Last week I was fortunate enough to attend ‘The Innovation in Sport Business Summit’, which was in conjunction with the Turkish Airlines Final Four in London. The first topic of discussion was ‘Innovation as a revenue driver in Sports’. Unsurprisingly the general consensus was that everything is moving towards digital, social and mobile; making fan accessibility easier and increasing online activity.

All the panellists rightly mentioned how the sofa experience has transformed with a number of different upgrades such as the use of the second screen and ‘datatainment’ (the availability of in-depth stats and figures, which make pub debates that much more enthralling). However it became clear that with all these technological luxuries, the appeal of going to a stadium may be losing its gloss. Today’s consumers not only want things quicker but they want things catered around their lives, hence why Sky Plus and mobile media are so popular, they align with the schedule of the consumer and give them a great amount of control.

This is far from what can be said about the sporting experience in person- a game starts at a set time, tickets are expensive and hard to get hold of, weather and travel can be extremely frustrating and there are still a large amount of limitations on stadia facilities (alcohol, food prices, crowd control, Wi-Fi, seating). No one can argue that watching your team score a last minute winner in person can be replicated in any form at home or on your mini screen but in this era ticket holders still deserve much more from the total stadium environment- up to date facts and statistics, extensive match highlights and in-game food and beverage ordering to name a few.

Sponsorship agencies are desperately trying to shed the perception that sport is all about logo bashing and big ad banners, but sponsors themselves must contribute by exposing their brand to a wide range of different channels, starting with promoting a technology-led stadium experience, even if it means investing that little bit extra. If sponsors want to capitalise on their mass brand presence at stadiums, increase slipping ticket sales and build loyalty and engagement with all types of fans, enhancing technology in stadiums has to be a priority. Sponsors must treat their association to a team or competition as a mutual and progressive partnership in order to tackle these glaring hurdles, rather than simply pumping money into a team and letting them sort an issue that is actually imperative to a sponsors’ ROI.

There is no point of having marketing strategies like brand advocates, match day content and social media campaigns if they are only visible to fans at home. The purest form of fan engagement is the raw emotional roller coaster that occurs in stadiums and only a handful of sports teams have realised this (see Arsenal and Manchester City). Of course teams like Manchester City and the LA Lakers have the resources to build multi functional digital facilities but other sporting organisations without as much funding must begin to collaborate more strategically with sponsors to enhance stadia experience.

An inspiring example of how successful this can be is the New Jerseys Red Devils Mission Control, the first digital command centre launched by a pro sports team. Mission Control, launched in 2011, acts as the hub for internet and social media connection for both the team and the arena, allowing fans to utilize the space and monitor messaging. This innovative collaboration with Prudential (stadium partner) and The Red Devils revolutionised the fan-stadium platform.

The rewards for this dynamic and engaging project was not only higher ticket sales and two 2011 Bulldog Awards (including Socially Engaged Brand of the Year) but it also attracted global powerhouse T-Mobile to sign on in 2012 as official sponsor of the stadium’s digital hub. The New Jersey Red Devils are by no means an elite financial sports team but it shows that if sponsors work collaboratively with teams and utilise the innovation of technology, they can help drive fans into stadiums, rather than out of them.

The European Sponsorship Association’s market trends survey revealed that CSR is increasingly becoming an integral part of sponsorship campaigns. Whereas in the past businesses and brands tended to spend their CSR budget on supporting arts or environmental based causes,  they are beginning to acknowledge the power that sport has in terms of reaching and engaging with people on an  emotional level.

There are many examples of how sports rights owners and brands are beginning to collaborate as a means to make a difference in people’s lives rather than just purely about the sponsorship – which in turn, is creating true value within the campaign. Here are three of my favourite sports sponsorship & CSR partnerships.

1. One Team – Euroleague Basketball & Turkish Airlines

The One Team CSR Marketing Programme was, of course, a focal point of the second panel at the Innovation in Sports Business Summit. Launched in 2012 in collaboration with Euroleague’s main sponsor, Turkish Airlines (their Founding Patron), the programme is additionally supported by eight Founding Partner Clubs and seven further Euroleague basketball clubs (by 2014 this will be extended 24 clubs in total).

The aim of One Team is to use the power of basketball to change lives. All 15 clubs involved in the initiative tailor and invest their community outreach with the aim to challenge key social issues faced by their communities. The clubs use an innovative methodology of assessment, outreach and results oriented analysis to create the maximum impact and results.

When discussing the success of the programme, panellist and architect of this European-wide development programme, David Butler, pointed to the importance of having the right measurement: “When asked ‘how is it going’, organizations tend to talk about increasing numbers, more children, more projects, more people, more scale, more geography. But that does not answer question properly. The question should be asked: ‘how much impact are you having? And how much positive change is happening?’”

Each one of the clubs works with disadvantaged individuals from their communities, with basketball as the integrating tool. An overview of all the different projects can be found here.

Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines, expressed the importance of initiatives such as these stating “At Turkish Airlines we believe that sport is a unique language that can inspire and One Team uses that language to talk to those who most need to hear its message of positive values.”

2. NBA Cares – NBA & Kia

One of Euroleague’s benchmarks was the NBA Cares programme. Similar to Euroleague’s One Team programme, NBA Cares is a community outreach initiative that addresses important social issues such as education, youth and family development as well as health and wellness. Since 2005, the league has partnered with NBA teams in order to support a range of programs, partners and initiatives that strive to support children and families on a global scale. So far, more than $210 million have been raised for charity and more than 2.3 million hours of hands-on service has been provided by the National Basketball Association and its clubs. Through TV-Spots (such as this one featuring Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade) at every NBA game, the league uses this content as a marketing tool to raise awareness about the issues surrounding many communities. Click here to see how the different teams and players are currently supporting NBA Cares.

Due to this success, the NBA has created a new sponsorship platform within the NBA Cares programme: the Kia Community Assist Awards that honour the NBA player who best reflects the passion that the league and its players have for giving back to their communities. This sponsorship deal is one step ahead of Euroleague’s partnership with Turkish Airlines as it engages with fans on a far bigger scale using Social Media channels such as Facebook.

3. Hamburger SV – “Hamburger Weg”

Football is probably the sport which has naturally the strongestbond to local communities. Hamburger SV is a very traditional football club in Germany and was one of the first clubs in the world who integrated sponsors into its CSR plans. The “Hamburger Weg” is a partnership between the football club Hamburger SV and local companies. The programme combines classical sponsorship with CSR, through donations. The club donates 1/11 of its sponsorship revenue to local organisations and charities to help them find the right footing in life. Hamburg’s sponsors are specifically branded with white logos on a blue perimeter advertising background which adds an additional affiliation between brand, charity and club.

Until a few weeks ago, many were unaware of Kickstarter until Mr Zach Braff (of Garden State and Scrubs fame) launched a campaign on the website to generate funding for his new movie ‘Wish I Was Here’ a kind-of-but-not-really sequel to Garden State – find his campaign video here.  Through the website, and by the click of a button, anyone is able to become an investor in Braff’s film.  What is more, those willing to sponsor are offered some pretty hefty benefits – ranging from larger investors being treated to a character in the film being named after them, to escorting Braff as one of his personal guests to the premier and after party – not bad.

Within only 3 days, Braff’s target of $2 million was smashed.  Of course this was due, to a large extent, to Braff’s extensive networks (1,099,497 Twitter followers) and celebrity pals who helped him reach this goal.  Yet despite the project’s success, Braff’s use of the site has come under immense scrutiny, with many citing this project to be one of (soon to be many) Hollywood overhauls on the website – which they believe will overshadow projects that really need to use the site to create contacts and source funding.

Despite the Hollywood backlash, the success Braff has gained through Kickstarter and the buzz his project has generated; has led me to identify 3 things the sponsorship industry should take away from this case study:

1) It is imperative to tap into passions – Sponsorship should always be about tapping into people’s interests and passions.  As a marketing tool; the brands and rights-holders that have the most success, are the ones that really connect with what the consumer wants and understand what it is they need.  Braff was able to build on the cult success of Garden State and use the affinity his fans have towards the film to help fund a new project, giving fans the opportunity to join him in the films journey.

2) Not just about the idea – Despite the success of Braff’s Kickstarter campaign, an overwhelming majority of Kickstarter projects lead to failure.  As Michael C. Neel’s research shows, the campaigns that are the most successful are the ones that are able to promote and leverage networks, exercise connections and generate as much buzz as possible around the project.  In essence, this is similar to sponsorship – those that are deemed ‘successful’ are the ones that are able to utilise every aspect of the relationship at hand – not just rely on the basic sponsorship or ‘idea’ itself.

3) Corporates should learn from crowd-funding – Some of the best ideas and projects gain fruition from smaller, grass-root platforms like Kickstarter; and it is important that these projects are able to gain funding.  Sponsorship should be accessible and understood by all; not just large corporates – the funding of such projects will in turn help generate an already stagnant economy.  Websites such as Kickstarter also offer first-hand insight into projects that are succeeding and those that are failing – offering corporates in real time, trends within specific industries.

Despite the criticism surrounding Braff’s use of Kickstarter, the re-emergence of the platform has emphasised once again, the need and capacity for sponsorship in all industries whether big or small.

Coming off of the back of the ESA Summit, and having read other articles postulating how  the sponsorship industry lacks the ability to PR themselves, this comment really made me think about our industry and what the general public thinks of sponsorship, sponsorship agencies, and everyone in between.  One specific comment made at the ESA Summit particularly stood out, it addressed the notion that the industry needs to provide fans and spectators a voice – considering sponsorship is supposed to add value to their experience and form a core part of the win-win-win best practice that our industry promotes.  And now having first-hand experience with someone who works in events, but doesn’t even know what a sponsorship industry does, let alone the fact that they exist is, quite frankly, astonishing.

At Slingshot, we believe that understanding the commercial benefits of sponsorship and partnerships is vital to business growth in this shifting market.  As an industry we really need to encourage education on its true benefits not just for our own industry’s sake, but for the sake of utilising these practices to build a successful economy.

While a number of attendees have already summed up the major take-homes from the day (Ben Wells’ blog for example) there was one comment in particular that, to me, illustrated why sponsorship is such a unique marketing tool.  When asked to respond to the nth brand manager’s call to tell the consumer <insert brand name here>’s story, one panelist piped up with ‘no-one cares about your brand story’.

Now while, I must admit, it did get slightly tedious hearing the nth brand manager (from Coca Cola, Virgin Media, Monster, Diageo etc) talk about the importance of storytelling, it struck me just how integral  sponsorship is in  giving brands something to talk about.

The vast majority of products or services that a company offers often blur into the wider competitive market, leaving them indistinguishable and in many cases lacking the essence through which a story can be created. This is where sponsorship comes in.  Sponsorship gives brands the chance to align themselves with a personality, a movement or a cause that they can weave their brand into and construct a narrative that allows their target audience to directly engage with.

In order to illustrate how effective story-telling can be in granting personality to a brand, I’ve outlined three campaigns, which I think do it well.

1.  Bing & Jay Z – The Decoded Campaign

With Jay-Z’s autobiography ‘Decoded’ due to be launched, Microsoft saw an opportunity to increase the relevance of its search engine, Bing, and showcase its new mapping software.

Each of Decoded’s 320 pages were printed and placed in a different position across 13 major cities.  Locations were selected based on the contents of each page – for example, a reference to Jay Z’s youth in Brooklyn could be placed on a Cadillac on Montgomery Street; with other pages being imprinted onto a restaurant plate, a basketball backboard and even on the bottom of a swimming pool!

Utilising multiple online social platforms, clues were released, revealing the location of the secret pages in a draw to compete to be the first to unlock each one of the 320 pages.  Users were driven to Bing.com/Jay Z where they were directed to specific locations, while the first people on the scene texted a code to reveal the page to the whole community.  Within a month of the campaign going live, users had unlocked every single page of the book before it was even available for sale.

Bing received an 11.7% increase of visitors while the campaign was live with an average player engagement of 11 minutes.  Jay Z’s Facebook page received 1 million ‘likes’ in under a month and his autobiography reached 3^rd in the New York Times Best Seller list.

All sections of media were used giving the individual a rich and unique understanding of Jay Z’s life, while educating the brand about Bing and its capabilities. If that isn’t a brand telling a story, I don’t know what is.

2. Converse & Patrick Downey – The 5k Run

Converse’s sponsorship of the Patrick Downey 5k Run is a great example of how brand’s can weave themselves into someone else’s story and become part of the overall narrative.

Patrick Downey was the embodiment of the Converse brand. He was an artist who had developed his own unique, personal style — the crown jewel of which was his uniform of dark pants, flannel tops and Chuck Taylors (Converse’s flagship shoe design). He tragically died in 2007 from a rare form esophageal cancer, which prompted his sister (Shannon Downey) to set-up a 5km run to raise awareness for this rare disease.  Runners were encouraged to run in Chuck Taylors, while the race logo (as seen on the left) featured a trainer reminiscent of a Chuck Taylor shoe also.

Converse found out about the race and the affection with which Patrick Downey held their brand,  and decided to sponsor the event. They now provide:

- All of the prize-winning money for the race

- Converse marshalls situated along the route to help runners get to the finish line

- Supply of Chucks to racers and attendees alike

- Additional consultation alongside Shannon to discuss how they can contribute long-term to her important work of educating people about esophageal cancer.

Patrick and Shannon’s initially personal story moved a brand to act. Converse  have now become a part of that story and will continue to help write the remaining pages.

3. P&G and The Olympic – ‘Mums’ Campaign

Undoubtedly my favourite Olympic sponsorship and a great example of how storytelling can give personality to a brand that many people previously have never held any real affection towards.

P&G’s “Thank You Mum” Olympic marketing program harnessed a universal human emotion to create a program that spanned brands, countries and consumer alike. It showcased its commitment to their core audience, mums, through a range of different media formats via a compelling and touching narrative.

One of the central themes to the campaign was a P&G created video series called ‘Raising an Olympian’. It celebrated the role of Olympic mums in supporting their children to reach the pinnacle of their sporting lives.

The individual series generated over 25 million views online, with more than 10 million views on the Yahoo! network alone. To date, the global campaign has generated more than 65 billion impressions from broadcast and print coverage (650% over target), 72.5 million views of P&G videos, an 45% increase in Facebook fans for  P&G brands, and 370 million Twitter engagements.

The mums campaign is the perfect illustration that the consumer does care about your brand story; as long as it’s a story that means something to them.

Debut Contemporary is an innovative platform aimed at talented and eager artists who wish to turn their art practice into a successful career and a viable business.  Debut is the only professional development and career empowerment platform of its kind in the UK.  Artists on the Debut Contemporary benefit from a wealth of opportunities including weekly workshops, access to a network of collectors, one on one mentoring sessions and the opportunity to exhibit at high profile events and gallery spaces.

Debut Contemporary ‘s key role is to assist artists who wish to make a career out of their talent.  The economic recession and rising unemployment has been incredibly tough on those working within creative spheres.  Debut Contemporary’s mission has been to overcome these challenges and give rising talent the chance to shine and get necessary exposure within the right networks.  The platform offers individuals the opportunity to gain first hand insights and for others to pass on industry knowledge with the aim to increase a success rate of artists in the business – enabling them to live off their work and make some serious financial gains in the process.

Jackie volunteered to share her expertise in the field of sponsorship with the hope to encourage Debut artists to recognise its value.  The workshop focused on a step-by-step guide to creating a sponsorship proposition and offered first-hand accounts of sponsorship in art.

Jackie stated ‘it was an honour to have the opportunity to host a workshop for so many talented artists.  The recession has been tough on the arts, and sponsorship is the perfect solution for many of those struggling to make ends meet.  It was great to host an interactive workshop with Debut Contemporary and I hope it was an insightful day for all those that attended.’

Although the reach of ATL marketing is undoubtedly wide-ranging and a great platform for unique concepts, the economic downturn and the rise of digital technology has forced companies to think more ‘Below the Line’ in regards to their goals for a profitable future.

Sustainability

One of the primary reasons why ATL campaigns have not had as drastic a growth in recent years is due to the extraordinary budgets that are required to ensure cut through. Citi Bank’s ‘Live Richly’ campaign is a campaign that spanned over 5 years and cost over $1 billion dollars. The campaign reached people through their inner desire to enjoy life and the concept was very catchy, but this is simply not a sustainable method of engagement for many SME’s in this economic climate. For many, splashing out on mass media campaigns is not feasible anymore due to a recession-scarred business community. There is simply too much risk involved considering that the ROI for marketing departments is under such scrutiny.

Less money, less problems

Companies are desperately attempting to reach consumers on a more personal and frequent basis, which is why they are choosing to engage with people on social media platforms as well as mobile proximity marketing. Television ads and mass media may seem all encompassing, but they lack the specific ability to personalise its audience relationship the same tailored way social media does.

With large scale campaigns of this size, further risk exists with the inability to quickly adapt to change in culture or need.  A perfect example of this is the launch of Diet Pepsi’s ‘tall, skinny can’ in 2011, which scheduled its debut around their sponsorship of New York Fashion Week long before the actual date. However Pepsi were unable to adapt their pricey campaign to the ongoing outrage regarding size zero models and its affect on young women. The campaign simply could not adapt quick enough, which highlights a great advantage of online media.

Future thoughts

For many brands ATL methods will always have a place in the marketing mix, but in this current climate, brands are getting more bang for their buck by turning to digital campaigns and social media engagement. ATL mass media campaigns are a luxury in this economic slump, but for companies who want to flex their creative muscle, they are still a viable option. However brands must prioritise sustainable business methods and realise that digital and mobile technology is the future, whether it be social media, viral Internet movements, product placements or guerrilla advertising. Brands that fail to adapt will be quickly left behind.

Spring Online in association with Carphone Warehouse takes place every year between 22–26 April and is an award-winning campaign that provides a unique platform to help people understand, explore and enjoy digital technology. The campaign encourages residents to throw open their doors and hold free digital taster events for their local communities; all with the aim of helping thousands of older people and other less confident users take their first steps online.

The Slingshot team worked together to get people down to our Spring Online event. The team visited local care homes, housing associations and doctor’s surgeries, posted flyers in coffee shops and publicised the event via Spring Online’s media partner Streetlife, an online platform for local communities.

On the afternoon of Friday 26 April, Slingshot’s offices were bursting at the seams with attendees learning how to set up their own email accounts, exploring the wonders of shopping online and singing along to their favourite artists such as Tony Bennett and One Direction on YouTube!

One attendee, who had been given an iPad by her Grandchildren but had little knowledge of how to use it, enjoyed the event so much she asked whether she could attend every Friday and nearly all of the attendees asked where they could buy a computer.

My Grandchildren gave me an iPad for Christmas and I have hardly used it. Today I have learnt to shop online, download cooking apps and I am so excited to go home and play games. I can’t thank you enough Slingshot!

Slingshot is the exclusive sponsorship agency for Spring Online which is supported by Headline Sponsors Carphone Warehouse and Supporting Sponsors BMI Healthcare and Marks & Spencer. To find out more about Spring online and its sponsors click here.

I love the Newsagent – the whole Slingshot Sponsorship office pop around to the one on Upper Street at least twice a day.  Mr Ozza owns the shop, we love him – and I especially love that he sells my favourite Fizzy Blue Bottle sweets at the counter, a real delicacy around these parts.

However, whenever I pop in I tend to buy the same thing – water, Diet Coke, sweets.  The orders rarely change and no matter how much value Mr Ozza provides us with his convenience, we will never increase our purchase.  For this reason, Mr Ozza’s newsagent is a transactional sale.  It is based on a ‘need’ (3pm sugar fix) and delivered very quickly and efficiently.

Now compare this type of sale to your hairdresser.  You spend months, years even, finding the perfect hairdresser.  Once you have found them, you indulge in the luxury (or if you are male, then perhaps you are just happy to find someone who doesn’t cut your hair where you end up looking like a 12 year old).

Either way, you are happy.

You then start building a relationship with your hairdresser and when they recommend a product the next time you come in – you buy it.  When you discover that the product works you start to view your hairdresser as credible and someone who knows what you want/need.  Years go by and you start to realise that not only have you purchased all your hair products from one salon based upon your hairdressers’ tips, you’ve started eating out and going to the new pubs they recommend.  This is a relational sale.  It is a sales process which increases with time, trust and ability to deliver.

Now there are places for transactional sales within sponsorship – tactical sales and deals that work for specific reasons that don’t need investment.  However, many should aspire to create a more relational model with their sponsorship sales.

And similar to the hairdresser, here are my 5 tips for creating a relational sponsorship sale:

1. If it is a new platform, be expected to provide credibility elsewhere – proof that your event truly is what you claim it is.
2. Like a shampoo sample, brands will be unwilling to invest in your sponsorship platform for millions if they haven’t attended the event or even tried sponsorship on a smaller level.
3. Be likeable and professional – I hate a moody hairdresser and similarly I hate working with people that I don’t see eye to eye with.  Most brands are in it for the long haul with sponsorship, if they don’t think you are capable or if they just plain don’t like you, it doesn’t encourage investing in you.
4. Know the up sell – be prepared for when the sponsorship does work – be sure to be clear on additional ways in which the brand is able to get involved and gain more benefits.
5. Know your client – if you don’t know what they want, how are you going to sell anything?

Deloitte Digital has been announced as Digital Design sector sponsor for the 2013 D&AD Awards, raising industry awareness of their new digital solutions service.

Globally renowned as the pinnacle of any creative’s career, the annual D&AD Awards celebrate and honour the best work produced from around the world within that year.

The Awards have developed to now stand at over 130 categories spread across 25 diverse disciplines – each rewarding those brave enough to challenge modern creativity.

The Digital Design category recognises groundbreaking work that pushes the limits of what can be digitally developed – from websites to apps, and everything in between, this is one of the most exciting and innovative categories within the awards.

Deloitte Digital expressed that ‘The D&AD Awards set the bar for the industry for the coming years and we are proud to align ourselves with such a well-respected and thought provoking creative body.  At Deloitte Digital, we are truly passionate about all things digital – we seek to offer innovative and unique solutions for our clients and we are proud to do things differently.’

D&AD continues to redefine and challenge the creative community, and every year this is reflected through the awards.  Previous winners including The Guardian, The Wilderness Downtown, Google Chrome, DDB Paris and Dentsu Tokyo.

Amanda Moorby, D&AD Partnerships Director said ‘D&AD are honoured to be joined by Deloitte Digital.  As a company, they represent the future of digital agencies.  We are excited to develop and explore an engaging and value-led partnership with Deloitte Digital for the 2013 D&AD Awards.’

This sponsorship deal was brokered by Slingshot Sponsorship.