Tag: Slingshot Sponsorship

How Sports Sponsorship is helping to bring Communities together 16th May, 2013

Last Thursday I attended the Innovation in Sports Business Summit, which was focused upon the theme of last weekend’s Euroleague Final Four. It brought together sports experts from various fields such as media, gaming, digital content, marketing, sponsorship and social responsibility. In times where marketing and CSR budgets increasingly overlap, the second panel, “The Power of Sport. How can Sport create a legacy?” was especially poignant . Headed by former Chelsea FC legend Graeme Le Saux and Simon Cooper, Head of Sport at Mayor’s London Office, the panellists discussed the influence and more importantly, responsibility that sport has on communities.

The European Sponsorship Association’s market trends survey revealed that CSR is increasingly becoming an integral part of sponsorship campaigns. Whereas in the past businesses and brands tended to spend their CSR budget on supporting arts or environmental based causes, they are beginning to acknowledge the power that sport has in terms of reaching and engaging with people on an emotional level.

There are many examples of how sports rights owners and brands are beginning to collaborate as a means to make a difference in people’s lives rather than just purely about the sponsorship – which in turn, is creating true value within the campaign. Here are three of my favourite sports sponsorship & CSR partnerships.

1. One Team – Euroleague Basketball & Turkish Airlines

The One Team CSR Marketing Programme was, of course, a focal point of the second panel at the Innovation in Sports Business Summit. Launched in 2012 in collaboration with Euroleague’s main sponsor, Turkish Airlines (their Founding Patron), the programme is additionally supported by eight Founding Partner Clubs and seven further Euroleague basketball clubs (by 2014 this will be extended 24 clubs in total).

The aim of One Team is to use the power of basketball to change lives. All 15 clubs involved in the initiative tailor and invest their community outreach with the aim to challenge key social issues faced by their communities. The clubs use an innovative methodology of assessment, outreach and results oriented analysis to create the maximum impact and results.

When discussing the success of the programme, panellist and architect of this European-wide development programme, David Butler, pointed to the importance of having the right measurement: “When asked ‘how is it going’, organizations tend to talk about increasing numbers, more children, more projects, more people, more scale, more geography. But that does not answer question properly. The question should be asked: ‘how much impact are you having? And how much positive change is happening?'”

Each one of the clubs works with disadvantaged individuals from their communities, with basketball as the integrating tool. An overview of all the different projects can be found here.

Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines, expressed the importance of initiatives such as these stating “At Turkish Airlines we believe that sport is a unique language that can inspire and One Team uses that language to talk to those who most need to hear its message of positive values.”

2. NBA Cares – NBA & Kia

One of Euroleague’s benchmarks was the NBA Cares programme. Similar to Euroleague’s One Team programme, NBA Cares is a community outreach initiative that addresses important social issues such as education, youth and family development as well as health and wellness. Since 2005, the league has partnered with NBA teams in order to support a range of programs, partners and initiatives that strive to support children and families on a global scale. So far, more than $210 million have been raised for charity and more than 2.3 million hours of hands-on service has been provided by the National Basketball Association and its clubs. Through TV-Spots (such as this one featuring Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade) at every NBA game, the league uses this content as a marketing tool to raise awareness about the issues surrounding many communities. Click here to see how the different teams and players are currently supporting NBA Cares.

Due to this success, the NBA has created a new sponsorship platform within the NBA Cares programme: the Kia Community Assist Awards that honour the NBA player who best reflects the passion that the league and its players have for giving back to their communities. This sponsorship deal is one step ahead of Euroleague’s partnership with Turkish Airlines as it engages with fans on a far bigger scale using Social Media channels such as Facebook.

3. Hamburger SV – “Hamburger Weg”

Football is probably the sport which has naturally the strongestbond to local communities. Hamburger SV is a very traditional football club in Germany and was one of the first clubs in the world who integrated sponsors into its CSR plans. The “Hamburger Weg” is a partnership between the football club Hamburger SV and local companies. The programme combines classical sponsorship with CSR, through donations. The club donates 1/11 of its sponsorship revenue to local organisations and charities to help them find the right footing in life. Hamburg’s sponsors are specifically branded with white logos on a blue perimeter advertising background which adds an additional affiliation between brand, charity and club.

Lessons the Sponsorship Industry should Learn from Kickstarter 15th May, 2013

Continuing from Jackie’s most recent blog, which expressed the inherent need for an understanding of sponsorship in every industry, I wanted to lead this blog in a similar vein. The past couple of weeks have seen the re-emergence of the platform Kickstarter into the blogosphere – a crowd-funding site that offers entrepreneurs, film-makers, artists, techies etc. a platform through which they can raise funding for specific ideas and projects.

Until a few weeks ago, many were unaware of Kickstarter until Mr Zach Braff (of Garden State and Scrubs fame) launched a campaign on the website to generate funding for his new movie ‘Wish I Was Here’ a kind-of-but-not-really sequel to Garden State – find his campaign video here. Through the website, and by the click of a button, anyone is able to become an investor in Braff’s film. What is more, those willing to sponsor are offered some pretty hefty benefits – ranging from larger investors being treated to a character in the film being named after them, to escorting Braff as one of his personal guests to the premier and after party – not bad.

Within only 3 days, Braff’s target of $2 million was smashed. Of course this was due, to a large extent, to Braff’s extensive networks (1,099,497 Twitter followers) and celebrity pals who helped him reach this goal. Yet despite the project’s success, Braff’s use of the site has come under immense scrutiny, with many citing this project to be one of (soon to be many) Hollywood overhauls on the website – which they believe will overshadow projects that really need to use the site to create contacts and source funding.

Despite the Hollywood backlash, the success Braff has gained through Kickstarter and the buzz his project has generated; has led me to identify 3 things the sponsorship industry should take away from this case study:

1) It is imperative to tap into passions – Sponsorship should always be about tapping into people’s interests and passions. As a marketing tool; the brands and rights-holders that have the most success, are the ones that really connect with what the consumer wants and understand what it is they need. Braff was able to build on the cult success of Garden State and use the affinity his fans have towards the film to help fund a new project, giving fans the opportunity to join him in the films journey.

2) Not just about the idea – Despite the success of Braff’s Kickstarter campaign, an overwhelming majority of Kickstarter projects lead to failure. As Michael C. Neel’s research shows, the campaigns that are the most successful are the ones that are able to promote and leverage networks, exercise connections and generate as much buzz as possible around the project. In essence, this is similar to sponsorship – those that are deemed ‘successful’ are the ones that are able to utilise every aspect of the relationship at hand – not just rely on the basic sponsorship or ‘idea’ itself.

3) Corporates should learn from crowd-funding – Some of the best ideas and projects gain fruition from smaller, grass-root platforms like Kickstarter; and it is important that these projects are able to gain funding. Sponsorship should be accessible and understood by all; not just large corporates – the funding of such projects will in turn help generate an already stagnant economy. Websites such as Kickstarter also offer first-hand insight into projects that are succeeding and those that are failing – offering corporates in real time, trends within specific industries.

Despite the criticism surrounding Braff’s use of Kickstarter, the re-emergence of the platform has emphasised once again, the need and capacity for sponsorship in all industries whether big or small.

Slingshot Sponsorship host workshop at Debut Contemporary 7th May, 2013

Slingshot’s Managing Director, Jackie Fast, appeared at Debut Contemporary last week to host a sponsorship workshop with emerging artists.

Debut Contemporary is an innovative platform aimed at talented and eager artists who wish to turn their art practice into a successful career and a viable business. Debut is the only professional development and career empowerment platform of its kind in the UK. Artists on the Debut Contemporary benefit from a wealth of opportunities including weekly workshops, access to a network of collectors, one on one mentoring sessions and the opportunity to exhibit at high profile events and gallery spaces.

Debut Contemporary ‘s key role is to assist artists who wish to make a career out of their talent. The economic recession and rising unemployment has been incredibly tough on those working within creative spheres. Debut Contemporary’s mission has been to overcome these challenges and give rising talent the chance to shine and get necessary exposure within the right networks. The platform offers individuals the opportunity to gain first hand insights and for others to pass on industry knowledge with the aim to increase a success rate of artists in the business – enabling them to live off their work and make some serious financial gains in the process.

Jackie volunteered to share her expertise in the field of sponsorship with the hope to encourage Debut artists to recognise its value. The workshop focused on a step-by-step guide to creating a sponsorship proposition and offered first-hand accounts of sponsorship in art.

Jackie stated ‘it was an honour to have the opportunity to host a workshop for so many talented artists. The recession has been tough on the arts, and sponsorship is the perfect solution for many of those struggling to make ends meet. It was great to host an interactive workshop with Debut Contemporary and I hope it was an insightful day for all those that attended.’

Deloitte Digital Partner with D&AD on their 2013 Award Ceremony 11th April, 2013

Deloitte Digital has been announced as Digital Design sector sponsor for the 2013 D&AD Awards, raising industry awareness of their new digital solutions service.

Globally renowned as the pinnacle of any creative’s career, the annual D&AD Awards celebrate and honour the best work produced from around the world within that year.

The Awards have developed to now stand at over 130 categories spread across 25 diverse disciplines – each rewarding those brave enough to challenge modern creativity.

The Digital Design category recognises groundbreaking work that pushes the limits of what can be digitally developed – from websites to apps, and everything in between, this is one of the most exciting and innovative categories within the awards.

Deloitte Digital expressed that ‘The D&AD Awards set the bar for the industry for the coming years and we are proud to align ourselves with such a well-respected and thought provoking creative body. At Deloitte Digital, we are truly passionate about all things digital – we seek to offer innovative and unique solutions for our clients and we are proud to do things differently.’

D&AD continues to redefine and challenge the creative community, and every year this is reflected through the awards. Previous winners including The Guardian, The Wilderness Downtown, Google Chrome, DDB Paris and Dentsu Tokyo.

Amanda Moorby, D&AD Partnerships Director said ‘D&AD are honoured to be joined by Deloitte Digital. As a company, they represent the future of digital agencies. We are excited to develop and explore an engaging and value-led partnership with Deloitte Digital for the 2013 D&AD Awards.’

This sponsorship deal was brokered by Slingshot Sponsorship.

Slingshot Sponsorship’s Mark Mylam Highly Commended for Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2013 27th March, 2013

Slingshot’s very own Mark Mylam was Highly Commended last night for the Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at Hollis Sponsorship Awards which were held at the Marriott Hotel in London.

Having only been in the sponsorship industry for two years, Mark’s High Commendation reflects how far he has come in such ashort period of time. The Barrie Gill Awards for Most Promising Young Executive recognsises young executives working within agencies, client companies or rights-owners who are making a significant impact within their organisation or sector. The awards seek to honour excellence, recognise effectiveness of campaigns, and in Mark’s case, his High Commendation is testament to his hard work, creativity and driving energy that he has contributed to Slingshot.

Mark stated ‘I am delighted with the High Commendation I received for the Barrie Gill Award. The Award itself celebrates emerging talent within sponsorship and I am honoured to be recognised as a part of the new generation breaking through.’

Mark’s achievement is not only reflected through his High Commendation but in the work he has done whilst at Slingshot. Having Account Managed three of Slingshot’s largest clients – British Heart Foundation, Mencap and Outlook Festival; Mark is set for great things in 2013 – Congratulations!

My Top 3 Digital Sponsorship Campaigns 25th March, 2013

Sponsorship campaigns have always relied on brand synergy and mutually benefitting concepts but now it is imperative to incorporate the partnerships through a digital platform. Here are three of my favourite digital sponsorship campaigns…

Nike and Apple (Nike+)

The Nike+ sponsorship campaign stands out for simply the sheer size of the two brands involved, as corporate logos go, few are as identifiable. For Nike and Apple there was no case of ‘clash of the titans’- merged products (shoes, sensors, kit) allowed joggers to be notified of progress by iPod prompts as well as tracking distance and duration. The data could be uploaded to a Mac or PC, and then on to Nikeplus.com, giving people the chance to record progress, set targets and share results.

For Apple, the sponsorship allowed them to target consumers from a different angle and created a much more fulfilling exercise experience thanks to their technology. For Nike, the sponsorship helped them shift their brand image away from bad press concerning labour ethics and high-profile court cases previous to 2006. Aligning to Apple, which had a very clean reputation at the time, aimed to help add credibility to some of the promotional tags that Nike were trying to shed.

Vice and Intel

Vice is brash, incisive and radical, which is exactly why Intel bit, their aim was to diversify their brand image. John Galvin, director of Intel’s partner marketing group, admitted that “if we give music fans the opportunity to have this amazing experience, maybe they will think about Intel differently, becausewithout our technology, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Having Intel as a sponsor not only associates Vice to a global brand but it also acts as a service for their multiple digital ventures. Intel has now partnered with Vice on two of their most impressive subsidiaries, The Creators Project and Noisey. The collaboration has a real sense of synergy – Vice finds fresh talent and creative pioneers in order to distribute the content and footage while Intel supply cutting edge ways for fans to engage digitally.

Kopparberg and Spotify

Independent cider brewer, Kopparberg partnered with Spotify and Last.fm in 2012 to create the Kopparberg Festival Player, which helps UK festival-goers plan their schedule of bands they want to watch over the summer based on Spotify playlists, the app featured playlist sharing and chances to win tickets to the most sought-after festivals in the UK.

The appeal of this campaign is Kopparberg’s chance to connect with fans through music, rather than direct, brash marketing which festival-goers tend to disapprove of. Furthermore, the partnerships drives awareness of the brand and drinking Kopparberg before they even get to event, which cuts out the competition and resonates with the customer. With their involvement at more than 15 UK festivals and major events in 2012, this became a key reason for their sales success.

Slingshot Sponsorship’s Mark Mylam Shortlisted for Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2013 22nd March, 2013

Slingshot’s very own Mark Mylam has been shortlisted for the prestigious Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2013. The awards will be held at the Marriott Hotel in London on 26^th March, 2013.

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards represent the pinnacle of any Sponsorship Executive’s career. Honouring the very best in the sponsorship industry for 19 years, the Hollis Awards have become a highlight in the sponsorship calendar. Throughout its lifetime, the ceremony has awarded some of the most memorable and innovative campaigns in sponsorship history. Furthermore, no other award rewards effectiveness and excellence across all sectors of the sponsorship industry like the Hollis Sponsorship Awards; emphasising the feat of Mark’s achievement.

Mark stated ‘It is a real honour to be nominated for the Barrie Gill Award, alongside a host of young talent within the industry. Hollis Sponsorship celebrates the increasingly diverse and innovative nature of sponsorship, and I am flattered to be recognised as a part of it.’

The Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Executive, sponsored by the European Sponsorship Association, recognises young executives (27 or under) working within agencies, client companies or rights holders who are making a significant impact within their organisation or sector at large. The awards seeks to honour excellence, recognise effectiveness of campaigns and in Mark’s case, his nomination is a testament to the hard work, creativity and driving energy that he has contributed to Slingshot Sponsorship as an agency. We wish him so much luck for the ceremony this Tuesday!

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!

Does Sponsorship Enhance the Festival experience?? 18th September, 2012

So it’s the middle of yet another mild British summer and I’m standing in the middle of a muddy field, surrounded by an eclectic array of people listening to very loud music and to cap it all off it’s raining – who would have imagined this would be the perfect environment for brand engagement.

Music festivals have become an important and developing platform for sponsorship by larger and smaller brands alike. For the festival organisers sponsorship is an important revenue stream, and from the brand’s perspective, the sponsorship of music festivals and events provides opportunities for bespoke communication and interaction with the predominantly young and receptive festival audience. However, are the brands actually concerned about improving the festival experience or are they just in it for their own benefit?

Whether or not corporate sponsorship activation should be allowed within the festival arena is the subject of much debate, with many events such as the Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons adopting the traditional ‘Early Glastonbury’ or ‘Woodstock’ approach of zero-branding. However, the real question that should be asked is whether or not the sponsorship actually benefits the experience of the attendees. After all, this is the sole reason for attending the festival in the first place.

Festival goers are passionate about music but most go to festivals first and foremost for the overall experience, something that can be looked back on for years after the event has passed. With this in mind, surely the primary objective of the festival organiser is to ensure that festival goers have the best time possible and if brand activations can help achieve this then why should they be sidelined?

In a study by Havas Sports and Entertainment of six festivals across six European countries and involving 2,244 respondents, they found that 65% of music festival goers believe brands improve the festival experience; with 60% interacting with two or more brands at festivals and 85% liking the brand activations they visited.

In the case of the Green Man and others, it appears that festival organisers do not want to draw too much attention to the sponsors in fear that this would have a negative effect on the integrity of the event. However, Havas’s study does much to dispel the view that music festivals are a dangerous arena for brand sponsors and suggests brands are a welcome part of the festival experience if they develop activations that add value.

Sponsorship therefore delivers a three-way benefit, as the more attendees that partake in and enjoy the activations, the stronger the relationship with the brands and the event. In the over-saturated and intensely competitive festival market of today, festival organisers are constantly looking for new ways in which to attract and retain their audience. As a result, engagement is becoming increasingly expensive, with sponsorship therefore proving to be a highly cost-effective method in which to enhance the overall festival experience.

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