The sponsorship industry can be guilty, sometimes, of just rolling out the same old properties activated in the same old ways. We all cringe at the thought of logo slapping and chairman’s choice sponsorships, yet it still happens. 

Innovation is what can give a sponsorship a competitive advantage. Whether that is better awareness and positioning for brands versus their competitors, access to target audiences, better ROI/ROO, or whether it is just a stronger overall relationship.

In the end, innovative sponsorships become a very attractive commodity. Of course, creativity is synonymous with innovation and while many people working in sponsorship are good at their jobs, they don’t often describe themselves as ‘creative’. 

So, if we know innovation drives better outcomes, and we need to be creative to be innovative, how do we help ensure that happens on a consistent basis in our sponsorships? 

It’s a question for all three sides: rights holders, brands, and agencies.

To help answer that question, one of Australia’s most recognised innovators, Adam Ferrier, Founder and Consumer Psychologist at Thinkerbell, joins us.

You can connect with Adam on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.

I highly recommend checking out his Black T-shirts Podcast, I’m a listener myself. Adam also has two books – Stop Listening to the Consumer: Try Hearing Your Brand Instead as well as The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour.

Enjoy.

As we know, sponsorship is one of the most effective means of marketing. 

In a US$60 billion industry (and growing) where brands spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars on sponsorship, the ‘gut feel’ is still largely being used. As such, the biggest challenge marketers face is quantifying ROI.

It is a challenging situation and often traces back to disparate data sources, a lack of measurement framework, or even consistent KPIs.

For brands, those things have long been an issue … and then COVID came along and brands were forced to really evaluate their sponsorship portfolio.

As such, the age-old question, for brands, “How do we properly manage, measure, and optimize our sponsorship portfolio?” has become so much more important.

The answer is a single source of truth and to help us unpack what that means, and why it is critical, Scott Tilton, EVP, Sponsorship Analytics at KORE Software, joins us.

You can connect with Scott on LinkedIn and learn more about KORE’s Portfolio Optimization platform here. 

Enjoy.

It is scary to think that it is only a few months until 2023 rolls around. For many, we already have an eye on 2023 and are deep in planning for a successful year.

However, what should you be considering and keeping top of mind when planning?

You could argue that there’s a lot of ‘noise’ within sport and entertainment sponsorship. It just gets busier and busier and there seem to be more and more platforms; whether they be social media platforms or new OTT services that further fragment viewing. How do you navigate the noise and help ensure sponsorship success?

What role does cultural relevance play in sponsorship planning and execution?

Should you even be focussing on relevance or is going ‘all in’ on reach your best play?

How do you make the best use of your budget?

How flexible and responsive do you need to be to make use of opportunities that pop up, despite a plan already in place?

What about purpose?

All big and important questions which are discussed in this episode as Dan Collier-Hill, Head of Strategy, Creative Systems, at MediaCom Australia, joins the show.

You can connect with Dan on LinkedIn and find our more about MediaCom on their website.

On 29 July 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games, the first competition for wheelchair athletes, which was named the Stoke Mandeville Games, involved 16 injured servicemen and women who took part in archery.

Fast forward from its humble beginnings, and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in Japan featured 4403 athletes from 161 countries.

Ryan Neiswender was one of those athletes, winning a gold medal in wheelchair basketball, for the USA, and he joins the show to discuss paralympic and disabled sports sponsorship.

Ryan is a Visa sponsored athlete as Visa’s connections to the Olympic and Paralympic Games extend beyond simply their sponsorship of the Games. Visa understands that the skills that make Olympians and Paralympians successful in sport extend to the workforce as well. As such, a number of elite athletes have taken the opportunity to join their global team where they are investing in their careers.

Ryan is one of those elite athletes and is a Digital Partnerships, Senior Manager at Visa. As such, this chat is really insightful as Ryan can speak from both sides of the fence – rights holder and sponsor.

There are 1.3 billion people in the world who are living with a disability and those 1.3 billion people have a combined disposable income of US$13 trillion.

While the world is largely focussing on digital, Web3, crypto, and blockchain, as new sectors and opportunities to develop in sponsorship, maybe there’s been an opportunity right under our noses the whole time.

If you would like to learn more about Ryan, visit his website ryanneiswender.com You can connect with Ryan on LinkedIn and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Enjoy.

Worldwide, Rugby Union boasts 500 million fans and 10 million players within 128 national member federations affiliated through six regional associations.

The driving force behind the sport’s significant growth has been World Rugby’s portfolio of major events, from the flagship men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups and U20 Championship to the excitement of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens and HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series which are instrumental in attracting new fans. Plus, Rugby Union is now an Olympic Games when it returned to the Olympic Games program at Rio 2016 with rugby sevens and, of course, rugby sevens is also a Commonwealth Games sport.

In Australia, Rugby Australia is the sport’s national governing body and is a member of World Rugby, Oceania Rugby, and SANZAAR.

In Australia, Rugby Australia is the sport’s national governing body. It essentially arranges it’s commercial program around three pillars – the classic 15-a-side teams, for both men and women, the newer sevens teams, for both men and women, and classic wallabies, a program for past players.

It is an exciting time for Rugby Australia as they have a huge calendar of events coming up over the next 10 years or so with both Men’s and Women’s World Cups, multiple Olympics and Commonwealth Games, and a British and Irish Lions tour.

Today, James Durbin, Chief Commercial Officer, takes us inside sponsorship at Rugby Australia.

If you would like to connect with James, you can do so on LinkedIn and you can find out more about Rugby Australia at www.rugby.com.au

One thing we have been thinking about, for some time, is creating a curated list of the host’s personal favourite insights or pieces of advice from our guests.

We have always envisaged it to be a bit of an anchor or touchpoint for those of you with lots of sponsorship industry experience, in the sense that you can always revisit it and be validated or inspired again. Or, for those new to the industry, a condensed show of lots of great advice from lots of smart guests to help you on your journey.

As such, in this episode, our host has hand-picked 14 of his favourite pieces of sponsorship advice and insights from 109 episodes.

The best of the best!

Enjoy

Blockchain companies investing in sports sponsorship is projected to reach US$5 billion by 2026. Cryptocurrency, blockchain and NFT sports sponsorship investment is projected to increase by a massive 778 per cent compared to 2021. The next highest increase in sports sponsorship is 44 per cent for IT software and hardware. Retail, automotive, and energy sponsorship investment is expected to rise by seven per cent, five per cent, and four per cent, respectively.

Last year, the number of people in the world investing in crypto doubled to 100 million. Now, it’s estimated to be more than 220 million and many analysts expect that to double again next year.

It is an attractive space for rights holders as they look to shore up commercial programs to help recover from pandemic-driven losses in a category that barely existed a few years ago.

Of course, while awareness of blockchain companies is growing, sponsors are also focused on converting. That needs to be a key understanding for any rights holder looking to pitch a blockchain company.

However, while the space is overflowing with opportunity and possibility, rights holders do need to tread carefully. It is vitally important that they are not seduced and blinded by the money on offer at the expense of due diligence and properly vetting potential partners.

Eddie Fitzgibbon, Principal Consultant at Sports Rights Tech joins us to help understand and navigate the space. SRT is a specialist advisory business focusing on the intersection of technology, intellectual property and rights in sport and entertainment.

SRT have a unique understanding of the Web 3 and NFT space for sports and entertainment. Through their Web 3 and NFT Advisory Services, SRT are able to support rights holders and brands through a number of potential projects & use cases in this ever-evolving commercial opportunity.

You can connect with Eddie on LinkedIn and you can learn more about SRT at www.sportsrightstech.com

Enjoy.

We hear so much about the importance of Data. That’s because it is important. It is often no longer acceptable to make gut decisions or use your intuition when comes to making business decisions and sponsorship is no different.

Whether you are on the rights holder side, brand side, or you work for an agency, data now plays an important role in reducing any risks and unknowns around sponsorships; whether that is using data to identify well-aligned partners, presenting sponsorship proposals, evaluating proposals, or tracking and ensuring partnerships that are in place.

There are, however, lots of organisations and platforms collating data and trying to bring it to life and make it useful. Sometimes, organisations even have silos of data which can present problems. Data, at times, can feel big, unwieldy, and hard to make sense of and work for you.

There are some that are doing it well and, as such, joining us for this episode is Christian Fizia, Sponsorship Insight and Operations Manager at Kindred Group. During the last 25 years, Kindred has established significant market share in key regulated markets across the globe. Today, Kindred is one of the world’s leading online gambling operators with business across Europe, US, and Australia; servicing over 30 million customers across nine brands. They are over 1,600 people strong, representing 62 nationalities, located across offices in 12 locations.

As an innovative company that builds on trust, Kindred has led the development into areas such as tech, mobile solutions, new product launches, and sustainable gambling. As part of their journey, in 2020, they became the first global online gambling company to commit to zero revenue from harmful gambling by 2023.

Clearly, as a digital-only company, data plays an important role in Kindred’s sponsorship evaluation and measurement.

You can learn more about Kindred Group at kindredgroup.com and you can connect with Christian on LinkedIn.

Enjoy.

The world of sponsorship was already experiencing a lot of change, before COVID, but, as we are now fairly and squarely in the middle of living with COVID, the industry continues to change.

2022 has a real sense of optimism as we see people flocking to live sports events including the rise and rise of women’s sport where we recently saw a record set for the biggest crowd at a women’s football match when Barcelona hosted Real Madrid and 91,553 people attended. No game had more people in it all season – and that includes the men’s Clásico.

Brands are also taking stock and, in some cases, pivoting or re-jogging their sponsorship approaches and portfolios, looking for new ideas and opportunities.
That’s why I thought it would be good to look at some of the trends that are happening in the sponsorship industry right now.

Paula Beadle is the Founder and CEO at Caravel Marketing. Paula is a sponsorship industry leader who has mastered the art and science of sponsorship over 30 years of experience in sponsorship, media, sports, major events, and entertainment.

Paula is also the founder of Sponsorship Mastery – an organization dedicated to improving individual and organizational sponsorship performance.

Paula also serves on the Board of Directors for the Red Cross, Seattle Sports Commission, Washington Fairs and Events Association (WFEA), and as a Mentor for Women in Sports and Entertainment (WISE). 

Paula presents to conferences on Navigating the Future of Sponsorship Marketing and she frames her presentation around research conducted. 

You can connect with Paula on LinkedIn and learn more about Paula’s work at Caravel Marketing.

Enjoy.

Esports is no longer a sector that we can look at and say, “Let’s just wait and see how it plays out”.

Reports from Newzoo and Juniper Research last year show that the global Esports audience grew to 474 million in 2021, with revenues from competitive gaming just shy of US$1.1 billion. The growth of Esport’s audience represents year-on-year growth of 8.7 percent.

To be classed as part of the 474 million Esports audience, you had to watch competitive gaming more than once a month. The audience is expected to continue to grow with a compound annual growth rate of 7.7 percent which will see it rise 577.2 million people in 2024.

The US$1.1 billion in revenue is a 14.5 percent increase on the US$947.1 million from 2020. Of the 2021 US$1.1 billion revenue figure, US$833.6 million will come from media rights and sponsorship. That’s 76% of total revenue.

Significant seems the common thread here. Significant audience growth. Significant revenue growth. Media rights and sponsorship contributing a significant percentage to total revenue.

Brands are noticing and teams and players have realised their position or power.
Patrick Collins joins the show and takes us inside Esports sponsorship. Patrick has a long history in sport having worked on the agency and rights holders side and, most recently, as Head of Partnerships at Excel Esports.

Patrick has recently launched his own Esports agency; LeapFox. You can also connect with Patrick on LinkedIn.

Enjoy.