Tag: Olympics


London 2012 Olympic Taekwondo champion named as Baku 2015 European Games ambassador 12th February, 2015

Slingshot Sponsorship’s client GB Taekwondo has just announced that Olympic Gold Medalist Jade Jones will be an international Athlete Ambassador for this summer’s inaugural Baku 2015 European Games.

Ms Jones became Great Britain’s first-ever Taekwondo gold medalist at London 2012, with victory in the 57kg weight division.

She also won silver at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea, and picked up another silver medal at the 2014 European Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, last May.

Mr Simon Clegg, Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015, said: “To be able to name a reigning Olympic champion as a Baku 2015 ambassador is a fantastic achievement for the first European Games and a testament to the calibre of athletes that the event will attract.

“I am sure Jade will very much enjoy promoting the Games in Great Britain through her role as an international Athlete Ambassador, and we hope to see her give a memorable performance in Baku this summer.”

Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors will represent their sports and feature in extensive marketing campaigns around the continent and on social media to promote the first European Games.

Ms Jones, 21, said: “I am very proud to have been named as a Baku 2015 Athlete Ambassador, and it will be an honour to help promote the Games. It is important for European athletes to have our own multi-sport event, and my aim is to become the first European Games Taekwondo champion.”

Mr Mark England, the British Olympic Association’s Chef de Mission for Baku 2015, said: “Jade’s participation as a Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassador reflects British athletes’ enthusiasm for the European Games. Britain has a strong sporting tradition, and the Athlete Ambassador programme will help to generate interest and excitement in the country ahead of Baku 2015.”

Ms Jones joins French rhythmic gymnast Kseniya Moustafaeva, Denmark’s canoe sprinter René Holten Poulsen and Serbia’s Basketball 3×3 team of Dušan Domović Bulut, Marko Savic, Marko Zdero and Dejan Majstorovic as Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors, with more to be announced in the near future.


London Twenty What? Brands opt for sponsorship flings as opposed to the ball and chain 28th July, 2014

Whatever happened to legacy? During the 2012 London Olympics we could scarcely move for the word, and in regards to sponsorship there is very little evidence of it. Since 2012 there have been four major global sporting events and yet still very few campaigns follow on after the life of an event. And why not?

As Lucien Boyer explains, the buzz of an event doesn’t last forever and as such brands should look to the long term if they want their partnership to provide an effective return, rather than being accused of ‘cashing in’. Sponsorship should be seen as a marriage between the event, marketing, and its values and vision. A long-term partnership sets a clear direction for a company’s future marketing, allowing the brand to develop a strong message and engage with the target audience consistently over time.

The London Olympics and subsequent 5 years offered a plethora of global athletic events all located within the UK; first London 2012, now the Glasgow 2014 Games, and soon to follow the London 2017 World Athletic Championships (not to mention GB competing at Rio 2016). If a brand had wanted to align themselves with the values of athletics and use global sport as a means to engage the audience (UK or abroad) there might rarely have been a better opportunity.

Sainsbury’s serves as a prime example in delivering sponsorship this way. Having sponsored the 2012 Paralympic games to great effect (as the only ‘big four’ supermarket to make gains in market share during this period posting a 5.6% increase YOY), Sainsbury’s didn’t stop there. They finalised an agreement to partner with the British Paralympic Association for the next four years and also to sponsor the British Athletics Major Event series, including the Anniversary Games and British Grand Prix in August. In addition to this they launched a one million pound scheme to provide coaching and facilities to help disabled children lead more active lives providing an ROI that “will not just be measured in pure marketing terms”.

So having returned this week from a jaunt north of the boarder to indulge in the Commonwealth Games, I couldn’t help but hear that word again on everyone’s lips. One of Glasgow’s major sponsors SSE is looking to change this. As an Official Partner to the games, SSE used an onsite Twitter leader board to engage on Twitter and experientially at the Green Zone. Furthermore, they had a number of brand ambassadors from the home counties, provided long term naming rights for the SSE Hydro (hosting the netball and gymnastics), and are looking to continue the long term effects by increasing the funding for the SSE Next Generation programme giving support to aspiring athletes in the UK. Only time will tell with how much vigour brands will continue to engage now the curtain has closed on Glasgow. Who knows, come Rio 2016 perhaps the word ‘legado’ will never even be uttered.

The Increasing Importance of Sponsorship in Winning the Right to Host International Sporting Events 28th January, 2013

Last week Olympic bidding city Istanbul announced the signing of 7 leading Turkish companies as sponsors of their bid for the 2020 Olympic games, a $20m deal that organizers feel could swing momentum away from the favourite Tokyo. While to some extent this announcement was simply a show of financial strength and a dig at Japan’s stagnant economy, it raises a question that has been increasingly important in the bidding for the Olympic Games and World Cup in recent years;

How important has the ability to attract, and successfully handle sponsorship become in winning the right to hold these two major international sporting events?

Speaking at the recent announcement, Istanbul bid chairman Hasan Arut used the successful acquisition of sponsorship to push home their ability to host the Games;

‘The Olympic Movement should take great confidence that Turkey will be able to deliver a significant amount of high quality sponsors should we win the rights to host the games.’

This claim has been widely backed by public opinion, UK bookmakers signalling the change in momentum by the cutting odds on the Turkish capitals bid in half, making them a close second behind Tokyo.

Istanbul is by no means the first city to use sponsorship as an early show of strength in an Olympic bid. Our own London 2012 team publicly announced the support of 25 national sponsors to the tune of £6m back in May 2004, 8 years before the event and over a year before the final vote.

It is not only a bid’s ability to bring in national sponsorship that has become increasingly important in securing an event, but also the ability to provide the optimum platform for international sponsors within a host city/country.

The agreement of both Olympic and World Cup bids to provide the events sponsors tax waivers is needed for an organization to even enter the process. While in London this was actually declined by all sponsors within the Olympic Park due to the economic decline, it highlights the necessity for a bid to be willing to yield significant power to sponsors.

The importance of event holders working for official sponsors has most dramatically been shown in Brazil, where legislation banning alcohol consumption in football stadia was overturned last summer. The ban, put in place in 2003 to tackle domestic fan violence, was overturned in Brazilian Congress under FIFA’s request due to Budweiser’s positions as the exclusive alcohol brand of the World Cup. Commenting on the ‘Budweiser Bill’ FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke could not have been clearer on the importance of this sponsorship to the event and the need for the hosting country to acquiesce; ‘Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound arrogant, but that’s something we won’t negotiate’.

As each event passes the importance of sponsorship to both bidding cities/countries and governing bodies will only grow as the revenue provided by sponsorship becomes even more central in funding the creation of the vast infrastructure needed. As this happens, the ability to both attract national sponsorship and work well with the events official partners, will increasingly be at the heart of all successful bids for these major sporting events.

The Olympic Legacy 17th September, 2012

Within the sponsorship arena there has been much discussion about how worthwhile short-term partnerships such as the Olympics are in terms of a return on investment for sponsors. As the excitement surrounding the Olympics and Paralympics begins to fade, attention has moved away from what sponsors are doing in terms of activation surrounding the games to how they will move forward and look to maintain the legacies of their Olympic involvement.

Olympic sponsors who have achieved their short term goals of an increase in revenue should now look to consider how they can maintain an Olympic association in the future. A continued involvement with the development of sport in the Olympic aftermath will show that these brands were not just involved with the Olympics solely to profit financially, but as a commitment to a longer journey.

Gillette’s ‘Great Start’ campaign is an example of Olympic sponsor Procter & Gamble’s determination to maintain Olympic association through a commitment to sport. Their ‘Great Start’ campaign aims to inspire the younger generation of Olympic athletes by encouraging young people to pursue careers in coaching. With six time gold medallist Chris Hoy as one of the brand ambassadors for the campaign they have partnered with ‘sports coach fund UK’ to fund coaching qualifications by awarding ‘Great Start’ grants. Existing and new coaches can apply via http://www.facebook.com/GilletteUK.

The improvements the Olympics have bought to less prosperous areas of London are an example in itself of how the games have had the capacity to change the lives not only of those competing but also of local communities. With continued involvement in sport and the community brands have the chance to play a vital role in maintaining the legacy of London 2012 through helping people to continue to enjoy and take part in sport. This in turn will maintain awareness of involvement with the iconic event whilst increasing brand loyalty on a long term scale.

When Sponsorship Goes Green… 10th September, 2012

With the increasing prominence of environmental issues, event organisers can no longer neglect such concerns when planning for their respective event. This has led to ever more sophisticated green strategies, as well as a number of award shows, conferences and competitions dedicated solely to sustainability; the Tree-Athlon, the What Car? Green Awards and the International Green Awards to name a few.

In his latest blog post “Olympic Sponsorship: Remember the Positives”, Nick Anderson mentioned such “sponsorships [were] becoming dangerously close to having an adverse effect on certain brands”: McDonald’s and Coca Cola were both heavily criticised in the early stages of their Olympic sponsorship. Nevertheless their Recycling program is playing a big part in achieving LOCOG’s goal to hold the most sustainable Games ever. At the beginning of the Games, Coca Cola placed 4,000 branded recycling bins across the venues and the Olympic Park, committing to recycle every soft drink bottle that was put in the bins into a new one within six weeks. Furthermore all Coca‑Cola products currently sold at the Olympic and Paralympic Games are in 100 per cent recyclable PET packaging containing 25 per cent recycled plastic and 22.5 per cent plant-based plastic. Those are just two examples of many actions that Coca Cola took ahead of the Games to implement their sustainable strategy.

Another example of this development is the recyclable McDonald’s restaurant that was built on the Olympic site. With this initiative, McDonald’s aim at reusing 75% of the restaurant and recycling almost everything else by re-allocating all the furniture and equipment to McDonald’s UK restaurant estate after the Games.

But it is not just sports events that are concerned by this green movement. Music festivals and their sponsors are increasingly trying to integrate sustainability within their sponsorship strategies. According to a Havas Sports & Entertainment Research, 80 per cent of European festival goers strongly feel that sponsors need a green strategy. The Glastonbury Festival in the UK seems to have it right, through partnerships with WaterAid, Oxfam and Greenpeace as proofs of its environmental commitment. The 2012 Reading Festival, which took place two weeks ago, followed this trend as well by launching a Recycling Champion competition two months before the event. The Student Recycling Champion worked with Every Can Counts to help promote the recycling of drinks cans and he got a chance to get backstage access to this major music event.

A benchmark example in the US comes from the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago that dedicated a whole area within its site, called the Green Street, to showcase various environmental initiatives from different organisations and to engage festival goers. The Lollapalooza Festival included several charities and environmental groups in its sponsorship portfolio and gave them the chance to promote their environmental projects.

As the Havas Sports & Entertainment Research study proved, it is important to understand that “green sponsorship” is vital to every right owner and sponsor, no matter which age group they target. A decade ago sponsors with a green strategy were unique. Nowadays it has become a fundamental requirement of any sponsorship strategy. Thus whether you are a right owner or a sponsor, don’t miss out on the sustainability trend and seize the opportunity to make something unique out of it.

EPL, Bendtner & Nalbandian: How Branding IS Still Relevant, No Matter What The Cost 2nd August, 2012

I wrote a blog a few months ago called ‘Sponsorship – More Than Just Branding’.  Whilst it’s palpable that sponsorship has evolved into far more than straightforward logo placement, it’s important not to forget that branding – be it via naming rights, advertising hoardings or shirt sponsorships – is still relevant within our industry and most importantly, still deemed hugely valuable in the eyes of sponsors.

On Monday, General Motors signed a colossal £175 million deal with Manchester United that will see the Chevrolet logo replace Aon on the front of the club’s shirt for the next seven years.  Chevrolet will be provided with numerous additional benefits from their shirt sponsorship (via advertising, hospitality etc.) but primarily their logo position on United’s shirts will promote brand perception of ‘success, speed and superiority’.  Further it will automatically garner favour with United’s 659 million followers worldwide, as General Motor’s VP for N. America states: ‘this is about connecting the brand with Manchester United and its passionate supporters around the world.’

And it’s not just the Premier League’s most famous teams that are seeing such significant returns on shirt sponsorships, with the likes of Sunderland attracting substantial investment from their lucrative partnership with Invest in Africa. Recent figures reveal a 25% increase in English Premier League shirt sponsorship to £147 million, dampening fears that the EPL as a brand would suffer as the British economy entered its second dip in four years.

Now, while these shirt sponsorships represent the more expensive side of branding within sponsorship, a couple of incidents a month or so ago, illustrate that (clever/accidental) logo placement can still generate positive brand perception and awareness on a budget.

Firstly, David Nalb(r)andian  took out a knee-height Nike hoarding, along with an umpires shin, after failing to return a base-line shot from Marin Cilic.  This was followed shortly by the boxer-gate affair surrounding Nicklas Bendtner’s Paddy Power lined briefs, which he revealed after scoring his second goal in Denmark’s 3-2 defeat to Portugal.

Both men were disciplined accordingly – Nalbandian receiving disqualification from Queens and Bendtner receiving a hefty fine – and received their fair share of press attention.  Granted the Nike hoarding board was not the focal point of such attention over Nalbandian’s kick-out, but it was in Bendtner’s case, and Paddy Power got a huge amount of publicity and engagement out of it.

Their Facebook page was awash with comments from users acclaiming their ‘genius’ marketing strategy and the story was covered byevery major broadsheet.  While I don’t conform to the consensus that a distinctly average footballer wearing a green pair of briefsconstitutes exceptional intellectual aptitude, it was rather clever.

For just £80,000 (the price of Bendtner’s fine, which Paddy Power agreed to pay) the Irish bookmakers got nationwide exposure and saw thousands of additional online users flock to see what other mischief Paddy Power have been up to.

Obviously Bendtner’s boxers can’t be compared with Chevrolet’s United sponsorship in terms of worldwide reach, but you’d be hard pushed to say that it’s not better value!

Olympic Sponsorship: Remember the Positives 30th July, 2012

Whilst awareness of Olympic-association is of course growing for official sponsors of the Games, the recent controversy surrounding LOCOG’s increasingly stringent sponsorship policies and the subsequent public outrage is resulting in certain sponsorships becoming dangerously close to having an adverse effect on certain brands – quite a significant problem after investing hundreds of millions with the aim of using the platform to enhance brand perceptions.

Although some sponsors may have demanded a little too much exclusivity i.e. Visa and McDonalds, the latest issues have taken complaints to a new level. The first concerns Coca-Cola and Lord Coe’s comment stating that attendees ‘probably wouldn’t be walking in (to the Olympic Village) with a Pepsi T-shirt’ which is, of course, ridiculous. Despite the off-chance of hundreds of fans herding into the Village wearing Pepsi-branded clothing, this would have miniscule, if any, effect on either brands’ perception or the Olympic campaigns, activations and initiatives executed by Coca-Cola. The second issue is the numerous events proving to be half empty due to ticket allocations not being utilised – this resulting in understandable public outrage however the blame spreads across multiple parties including National Olympic Committees, the IOC and the media in addition to sponsors.

With a negative cloud beginning to descend over the concept of sponsorship in general, I wanted to add to the refreshing comments of Evening Standard Editor, Sarah Sands’ recent article shedding some light on why ‘sponsors are the good guys not the villains’.

On the whole, sponsors are providing vital products and services to the Olympics whilst simultaneously raising awareness of the event in all corners of the world. Acer, the official computing equipment partner of the Games, has been responsible for the installation of an enormous technology infrastructure – no small feat and a significant cost saved for LOCOG. Likewise for GE who have contributed heavily towards key infrastructures across transportation, energy, lighting and medical equipment. Coca-Cola, despite the controversy over branding and health, have invested millions in grass roots sports and vow that 75% of their products consumed at the Games will be sugar-free. With significant value being added by all Olympic partners, the positives of sponsorship significantly outweigh the negatives. (Of course, there is also the added benefit that they provide hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue and in turn lower the cost of the Games to the tax-payer.)

It is important to remember that the art of successful sponsorship is creating a relationship that simultaneously benefits the sponsor, the audience and the rights holder with it ultimately being the responsibility of the latter i.e. LOCOG to get as close to this harmonious balance as possible.

The Olympic Committee is evidently yet to find this balance with certain partners but when weighing up the pros and cons, sponsors cannot be viewed as the bad guys. After all, despite recently sympathising with protesters, Jacques Rogge hits the nail on the head when stating that “Quite simply, staging the Olympic Games would not be possible without our partners.”

Experiential: 3 Ways to Maximise Your Assets 20th January, 2012

With the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching we are due an influx of experiential campaigns in 2012. With headline sponsors of P&G, Coke and McDonald’s taking the majority of the London 2012 marketing opportunities – both in sponsorship as well as ramped up advertising campaigns, other brands will be engaging in shorter term experiential marketing to capitalise on this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Experiential marketing at its basics is a live brand marketing campaign allowing consumers to experience the product through their senses.  It occurs in real time and is a two way communication between the brand and consumer – creating a lasting connection with the brand, which is then amplified through other marketing channels. Experiential activation offers a great way to showcase a brand’s products, or simply demonstrate what the company can offer with immediate feedback.  Some examples of experiential campaigns we’ve run include Tracker’s Photo Booth for the What Car Awards 2012 and the EA Sports’ Game Hub at the London Irish Rugby Club’s St. Patricks Day Party.

Maximising Assets for Experiential Sponsorship Campaigns

1) Brand Positioning

With immediate feedback, experiential activities first need to ensure their audience is the right audience to be receiving feedback from.  Ensure that you are very clear who the target audience is first and then decide how best to reach them and more importantly where to reach them.

Being relevant to the right consumers will provide both the correct feedback, but also will enable you to drive the communications further through additional marketing campaigns.

2) Engagement is Essential

You have to be engaging in activity consumers can relate to and want to engage with. The message and positioning should be clear and concise ensuring cut through.  Providing people an experience that is on brand for the experiential activation, on brand for the company and also on brand for the sponsorship platform will create a cohesive message with all parties building resonance with the audience.

3) Make it Last

Even if your experiential activity is a one-off campaign, ensure you are making the most of it and that you have resources to support this.  If the objective is to create a viral campaign through the experiential activity, do not forget to include a social strategy that will drive this communication forward through user networks and your own company network through user generated content, videos, competitions, etc.

My Top 5 Sponsorship Campaigns 4th January, 2012

In the ever-busy world of brand marketing, using the strength of brand partnerships to forge new channels and platforms is essential to generating sales, showcasing the brand and in some cases uniting millions.  Here are just five of my favourites:

1. Jay-Z & Bing – ‘Decoded’

With Jay-Z’s autobiography ‘Decoded’ due to be launched in November 2010, the rap mogul teamed up with Microsoft search-engine Bing to stir up some little needed hype.

Each of the book’s 320 pages was printed and placed in a different position across 13 major cities.  Locations were selected based on the contents of each page – for example, a reference to Jay Z’s youth in Brooklyn could be placed on a Cadillac, a restaurant plate, a basketball net or even on the bottom of a swimming pool!

Utilising social media, clues were released via Facebook & Twitter revealing the location of the secret pages in a draw to compete to be the first to unlock each one of the 320 pages.  Users were driven to Bing.com/Jay Z where they were directed to specific locations, while the first people on the scene texted a code to reveal the page to the whole community.  Within a month of the campaign going live, users had unlocked every single page of the book before it was even available for sale.

Bing received an 11.7% increase of visitors while the campaign was live with an average player engagement of 11 minutes.  Jay Z’s Facebook page received 1 million ‘likes’ in under a month and his autobiography reached 3rd in the New York Times Best Seller list.

The level of detail that went into turning every single page of Jay Z’s book into a real life installation was staggering, completely integrating and engaging the content of the book with readers.  Unlike most interactive campaigns where the user’s interaction ends at the computer screen, ‘Decode’ actively encouraged the consumer to venture out into the world and sample Jay Z’s life in person.  All sections of media were used, giving the individual a rich and unique understanding of Jay Z’s life that a purely internet-based campaign couldn’t have done.  Through Jay Z, Bing created the biggest online game the world has even seen.

2. Ralph Lauren & The New York Times

In September 2011, Ralph Lauren bought out a one-month, solo sponsorship of the New York Times iPad application.  The app takeover included online shopping, videos, a letter from Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s car collection, poems, details of how Ralph Lauren jewellery is made and the principles of the brand’s craftsmanship.  An online shopping bag, built directly into the app’s adverts, allowed consumers to shop straight away, rather than having to click through to a website – essentially making it easier than ever to buy Ralph Lauren.

This partnership highlights the failure of countless companies to fully utilise what’s available to them when they form a brand relationship.  Amongst the online shopping the reader is drawn to the beautiful imagery, the highly detailed information about the production of the clothes, and interesting little known facts about Ralph Lauren himself.  At no stage do you ever feel as though you are being led down the path to purchase.  It is always a gentle stroll, past a wonderfully crafted tweed suit, before you reach the checkout.

3. McDonald’s & 2008 Beijing Olympics – ‘Cheer For China’

With large sections of the Chinese population finding the Games remote and out-of-reach McDonald’s developed united sponsorship initiatives under the slogan  “Cheer for China”, which allowed the nation to become part of the Chinese Olympic dream.  In-store cheering stations, viral videos, interactive/click through banners and celebrity blog partnerships were just some of the ways that the ‘everyman’ was encouraged to participate in this episode of people power.

Through the cheering stations and online entries, the 10 best cheerers were chosen to take part in ‘The Cheer For China Online Reality Show’ that attracted over 7 million unique visitors to its website.  To conclude the show, the 10 best cheerers were whittled down to 5 winners who led 1,200 people at the Olympic Stadium to set a new Guinness World Record.  Throughout the campaign the Cheer For China website had over 25 million unique visitors and 1.2 million cheering entries.

This campaign illustrates how a well-thought out and flawlessly executed brand partnership can quite literally change a nation.  Faced with Olympic indifference millions of people, from Guangzhou to Changchun, were instilled with the Olympic spirit – no mean feat for an American fast-food chain.

The multi-pronged approach of the campaign also ensured that it didn’t fizzle out – once all the cheering entries were in, a fly on the wall documentary emerged, which preceded winners dancing  in the Olympic stadium setting a new world record.  Continuity was key and ensured that the entire nation not only cheered for China, but continued to do so long after the Games were finished.

4. The National Theatre & Phillips ‘Sense and Simplicity’

In 2007 The National Theatre teamed up with Phillips to help reduce the amount of electricity that the Southbank location used.  This partnership saw Phillips replace and enhance the National Theatre’s internal lighting system with state of the art, energy-efficient design costing approximately £500,000.  In addition to the immediate visual improvements in the theatre, the long term aims were to reduce the amount of energy of lighting up the iconic ‘fly towers’ by 70%, which in turn will save £100,000 a year.

While this campaign may not have everyone marvelling at its ingenuity, the simplicity allowed consumers to fully engage with the campaign and helped both organisations achieve more together.  The National Theatre was able to produce more productions and Phillips utilised a highly targeted audience platform to showcase their exceptionally high-quality lighting.  In addition, a substantial amount of energy will have been saved by the end of the 5 year deal, paving the way for other heavily lit buildings in the city to focus on their own energy consumption.

5. Emirates Airline & Transport For London

With Transport for London’s state-of-the-art cable car more than doubling its budget in a year (from £25 – £60 million), Fly Emirates intervened in what was one of the shrewdest sponsorship moves of 2011.

The 10-year deal costing Emirates £36 million provides the Dubai based airline naming rights on what is bound to be one of the focal points for the London Olympics.  It will be the first urban cable car of its kind in the UK, connecting Greenwich Peninsular over the river with the Royal Docks.  The new system could provide a crossing every 30 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses.  Users will be able to pay with oyster cards, as they travel at a minimum height of 52m over the Thames.

With the travel concerns high amongst visitors as well as residents, the Emirates Cable Car will not only be highly publicised, but also one of the few central transportation links.  In addition, it will remain a prominent part of the capital’s skyline for decades. Greenwich has a constant stream of tourists, throughout the year, who will all want to take a ride and witness the panoramic views that the cable car offers.  As a result, Emirates’ brand will be directly showcased to a large portion of the 30 million international visitors the capital attracts annually long after the London Olympics have left.

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