brazil pushed digital and brand engagement to the fore and further supported the premise that effective sponsorship is more than just a collection of logos and branding at an event. Sponsorship should help to actively engage with consumers allowing the audience to interact and create an emotional tie with a brand.

We’ve seen major brands and sponsors bend-over-backwards at recent global sports events to use meaningful and relevant activation to bring their brands as close to the action as possible. Here’s our selection of podium placers from recent global events where engagement was king.

P&G – ‘Thank You Mom’ (London 2012 & Sochi 2014)

To much critical acclaim P&G executed a clearly defined and emotionally charged message through an integrated“Thank You Mom” campaign, encompassing a host of digital channels, athlete ambassadors including the likes ofVictoria Pendleton and Jessica Ennis-Hill and the release of an app allowing over 50,000 of us to say thank you to mum too!

Beats – London 2012

Beats was just one of a number of  brands who managed, temporarily at least, to evade the brand police and creatively engage with audiences at London 2012 without sponsoring the event. Not only supplying (what seemed like) every athlete with a custom pair of Beats, they also created a pop-up space in Shoreditch House allowing 4,000 people including Olympic athletes from all over the globe to interact with the brand, watch the Games and make use of a photo booth which was used to generate content for poster shots later in the campaign.

Budweiser – ‘Rise as One’ (FIFA World Cup 2014)

Budweiser made sure to engage with its audience whether they were in Brazil or not.  Fans from all over the globe were encouraged to get involved via Twitter with users urged to tap #ManoftheMatch tweets from @FIFAcom which generated Budweiser branded player photos and a  tweet and vote mechanic. Many fans lucky enough to make the trip to Brazil were greeted with rewards in the form of the Budweiser Hotel which hosted parties and events throughout the tournament and acted as a hub for over 3000 satellite Budweiser parties all around the world.

With 1.5 billion people tuning in to the Commonwealth Games let’s hope brands involved make it equally engaging!


GB Taekwondo appoints Slingshot Sponsorship to develop sponsorship strategy and sales for their Road to Rio Olympics 11th July, 2013

GB Taekwondo, one of the biggest sporting stars to come out of London 2012, has appointed sponsorship specialist marketing agency Slingshot Sponsorship to develop strategy and sales across their commercial properties in the lead up to the Rio Olympics.  The initial activity will allow corporate sponsors to grow with the sport both nationally as well as abroad.

GB Taekwondo’s enormous success of gaining two medals from only four athletes at the London Olympics has presented a huge return for Team GB and an incredible opportunity for brands to align with.  The 2000 year old martial art has over 60 million participants worldwide with over 100,000 in the UK alone.  Slingshot Sponsorship will be working with GB Taekwondo to identify and uncover their assets in order to connect with this diverse sporting audience – contributing to a stronger engagement with brands during the growth of the sport in the lead up to Rio Olympics.

Steve Flynn, Operations Director at GB Taekwondo said:

We are really pleased to be working with Slingshot Sponsorship who are helping us showcase the sponsorship opportunities within our sport. Their expertise will allow us to maximise our commercial potential and amplify our activity – both with the sponsors we are currently are working with as well as identifying new commercial partners that will help us achieve our objectives in the lead up to Rio.

Jackie Fast, MD at Slingshot Sponsorship said:

We are thrilled that GB Taekwondo have chosen us as their sponsorship agency.  Sitting at such a vital turning point coming out of London 2012, we cannot wait to start helping them develop and grow their commercial potential – creating relationships that will help them realise their Rio Olympic goals.