Inside Sponsorship

We’ve all seen some great examples of sponsorships adjusting, doing something different, and really creative activations this year because of COVID-19. A lot of those have been driven by necessity.

Probably the most talked about activation of 2020, however, has been Burger King’s sponsorship of Stevenage FC, who, at the time of the sponsorship, in 2019, were last in the fourth division of English football. It left many people scratching their heads.

It is, of course, the sponsorship that ultimately gave us the hugely successful Stevenage Challenge.

This amazing partnerhsip wasn’t driven by COVID-19 or necessity. It was driven through vision and creativity, and, as our guest phrases it later on in the show, “a leap of faith”, to pull off a truly brilliant activation. One of the reasons it was so brilliant was because the opportunity was right under so many people’s noses, yet so many didn’t see it.

The activation is both amazing in its boldness yet so jarringly simple.

Tap into the already huge, but growing, eSports market, specifically FIFA. Tap into the underdog status and fairytale storyline of them winning. Tap into the desire for people to share their gaming highlights online. Tap into the fact that everyone loves an easily accessible giveaway, especially fast food.

The results have been absolutely amazing and driven directly from the 1.2 billion impressions that Burger King’s shirt sponsorship, of Stevenage FC, has produced through the Stevenage Challenge on FIFA. Furthermore, those commercial outcomes and further opportunities are both online and offline.

Alex Tunbridge is the Chief Executive at Stevenage FC and he joins us in this episode to take us inside Burger King’s sponsorship of his club.

We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who joins us to discuss the blog which outlines 3 Things That Will Provide Both Short and Long-term Benefits to Sponsorship Managers.

Enjoy.

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One thing that sponsorship professional’s fear, mostly those at rights holders, is a crisis; a situation that may see sponsors walking away from the organisation.

Let’s be clear, when we say “crisis” we mean an athlete or staff member brings the organisation into disrepute.

For those that are high profile rights holders, it almost feels like it is only a matter of time before a crisis will impact their commercial portfolio. How long can a sponsor put up with, or how bad does, a crisis need to be before a sponsor seriously considers whether their values are still aligned?

In a commercial world, particularly one where a rights holder may still be providing great ROI on the sponsorship, it can be a cloudy question.

It almost feels like it is only a matter of time before today’s, or this week’s, bad news story directly affects you and your sponsorships.

That’s why, knowing how to communicate with sponsors during a crisis, and being prepared for the inevitable crisis, is where the focus should be in quiet times.

In sports, two of the industry leaders, when it comes to crisis communications, are Jim Rocco and Isaac Benjamin, from PRCG | Sports. PRCG | Sports provides strategic marketing, public relations, and crisis communications services to owners, managers, athletes, and brands. 

Jim and Isaac join the show to take us inside crisis communications in sponsorship.

We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has delivered part three, and his final part, of his part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship and he joins us to discuss the blog which looks at Perceived Value and Audience Segmentation. 

Enjoy.

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There’s no doubt that the pandemic whacked us all and there was a period where we were so reactive to what was going on, and how it played out in different markets, that it felt like we just couldn’t catch our breath.

These days, however, we have mostly started moving forward, some markets differently to others. And in that, we’ve seen some really innovative work.

One section of the sponsorship industry that has been a source of great wisdom, guidance, leadership, and innovation, to both rights holders and brands, has been agencies.

Of course, brands and rights holders are full of really smart people, lots of our listeners, but, interestingly, the smart people at agencies, combined with their unique views from working with a wide array of rights holders and brands, gives us a much more holistic view of the industry right now and where it is going, especially considering that so many agencies work across multiple geographic regions.

In this episode, we continue hearing from inside an agency by welcoming Stephen Hutchison, Managing Director at Fuse, in London, who discusses the industry right now and where it is going.

Fuse, who are powered by Omnicom Media Group, provides marketing and commercial services for brands and rights holders specialising in partnerships and experiences across sport, entertainment, causes, and culture.

Stephen has experience in leading projects across many of the world's leading platforms including; UEFA Champions League, Olympics, World Cup, F1, and the America's Cup for brands including Nissan, HTC, McDonald's, Vodafone, and Visa.

We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has delivered part two of his three-part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship. Daniel joins us to discuss the blog which looks at 'After the Chaos' and specifically hacking asset management and hacking creative. 

Enjoy.

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At Octagon, their purpose is, “to create work that earns attention. Through smart partnerships and generous ideas -- always built around the stuff your audience really loves -- we help you compete for, capture, and ultimately earn the attention of those who matter most to you.”

In these current times, it could be argued that that is more important than ever and it aligns very nicely with what we so often talk about on this show, that sponsorship is about brands accessing an audience that they would otherwise not be able to or as easily be able to access.

Octagon understands that we live in a world where time is our most precious commodity and that audiences’ patience has never been shorter. As an industry, sponsorship has never had to work harder to gain the attention of the people we are trying to reach. The way Octagon see it, “ … there’s two ways to go about it. Attention is either bought. Or it’s earned”. We all know which one sponsorship truly seeks to achieve!

Joining us on the show, to give us a current agency perspective of sponsorship, is Andrew Clarke, Agency Director at Octagon Australia.

Andrew is an integrated marketing specialist with 17 fun-filled years of creativity and problem solving under his belt. He’s seen life from both client and agency sides and he always like to present a balanced picture to lead projects and the Octagon Australia team.

He believes people’s passions will change the world we live in, and helping brands find a unique role in this equation, whether through sport, entertainment, culture, or causes is what motivates him.

Also joining us is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has kicked of a three-part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship and he joins us to discuss part 1, Planning for the Return.

Enjoy.

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Born in 2008, the Indian Premier League, the IPL, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India contested during March or April and May of every year by eight teams representing eight different cities in India.

The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and is ranked as the 6th most attended sport in the world, beating out leagues like the MLB, NBA, NHL, and La Liga and, in 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event in the world to be broadcast live on YouTube.

The Rajasthan Royals are one of the eight teams in the IPL and, from a sponsorship perspective, they have fairly unique story in that they were the first team Red Bull have sponsored without actually owning the team.

The Royals, sometimes considered as the "moneyball" team of the IPL, because they have a reputation of unearthing obscure, high potential talent, have a real focus on evolving into a global brand, leveraging technology in their sponsorships, and building partnerships through education and academies.

Joining us on the show, to take us inside the Rajasthan Royals’ commercial program, is their COO, Jake Lush McCrum.

You can learn more about the Rajasthan Royals at rajasthanroyals.com as well as connect with Jake on LinkedIn.

Also joining us, to discuss KORE’s latest sponsorship focused blog, which looks at some of the global sponsorship trends happening right now, is a team effort of Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, Derek Stanek, KORE Software's VP, Sales, and also Alex Hay, KORE Software's VP Commercial & Strategy.

Enjoy.

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ONE Championship is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural treasure and its deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion.

Their mission is to unleash real-life superheroes who ignite the world with hope, dreams, inspiration, and strength.

It has been an impressive rise, to say the least, for the Singapore-based ONE, having launched in 2011 and reaching their 100th event inside eight years. It has seen them grow to be Asia’s largest global sports media property in history with a global broadcast reach of 2.7 billion potential viewers across 150+ countries.

As the world’s largest martial arts organisation, ONE has achieved some of the highest TV ratings and social media engagement metrics across Asia. With a focus on both martial arts and esports, ONE Championship is Asia’s largest global producer of live sports content for youth and millennials. 

And that success, on a commercial front, attracts a coveted client roster of blue-chip Fortune 500 sponsors and advertisers, including the likes of Disney, Marvel, LG, Sony, Facebook, Haier, Kawasaki, L’Oreal, Casio, Bayer, Shiseido, Grab, Singtel, and more. 

Joining this episode, to take us inside ONE Championship’s Commercial program, is their Group Chief Commercial Officer, Hari Vijayarajan.

Also joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, to discuss his latest blog What To Consider When Returning To Sell Sponsorship.

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Like any crisis, throughout COVID-19, many of you have had to deal with managing events and making decisions on canceling, postponing, or pivoting those events. Further, some of you have events on the horizon where a decision will need to be made soon.

Chris Baylis is President and CEO of The Sponsorship Collective but also a founder of the Partnership Conference, held annually in Canada, and which was meant to be held what ended up being right in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.

However, early on, like so many of you, Chris and his business partner for the conference, had to decide whether to cancel, postpone, or pivot.

Ultimately, the decision to postpone was made and Chris joins the show to talk, in great detail, about how they came to that decision, worked through all of the elements, and have now gone above and beyond in what they have and will continue to deliver for the partners.

Also, joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, COVID-19: Sponsorship - What's Now And What's Next?

Enjoy.

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We have contracts for a reason. They set out the rules and expectations for us all to operate in a sponsorship for the good of all and they are set out with all the right intentions – to do good work but also to protect ourselves.
What happens, however, when we get blindsided and things change so quickly, through no fault of any of the contracted parties?
Sure, we know that the contracts all have force majeure clauses but how does that reconcile with our often-spruiked approach that sponsorships should be a true relationship?
Also, how does that reconcile with sponsors, as a collective group, who would want the sport and entertainment industry to return to normal as quickly as possible so that they can activate sponsorships and reach their target audiences? Surely there is a vested interest in working things through?
Yet, how does that happen when so many businesses are directly threatened and are dealing with an ever-changing landscape and one where there is no certainty about what the other side looks like? Will in-progress seasons be completed or abandoned? Will one-off events be shifted or simply cancelled? Who knows?
Some see it is an amazing opportunity for rights holders and brands to collaborate on innovation (but that innovation still has to be executed within the contract).
To help work through all of the big issues, James Earl, Partner and Head of Sport Business Group at Fladgate LLP, in London, joins us on the show to answer lots of questions about how we should all be navigating through this legal space right now.
James is regarded as one of the leading experts in the international sports sector because, with over a decade of experience, he has truly unique expertise working with a broad range of national and international governing bodies, funders, teams, clubs, and investors in sport.
James is exceptionally well-connected and his pragmatic guidance is consistently sought by senior stakeholders across the international sports industry. James’ deep level of experience in sport comes from working with Manchester City Football Club, the London 2012 Olympics,  2015 Rugby World Cup and also acting as sole legal adviser to the delivery vehicles for the London 2017 World Athletics and ParaAthletic Championships.
Also joining us on the show is Mark Thompson, KORE Software’s former Head of International Business, who discusses his latest blog about how, in this very tough time for our industry, it is important for us all to be supporting each other in sponsorship to navigate these unknown times.
Enjoy.

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Part of the complexity around the conscious consumer is their expectation that brands stand for something, that they believe in something, and that they will actually do something about it. As such, if brands don’t stand, believe in, and do something, around social causes, then, these days, they are at a massive disadvantage.

The nagging question is, however, can brands and rights holders truly achieve great, commercially beneficial sponsorships where a cause is positively impacted?

One man who thinks they can is John Balkam who has written a great book called, 3-Win Sponsorship, The Next Generation Of Sports & Entertainment Marketing. John joins us to discuss how to create and execute sponsorships that achieve commercial goals for brands and rights holders while not just treating the cause element as an afterthought and, instead, truly integrating it.

During the chat, John mentions some great examples including:

• Hellmann’s® Feeds a Stadium Food Waste – Real Food Rescue. More
• Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Says Company Destroyed $5 Million Worth of Assault Rifles to Take Them 'Off the Street'. More
• Lebron James’ I PROMISE School, an Akron Public School dedicated to those students who are already falling behind and in danger of falling through the cracks. More

If you would like to connect with John, visit his website or connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Of course, if you'd like to pick up a copy of his book, 3-Win Sponsorship, The Next Generation Of Sports & Entertainment Marketing, you can do that here.

Also joining us on the show is KORE’S Sam Irvine, Director - Customer Strategy & Success, Australasia, to discuss his latest blog, which asks, and answers, the question, Governing Body vs Pro-Team - Which Has A Greater Commercial Advantage? 

Enjoy

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Data has become such an essential part of the world and doing business that if you aren’t actively collecting your own first-party data, and then utilising third-party data, you really are at a massive disadvantage; especially considering that your competitors and partners are making very good use of it.

As such, for those in working in rights holders, where it is often hard to differentiate your sponsorship offering and positioning, in a crowded market, not only is data powerful and essential, it may just be your biggest differentiator.

Clearly, big brands and their agencies are using data, first and third-party, and you really aren’t keeping up with best practice if it isn’t an essential part of your proposals, execution and reporting.

Joining us on the show, to talk all things data, digital, and analytics, is Eddie Fitzgibbon, VP, Global Solutions at 4FRONT, the global sports agency.

You can connect with Eddie on LinkedIn or visit team4front.com.

Daniel Collier-Hill also joins us to discuss his latest blog, which tees up our chat with Eddie very nicely, and that blog looks at Quantity vs. Quality – The Fan Segmentation Debate in Sponsorship.

Enjoy.

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