Red Bull Challenges F1's Sponsorship Stallion 5th December, 2012

In the last couple of weeks, the Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel vs. Ferrari and Fernando Alonso rivalry has dominated sporting headlines. In the end it was yet again the former who took both the Constructers’ and the Drivers’ World Championship titles in the thrilling Formula 1 season finale in Brazil. This nail-biting end to the season has prompted a closer look at the team’s and driver’s success off the track and their contention for the commercial crown.

The Constructers’ (Sponsorship) Championship:

Despite prize money being in the millions, sponsorship is by far the key source of revenue for both teams and their drivers which begs the question: who is leading the commercial championship?

According to Forbes’ latest list of the ‘Formula One’s Most Valuable Teams’ Ferrari’s total revenue is estimated to be around £240m with £190m being generated from sponsorship alone. Nearly £155m is generated via three major deals with Shell, Santander and title sponsorship partner Marlboro. These three deals are worth more than any other team’s total sponsorship revenue.

But what about Red Bull Racing? Out of all teams on the grid, they are surprisingly down in fourth in the overall revenue standings at £100m in 2011. 60% of this revenue comes from Red Bull’s success on the track earning them more prize money than any other team in the championship however the contribution from sponsors falls significantly shorter than Ferrari, coming to £38m positioning the team in the middle of the sponsorship field. The main reason for this is that the brand does not seek sponsors for most of their advertising space as this is generally used for self-promotion. As opposed to Ferrari (whose title sponsor is Marlboro at £100m) and other leading teams like McLaren Mercedes (Vodafone, £47m) and Mercedes AMG F1 (Petronas, £35m), Red Bull is sacrificing a significant amount of commercial opportunity in this area. However, this may all be about to change with the constructors’ champions securing their first title sponsorship deal with Nissan’s luxury arm, Infiniti.

When reviewing the revenue potential of both teams, Ferrari should still be out of reach in the short-term with regards to team value however with Red Bull being the fastest growing team in the paddock, the commercial gap is certainly narrowing.

The Drivers’ (Sponsorship) Championship:

Are Vettel and Alonso also competing for a sponsorship title? In his latest blog post, Mark Mylam asked whether sports men and women as brand ambassadors were really worth the money from a sponsor’s perspective as there is always a risk associated with their image deteriorating and affecting the image of the endorsed brand. An almost risk-free sportsman for instance could be Sebastian Vettel. The driver is unarguably one of the most charismatic Formula 1 drivers, as demonstrated at last year’s Autosport Awards and although his interview at the podium ceremony of Abu Dhabi included some strong words, nothing seems to be able to tarnish his image. This is why Sebastian Vettel, who manages his endorsement deals himself, enjoys lucrative sponsorship deals with Casio and Procter & Gamble’s Head & Shoulders worth around £2m in total, according to a study carried out by Sport + Markt.

Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, seems to have a completely different persona. One could perceive him as being rather introverted although he is not one to shy away from commercial opportunities with earnings upwards of £6m through his deals with Santander, Tag-Heuer and Puma in 2011. This positions Alonso at the top of the sponsorship leaderboard with Michael Schumacher way behind at £3.5m and Lewis Hamilton (£2.5m) ahead of both Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, both at £2m. Marcel Cordes, Executive Director at Sport + Markt, points out that it is unlikely that Vettel will be able to close this gap as “he (Vettel) is already very strongly associated with the Red Bull brand”. Also, Sebastian Vettel is not interested in signing sponsorship deals just for the sake of securing a higher income. He’s already stated in the media: “It is not a goal for me to earn more money. For me, it is important that the brand is ideally suited to me”.

Compared to other sports stars like Roger Federer or Kobe Bryant, sponsorship earnings of Formula 1 drivers are minimal because in most cases, the teams control almost all of their driver’s sponsorship rights.

It is interesting to see that championship wins have by no means been reflective of either team’s or drivers’ respective commercial successes but will this continue into 2013? With the pressure mounting on Sebastian Vettel, could we see Ferrari’s sponsorship stallion overtake the Red Bull both on the track as well as off or will the power of the ‘Vettrick’ prove too much to contend with? Let us know your thoughts!

Are Brand Ambassadors Really Worth It? 25th October, 2012

This month we’ve witnessed an end to one of the longest running and high-profile brand endorsements of all time –Nike’s sponsorship of Lance Armstrong, the shamed cyclist and denounced Livestrong founder. Inevitably there’s been a flurry of media activity since Nike unceremoniously ditched Armstrong; some quarters questioning Nike’s moral integrity (having stood by Woods, Vick and Bryant in the past); others praising the sportswear giant’s knack of only sticking by those with ‘come-back-ability’; and one journalist even going as far to put the drop in Nike’s share price down to the whole debacle.

My questions is – given the recent controversy surrounding  brand ambassadors like Armstrong and John Terry – are these egotistical mega-stars really worth the investment from a sponsor’s perspective?

The answer, in my opinion, lies with the sponsor’s brand values.  As long as the respective sportsman or sportswoman is representing the brand and its values correctly, then there can be little complaint.  For ease, let’s take Nike, whose principal reason for spending almost $800 million dollars per annum on individual endorsements is to associate the Nike Swoosh with the sporting elite; whose success has been achieved through years of hard work, dedication and natural talent.  Essentially, as long as its ambassadors are excelling in their chosen discipline, be that on the pitch, on the golf-course or on the track, they are promoting the Nike brand how they are supposed to.   Tiger Woods cheated on his wife; Michael Vick held pitbull-fights at his home (!?) and Kobe Bryant has a long list of offences that most would agree are far worse than doping, yet none of these wrongdoings directly impacted on their ability to drive a golf ball 350 yards, run a 50 yard touchdown or score 80+ points per game respectively.  For all of their wrongdoings they still represented Nike’s brand values.

In contrast, Armstrong’s doping completely shattered the illusion that he was this super-human machine whose achievements were entirely down to his dedication and intense training. As Laura Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing consultant says, “Nike is about ‘just doing it’ and that doesn’t mean drugs. It means hard work and ethics. And this flew in the face of it.”  Furthermore, his doping charge removed any thought that the clothing and equipment supplied by Nike had any impact on Armstrong’s competitive edge – we have been left with no false impressions as to what gave Lance his competitive advantage.

Whilst Nike will continue to represent the cream of the sporting elite (Rory McIlroy has reportedly been offered a ten-year £15 million per annum deal to replace Armstrong), it’s likely that certain brands will follow Red Bull in focussing on less famous athletes and increasing spend on activation. The energy drink has been hugely successful over the years in getting great market exposure and engagement through lesser known sportsmen and women – whether that be through taking BMXing to the next level, hosting the world cliff-diving championships or throwing the previously unheard of Felix Baumgartner towards earth from space.  Obviously these types of endorsements tend to suit the more extreme brands, but perhaps the Armstrong incident will encourage sponsors to see if their money might be better spent on endorsing the Felix Baumgartner’s of the sporting world, acting as the bridge for success from grass roots level to the pinnacle of their ambassadors’ careers.

Slingshot Sponsorship Get Extreme with Nitro Circus Live 16th September, 2012

Nitro Circus Live – an extension of the hit MTV show and proclaimed by many as the greatest action sports show in the world today – has appointed Slingshot Sponsorship as its sponsorship agency for their first ever European Tour.

Following the success of the 2011 Australian tour, Nitro Circus Live will be touring Europe throughout November and December 2012 – with three dates in the UK alone: London, O2 Arena, 3 December; Manchester, Manchester Arena, 4 December; and Birmingham, National Indoor Arena, 5 December.  Slingshot Sponsorship will be aiming to facilitate new partnerships with the tour in addition to existing sponsors Red Bull and DC Shoes.

The brainchild of seventeen time X Games gold medalist, Travis Pastrana, Nitro Circus Live features death defying stunts from the world’s best action sports stars across Freestyle Motocross, BMX, Skateboarding and more, with UK venues already well on their way to selling out for the December shows.

Nitro Circus Live’s European leg is set to be part of a bigger global tour visiting the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Asia and the Middle East over the next 18 months with the Nitro Circus 3D movie set for release in September 2012. The tour therefore offers unparalleled global exposure and unique brand activation opportunities within the action sports market and beyond.

Kari Traa Brand Activation – Red Bull Cliff Diving, Norway 2012 9th August, 2012

Our Norwegian partners BITE AGENCY made the case for the very well known female sports brand, Kari Traa of Norway, to work with the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship.

As cliff diving is traditionally a male dominated sport, it was necessary to create a viable link for Kari Traa to be a part of the event as a main sponsor.

THE link:
Women will, as of next year, be an official part of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Championships.  So far so good.

Then we went looking for one of the few female cliff divers worldwide.  We found Anna Bader who was willing to be a part of the sponsorship – however, as females jump from 20m (rather than the 27m the men dive from), we managed to create a teaser dive a few days ahead of the event, together with Red Bull’s Orlando Duque, 7 times world champion cliff diver.

As a result, a very organic story was created, with Anna opening the doors to females as of next year, Kari Traa (the double Olympic Gold Medalist Skier) endorsing her in a male dominated sport and the clothing brand Kari Traa as a product item.

During Show
During the event we showed an event clip about Anna Bader, her dive and the story behind it on the 70m2 screen to the audience, Kari Traa was sampling from a boat on shore and all in all the brand was extremely visible during the day to the local and international press and the audience present.

Follow Up
Anna Bader will be a part of the Kari Traa Extreme Team, Kari Traa extends cooperations with Red Bull and Kari Traa’s German efforts might very well be based around Anna in 2013.

The video clip of the event and an own-production video will be launched through KariTraa.com and national media in the course of August to match follow ups of Cliff Diving and international exploitations regarding the clothing brand.

Check out the footage from the event.

For more information on this innovative partnership – feel free to contact:

BITE here or Slingshot here

Leverage vs. Rights: The Evolution of Sponsorship Spend 19th July, 2012

A weekend showcasing two of this year’s biggest boxing showdowns has prompted a blog looking further into sponsorship’s very own rights holder rivalry: the niche underdog versus the undisputed mass appeal property.

As sponsorship history goes, the large-scale established property has always been the primary choice for bigger brands to use as a marketing platform with such rights holders offering more exposure, better hospitality and a more expansive opportunity for activation than the smaller properties out there. However, brands are beginning to adopt a new approach by increasingly taking the power in their own hands via focusing investment towards leverage. No brand has received more success in this area of marketing than Red Bull. By taking ownership of smaller, less mainstream, properties from breakdancing to cliff-diving, the energy drink has been able to take control of brand messaging; completely tailoring their sponsorship, and the property, towards the values of their target demographic. With such success in publicising their presence within the actions sports arena, the brand has even gone one step further with the creation of Red Bull Media House, a platform allowing for extended communication of exclusive Red Bull content across TV, mobile, digital and print.

Where once it was a typical Haye vs. Chisora situation, where all bets and confidence were placed within the bigger name, brands are opening up to the concept of taking the side of the underdog, using their own financial and marketing resources to aggressively infiltrate the market, creating a more Garcia vs. Khan type scenario.

Despite 22% of global sponsors only investing in pure sponsorship rights with no leverage, the ratio of activation investment compared to rights currently stands at an all-time high of 1.7:1. So what is the reasoning behind brands shifting investment towards leveraging their sponsorships? Quite simply, when executed properly, activation spend is inextricably linked to return on investment. The more relevant a brand can make itself to an audience’s personal interests, the more likely the audience is going to buy into the concept. By working its way into the lifestyle fabric of a key demographic, a brand will naturally become the preferred choice among the numerous options available to the consumer.

As an energy drink, Red Bull has created a brand image that personifies stimulation and rebellion, pushing the boundaries in everything they do and showcasing the product’s core function on a truly emotional level. This innovative approach has in turn ensured that the original energy drink has continued to dominate the market, with competitors from Monster to Relentless all playing catch-up to Red Bull’s 42% market share – a true testament to the benefits of sponsorship leverage.

Red Bull Puts Cliff Diving on the Female Map 5th July, 2012

Slingshot alongside Scandinavian colleagues BITE manage the sponsorship for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series in Grimstad, Norway. The World Series is cliff diving at its most death defying, with divers descending from heights of up to 28 metres. The Norway event, the second stop in the World Series calendar, takes place this weekend 6-7th July.

This year we managed to secure former female Olympic and World Champion Kari Traa and newcomer Anna Bader to this event in Norway and this recent article (translated from Norwegian) highlights this fantastic partnership that was built to promote the introduction of female cliff diving in the World Series in 2013.

Taken from an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK:

“Women should be bolder”, says former Olympic and World Champion Kari Traa as she tries to get more women involved in cliff diving.

On Tuesday Traa was at Justøybroa in Lillesand to sponsor the German Anna Bader, a lone female in the midst of the male-dominated sport. Next year it is determined that female divers will participate in the world series, and so, Bader was invited to Norway by Kari Traa to make a so-called “teaser dive.”

“The last seconds before the precipice, I am very focused. I’m trying to find the right feeling and energy, so at the moment I jump I am one hundred percent focused. It takes a lot of courage, but women are certainly able to carry on with this. I am really looking forward to women competing next year”, said the smiling 28-year-old to NRK.

Tuesday’s event was just a taster of what will happen in Grimstad during the Red Bull Cliff Diving this Saturday.

For more information on BITE and Slingshot Sponsorship’s joint services in the UK and Europe, please click here.

For the full article and to see Bader’s cliff dive on Tuesday at Justøybroa click here.

Red Bull Car on TRACKER's stand at Commercial Vehicle Show 16th April, 2012

Having teamed up with TRACKER to manage their logistical requirements for the Commercial Vehicle Show, Slingshot Sponsorship are excited to announce the presence of the Red Bull RB6 Formula 1 on stand 3A10.  Stand visitors can also enter into a prize draw to win two tickets to the F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, as well as a tour for two at the Red Bull factory, in Milton Keynes.

TRACKER, a leading telematics and vehicle tracking expert in the UK, will also be unveiling groundbreaking, patented technology and its fleet telematics used by Red Bull Racing to control their costs and focus on the safety of its team.

F1 World Champions Red Bull Racing combines its dedicated and passionate transport and logistics team with the expertise of TRACKER, its fleet telematics partner to ensure the Red Bull Racing team stays on the winner’s podium.

Red Bull Racing’s Formula One design and engineering team, Red Bull Technology, need to ensure the fleet is running as efficiently as possible in order to make vehicle, parts, equipment and team deliveries across Europe. But this all has to be balanced with a constant focus on safety and duty of care responsibilities, which is a challenge when time is in short supply.

With a fleet of 23 vehicles in the UK and across Europe, Red Bull Technology harnesses the power of TRACKER’s fleet telematics solution to deliver a detailed view of driver behaviour and fuel usage across each vehicle. This allows Transport Manager for Red Bull Technology, Ed Porter, to monitor speeds, journey routes and the general whereabouts of the fleet team.

Ed Porter, Transport Manager for Red Bull Technology explains:

I need to be able to manage a fleet that is spread across Europe, keeping in control of what is happening throughout the day without compromising the efficiency of the fleet. The nature of the Formula One industry is that we need everything yesterday, making time the most valuable commodity for me and my team.  If I could buy time, I would, but TRACKER’s fleet tracking system goes a long way in helping me make the best of the time I have

Stephen Doran, Managing Director for TRACKER adds:

This is an exciting opportunity for people to come and see the Red Bull Formula 1 car at the Commercial Vehicle Show. We are also giving visitors to the TRACKER stand a chance to walk away with an amazing prize. And of course, the TRACKER team will be on hand to demonstrate the potential benefits our fleet tracking solutions can provide commercial vehicle fleet managers.

Slingshot Sponsorship team up with Oslo-based agency BITE for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2012 20th March, 2012

Slingshot Sponsorship, the London based sponsorship agency, will work closely with their Scandinavian colleagues BITE to manage the sponsorship for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series in Grimstad, Norway.  The sponsorship and brand management specialists have combined to create commercialopportunities around the event – one of only 6 World Series Competitions worldwide – that add real value for both brands and the spectators.

The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2012 returns to Norway on 6-7th July – two years after Kragero hosted the country’s first Red Bull Cliff Diving competition.  The World Series is high diving at its most death-defying – an acrobatic descent into water from heights of up to 28m. Once in the air, the divers have approximately three seconds to coordinate their movements before they break the surface of the water at around 100kph (60mph).

Julian Gursky, Head of Events & Sports at Red Bull Norway commented:

We are excited to try a new combination of an international sponsor management approach for our cliff diving world championship stop in Grimstad, Norway by assigning the allied agencies BITE Agency and Slingshot Sponsorship to this challenge

Prospective sponsors will be fully integrated with the two-day event, in Grimstad, as well as during the 21-day day pre-tour, incorporating six cities across Norway, offering ample opportunities for activation, sampling, branding and online promotions.  They will also have rights to footage shot over the two days, giving access to some truly unique content.

Jackie Fast, Managing Director of Slingshot Sponsorship commented:

The Red Bull Cliff Diving sponsorship platform is a great example of how brand platforms can be monetised.  The Slingshot and BITE expertise of sponsorship and branding creates the perfect combination of services to really leverage these types of brand partnerships effectively. We are looking forward to launching this service with Red Bull!

Managing Director of BITE Robert Leinders-Krog also commented:

Approaching this local platform from an international perspective will both increase opportunities and give us a global brand activation arena – executed locally. Exciting times.

For more information on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series please click here.