Tag: awards sponsorship

What Car? Car Of The Year Awards 2013 15th January, 2013

After much anticipation, the What Car? Car of the Year Awards in association with Warranty Direct took place on Wednesday 9th January 2013 at the prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane. The event was by far the biggest and best to date with all of the leading manufacturers from the motoring industry in attendance.  The Awards were visually spectacular with the stage placed in the middle of the room amongst the tables and entertainment from comedian Al Murray had the audience in stitches.

The Awards presented by the BBC’s Kate Silverton and What Car? Editor in Chief Chas Hallet revealed the best cars on the market in 2012. The category winners were selected from an incredibly high standard of contenders, with the Audi A3 Sportback taking the prestigious title of What Car? Car of the Year. To view the full list of the 2013 contenders and winners click here.

The 2013 event was a resounding success for the What Car? Awards sponsors with Warranty Direct coming onboard as headline sponsor for the first time, Kwik-Fit joining Associate Sponsors Hankook and TRACKER and Category Sponsors Allianz Global Assistance and Cobra continuing their support for the Awards. For further information on this year’s sponsors click here.

Over 300 people engaged with the What Car? Awards on Twitter and gave a strong indication of the buzz surrounding the 2013 Awards:

Slingshot Sponsorship is Shortlisted at the Camden & Islington Business Awards 11th October, 2012

Jackie Fast, Managing Director of Slingshot Sponsorship has been nominated for the second consecutive year at the Camden & Islington Business Awards for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The category is open to business owners who have shown exceptional business acumen and achieved consistent business growth since launching.

Slingshot Sponsorship delivers and develops long-term brand strategies that engage targeted audiences through sponsorship rights. Integrated and tailored in each approach, Slingshot diversifies across a range of industries with an extensive client list that includes Red Bull, Caterham, Outlook Festival and BBC Worldwide.  Since its launch less than 3 years ago, the sponsorship agency has grown dramatically in Islington moving offices over 3 times in less than 8 months due to its expansion.  Slingshot currently employ 10 staff and are looking to recruit additional team members to fulfill the new clients that continue to look for sponsorship services that are more innovative in their execution.

Jackie Fast is thrilled to be nominated, commenting:

It is an absolute pleasure to be nominated again, for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  Since launching Slingshot Sponsorship three years ago, our business has grown exponentially – which truly shows how valuable our unique business proposition is.  It’s a real honour to be recognised by the local community.

The awards celebrate the work and efforts of businesses across Islington and Camden and look to recognise those who have successfully grown and maintained their business positioning throughout 2012. Miss Fast’s repeat nomination illustrates Slingshot Sponsorship’s capabilities in creating successful partnerships as the company continues to go from strength to strength.

The winners of the Camden & Islington Business Awards will be presented at the Islington Chamber of Commerce on Thursday 1st November 2012.

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.

What Car? Awards Safe and Secure with TRACKER 8th August, 2012

TRACKER, the leading provider of vehicle tracking and telematics systems, is to be an associate sponsor of the annual What Car? Car of the Year Awards, which takes place on January 9, 2013. TRACKER will also sponsor the luxury car category.

What Car? publishing director Andrew Golby said: “It’s great news that TRACKER is to be involved with the What Car? Awards again next year. The Awards grow in importance year on year and the influence of any company being involved is hugely beneficial and far-reaching.”

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards are the most coveted accolades in the automotive industry. They are presented to cars that set the highest standards in their sector after being put through the toughest, most rigorous tests by the most experienced team in the business.

TRACKER managing director Stephen Doran said: “TRACKER is proud once again to be involved with the What Car? Car of the Year Awards. What Car? has long since promoted the power of working together to beat car criminals and our sponsorship of the Awards enables us to reinforce our message to its growing readership of the importance of vehicle security.”

“Our recently launched Mesh Network is the latest innovation that places TRACKER at the forefront of stolen vehicle recovery solutions.  It brings together the motoring community to support the police in identifying stolen vehicles and returning them to their rightful owners.”

TRACKER has been leading the way in the field of vehicle tracking and telematics since 1993, with more than a million market-leading security and award-winning fleet management systems fitted to vehicles including cars, motorcycles, HGVs, LCVs and plant and construction equipment.

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards event is attended by more than 1000 leading industry figureheads alongside the most influential motoring correspondents from the wider media.

The event is to be held at the Grosvenor House in London on January 9, 2013. For more information and table bookings visit www.whatcarawards.com.

Cobra in the Fast Lane with What Car? 30th July, 2012

Cobra, a leader in the provision of security, safety and telematics solutions for the automotive and insurance industries, continues to sponsor the Performance Car of the Year category in the What Car? Car of the Year Awards 2013.

What Car? publishing director Andrew Golby said: “It’s great news that Cobra is to be involved for the third year running with the annual What Car? Awards – the performance category is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting categories. We look forward to working with Cobra to deliver the best What Car? Awards yet.”

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards are the most coveted accolades in the automotive industry. The Awards are presented to cars that set the highest standards in their sector after being put through the toughest, most rigorous tests by the most experienced team in the business.

Cobra is the European market leader for stolen-vehicle tracking and location-based services, through its CobraTrak and NavTrakbrands. The company supplies stolen-vehicle tracking and recovery services at a pan-European level to Audi, Bentley, Ferrari, Infiniti, Lamborghini, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Renault, Rolls-Royce and Tesla.

Cobra also provides telematics services to vehicle manufacturers, and to insurers for the new breed of usage based insurance policies, including supplying the telematics technology that powers the highly successful Co-Operative Young Driver Insurance.

Andrew Smith, Managing Director of Cobra said: “It’s a great fit for Cobra as a key supplier to so many car manufacturers to be involved with the What Car? Awards. The Awards are an excellent benchmark that really help consumers when making a buying decision. With so many cars and derivatives on sale, it is becoming an increasingly difficult decision – a What Car? Award elevates a car above the crowd.”

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards event is attended by more than 1000 leading industry figureheads alongside the most influential motoring correspondents from the wider media.

The event is to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on January 9, 2013. For more information and table bookings visit www.whatcarawards.com.

What Car? Announce Sponsorship Deal with Hankook Tyre UK 9th July, 2012

What Car? has signed a new associate sponsorship deal with Hankook Tyre UK for the 2013 What Car? Car of The Year Awards.  Hankook will also continue to sponsor the Ultra-low-carbon car category.

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards are the most coveted accolades in the automotive industry. The Awards are presented to cars that set the highest standards in their sector after being put through the toughest, most rigorous tests by the most experienced team in the business.

Andrew Golby, What Car? publishing director said: “It’s great news that Hankook Tyre is to be associate sponsor of the 2013 What Car? Awards once again. It is one of the largest and fastest-growing tyre manufacturers worldwide, and the collaboration allows it to communicate with the ever-growing What Car? audience.  Tyres are big business, because at some time, every motorist will need to invest in new tyres.”

Each year, Hankook produces 12 million innovative, high-quality and high-performance radial tyres for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, RVs, trucks, and buses as well as motorsports (circuit racing/rallies).

The benefits of the sponsorship deal includes the alignment with the most authoritative and trusted brand in motoring, brand positioning and awareness, extensive PR opportunities, networking and brand association with the awards via a multi-channel promotional campaign.

Tony Lee, Managing Director of Hankook Tyre UK said: “All of us at Hankook are looking forward to working with the What Car? team on what is without doubt the premier UK automotive awards. Tyres may not be very glamorous but they are so very important and we hope that the sponsorship will in turn put Hankook on the shopping list of What Car? readers”.

Andrew Golby continued: “Winning a What Car? Award is good for a car maker’s business. The authority of the What Car? brand sells cars, plain and simple. It adds power to advertising and marketing campaigns and is a huge draw for customers.”

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards event is attended by more than 1000 leading industry figureheads alongside the most influential motoring correspondents from the wider media.

The event is to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on January 9, 2013 with top-class entertainment yet to be announced. Previous headline acts have included Jonathan Ross, Jimmy Carr, Al Murray and Jo Brand. For more information and table bookings visit www.whatcarawards.com.

PREVIOUS WHAT CAR? CAR OF THE YEAR WINNERS

2012                       Volkswagen Up                                                   1994                       Peugeot 306

2011                       Audi A1                                                                  1993                       Ford Mondeo

2010                       Peugeot 3008                                                      1992                       Volkswagen Golf

2009                       Ford Fiesta 1.25i 82 Zetec 5dr                         1991                       Rover Metro

2008                       Jaguar XF 2.7D V6 Luxury                                 1990                       Rover 214 Si

2007                       Vauxhall Corsa                                                    1989                       Ford Fiesta

2006                       BMW 320d                                                            1988                       BMW 735i

2005                       Land Rover Discovery                                        1987                       Renault 21 Savannah

2004                       Volkswagen Golf                                                 1986                       Saab 9000 Turbo 16

2003                       Seat Ibiza                                                              1985                       Volkswagen Golf

2002                       Toyota Corolla                                                      1984                       Peugeot 205

2001                       Ford Mondeo                                                        1983                       MG Metro

2000                       Skoda Fabia                                                         1982                       Mercedes 200T

1999                       Rover 75                                                                1981                       Volkswagen Golf

1998                       Land Rover Freelander                                      1980                       Vauxhall Astra

1997                       Renault Mégane Scénic                                     1979                       Peugeot 305

1996                       Peugeot 406                                                         1978                       Renault 20

1995                       VW Polo