Tag: Sponsorship

Standing Out from the Crowd 7th February, 2017

The digital music streaming industry has become extremely crowded in recent years with several leading companies vying for market share and growth. In order to differentiate themselves, the major competitors are choosing ever varying strategies, with sponsorship emerging as one of the most innovative.

As of September 2016 over 100 Million users worldwide paid for a music streaming service, a figure that is constantly growing. The most streamed songs on Spotify, the world leader in terms of paid music streaming services, have over 900 million listens. Spotify, along with Apple Music, Tidal and Pandora (US only) have emerged as market leaders with others such as Deezer and Soundcloud also competing for the same substantial audience.

The key way these companies have tried to differentiate so far is through unique content. Tidal offer exclusive, high quality music videos. Artist exclusivity is also a tactic used by Tidal, as well as Apple Music, while Spotify has concentrated on having the largest offering.

Deezer has recently adopted a new tactic of differentiating through sponsorship. Deezer, a French based company with 6 million users worldwide, has partnered with Manchester United Football Club and Barcelona Football Club as “Official Music Partner.”

Traditionally Deezer has relied on B2B deals to increase its user base through partnerships with mobile networks. This new approach showcases Deezer adopting sponsorship as a key part of their marketing and expansion strategy. Deezer will appeal directly to consumers, encouraging them to download the app out of choice, rather than receive it through a tie in.

This innovative partnership with football teams works particularly well given the strong link between sports fans and music fans. Whether unveiling a new player with the help of a musician, as Manchester United, Adidas and Stormzy recently did, or the frequent appearance of new bands on popular TV show Soccer AM.

Deezer are guaranteed to meaningfully engage this audience as players will create new playlists which fans can download. Deezer will also be responsible for the music on match day where further activation and consumer engagement will be possible. Deezer will not only benefit from the direct access to fans, but association as the music streaming service for sports fans.

Deezer are attempting to open a whole new channel to reach consumers, purely through sponsorship. Of course, Deezer’s competitors may choose to replicate this strategy, but Deezer’s imagination and creativity in using sponsorship as a differentiation tool gives them first mover advantage and a perception of originality that is crucial in such a competitive market. This is a demonstration of the power of sponsorship when seeking to stand out from the crowd.

How and Why the Sponsorship Hunter is Changing in an Evolving Marketplace 19th July, 2018

Since the dawn of the sponsorship marketplace, rights holders have always been perceived as the “hunter” in the industry: having to approach brands directly for sponsorship in order to boost commercial revenue streams and maintain their position as a viable business.

Recent trends, however, indicate this could well be changing. As rights holders continue to innovate, develop and provide brands with high ROI and clear opportunities to achieve their corporate objectives, brands are waking up and becoming increasingly interested in what these platforms can do for them. It could very well be a case of the hunter becoming the hunted.

Sponsorship is fast becoming the most effective form of marketing. When executed correctly, it allows brands to genuinely engage and truly connect with their desired audiences – resulting in a host of short- and long-term positive outcomes for both themselves and the rights holders.

But what is the driving force behind these increasingly popular partnerships?

The importance of ROI in sponsorship

Broadly speaking, the most crucial consideration for a brand when deciding whether or not to partner with a platform or rights holder is simply the deal’s ROI. Therefore, rights holders must be able to prove to potential sponsors that they can generate or exceed a satisfactory ROI in order to have any chance of finalising a deal. Failure to do this will leave the rights holders with next to no chance of securing sponsorship.

So it is vital for rights holders to understand that in order to successfully attract brand partners, they must appreciate a “one size fits all” approach just isn’t good enough. Instead, rights holders must ensure they align their assets appropriately with their targeted brand’s ambitions.

For example, let’s imagine Brand X has an objective of increasing positive brand association across a mass audience. Understandably this will require a multi-faceted approach, particularly when compared to Brand Y – who simply wish to create specific B2B opportunities. Rights holders looking for sponsorship would never be able to give the same pitch or offer identical assets to both and expect success.

To create effective customer relations, rights holders must be able to offer the assets which will enable brands to truly engage with their audience. This means providing opportunities for brands to positively rebrand their image through relevant assets – such as social media channels and key influencers – and create sustainable long-lasting relationships.

What makes sponsorship opportunities so valuable?

The real value in sponsorship lies in how it provides brands with the potential to have a positive impact on all areas of its business. Examples of this could include on-site brand activations which generate increased sales; community engagement with leaves audiences and employees feeling worthwhile; or even social media takeovers which boost follower numbers.

These huge potential benefits put rights holders in a very strong position: owning unrivalled opportunities for brands looking to tap into a cost-effective alternative to traditional marketing which actually delivers results and ROI.

Key takeaway

As the industry moves forward, we are fast progressing to a stage where brands proactively realise the value of sponsorship when executed properly around their unique requirements. As rights holders move to master their propositions, we may soon see brands begin pitching to rights holders for access to their audience.

However, for this sponsorship pendulum to swing, rights holders must continue to invest in developing their own pitches to make them fit for purpose in the modern market. Achieve this, and the hunter could very well soon become the hunted.

My Sponsorship Predictions 2017. 23rd January, 2017

I predict a big year for sponsorship. It’s been steadily gaining a bigger seat at the big boy table, but this year I anticipate it will accelerate at great speed. We have seen big brands slowly start to pull away from badging and into more integrated experiential campaigns – lead by partnerships, whether in a traditional rights holder/sponsor sense or through multi-agency collaboration. The value of Big Data is finally being understood by the ‘every brand’ and implementation of data is finally getting into Star Wars territory (A.I. and more). As a bit of a geek myself, I am truly excited for 2017.

But at the heart of sponsorship and at the heart of sales for any business is the audience – which is why I predict 2017 to be big for our industry like never before.

Here are the trends I think we’ll see:
1. Young blood, new ideas: Sponsorship as an industry has grown and more university students are realising that if they can’t be the next David Beckham, then they could perhaps work in football through sponsorship. We’ve seen a significant increase in university students applying for internships and placements in the last year. Once these kids are out and start working, I think we’ll see a shift in process with some of the more traditional sponsorship agencies – and the creative that comes out of them.

2. Consolidation makes way for the little guy: A number of long-established sponsorship agencies got bought, sold and acquired last year (Brand Rapport, Brand Meets Brand, Generate Sponsorship) and I predict we’ll see a number of new start-ups in the sponsorship space launching in the next 6 months.

3. Consolidation lends to campaigns rather than ad hoc projects: With a number of long-established sponsorship agencies merging/selling into larger agencies with additional disciplines, the aim will be to create a more integrated approach for their clients. This type of business is more beneficial to clients through a long-term approach so I predict the desire of these agencies to focus on campaigns and retainers. This may create opportunities for other agencies to scoop up the ad hoc projects throughout the year.

4. Big brands taking on transformational sponsorship: Transformational sponsorship is sponsorship that shifts an entire business practice. Rather than being stuck moving the needle in the marketing department, Boards are starting to realise that integrating sponsorship can impact the entire organisation. We have had more requests from brands last year to help them integrate transformational sponsorship (or sponsorship without logos) than we have had in our 6-year history. This trend is sure to continue.

5. The ‘British Brand’ of sponsorship agency makes bigger waves overseas: Slingshot now has more than 35% of our retained clients headquartered overseas, with 60% of our clients international and the remaining national in the UK. This is a radical change from a couple of years ago when we only worked with local clients on local programmes with maybe a handful of smaller international projects. As technology makes the world smaller, there is greater opportunity to expand and grow market share elsewhere. I believe this trend will continue with both an influx of international agencies working in the UK and UK agencies getting brought in for more international pitches.

However you look at it, I think 2017 will be a very exciting year – best of luck!

*I was 4/5 on last year’s predictions, to see last year’s predictions click here.

China, The Sleeping Giant 12th January, 2017

China, a country already with the world’s second largest economy, made a bold statement in 2015. President Xi Jinping announced a goal to create a domestic sports economy worth $850 billion by 2025, a plan that also involves winning the football World Cup by 2050.

This has commenced rapidly, with Chinese Super League clubs paying stars like Oscar and Carlos Tevez at a premium, £60 million and £71.6 million respectively. The effect is simple – bigger names bring more spectators, more commercial interest and greater global reach. As teams gain more exposure around the world due to the leagues increased profile, they become an even more attractive property to brands. This heightened market activity has a knock-on effect to sponsorship fees throughout the rest of the world, as these large rights holders are able to command higher fees, smaller clubs can ride the coat-tails and leverage more expensive properties to their own benefit.

Outside of their home league, Chinese brands have become progressively active as sporting event sponsors and investors, lured by the potential profits of associating their brands with a sport, team or athlete to access a new market. Chinese brands are shown in each of the major European leagues – AIA at Tottenham, 138.com at Watford and Rastar Group gracing the jersey of RCD Espanyol, to name a few.

The biggest example is Hisense, who became the first ever Chinese sponsor of the Euros when aligning with the 2016 competition. Although the official sponsorship fee has not been disclosed, Hisense is said to have invested a sum of 370 million yuan (roughly £43 million).

It is not just football that China is attracted to, but also rugby and basketball. The levels of investment being seen will lead to an effect that can be likened to sponsorship inflation, as activity from within China develops rights holders into even larger properties. Global sports sponsorship investment levels have continuously grown year on year by 4-5% since the late 2000’s and with the sports industry estimated to be worth $73.5 billion by 2019, not surprisingly the bulk of that money will come from China.

Contrastingly, Western brands now have a way to penetrate the largely untapped Chinese market. With significant increases in awareness and media value, gaining a foothold in China would be a lot of brands’ number one goal, however there hasn’t been a platform big enough to promote themselves effectively, until now. The huge audience means Western brands now have a solid foundation to build exposure and revenue in this massive economy, just like the Chinese brands are doing in European sporting markets.

The next few years are going to be a very interesting period for sports sponsorship in China. An already global sport like football is becoming accessible to far more people, allowing rights holders to generate more money for their assets. While some may say that the money in sports is already at a ridiculous level without China’s new-found interest, it is another way of increasing globalisation by providing a platform for China to integrate with the West and vice versa.

There’s No ‘I’ In Team 10th January, 2017

Athlete endorsements are not a new concept. Brands have been using household names to increase the sales of their products for hundreds of years. It adds credibility, differentiates from competitors and becomes synonymous with the athlete.

In recent years, athletes and personalities are generating enormous revenue from sponsorships that surpass their earnings from their respective professions. Sport, is of course, the stand out example here, but movie stars are not far away. In 2016, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is estimated to have earned more than $51 million from various endorsements. In sport, there is no bigger example than Cristiano Ronaldo who generated more than $250 million throughout 2016 from numerous deals, including; a lifetime deal with Nike and a host of other deals with brands such as Herbalife, Toyota, Armani, Tag Heuer, Castrol and Monster Headphones.

Celebrities are not just competing against each other for sponsors, they are competing against teams, in some circumstances, their own team. In 2016, Real Madrid amassed over $265 million in sponsorship revenue which is not a small amount. Compared to their star man, it is only $15m more.

The attractiveness of an individual is their engaged fans, who idolise them, some of which would purchase anything that their idol endorses. Teams, of course, have these fans but they are potentially less engaged. With stars becoming bigger than the teams they are in, teams need to become more creative with their assets and increase their offering to a potential sponsor.

What a team does have that an individual cannot offer are larger media platforms, which include branding within stadium for matches, stadium naming rights, and kit sponsorship. This provides a tangible link to the team and is where the majority of value stems from in sponsorship. However, with the increase in recent years of Social Media, athletes are catching up with the teams and in some circumstances surpassing them. Real Madrid’s Twitter followers are 6.7 million, Cristiano Ronaldo’s is 49.3 million!

The team does however, have access to not just one athlete, but an entire team of athletes. It is standard in most contracts for players to commit to sponsor activations such as player appearances, image rights to use in sponsor campaigns and even the use of their social media. This eclipses the offering one player can offer a sponsor. Team sponsorship will offer larger awareness. In addition, teams can also offer direct fan engagement, not just through media channels. Utilising stadium assets such as activation areas and hospitality for B2B engagement.

Barcelona’s partnership with tyre manufacturer Lassa is a perfect example. Through its sponsorship of Barcelona, Lassa leveraged player access and created an entire advertising campaign featuring Arda Turan, Gerard Pique, Neymar and Luis Suarez. Through this they now have multiple athlete endorsers, not just one.

Although the teams have a greater pool of assets to offer a sponsor, it is crucial they offer creative and ROI driven activations for a sponsor. If not, these individuals could even start poaching sponsors from under their nose.

Sponsorship DIY 16th December, 2016

‘You need money to make money’ is a common term people refer to when encountering financial obstacles and rights holders constantly face challenges when it comes to taking their projects to the next level.

Most entrepreneurial projects start off as a one-man band or in some cases they might have a small team in place, but nevertheless the amount of effort to get projects of any size off the ground is not for the faint hearted, requiring a substantial amount of time and expertise. Rights holders are now realising the importance of sponsorship not only from a financial standpoint but they are beginning to realise that brand integration can make significant improvements to their holistic business model – ultimately saving them time and money.

Yet, with sponsorship so important to rights holders – sponsorship professionals now understand their worth and as such, large fees are associated with such specialist agencies. Therefore, obtaining the money to hire their services can often be very hard to come by, making the journey from zero to hero a daunting prospect.

However, the solution is simple; identifying alternative services that allow you to function like a specialist agency might be the worthiest investment any entrepreneur can make. Enhancing your knowledge from a fundamental level in the field you operate can ultimately acts as the foundation to your success.

At Slingshot, we don’t just work with global properties but all businesses with the ambition of propelling every client we work with to the next level. For those unable to justify larger investments into agency support, we conduct commercial training sessions that have been designed to give people an insight into the step-by-step process we go through with our global clients, providing you with all the knowledge and skills to go out and secure long-term sponsorship for your own organisation.

Performing like a trained sponsorship expert will result in you developing the right propositions, having the right conversations with the right brands resulting in you building long-lasting relationships with sponsors whilst driving year on year revenue. Don’t just hire specialists, become one.

If you’d like to hear more about the commercial training sessions we run at our headquarters in London, please contact Liam Ward at [email protected].

To book onto the course, simply follow the link provided.

Don’t Fast-Forward Through Your TV Budgets 8th December, 2016

Speaking as someone who has transitioned from the sale of television advertising into the sale of sponsorships I believe that traditional television advertising is utterly overrated. I have spent years booking ad campaigns for well-known global brands who are desperately focused on ensuring that their thirty second ad is run at the precise time they booked it into. Even though that is virtually impossible to guarantee, given the ever-changing nature of live television, brands never fail to be shocked that an ad booked in at one time may move.

When I sit down to watch a television programme one thing I’m not paying attention to are the ads. According to data from Alphonso I’m not alone, with a little under half the population skipping ads. What does catch my eye however are the brands who are clever enough to integrate within a programme. Taking the time to asses an opportunity to integrate a product or brand into a television show is proven to be more successful when done correctly. Viewers appreciate brands who choose to support their favourite shows and will remember these brands each time they watch.

Many brands become put off by big scary price tags associated with sponsoring a television programme, however when you consider the engagement levels with integrated brands over the ones who are simply ignored or fast forwarded through during ad breaks, there really is no argument. I can’t tell you who’s ad ran 4^th in break 3, but I can tell you the brand that took the time to relate to their audience by integrating within the programme. Brands who are still nit picking over which ad break their 15 second TVC falls into, must realise it’s time to wake up and understand the reason they want it to run first, in the back of their minds they surely realise no one is watching it anyway.

The limits with television sponsorship really do not exist. A successful television sponsorship becomes synonymous with your favourite show. They can also be used to drive a response from the viewers. Creating brand engagement is easy when you can influence the content of a programme as a sponsor. Sponsors provide a programme with the ability to be bigger, whether it be through sponsored segments outside of regular programme budgets, provision of prizes or even just product placement. This reflects positively on the sponsor, suddenly the prize provided to contestants of a reality show becomes something viewers at home want for themselves. This not only makes the brand desirable in viewer’s eyes but also memorable.

Brands who take the time to invest in a sponsorship at the end of the day see their efforts reflected in sales. Even though it may be a risk at the outset it is proven that sponsorships work and are effective when executed properly. Avoid being skipped, sponsor a programme, and secure your engagement among viewers.

E-Cigarettes – An ethical sponsor? 7th December, 2016

I’m sure by now everyone is familiar with the vaping phenomenon sweeping the globe and the E-Cigarette companies sprouting up at every corner. These are classed as a ‘healthy’ alternative to cigarettes and studies show both sides of the argument as to whether this is a true statement or not.

The large majority of rights holders, predominantly in the sporting sector, have a strict ‘No Tobacco’ sponsorship policy which is completely understandable. There is no link to tobacco and sporting performance and it is detrimental to the image of the club. Not to mention that any marketing of tobacco in the UK, and many countries around the world, is strictly prohibited.

However, E-Cigarettes and Vape brands are increasing their marketing and venturing into the sponsorship space as there are currently no laws in place saying they can’t.

St. Helens, the stalwart of English Rugby League, has recently announced its new Title and Stadium Naming Rights sponsor, leading e-cigarette brand ‘Totally Wicked’. Apart from the slightly odd naming of the stadium, which is now the ‘Totally Wicked Stadium’, it is interesting to see how the club has announced their new Title Sponsor.

In the press release St. Helens have said the e-cigarette brand contributes ‘not only financially, but also in supporting our wider health objectives’. They then go on to mention that they ‘have been able to create a supportive and vape friendly atmosphere at the club and believe the new deal will further their pioneering work by not only helping to raise awareness yet further of the damage smoking tobacco can do [but] also in deterring people from taking on the habit in the first place’.

It is proven E-Cigarettes are a much better alternative to smoking, but they are still addictive and contain nicotine. Whether you agree with this statement or not, it is interesting to see how from a PR perspective a controversial sponsor can be presented in a positive light.

The decision on whether a specific category of brand can become a sponsor or not is down to the rights holder or the governing body. In this case, St. Helens have simply secured a sponsor which will inject revenue into the club without breaking any rules, credit to them. It will, however, be interesting to see if more teams start to announce similar partnerships or if the league steps in to stop any similar controversial sponsors.

Our Top 4 Tips for Uncovering Sponsorship Assets 11th July, 2018

Over the years we have helped countless rights holders and sponsors come together effectively to great mutual benefit. However, that road isn’t always as smooth as it should be – particularly when it comes to sponsorship assets.

There have been many instances where we have witnessed rights holders only offering basic assets to potential sponsors, as opposed to its full armoury of options. Most commonly this translates into a focus around a logo and whilst this still does hold importance to a would-be sponsor, to get real value out of a partnership it is crucially important to ensure all potential assets are made available.

Allow us to put this into context for you. Imagine a fully-stocked supermarket that only sells items in the very first aisle to customers and blocks off the rest of the store. This will inevitably reduce the supermarket’s revenue and narrow the customer’s shopping potential. The same logic applies in the world of sponsorship.

The major problem with only offering some of the potential assets to a sponsor is that it’s impossible to know exactly what a brand requires to make the most of their sponsorship when reaching out before qualifying the lead.

As you may imagine, the chances of understanding exactly what a sponsor desires is increased simply by doing your homework and regular research, but there is still no better way to truly understand a brand’s approach than by speaking with them directly.

However, it is admittedly difficult to uncover all possible assets without previous sponsorship knowledge when you’re fully immersed in your own day-to-day tasks. So Slingshot is here to help with our top four quick tips for uncovering sponsorship assets…

1) Get into the brand’s mindset
Figure out exactly why a brand would want to be a sponsor and work out what you can specifically offer them that they’d simply be unable to get elsewhere.

2) Brainstorm with colleagues
Never tackle this sponsorship conundrum on your own! The more minds the better because, as with any ideas session, everyone thinks differently – which can be key to thinking outside of the box and uncovering assets which aren’t just a bog standard logo placement.

3) Travel the customer journey
Remember that sponsors ultimately want access to your audience. So travelling through the customer journey and understanding all possible touchpoints a sponsor can utilise to engage with your audience will showcase multiple key assets.

4) Check out the competition
Last but not least, try and get hold of your competitor’s sponsorship proposals to see what they are offering and how it differs to you. It may just spark a new idea or illustrate ways for you to improve your own platform for sponsors both now and in the future.

Case Study: Outlook Festival Knowledge Area

Back in 2015, we utilised our expertise of uncovering sponsorship assets to continue pushing the boundaries of the traditional festival model. We created something which added to the consumer experience and attracted brand integration at the Outlook Festival.

Named the Knowledge Arena, it was here we created workshops led by artists where guests could create their own music at the festival. This forward-thinking rights holder maintained focus on the consumer, leading to greater engagement and sparking brands’ interest in being involved with connecting to the audience in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Key takeaways

Any rights holders looking for sponsorship must think strategically before approaching a brand. Think carefully about the plethora of assets you can offer, particularly ones which resonate with certain target brands.

Once all assets have been uncovered, the goal then becomes ensuring these are effectively and aesthetically communicated in the best way possible to potential sponsors – and at the right price.

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