Category: Blog

Sports Sponsorship: More Than Just Branding 25th January, 2012

Ever since Kettering Town became the first English football club to host a sponsor – Kettering Tyres – across their ‘famous’ red and white shirts, in 1976, corporate sponsors have been obsessed with branding. Every sport, from snowboarding to horse riding, is full of brands trying to get the most prominent position on a racer’s helmet or the best placed advertising board on any given sports field around the world.

The most pertinent example I can find of such blatant logo blasting is FX Pro’s sponsorship of Fulham – signed chiefly so the foreign exchange broker could have its logo streaked across the roof of Fulham’s home ground, which lies directly along the Heathrow flightpath. A multi million pound deal, just so people flying in from Beijing can see your company emblem. No message explaining what they do, how they do it or what their company ethos is – JUST the logo.

And for years this type of marketing has worked.

Exposing customers to logos has been a tried and tested formula, creating profit for brands for decades. But in today’s market, where we are constantly blasted with logos of innumerable brands – many of which we don’t even recognize – is it enough? And from a sponsor’s perspective, is it even worth it?

In today’s world a simple logo is no longer enough – it does not convey enough about your company to make a positive impression on the consumer. With marketing budgets being slashed, brands are being forced to ENGAGE with their target audience, to ensure resonance. Well-executed sponsorship activations can do just this. They bridge the communication gap, allowing the target audience to experience exactly what the brand has to offer. For the rights owner, such sponsorship deals offer the opportunity to provide a richer and more complete experience to their audience.

Whilst many sponsor relationships remain stuck in this branding culture (especially within sports sponsorship), some brands and rights owners are leading the way through truly innovating sponsorship campaigns. One of the most forward thinking approaches is the partnership between Spanish giants Real Madrid and network provider Cisco Systems. The agreement will see the installation of Cisco’s high-density Wi-Fi system at Madrid’s home stadium – Santiago Bernabeu – allowing fans to:

Access specifically designed applications through their smartphones, encouraging them to engage directly with the Santiago Bernabeau.
Watch Hi-Definition screens throughout the ground that will broadcast replays, highlights and interviews exclusively to those in the stadium.
Utilise social media – encouraging match-goers to share tweets of their match day experience with those at the stadium and those around the world.

Whilst there is an argument from die-hard fans that such technological progressions may detract from the atmosphere on match-days, I actually think it has the potential to enhance it. I’m not advocating everyone sitting on their iPhones, tweeting for 90 minutes. Rather, at half-time or during injury stoppages people in the ground can watch a replay of a missed opportunity they couldn’t see clearly; get information about a new player; or even find out the words to a chant they weren’t aware of – meaning they can actively contribute to and thus improve the atmosphere in the ground.

Another interesting approach to sponsorship within the realm of football has been the recent partnership between Manchester City & EA Sports. Both partners have fully embraced the relationship, making user-interaction a far more engaging and rewarding experience both at match days and online. A few examples of the activation have included:

A virtual launch of the club’s kit for the 2011-2012 season, exhibited by a computer generated Manchester City eleven.
Full motion capture of the Manchester City squad, making player movement even more realistic – resulting in Manchester City being the most commonly used team by online FIFA 2012 players around the world.
A proposal to use FIFA statistics to simulate upcoming Manchester City matches.

All interesting stuff, however the innovation of this campaign lies in the way users are directed to the data. The plan is to deliver the latest software – Sergio Aguero’s new haircut, up-to-date statistics, or the new Manchester City away kit – to users via smartphone, be it using a personalized QR code or the RFID chip on the back of fan’s membership cards. Once the code is scanned, the fan receives unique FIFA 2012 data, which they can then trade with other consumers. Friends could swap them via smartphone, match-goers could swap them at a game and online users could swap them over Facebook. While EA Sports and Manchester City would create the initial software, the fans would be tasked with sharing the data – taking the EA Sports and Manchester City brand into a more social setting.

Although football sponsors have the tendency to simply ‘brand’ everything, Formula 1 sponsors are undoubtedly more culpable: every driver, every car and every available space is awash with corporate sponsors. Such branding may still be effective to a point, but some companies are realizing that they can get so much more out of their sponsorship. A perfect example of this realization is the ‘Step Inside the Circuit’ campaign, produced from Johnnie Walker’s sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes racing team.

Viewers are directed to branded content via Johnnie Walker’s Facebook page, where they are then transported to the hustle and bustle of a Formula 1 track. Users can mingle with the other drivers, check out the last minute adjustments to the cars or take a spin around the track to experience what it’s like for Lewis Hamilton or Sebastien Vettel on race day. To further personalize the experience, photos are taken from the user’s Facebook, along with webcam input and text-to-speech technology. The campaign culminates with 20 competition winners being taken to Silverstone for three days of training, finishing with VIP tickets to the Grand Prix itself.

It is still unclear, which of these different sponsorship channels will prevail and prove to be most rewarding for a partnership in the long-term. Many of these alliances are still in their infancy and it is impossible to tell if anyone has already found a winning formula. However what is clear is that, if done correctly, there are substantial gains to be made for the sponsors, right owners and fans themselves:

Sponsors better engage with their audience and promote their brand
Rights owners can offer a richer and more varied experience to their brand/event
Fans receive a more interactive and diverse experience.

From what we’ve seen, it is clear that future sponsors cannot rely simply on branding alone.

Slingshot Sponsorship Partner with Scandinavian-based BITE Agency 23rd January, 2012

Slingshot Sponsorship and BITE have formed a strategic alliance that will see a union of expertise from two of the biggest prospects in sponsorship and brand management respectively. The innovative partnership will work with brands and rights owners to truly grasp building a brand and then creating commercial opportunities from that foundation.

Having launched in the UK in 2010, Slingshot Sponsorship has quickly gained significant market share within the rights owner community working with diverse organisations including Haymarket Consumer Media, Mencap, and the London Irish Rugby Club. Unlike other sponsorship agencies, Slingshot helps organisations build up their assets in order to become viable marketing platforms for brands. As such, branding and brand identity is vital to ensure success with creating a sustainable sponsorship programme.

Based in Scandinavia, specifically Oslo, Norway, BITE is a newly formed team of international brand innovators, facilitating strategic brand activation through non-traditional methods. By working together, both agencies will be able to follow their customers through their brand building and exploitation journey and help them realise their full commercial potential. The ability to also access two unique markets will provide Slingshot/BITE clients with data that has not been available previously.

Jackie Fast, managing director of Slingshot Sponsorship commented:

This is such an exciting development and a natural progression on what we do. By ensuring we have experts identifying and developing the core brand proposition, we will be able to help our clients become more successful when integrating commercial opportunities. This has been a gap within our current clients marketing mix and so we are delighted to be able to fill this gap.

Robert D B Leinders-Krog, managing director of BITE commented:

In recent years we have clearly seen a major shift in the international marketing and brand sphere, with companies and organizations needing to holistically approach their marketing and branding strategies. This unique partnership will ensure our clients competitive advantage internationally with a profound base in concrete brand strategy and in-depth commercial exploitation. Our international approach combines European expertise with renowned Scandinavian innovation practices and will give our clients unique platforms of activation. We are very excited!

The partnership will enable clients to reap the benefits of a single agency who can manage the entire journey of brand strategy, activation and commercialisation from a completely unique market position. That both companies are experts in their own field guarantees clients are provided with a tailor-made service, comprising the best from sponsorship and brand-management.

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.

The What Car? Awards – a Sponsorship Agency Perspective 13th January, 2012

After a long anticipated year working with the What Car? Car of the Year Awards, the event has happened!

Held at the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane, the event was a fantastic culmination of the hard work that went into developing and launching the new cars of 2012. With a beautifully dressed room and entertainment from Chris Addison, the event was definitely one to remember.

In terms of sponsorship, we managed to increase the sponsorship revenue by 1032% and increased the number of sponsors from two to nine. To find out more on the strategy employed please visit our case study here.

2012 sponsors that were involved included Hankook, TRACKER, Metro, Mondial Assistance, Green Flag, Cobra, Thule, CNI, and Warranty Direct. For more information on this year’s sponsors please click here. For a full list of the What Car? 2012 winning manufacturers please click here.

If you missed it, we thought the Twitter action summed it up nicely:

Even the sponsors were getting involved…

Some of the wins…

And the big announcement…

And of course, no awards blog post would be complete without photos from the Photo Booth sponsored by Associate Sponsor TRACKER. Here is the Slingshot Team in action:

Top 3 Sponsorship Predictions 2012 9th January, 2012

Following the mulled wine and too many Quality Street sweets over the Christmas period, I thought it would be important to kick start the year with some predictions on the sponsorship industry for 2012. With so many new things happening this year, it may prove to be a unsettled year for many organisations and difficult for anyone to predict much; however, here are my top 3 predictions:

1. The Olympic Predicament

To sponsor or not to sponsor events during the London Olympic Games period – that is the question on everyone’s mind. Although most of the big brands have taken one road or the other, many brands still have not yet decided how to take advantage of the opportunity of millions of people descending upon London providing a fantastic opportunity to reach a global community locally.

The nervousness lies in history as well as legalities.

With many brands having never been involved with initiating marketing campaigns during the Olympics, it can be almost impossible to decide whether sponsoring events or even increasing marketing during the London Olympic Games will pay off or if you will just get lost in the brand mass.

Although I can’t predict whether or not every brand should go for it as it will always be brand dependent and also dependent on the activation and platform you will be pushing your marketing through – I can say that the London Olympics is providing an opportunity that won’t be coming around again in the near future and if you are able to take advantage, then you should get on board. However, I’d recommend deciding how you’ll participate sooner rather than later in order to make the most out of your sponsorship and marketing campaigns during this period.

2. Brands are Working Together

I mentioned this in last year’s prediction post, but it still rings true today. More and more, brands are working together and creating synergy of resource. Most often this is because it is cheaper, but more importantly brand partnerships achieve more together than they can apart. This is a huge benefit of sponsorship, but you can also achieve the same benefits through in-kind partnerships and joint strategies – for example, getting a Print Partner or a Media Partner on board with your event.

Furthermore, more agencies will be looking to work together rather than treating each other as competitors. We’ve even gone done this route recently teaming up with Brand Innovation Agency BITE in order to provide their Scandinavian-based clients with sponsorship services and our clients with branding services – benefiting both sets of clients!

3. The Sponsorship Market will be Cluttered!

With a significant number of public funding organisations losing their funding this year, I anticipate there will be an influx of sponsorship proposals being sent out to brands. This means a number of things for rights owners, but mainly:

Rights owners will have a harder time selling sponsorship.
Great proposals and pitches will differentiate the competition rather than platforms due to lack of resource.

And for interest, you can also read my 2011 Predications Blog and find out whether I was right.

Good luck with 2012 – regardless of whether my predications are right, I can bet it will be a very interesting year for everyone. And of course, don’t forget to sign up to the Slingshot Sponsorship Blog in order to track my predication progress!

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 3^rd 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.

Top 10 Sales Tips for Sponsorship Rights Holders 12th December, 2011

With an increasing number of platforms available for corporate partnership, the selection process for brands is becoming more complex, with a wide range of factors influencing the allocation of marketing budgets. Therefore when approaching potential partners, it is important for rights holders to ensure that each of the following factors is taken into account:

1. Price

The fees asked by the rights holder play a key role in the decision-making process for a sponsor to come on board with a property. The price of association is often the first aspect of a proposal to be looked at and it is therefore imperative that rights owners understand how to value their sponsorship assets correctly.

2. Timing

Depending on the company and industry, budgeting can take place at different times of the year. However, as a rights holder, the important thing is to understand the general time of year that marketing budgets will be allocated by your prospects in order not to miss the boat.

Depending on the size of the investment relative to the prospective sponsor, opportunities with lower fees may be handled on a tactical basis. However generally, companies will be much less open to new partnerships once budgets have been set and it is therefore crucial to get in there early.

Typically planning periods are September/October and March/April.

3. Prospects

It is important that rights holders understand the key demographic of their property’s audience as misunderstanding this can lead to approaching an inappropriate market and wasting valuable time.

Once understanding the relevant brands to approach, the next step is to understand their behavioural tendencies in terms of their general sponsorship partnerships and activations and how they have utilised these relationships in the past. This will highlight which assets are relevant to each sponsorship category and in turn allow for a more tailored approach.

4. Audience Resonance

Are the prospect’s consumers interested in the sponsorship? And furthermore, will the sponsorship audience be interested in the prospect’s products and services? A sponsor will always have their target audience in mind when activating a sponsorship and therefore you as a rights holder must also adopt the same thought process, ensuring that the needs and wants of your prospect’s consumer base align with the benefits of your property.

5. Attendance

In the case of an event-based platform, the attendance is always of high priority to prospective sponsors. Whether the focus is on engaging with a specific audience or allowing for key networking opportunities, the attendance must present the prospect of new business opportunities.

A common error in the sales approach of a rights holder is approaching all companies within their property’s industry rather than taking the time to break down it down by relevance. By evaluating the industry and which areas will be most relevant, sales teams can prioritise their approach, generally receiving more positive feedback and in turn taking less time to close new partnerships.

6. Reflection of Company Values

The more a company can see of itself in a property, the more willing they will be to forge a partnership as a key aspect of a sponsorship is to emphasise brand values. This again relates to audience resonance and the tailoring of a sales approach as different selling points will appeal to different brands depending on their relative markets.

7. Comparison of New Business Figures with Previous Sponsorships

Producing financial, attendance, or media value figures are one of the most effective ways in which to sell a property as they are cold hard facts that cannot be easily manipulated. Tangible figures and facts provide a clear indication of such highly influencing factors as ROI, media coverage, attendance and give the prospect an immediate understanding of the tangible benefits they would receive from their investment.

8. Prioritisation of Company Goals

Each sponsorship platform caters to different aims and objectives of sponsors, this being a huge factor in the prospect’s decision making process. What is the largest benefit of sponsoring your property? There may be more than one but at least one of them should align with the core objective of the brand.

9. Cross Marketing Opportunities

Sponsorship platforms can attract brands from different industries with similar audiences. These rare opportunities can create cross marketing benefits that add substantial value to a sponsorship. This tends to occur with Media Sponsor rights and we’d highly recommend considering bringing on board something like this to strengthen your event or program.

10. Data Provision

Another advantage of sponsorship is the opportunity to carry out research amongst a captive sample of a brand’s target audience. If you are able to offer behavioural data to your sponsor helping them streamline their products and services, this brings a whole new level of value to the sponsorship – gaining important exposure whilst receiving precious qualitative feedback.

By putting in the time and research to evaluate each of the above factors before pitching to prospective sponsors, rights holders are able to carry out a truly time and cost effective sales approach. This will in turn allow for a more streamlined prospect list, resulting in fewer knock-backs and improved close-ratios.

Furthermore, adopting a more methodical approach will significantly increase sales staff motivation, driving the property forward in terms of investment and the opportunities for expansion that come with it.

Let Little Noise Commence 23rd November, 2011

Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions sponsored by ASUS and curated by Mencap ambassador Jo Whiley kicked off with a bang last night. Held at iconic church, St John-at-Hackney, the first of six shows saw Elbow headlining last night and, as many tweeps this morning commented, it was indeed epic.

With the St John-at-Hackney priest blessing the event, it would have been impossible for the gig to not go as well as it did.

The fundraising festival runs from tonight until Sunday and also includes gigs from the likes of rapper Example, pop diva Goldfrapp, Coldplay’s front man Chris Martin, and Scottish Mercury Music Prize nominee King Creosote.

Sponsors ASUS have tied it in with their fantastic campaign In Search of Incredible promoting their new N series of laptops and Zenbooks that have incredible sound systems developed with Bang & Olufsen.

We can’t wait to see how the rest of the week turns out!

Innovation in UK Sports Sponsorship 21st November, 2011

Each year, towards the climax of rugby union’s most demanding league, the Aviva Premiership, London Irish Rugby Club host their two biggest games of the season The St. Patrick’s and End of Season Parties.

Last year with the aid of Slingshot Sponsorship, London Irish implemented a unique strategy with these games applying a three dimensional model that generated new revenue, promoted fan loyalty and increased the reach and exposure of the club.

These events saw the introduction of live music, entertainment, competitions, food stalls, and brand experiences prior to kick off for the sold-out fans creating a festival experience. This changed the single match day experience to an entire day out for families and supporters within the Madejski Stadium.

Further to creating a more encompassing day for fans, it has also proved to be an innovative way to allow international, national and local brands to get involved with one of the biggest team names in British sport at a fraction of the fees commonly associated with sports sponsorship. In doing so, the club has been able to create additional value for fans through this new sponsorship revenue stream supporting activity on those specific game days.

Experiential Brand Activations

In 2011 both events integrated a number of brand partnerships for these two games. From the EA Sports Hub providing visitors with the chance to experience the latest EA Sports video games in a pop-up gaming station, to McCain Foods’ inflatable Track and Field Road Show giving younger fans a chance to be mentored by professional athletes at a range of disciplines from running and jumping to strength and reaction testing.

Benefits for brands included:

Being able to physically connect with the London Irish audience of young families
Communicating the brand messaging through the integrated marketing campaigns including game programmes, print, online, and social media
A platform to promote positive messages of sport and health
Brand exposure for local businesses to reach the community through one of the biggest experiential marketing, advertising and hospitality platforms in the area

2012 and Beyond

By offering the opportunity for sports association at single games, the St. Patrick’s and End of Season parties are attracting growing numbers of partners each year and in turn presenting increased diversity in the event content offered. This is inevitably broadening the team’s fan base; providing a sustainable and growing sponsorship platform, whilst simultaneously building upon the traditions of heritage UK rugby club. With St. Patrick’s Day 2012 seeing Aviva Premiership winners Leicester Tigers come to the Madejski stadium, followed by Gloucester for the final game of the season, London Irish’s two key events of the year are set to be the biggest yet and will no doubt provide the parties to match.

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