What started as a small music festival in Austin, TX in 1987, is now a massive event, conference, festival, trade show and everything in between, with a declared attendance of 432,000 people for 2018.
WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AT THE 105TH GREY CUP HINDER SPONSORSHIP VISIBILITY
All eyes may have been on the game Sunday night, but they certainly weren’t seeing all the logos that paying sponsors intended, as an unexpected snowfall covered the field – the most coveted branding real estate for the CFL Grey Cup. According to data analysis run by our SPOT tool that assesses and values on-screen logo and branding visibility, some major sponsors didn’t get what they paid for.
Formula E was launched in 2014 as the world’s first electric street racing series, attracting attention from traditional manufacturers like Audi, Renault and Jaguar, as well as curiosity from many former Formula 1 drivers. With the overall aging of motorsports audiences, Formula E provided a fresh opportunity to gain new audiences for the sport as a whole, and as with the launch of any new series, there was tremendous potential for innovation without any red tape, pre-existing agreements or politics.
One of the most popular articles on the Elevent sponsorship blog is a piece called “Top 10 sponsorship ambushes.” This always makes me wonder: why is this still a thing?
Many of the examples in that article are dated, with the most blatant cases of ambush marketing perpetrated by Nike in the 90’s (though they remain the bad boys of sponsorship to this day).
H&M had the brilliant idea of leveraging a theme to form a bond with a very specific segment of the population. The program they created gave the company the opportunity to interact with the target audience all year long thanks to a shared passion.
By David Tokarczyk, Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada
Safety was a key concern in my decision to visit Brazil given the constant media reports about the dangers of visiting the country. With the Zika virus spreading, the SC Johnson insect repellent brand Off! took the savvy step of becoming the official insect repellent supplier of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a move that reportedly had sales soaring over the same period last year. What is interesting is that SC Johnson is a competitor of Olympic Global Sponsor Procter & Gamble.
By Samantha Phelan, Manager, Sales and Service, St. John's IceCaps.
Two years ago, in the lead-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Beats by Dre—a popular headphones brand—took to the internet with a uniquely crafted “Game Before the Game” video featuring famous soccer athletes, Neymar and Sturridge, emulating what their pre-game rituals looked like.
Because anything can be sponsored—or almost anything—you’d think that companies would be busy transforming their sponsorship portfolio every time a new trend hit the market. Instead, they tend to focus on their existing partnerships because long-term relationships have a way of paying off.
We are seeing a stabilization of partnerships in the major sponsorship categories, which suggests that brands are adopting a more strategic approach. The average duration of a partnership has also gone up. There is less movement in the marketplace overall, with the exception of brands pulling out during more difficult economic periods.
Relevent15 conference review
By Joey Franco
The terms “pioneer” and “trailblazer” come to mind when describing Tom Moser’s career in the entertainment/sports sponsorship marketing field. Moser, a mastermind marketer for British American Tobacco, including its Canadian subsidiary Imperial Tobacco Company Canada has run the gamut in high profile tobacco sponsorships; from IndyCar racing to jazz festivals and of course, Formula One.
Due to tobacco legislation restricting more traditional forms of advertising and promotion; sponsorships became one of the only communications vehicles for marketers at tobacco companies. “It was actually a benefit in some ways,” says Moser as he describes those transformative years.
Changes in the media landscape in recent years have been dizzying. Never before has the public exercised so much control over what they hear and see.
Audiences are increasingly moving away from conventional channels, traditionally supported by advertising revenue, and turning to ad-free content they can consume at their leisure.
But people’s behaviour differs according to the type of content. For example, we are seeing a movement that’s bucking the trend in the world of sports, with 95% of content still being consumed live.
While this magazine can’t possibly do justice to all of the insight and effervescence that speakers and participants alike brought to the three-day event, we hope it will give you a little taste of the amazing discoveries we shared during this first edition. Hopefully it will also whet your appetite to join us next year for the opportunity to get even better at what you already do so well.
The success of a sponsorship depends on a number of key ingredients that unfortunately don’t always make it into the mix. The best sponsorship programs are the ones that manage to achieve clear, pre-set objectives, are capable of measuring results and have a strategic vision that stays in focus over time.
O2’s sponsorship program, though not new, remains one of my all-time favourite examples of how to get it right. As well as being incredibly well designed, the winning program developed by this Telefonica-owned mobile company became a core driver of the firm’s corporate marketing strategy. In this case study, we take a look at the context, the program, the strategy and the performance metrics behind O2’s outside-the-box approach to sponsorship.
For events that are broadcast on television—or are available for streaming on the Web—the sponsorship value for brands has more to do with the viewers seated in front of their screens than it does with the spectators sitting at the venue.
So how is the value of brand exposure in a broadcast measured? While this type of evaluation has been around for years, it is plagued by a number of myths and preconceptions. But developments in broadcasting and broadcast technologies are changing the way it is done. Let’s take a closer look.
the conditions that enable partners to generate value and to maintain a good relationship aren’t that well understood. Moreover, when a brand exits a sponsorship, it is often ill equipped to do it properly, which can make the situation even more uncomfortable.
The renewal and cessation of sponsorships are topics that—despite their huge importance—don’t tend to be well covered and for which there are few resources. That’s why we decided to devote our attention to the subject in this edition.
We will cover the ending of a sponsorship when a contract comes up for renewal or when a scandal strikes, the impact of a sponsor exit on fans, and the relationship between the sponsor and the property—a subject rarely touched upon, but which has significant consequences on the success of the partnership. We will also supply data that sheds a light on these aspects of the sponsorship industry.
