Tag: Sponsorship

Creating Transformational Moments Through Location Technology 17th November, 2014

The development of location technology is growing fast and has major implication to sponsorship – especially when considering location services to engage brands to their customers onsite at the events that they sponsor. Understandably, Apple was the first to launch with the Apple iBeacon. Shortly after Samsung launched Proximityas the “mobile marketing platform that connects consumers with places via cutting-edge Samsung location and context-aware technology.”

The potential of this technology is limitless, but made essentially relevant for retail sales. Imagine you are in M&S to purchase yourself a cashmere scarf. If M&S employed location technology via in-store transmitters, upon arrival the store could tell not only tell you what cashmere scarves are available, but also what gloves might match and where they can be found. Upselling in-store no longer needs to be done by the sales people on the ground, but applied in your hand.

The influence on sponsorship and the physical space

The development of this type of technology further erodes the traditional sponsorship model, making way for a new breed of thinking driving effective, collaborative partnerships that demand a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour and engagement. This potential need not only be applied to Westfield, but also within football stadiums, music festivals, science museums and children’s museums – allowing sponsors and rights holder to effectively influence and engage with their audiences.

The intriguing aspect of this technology which isn’t particularly new, is deciphering the data location technology generates. Rewarding loyal, frequent shoppers with unique events or rewards offers brands an extended and tangible asset to target and communicate a specific demographic.

Smartphones making us work smarter

Brands want to take greater ownership in the festivals and events they support to the dislike of some event organisers. However, turning this insight into commercial solutions that ultimately drive sales is what excites top level marketers (and Slingshot employees!).

Marketers are driven by media content because it works – it’s that simple. However our sponsorship solutions shouldn’t be limited by this alone. Instead, sponsorship professionals need to start questioning the true value of collective goals – ensuring involvement and activation drives purpose beyond the traditional. Utilising location services not only helps sponsorship professionals do their jobs better, but more importantly adds significant value to the customer’s experience, which is what matters most.

Flexibility: The Key to Driving the Sponsorship Industry 5th November, 2014

Great sponsorship is borne from collaborative flexibility. The industry revolves around the ability to adapt and create innovative sponsorships that engage with consumers. An open-minded approach is a pre-requisite, the challenge for sponsorship agencies lies in absorbing brand anxiety and persuading them that sponsorship, strategised and executed correctly, is an incredibly diverse marketing platform that has the capacity to produce great return on investment.

The sponsorship industry has a level of flexibility that is unrivalled in the marketing world; where there’s sufficient synergy, activations can be created at any level of financial investment.

Three core considerations:

Mindset: rights-holders have to understand the value that a brand can add to an event or product beyond financial investment. A certain level of flexibility needs to be retained by rights-holders to accommodate appropriate sponsors and their objectives.
Budget Planning: brands need to be open-minded when planning budgets – an explorative and inquisitive mind-set is integral when considering properties they perhaps would normally overlook. Marketing objectives change and with it comes new opportunities for brands to interact with new audiences and events.
Strategy: both parties need to accommodate the other’s objectives from the sponsorship – in most instances, both parties will need to be flexible when it comes to the actual delivery of the sponsorship.

Moving Forward

Flexibility is the key to delivering a successful sponsorship – the industry needs to not be constrained by pricing or bureaucracy, instead understanding how freedom of variance is required to create the most beneficial strategy for all parties involved. Clever sponsorship is able to deliver on virtually any marketing objective a brand might have, and so it should be doing so at every chance it can. The challenge is to look beyond the traditional benefits that any old marketing platform can provide brands, and delve deeper into other achievable objectives.

Think Bigger

The success or failure of a sponsorship should not be based purely upon ticking the boxes of each asset, but rather based upon the factors that emanated further down the line, the insight that evolves as a result of the synergies formed between both parties working collaboratively.

Being able to directly interact with a brand’s core audience is something that sets sponsorship apart from TV, radio, and outdoor advertising. If we can persuade brand managers to see the bigger picture in terms of the possibilities within sponsorship, the flexibility of the industry means that campaigns can be 100% individual. One of the most unique and exciting aspects of sponsorship is the endless opportunity; a little bit of creativity, vision, and desire, even if the investment is small, can lead to disproportionate benefits for everyone involved.

Slingshot Sponsorship Wins Best British Small Business in the O2 Smarta 100 6th October, 2014

Smarta.com and O2 Business present the UK’s 100 most dynamic and innovative small businesses

Smarta.com and O2 Business proudly announce that Slingshot Sponsorship is a winner of the 2014 O2 Smarta 100, the ultimate index of the UK’s savviest, supremely disruptive, most resourceful and socially-beneficial small businesses.

The O2 Smarta 100 awards celebrates new UK tech powerhouses like Squawka, Rant & Rave and Pact Coffee, as much as those dedicated to changing thousands of lives for the better – Two Fingers Brewing Co, whose profits go in full to prostate cancer research.

In total, 2014’s Smarta 100 are generating revenues of over £70million a year and employing more than 640 people. More than a quarter are female-run businesses and half are self-funded, with just 5% borrowing from a bank. 35% have taken angel, private equity or VC funding. The oldest company founder is 56; the two youngest are just teenagers at 19.

Commenting on their inclusion in the Smarta 100, Slingshot Sponsorship’s Managing Director Jackie Fast said:

We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the Smarta 100 list this year. It’s fantastic that our specialist work in helping organisations commercialise through sponsorship is being recognised by the larger business community. Even just being judged by such an esteemed panel from businesses that we find truly inspiring including Naked Wines and Ella’s Kitchen is an honour in itself, and winning is just that much better!

Jackie Fast is also up for the Young Female Entrepreneur Award at the Smarta100 through a public vote.

Discover more business stories and to vote for Jackie Fast under the Young Female Entrepreneur Award category please visit: www.smarta.com/smarta100

The Knowledge Arena – Challenging The Traditional Festival Model 11th September, 2014

The end of summer always signifies the end of another chapter for the Outlook and Dimensions Festivals team at Slingshot. But summer blues aside, this year’s editions of Outlook and Dimensions Festivals brought with it the launch of the Knowledge Arena.

Curated alongside CDR Projects, an evolving multi-platform music project – Outlook & Dimensions developed an immersive new learning experience space that focused upon music creation, performance and collaboration. For the 14 days spanning first Dimensions and then Outlook Festival, festival-goers and artists were granted the chance to be inspired by their surroundings and have the opportunity to creatively channel their experiences in the sun at the Knowledge Arena.

The Inspiration

Technological advancement in the music industry has meant that the process of music creation and performance have continued to blur. Spawned from the minds of festival Director Johnny Scratchley and CDR’s Tony Nwachukwu, the Knowledge Arena was created to take a deeper look into these processes and to understand what factors influence the work that is produced and then performed and enjoyed at Outlook Festival and Dimensions Festival.

The Enablers

Alongside Ableton, Akai and M-Audio, the Knowledge Arena created a fully immersive experience for individuals. The tailored programme featured a mix of music creation workshops, artist masterclasses and conversations and ‘Open Play’ slots which allowed individuals the chance to develop their own ideas supported by a team of specialist producers and DJs.

Such an exploration was delivered alongside Ableton, M-Audio and Akai. A studio was built on the festival site and was fitted with a wealth of equipment for everyone to get their hands on from – Ableton Live, Akai APC40, Ableton Push and M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro.

The Results

Not only was the Knowledge Area a space for festival-goers to engage with workshops from our Knowledge Arena professionals, it also hosted a programme of talks and demonstrations from some of the top artists on the bill for both Outlook & Dimensions. The Knowledge Arena saw the likes of Omar, Seven Davis Jr, Alexander Nut, Roman Flugel and more discuss their creative processes.

The Knowledge Arena brought another element to the festival experience at Outlook and Dimensions Festivals this year. Not only did it allow festival-goers the opportunity to try their hand at the latest kit out there, it gave them the chance to delve further into the creative processes of the artists they admire. Each of the artists engaged with their workshops and talks with a level of honesty that you would not be able to find elsewhere.

Coming from a single conversation between Johnny and Tony, the Knowledge Arena is just the first step towards the evolution of the festival experience at Outlook and Dimensions. Keep your eyes peeled for exclusive footage that will be released over the coming weeks.

Monster Energy Partners With Outlook Festival 2013 24th July, 2013

Monster Energy has partnered with Outlook as the festival’s ‘Official Energy Partner’. With Monster launching in Outlook’s homeland (Croatia) this Summer, the US energy drink has incorporated the bass-music festival into its portfolio of live music events to launch a number of regional and international activations. This will include on-pack promotions and online competitions in the build-up to the event across 12 international markets; sampling at the four-day festival itself; and exclusive video content to be released once the festival finishes in September.

Mark Mylam, Account Manager for Outlook & Dimensions Festivals at Slingshot, commented:

We’re delighted that Monster has teamed up with Outlook Festival 2013. The heavy, ‘live-fast’ attitude the Monster brand represents ties-in perfectly with Outlook’s young and passionate demographic, paving the way for some really unique activation over the next three months. The fact that Outlook is Monster’s sole music property as it launches in Croatia, illustrates how highly regarded the festival is regionally, while the global competitions being run through Monster’s Facebook page show its global appeal.

We can’t wait to see the Monster team along the Adriatic Coast in September!

This deal was brokered by Slingshot Sponsorship.

National Business Awards Q&A: Jackie Fast, Slingshot Sponsorship 20th August, 2014

Jackie Fast is the Managing Director of UK-based strategic sponsorship agency Slingshot Sponsorship. Her organisation has been chosen as a finalist in the BlackBerry Business Enabler of the Year category at the 2014 National Business Awards; as part of Outsource‘s partnership with the NBAs, we got together with the finalists for this award to ask them a few questions about their activities and the changing nature of partnership and collaboration in a rapidly evolving business environment…

Outsource: In the words of the organisers, “The winner of this award will be the organisation that has best helped client or partner businesses to increase profitability by improving efficiency, develop talent or implement innovation.” How do you think your organisation has managed to do any one of these things to the extent that it has been shortlisted?

Jackie Fast: Our entire business model centres on how successful we are at identifying, uncovering and generating additional income through commercial gaps and sponsorship; therefore, this award could not be more suitable as every single aspect of our business is built on this.

When we launched only four years ago, we anticipated that this model would only suit smaller organisations who either didn’t have the resource to properly commercialise their opportunities or didn’t have the skill set. However, over the years, this applies to almost every business and can take an objective specialist view to really identify the opportunities that are being missed. Since inception, our clients have ranged dramatically from charities such as the British Heart Foundation and the Mayor’s Fund for London, to music festivals such as Outlook and Dimensions, to big B2B events such as the What Car? Awards. Ironically, regardless of the business or industry, the framework put in place is the same.

O: When a buy-side organisation engages with a supplier, how far do you think it transfers responsibility for innovation?

JF: This is a topic much debated at the moment as historically the brand was always responsible for the activation. However, it is in both parties’ interests to actively engage and ensure that the programme, event, or campaign is successful for the audience. Therefore, I would strongly argue that the onus is placed on the rights holder side to ensure that activation falls in line with the overall business strategy to help align objectives.

O: Do you think the very definition of partnership, in a business sense, is evolving and if so how?

JF: The output of partnership is still the same; however, the input of partnerships is radically changing, which is why there are discrepancies around definitions of what sponsorship or partnership is. Sponsorship makes marketing work harder and always has; however, who is involved in that partnership is different now through the advance of digital technology. This will inevitably change our industry.

O: What’s your definition of the perfect client?

JF: A client who understands their business and their reason for bringing on partnerships beyond the financial. A client who isn’t about just selling the logo.

Partnerships can deliver far beyond the investment of rights. When clients understand this implication and its potential, we then have the ability to create sponsorships that deliver value well beyond expectations.

How To Get Sponsors Working For Your Business 4th August, 2014

The sponsorship industry is changing. The opportunities are endless and ways of engaging are ever increasing. And yet, the sponsorship industry still remains fairly static. Since inception, the typical transaction includes rights holders trading ‘space’ to sponsors for money. Everyone seems pretty happy. But is everyone getting the most out of the relationship? With ROI crucial to good business, I’d question whether everyone is getting as much return for the investment that is being put into the sponsorships created.

But money talks and quite rightly, rights holders utilise sponsorship to drive revenue. However, sponsorship can do so much more. When done cleverly, sponsorship can open business avenues and new profit centres rights holders wouldn’t have been able to create by themselves.

But it needs a rights holder who is willing to look at the bigger picture with an ambition to think outside of the box commercially.

Rather than just chasing money for logo placement, rights holders need to identify what their ideal ambition is for incorporating sponsorship revenue within their commercial objectives. For many B2B events, it’s about attracting leading consumer brand names to their event. For music festivals, it’s about differentiation and adding value to the festival experience. For sport, it’s getting fans to engage with the team beyond the pitch. Sponsorship does all these things, but it doesn’t happen overnight.

Many rights holders fail to realise that they have to consider their sponsorship ambitions in a series of steps. Just like growing any business, in order to reach the end goal there are milestones of achievement – each one built upon success of the other. A good sponsorship strategy should be developed in the same way – with the long view in mind including phases that drive to deliver objectives beyond the financial.

And even if money really is the only objective (although if you dig deep enough, this is rarely the case), you need to create phases which will allow you to continue building value in order to increase revenue year on year.

So how do you go about building a sponsorship strategy that does all this and more?

Figure out if you have ambitions beyond money. And if you do, find out if sponsorship can help you reach them.
If you cannot offer a strong proposition to the sponsors you really want, carve out areas of rights that you can provide on a reduced rights fee or for free while still maintaining your core sponsors. This allows you to negotiate with the right sponsors that can deliver on some of your long-term ambitions while still ensuring your financial targets can be met by the usual suspects.
Talk with your current sponsors about your ambitions and find out how they can play a role in achieving them.
Partner with sponsors whose long-term goals and objectives are aligned with your own.
Stop thinking transactional. Get creative.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why Lifestyle Brands Are Getting It Right 17th July, 2014

Our unique take on sponsorship has enabled us to work with some fantastic lifestyle brands such as Red Stripe, Majestic Athletic, Supreme Being, Monster Energy, Spotify, and New Era who are truly maximising the consumer shift towards culture brands. In terms of sponsorship, these brands are getting it right. They truly understand their consumer, their market, and most importantly understand how utilising effective sponsorship platforms make their marketing budgets work harder – often because their budgets are a fraction of their rivalling high street retail competitors who are vying for the same audience.

But what makes them different and why should you care?

It all boils down to engagement. Lifestyle brands tend to have more success in engaging their market better than many other retailers. They also know where to engage them and how to engage them. If engagement is what brands are after because engagement sells, then this surely is something to take notice of rather than being complacent on your own brand image – even if you do only sell shoe inserts.

So here is my take on why lifestyle brands are getting it right:

Challenged to be creative – smaller budgets mean you have to really think about what you are doing with them. When lifestyle brands sponsor something, they maximise every single opportunity and asset they purchase ensuring nothing is missed.
Commercially creative teams – lifestyle brands tend to have teams where everyone does a bit of everything, rather than job roles split up. This forces individuals to be both creative and commercial – enabling people to fully understand how marketing activity drives sales, which is crucial.
They are their target market – not only do they know their audience, they themselves tend to be active and avid advocates of the brand. This saves focus groups, countless surveys, and allows them to tap into consumer insight easily.

If you want to see what we’ve done with Majestic Athletic, click here for the case study.

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