A unique platform that delivers

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.

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Trend 1: Co-Co-(Co) Branding

Co-branding—also referred to as brand alliances—is the short- or long-term partnership of at least two brands. As sponsorship is already an association between two brands, it accelerates two types of co-branding phenomena: 1) several brands joining forces to create a unique activation or 2) a sponsor leveraging several of its brands in its partnership with a single property.

Why should two different brands join forces? Managers opt for this approach to improve their brand positioning, a tactic that the science of consumer behaviour tends to support, specifically when it comes to the sale of co-branded products. In fact, consumers generally perceive such alliances as positive, making it a winning strategy even if one of the two brands has weaker brand equity than the other.

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Our new time-saving tool

The number of organizations that have jumped into the sponsorship ring in the hope of growing their revenues has skyrocketed in recent years, resulting in an overflow of requests in sponsors’ inboxes… 

Is there a simple tool out there that can spare a promoter the futile hassle of filling out lengthy forms and save a sponsor from drowning under a sea of requests? There is now!

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How many times have you heard that sponsorship is no longer about visibility but all about engagement? Pretty often, I’d wager. While this is true enough in principle, the fact remains that 1) sponsorship can still be an effective way to build brand recognition and 2) before even thinking about engagement, you’ve got to first be sure consumers are going to remember who you are. Almost in all cases, the link between sponsor and property needs to be made before moving on to more complex objectives.

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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.

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The vast choice of sponsorships can by tempting for any company, especially if you assess each one in a vacuum. It’s easy for a sponsor to feel like a kid in a candy shop when so many options abound, but the wrong choice can lead to a scattered portfolio. Such an approach can sometimes yield positive results for a sponsor, but a well-structured selection can enhance your performance tenfold. Here we’ve broken down the strategies successfully leveraged by major brands, and drawn a few important conclusions. Here are six sponsorship strategies worth taking note of:

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You are sitting at your desk wondering what to do with the tons of sponsorship requests pouring in. You just received an email from the finance department asking you to do an in-depth review of sponsorship spending and effectiveness. Your budget has been cut and you need to optimize your partnership portfolio.

Elevent is the world’s first and most innovative sponsorship valuation software. Built with groundbreaking research, an optimized user experience and relevant data. It can build a strong business case for you, with all the arguments you need to make the right decision and strongly justify it.

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Sponsorship is an evolving area and the recent 2015 Relevent Conference shed light on a new way of approaching sponsorship. The speakers addressed numerous issues that are gaining traction in the sponsorship field such as the increased usage of social media as an important channel for activation, the effectiveness of the performance evaluation, the need to clarify precise objectives beyond awareness and finally is the logo dead? What the speaker Ian Malcolm, President of Desperado Inc. agency, would call the in-ice-logo dilemma, which stresses the fact that sponsorship is no more about visibility but way more about engagement.

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Sponsorship is not a simple marketing tool. It requires a vast background to successfully activate with digital, traditional advertising, event marketing, PR and more.

We created the Relevent Conference to help managers get up to speed with workshops and discussions to help tackle the challenges they face trying to generate more value from sponsorship.

 Montréal’s vibrant culture and extraordinary food will also be part of the experience!

 Here is why you should attend the Relevent Sponsorship Conference:

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The best practices for renewing and ending sponsorship agreements

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. 

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You spend years building a partnership between a brand and a property and then, for various reasons—objectives not being met fast enough, lack of vision at the management level, a changing of the guard or simply the strategic realignment of a scattered portfolio—and the time comes to call it quits.

No matter how good the reasons are for leaving, every brand needs a solid exit strategy. There are multiple players involved, from the property to the media to fans and the general public, and their reactions should not be underestimated. You don’t want to run the risk of having years of hard work crumble with a single news story.

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Series on the science of sponsorship

All good things come to an end, and partnerships between sponsors and properties are no exception. Financing sponsorships is becoming an increasingly costly endeavour, and when a contract comes up for renewal, there are times when a brand decides to walk away. The results of the above study suggest that even if pulling out of a sponsorship is negatively perceived by consumers, brand sponsors can mitigate that response by paying special attention to how they announce the news and when they decide to make it public.

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Should I stay or should I go?

When a scandal breaks, keeping quiet can seem like the most appropriate course of action for a sponsor. But there are, in fact, many different tacks a sponsor can take when the time comes to distance itself from an important property.

Turn the scandal into a business move: the Festina Affair

Long before Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France already had a number of scandals under its belt (hence the nickname: the Tour of Doping). The most significant scandal was the Festina Affair in 1998. For the first time in the history of cycling, an entire team was excluded from the Tour de France after their soigneur was arrested at the border with large quantities of doping products in his car. It was tough for Festina—the luxury watch brand sponsoring the team—to distance itself from the scandal when its name was peppered all over the media. The Festina team put an end to its activities in 2001, and the brand redirected its involvement in the event: it became the official sponsor of timekeeping for the Tour de France and set up a foundation to prevent doping.

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Have you ever heard of 3Com Park or Monster Park in San Francisco? No? Despite attempts to name the 49ers stadium after a brand, the team ended up going back to Candlestick Park after San Francisco residents voted largely in favour of bringing back the original name. Fans around the world often react negatively to branded name changes by protesting, boycotting or refusing to acknowledge the new name.

Though title sponsorships attract sponsors that see them as a powerful tool to increase brand awareness and improve their image through association with the property, there are a number of downsides to the deal. Fan resistance can have a negative impact on attitudes towards the sponsor and on word-of-mouth. Fans who identify deeply with the property and the region where their team resides react more strongly to name changes. When a property is steeped in tradition and heritage, a title sponsor can pose a serious threat to its identity.

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2005 was a year with no Olympics, no soccer World Cup and no rugby World Cup. So how could it deliver one of the most unforgettable sporting events of the last few decades? Ask Liverpool fans who celebrated the 10th anniversary of their team’s riveting Champions League Final last week—perhaps the most enthralling in the history of the competition. In 2005, in front of more than 70,000 spectators in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium, with three billion more watching the game on television, Liverpool, trailing AC Milan three goals to nil at halftime, rallied during the second period, scoring three times in a six-minute frenzy. After a scoreless extra time, Liverpool carried their momentum through to the penalty shootout, where they came out on top, thanks to a stunning save by their goalkeeper.

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