Inside Sponsorship

Pat Gallagher boasts a career in sports that spans more than 40 years and takes us inside Super Bowl 50 and the San Francisco Giants.

He spent 33 years at the San Francisco Giants which included the financing of a new stadium, without municipal assistance, and was at the forefront of income diversification for sporting teams.

Later, he was invited to chair the development committee, responsible for putting together the successful Super Bowl 50 bid, and then later transitioned to Executive Vice President Marketing, Partnerships & Communications for the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee.

Following the Super Bowl, Pat, and one of his colleagues, Stephanie Martin, authored a book, Big Game, Bigger Impact, about how the bay area redefined the super bowl experience.

Pat joins us on the show to share some fascinating and insightful stories over his career. One thing Pat discusses is a fantastic activation, the Coca-Cola Fan Lot, which you can read more about here.

Also, we couldn't help but share this video from Pat's work at the Giants in 1985! It's a great insight into what sports management was like back them and to be fair, a few of those ideas and approaches would not be out of place today.

If you would like to connect with Pat, you can do so on LinkedIn, Twitter or email using pjgallaghersf at gmail.com

Also on the show, we introduce you to Eddie Fitzgibbon, SponServe’s new VP, Sales and Business Development, North America, who is based in New York.

Mark Thompson also joins us to discuss his latest blog which focuses on the last hurdle in the sponsorship sales process, which can often be the hardest; the converting of a strong opportunity to a “Yes”. Mark has blogged about a great approach and tactic he has used, and still does at SponServe, which helps him focus on getting a “Yes” from the most probable prospects but also ensures the top and middle of the funnel are also looked after.

If you would like to connect with Carson, you can do so on LinkedIn, Snapchat (carson.mckee) and Twitter.

Enjoy.

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Recently, we read the article Here's How Snapchat Can Be Part of Your Sponsorship Inventory and thought, in the context of everything else going on, "Do sponsorship managers, on both sides, really need to try and wrangle another digital channel in their inventory?"

To help answer that question, Carson McKee, from Direct Contact Marketing, the author of the article, joins us on the show to explore Snapchat, how it is relevant and how we can make best use of it in sponsorship.

If you would like to connect with Carson, you can do so on LinkedIn, Snapchat (carson.mckee) and Twitter.

Enjoy.

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Right around the world, sponsorship is a key marketing strategy for airlines. We often see them sponsoring high profile sports, who have big and global TV audiences, but increasingly, we are seeing airlines add or increase non-sports properties to their portfolio.

One of those airlines is Etihad Airways, a truly global airline not just in terms of status but also the way they approach their sponsorships.

Joining me on the show to discuss Etihad Airway’s sponsorships is Simon Hawk, Manager, Sponsorship, who is responsible for leading the airline’s sponsorship program in Australia. It is a great chat and some interesting insights into how they structure and approach their sponsorships; particularly what Simon explains is their three Fs.

We are playing catch up a little bit in this episode as we moved off schedule when we decided to release episode 45 and cut together some of the best bits of the show so far. So, to catch up, and make sure we get all the content in, we’ve recorded two of Sam Irvine’s blog chats. The first is about his insights from his recent trip to New Zealand for the Sponsorship Summit while the second is a letter he has written to his younger self which offers some advice around activations.

Enjoy.

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No doubt you have noticed that rights holders and venues across the world of sports are on a constant quest to enhance the spectator experience – at events and for those watching remotely – by adding entertainment elements, such as concerts, fan zones and enabling more access to star athletes.

Taylor Swift’s pre-race concert at the 2016 United States Grand Prix, the theatre-style lighting deployed at the ATP World Tour Finals in London and, of course, the Super Bowl half-time show are all examples.

There are also many examples of new entertainment events built around a sports element, including Andy Murray Live, an evening of music and exhibition tennis, and the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastic Champions, a 36-city tour of US Olympic gymnasts designed to capitalise on the team’s success at Rio 2016. The NFL and Cirque du Soleil, meanwhile, have partnered to create a major showcase installation in Times Square, due to open next month.

Trend four in Nielsen Sports Commercial Trends in Sport 2017 is The Greater Fusion of Sports and Entertainment. That’s because fusing sport and entertainment has shifted to become not just about halftime shows at grand finals, playoffs and Super Bowls, but something much deeper and more engaging.

Joining me on the show, to help us understand the trend, and how we can navigate it, is Rebekah Stevens, Vice President, Global Brand and Sponsorship Consulting at Nielsen Sports.

If you like to connect with Rebekah, you can do so on LinkedIn or email her directly using rebekah.stevens at nielsen.com

During the show, Rebekah mentions the different types of fans. If you are interested in finding out more about that research, you can do so here.

Also joining us on the show is our MD, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at what sponsorship opportunities this trend presents to both rights holders and brands.

Enjoy.

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Welcome to the Edition One of Best bits of Inside Sponsorship.

We’ve gone back through the Inside Sponsorship archives, re-listened to some of the absolutely amazing guests that have so generously taken us inside their commercial programs, and picked out some of the gold that we think you should hear again.

For edition one of the Best Bits of Inside Sponsorship, we’ve included:

• Jonathan Prosser, Group GM – Strategy & Growth at Cronulla Sharks Group, who spoke about the value of working with a variety of new business ideas and the establishment of an in-house creative arm of the business which focuses on business growth. Jonathan also spoke about fan engagement at the Sharks and shared some of the moving stories following their historic Grand final win in 2016.
• Kim McConnie, former Senior Director, Sports Marketing at PepsiCo, shared with us how Pepsi come up with their different activations as well as how much they monitor what their competitors are doing in the sponsorship space. Kim also spoke about what Pepsi look at when deciding to partner with someone.
• Trent Leyshan, Founder at BOOM! Sales, discussed the art of sales including the true meaning of a warm lead, masterful questions and the need to dive deeper.
• Mike Wootton, Sponsorship Manager Auckland - Community and Sponsorship, at ASB talked about ASB’s sponsorship and their fantastic activation of the New Zealand Marathon. Mike also outlined the important steps and possible hurdles for creating new activations as well as some of the most common mistakes he sees when people are seeking sponsorship.
• Stuart Ramsey, former Head of Sponsorship at Southampton Football Club, spoke about the importance of storytelling, and the relevance of humour, as well as how Southampton identifies possible partners.

Enjoy.

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There's no doubt that the sponsorship industry is in a period of huge change.

There’s a more laser-like focus on achieving ROI and ROO, new technologies are helping both rights holders and brands manage & measure their portfolios, women's sport is growing, as is eSports. Then there’s augmented reality, virtual reality and the list goes one with our access to so many properties, often on demand, now available 24/7. Add to that our recent shows discussing IP owners taking control of content, the huge opportunity that Asia presents and the changing attention spans of consumers we are all trying to reach.

As sponsorship professionals, stakeholders just expect you to get on with it and be successful. What isn’t often talked about, however, is how the change is impacting the employment market, the skills required to be successful, ideal team structures and how to find and retain great talent.

One person who has a deep understanding of the sponsorship employment market is Jonathan Harris, Managing Partner, Australia at SRi. Jonathan joins us on the show to take us inside the sponsorship employment market.

Also joining us on the show, as usual, is our MD, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at the changing skills needed from sponsorship professionals and the makeup of commercial teams in both rights holders and brands.

Enjoy.

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With so much access to so much content, the pressure on rights holders and brands to create great and engaging content, that holds an audience’s attention, is huge.

One person who knows a lot about the space is Spencer Nolan, Head of Consulting, UK & Europe at Nielsen Sports. Spencer joins us on the show to discuss number three in Nielsen Sports' Commercial Trends in Sport 2017 and that is changing attention spans prompting rights holders to rethink.

Also joining us on the podcast, as usual, is our MD, Mark Thompson, who outlines the opportunities that present themselves, for both rights holders and brands, because of changing attention spans.

You can connect with Spencer on LinkedIn and you can download a copy of Nielsen Sports' Commercial Trends in Sport 2017 here.

Enjoy.

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We’ve all done it. We hear the news that a company has entered into a new sponsorship with a rights holder. Company A has sponsored Rights Holder B, and, in a split second, we think to ourselves “Of course, that partnership makes sense” or, we think “What? How the hell do those brands go together?”

Interestingly, while there will most likely be a whole bunch of well thought out benefits, messages and activations in the partnership, it is your answer to the question of “Do they go together?” that communicates so much.

That’s why, the communication impact of a deal should not be underestimated by either rights holders or brands. In sports, fans are connected deeply with and are invested heavily in the rights holder and sponsorship deals can fuel either greater loyalty and connection, and that can be transferred to the sponsoring brand, or, it can fuel distaste.

“What? How the hell do those brands go together?”, was a common reaction to the seven-year, $600 million US agreement in 2012 in which U.S.-based Chevrolet became a sponsor of Manchester United.

That deal sparked an interest in how sponsorship deals convey subtle messages. David M. Woisetschläger, Christof Backhaus and T. Bettina Cornwell set out, in the context of sports, to examine how sponsorship deal characteristics affect consumer inferences, attitudes, and behavioural intentions toward a sponsor and a sport property in a partnership.

Their resulting research is titled Inferring Corporate Motives: How Deal Characteristics Shape Sponsorship Perceptions. It is a fascinating piece of research that has implications and learnings at all levels and that’s’ why we invited David, Christof and Bettina on the show so that we could break the research down into some easy to digest pieces.

You can connect with the authors at the following links

• T. Bettina Cornwell on Twitter @BettinaCornwell  LinkedIn and ResearchGate
• David M. Woisetschläger on LinkedIn and ResearchGate
• Christof Backhaus on LinkedIn and at Aston Business School.

If you would like a copy of the research paper, in its final formatted form, the research team are happy to send the final paper, and more of their research, if contacted via e-mail or ResearchGate.

Also joining us on the show is Sam Irvine, SponServe’s Territory Manager for Australia and New Zealand, who discusses his latest blog about why you should utilise brand ambassadors and four steps to doing it well. You can read Sam's full blog here.

Enjoy

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Content is King. It’s almost a worn out saying but since it was first coined it has grown into an absolute truth. Whether you are trying to attract customers, or retain customers, content has become an integral part of a lot of businesses.

For the majority of rights holders, however, it’s been a very slow process. Even those that are doing it well are still lagging behind the general marketing community in other sectors.

There is no doubting that there is a trend in IP Owners taking control of content and the conversation and it makes Nielsen’s Commercial Trends in Sports 2017.

That’s because social media and other digital channels offer the opportunity to reach audiences more easily even if they are geographically dispersed. Yet, what is social media and what is broadcast media is very blurred. Is YouTube a social media platform? Or is it a broadcaster? Does it even matter?

To help understand the trend of IP owners taking control of content and conversations, Max Barnett, Global Head of Digital at Nielsen Sports, joins us on the show.

You can connect with Max on LinkedIn and Twitter @eightythree_max  and you can download a copy of Nielsen’s Commercial Trends in Sport 2017 here.

Our MD, Mark Thompson, also focuses on this trend but takes a much narrower look, and a deep dive, and discusses what it means for you, the sponsorship managers, in your day-to-day work. You can read Mark’s blog in full here.

Enjoy.

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Mistakes. We all make them and, sometimes, we make the same mistake over and over. Maybe it’s because we get excited about an opportunity and rush even though it’s against our better judgment; “Oh, it’ll be different this time around!”. Maybe we just don’t know how to do it better.

The thing is, we can learn from mistakes but most of us don’t really want to talk about them too much or seek advice. Then there are the mistakes that we haven’t made yet but which others have made and we can learn from.

Luckily, Abby Clemence, from Infinity Sponsorship, is willing to talk about her mistakes and what she’s learned.

A while back, we received an email from Abby with the subject 7 Sponsorship Mistakes I Will Never Make Again. It was an insightful read and, as an international speaker and one of Australasia's leading corporate partnership advisors to the Not-For-Profit Sector, we thought it was a great opportunity to invite Abby on the show and share her mistakes with you in detail.

If you want to connect with Abby then there are lots of great opportunities including website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a great LinkedIn Group.

There’s also Abby’s Fundraising Academy and a Free 14-day Sponsorship-Game-Changer Program which are both definitely worth your time.

If you love this episode, and you haven’t already, you should head way back to Episode Nine where we had Abby on the show where, again, she shared loads of great insights and advice.

Also on the episode, we welcome a new contributor to the podcast, Sam Irvine, who is our Territory Manager for SponServe in Australia and New Zealand. Sam joins us to share a key question that he wished he had asked sponsors but never did.

Enjoy.

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