What happened

Cadbury is well known for its fun and games when it comes to creative advertising, and haven’t disappointed with the new campaign to promote the new Dairy Milk Bubbly. Welcome to ‘Joyville’ – an imaginary magical land where chocolate is made.

The ad includes chocolate helpers appearing from hidden places in a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-inspired setting of bubbly, melting chocolate. Launched on Google +, the campaign also came with a real-world component, a musical chocolate fountain in London’s Westfield Shopping Centre in White City.

This year the Cadbury brand has also presented us with the Blippar-powered augmented reality digital game ‘Quaksmack’ for smartphones. Chocoholics can point their smart phone at a packet of Cadbury goodies to start playing, while of course being exposed to multiple brand messages. The game forms part of Cadbury’s Spots v. Stripes London 2012 campaign.

Why we love it

Cadbury Dairy Milk has been championed as the nation’s favourite chocolate since its launch back in 1905. Their association with the expression of Joy, introduced in their late ’70s advertising and reinvigorated in 2007 by the infamous Cadbury Gorilla ad, has created a sense of magic around the brand, with the latest campaign creating a space that captures the imagination and curiosity whilst tapping into youth, fun, happiness and enjoyment.

We love the approach, the unique positioning for an Olympic sponsor, and that they chose to transform a physical space into a chocolate-flavoured factory full of life. Alongside the tangible live element to the Joyville campaign, the use of innovative digital technology within the ‘Stars and Stripes campaign’ shows an appreciation that immersive brand experiences can be as much virtual as real-life. The association of fun and games with a serious competition such as the Olympics is an interesting angle which ties in perfectly to Cadbury’s principles and brand messaging. After all, games are great – they get people playing, they bring people together and sometimes they even reveal an undiscovered talent.

With brands like Cadbury embracing such a creative approach, it is not hard to imagine a world of the future, full of fun and games, where your experience begins the moment you step outside your front door; where your smartphone becomes a vessel of endless possibilities, a seamless integration of digital and live, creating vastly enriching experiences. Imagine trying on that suit or dress you have just spotted in the latest film at the cinema in a matter of minutes, or downloading a recipe for your favourite dish whilst watching someone cook it in front of your eyes.

By James W on February 24th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Default, Synergy Loves, Television

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In a year of huge cultural, historical and sporting relevance, brands will be (and already are) fighting for ‘white space’ and unique ways to engage with the British public. During this very busy year the strategy and tactics that brands choose are critical, which is why we decided to use this Synopsis to look at some of the activation trends we are expecting to see in 2012.

At a macro level, experiential marketing (EM) is a growth trend in itself . Experiential specialists have long debated the need for integration with digital media to extend the reach of the live activity beyond a single interaction. Momentum has been driven primarily by the growth of social networks, which provide longevity, an extended audience and a measurement tool for the effectiveness of such campaigns.

Marketers are more concerned than ever about customer experience and innovation, but with a need to find simple, differentiating tactics, expect 2012 to be a year of the ‘Ts’.

TECHNOLOGY

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)

RFID is a system that can transmit the identity of a person wirelessly using radio waves.  A portable device (for example a wristband, PDA, card, smart phone or even just a sticker) automatically transmits the data to an RFID reader, where it is then processed.

RFID has been used for many years - in fact, you may be using it in one form or another every day. I used RFID technology at least five times before I reached my desk today via my Oyster and Engine building access cards.  In 2006, the Emirates Stadium opened with an electronic ticketing system and members of ‘The Arsenal’ use their membership cards to enter the stadium, removing the need for gate security staff.

The ability of RFID technology to unite live and digital, by allowing consumers to share a real-time brand experience and messages in a controlled fashion with social networks, has seen the technology flourish.  At the recent Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange London,  RFID technology was implemented for guests to share their real time nightlife experience on Facebook. After a simple registration process guests could ‘check-in’, ‘like’ and post photos directly to their walls by tapping their RFID wristbands on ‘Facebook Interactive Pods’.  All posts were predetermined by Smirnoff which provided an element of controlled messaging. The event was amplified to 1.6 million people on Facebook. Laura Moody of Blondefish, the event technology company who deliver this RFID solution for Smirnoff comments:  ”The use of RFID technology in the event space is delivering  powerful results for both the live audience and brand sponsorship. Consumers and brands are embracing the way RFID can deliver a more personal, memorable and interactive live experience. As guests share their experiences on social media they become advocates for the brand, delivering huge levels of online brand amplification.”

It is not only events that are seeing the benefits and word-of-mouth that RFID can offer. In 2011, Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel installed Facebook pods for guests to “make all their Facebook friends jealous.”

With the costs of RFID coming down and the possibilities endless, there are some exciting developments that could change the face of experiential marketing.

Music festivals are quickly discovering the benefits of using RFID.  It is making ticketing and admissions more efficient, while ‘cashless’ payment methods are reducing security problems (there is no need to carry a wallet), driving purchases and allowing brands to track spending patterns.

The ability to analyse individuals’ purchasing patterns allows a brand to deliver personalised content and offers.  This not only drives spend (Mastercard in Canada has seen a 25% increase in spending by users of its RFID credit cards), but can also make customers feel more connected to the brand.  Minority Report’s vision in 2002 of personalised advertising seemed something for the very distant future – but RFID is bringing it closer.

Augmented Reality & Blippar™
Image recognition is another way to connect the real world to the virtual one and 2011 saw plenty of brands experimenting with QR codes.  However, it is safe to say that QR codes haven’t exactly set the world alight – usage has been low and according to a survey of 794 online respondents by Simpson Carpenter, just 36% of consumers know what QR codes are for, while only 11% have actually used them.

However, 2012 could be the year that Image Recognition finally takes off, thanks to Blippar™ – the 2.0 QR code. Blippar uses your phone’s in-built camera to bring a static image to life and provide an interactive experience. The difference between this and a QR code…the ‘wow’ factor.

Having previously used QR codes, Domino’s wanted to step up the innovation and required a more dynamic tool. Its current Blippar™-powered campaign promotes the brand’s ’555′ deal. Consumers simply hold their smartphone up to a Domino’s poster and it comes alive, allowing them to download deals, get the Domino’s mobile ordering app, become a Facebook fan and find out more about their local store.

KitKat are giving customers the chance to vote for their favourite new flavour by scanning posters using the Blippar™ app. The brand is also cleverly integrating geofencing into the campaign so that customers will be alerted whenever they are within a certain distance of a store which sells the  KitKat Chunky flavour they voted for.

Sponsorship activation can really benefit from the ability to dynamically interact with static branding. We are not expecting Blippar™ pitch logos quite yet, but over the next few years we will certainly see the decline in static stadium and event branding and advertising. In January alone a number of big brands have started to use Blippar™, and expect loads more to follow during the rest of 2012.

THEATRICS

With an influx of 2 million tourists to London, there is a huge opportunity for brands to engage with consumers in 2012. Brands will need to be clever to cut through the noise, and ‘drama’ can provide the essential memorable hook for consumers.

Flash mobs
Flash mobs bring an experience to people in unexpected moments. Flash mobs are essentially a group of people getting together to do something unexpected, before quickly dispersing. They are becoming more and more popular, bringing a sense of wonder to those that encounter them. Brands have harnessed the power of flash mobs to engage with customers and create interesting content and brand experiences, as T-Mobile showed with their famous ads.

Flash mobs don’t require a lot of money, making them an ideal tactic for a small business, or when budgets are squeezed. The beauty of Flash mobs is their complete integration with social media and their potential to go viral and provide entertainment to not only the people who were there, but those who want to watch and share.

Boris Johnson is obviously a Flash mob fan:- the Mayor of London is using them to promote London as a city of history and culture during the Cultural Olympiad this summer. Mark Rylance, one of Britain’s greatest Shakespearean actors, and his crew of 50 actors (all disguised as ‘normal people’) will stage ‘Flash performances’ of sonnets and speeches.  The unexpectedness of the experience will make it unforgettable for the people involved, while the content (both the planned scripts and unplanned audience reaction) will undoubtedly be shared around the world.

It is not a leap to imagine brands considering this as an opportunity for engagement during the Games, with consumers themselves (if wowed by the experience) providing the communications medium. There are, however, a few rules to making a flash mob successful and preventing this looking like a poor ‘am-dram’ performance:

1) Simplicity & originality for maximum impact

2) Good quantity and quality of ‘performers’ recruited for wow factor

3) Participants and location must blend together for the element of surprise

Sadly Qantas didn’t follow these simple rules for this effort to promote a new route:

Pop Ups

2011 was the year of Pop Ups, and we think that this trend will continue to grow in 2012, particularly with available commercial property sitting vacant. Pop Ups are by no means a new phenomenon with restaurants, shops and galleries embracing them; however, it is now brands that are starting to realise the benefit of a temporary location that makes a statement, delivers an immediate impact and captures the consumer’s imagination. Combine a Pop Up with an event drawing millions in attendance and you have a powerful brand experience.

In 2011, Chanel took Pop Ups to a new level with the arrival of the Hollywood glitterati for the Cannes Film Festival. Golden mosaic-tiled walls, dedicated make-up and nail bars, an exhibition space of Chanel gowns and suits previously worn by actors, and a private lounge on the first floor with views of the red carpet leading up to the Palais des Festivals all helped to deliver the ultimate Chanel experience.

This summer we will see a plethora of Pop Ups appearing across London and much can be learned from those that have gone before them.

1) Locations. Good footfall, transport links and signage will benefit the Pop Up with a steady stream of customers. However, some of the more interesting locations aren’t on the high street, in which case building a strong communications programme and integrating with social media and technologies such as location-based services are essential

2) Content. Build a story. Offer a unique take and provide a new way for customers to consider the brand. New content will give the feeling of exclusivity

3) Innovative branding and stylish fixtures including digital media

THROUGH THE LINE INTEGRATION

So who will be the winners in 2012? From our perspective it will be those that have developed personalised, innovative, simple and, most importantly, integrated experiential campaigns.

Nike has made a strong start in the battle of the sports brands with its #makeitcount campaign. It is a brilliant example of a campaign which fully integrates ATL, experiential and digital to deliver great content and brand experiences.  The campaign uses simple, standout photography and video to deliver a powerful message and a simple call to action…how will you #makeitcount in 2012?

But the really exciting thing is the way Nike has integrated experiential and social media into its campaign and made it relevant for everyone from elite athletes to gym dodgers (like me).  Customers are invited to have their picture taken by a professional photographer in the style of the campaign and are given the chance to create a handwritten pledge as to how they will #makeitcount.  The photo and message are not only shareable via social media channels, but will be displayed outdoor as part of the campaign.

@Nike has created its first single, dedicated Twitter feed. So far over 60,000 people have responded to the cry with #makeitcount. The first tweet on this account is from Nike founder Bill Bowerman: ‘If You Have A Body, You Are An Athlete’.

And, if you are ever in doubt that simplicity provides impact, check out another offering from Nike:

Experiential has always been able to deliver powerful brand experiences.  The issue has been the reach and the fact that it has only ‘touched’ relatively few people. But as we can see, digital and social media channels are unlocking the full potential of experiential marketing by extending this reach exponentially.

And, of course, the power of sponsorship is that it gives brands the content and access they require to create experiential activity around their customers’ core passions.

By Lisa Parfitt on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Branded content, Content, Digital marketing, Experiential marketing, Facebook, Flash mobbing, London 2012, Mobile, Synopsis

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What happened

To promote its sponsorship of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Sainsbury’s created a short video of David Beckham being put through his paces by David Clarke, team GB’s Blind Football legend. Widely seeded online, on TV and in cinemas, the video raises awareness of the Sainsbury’s 1 Million Kids Challenge, which aims to get a million children to try a Paralympic sport, and its sponsorship of the Paralympic Games overall.

Why we love it

Sainsbury’s ‘Paralympic Games-only’ sponsorship is an exciting innovation in itself.  This is the first time that the rights for the Paralympic Games have been carved out and sold separately to those for the Olympics (although Olympic sponsorship still includes the Paralympic Games as well). Sainsbury’s can use this differentiated position to derive some key benefits.

Firstly, unlike Olympic venues, the London 2012 Paralympic Games’ venues and athletes can be branded.  With 150 hours of Paralympic Games footage to be broadcast on Channel 4, it will deliver plenty of ‘natural’ brand exposure for Sainsbury’s. In addition, the Paralympic Games provide some truly emotive stories of excellence, inspiration and dedication that resonate with the consumers and, critically, are different to the Olympic stories that will be told by the other sponsors. As Sainsbury’s Head of Sponsorship, Jat Sahota, said: “There are amazing individual stories, but it is important not to overplay the adversity angle – they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things; they are elite athletes. There is a richness to those stories that I think the British public will respond to more than some of the Olympian stories.”

Using David Beckham as a Paralympic Games Ambassador is an interesting choice. Whilst it is unusual to have an ambassador for an event who has never participated in it, Beckham’s involvement is a good way to deliver its messages to the widest possible audience.  It is obvious, though perhaps slightly regrettable, that a star of mainstream sport is a great candidate to help convey the Paralympic Games’ message.

Signing up the much-loved Beckham is unlikely to be a step in the wrong direction for any brand, but it’s what Sainsbury’s did with him that made this use of an ambassador so successful. The ABCDE model tells us that content is a vital part of excellent sponsorship, and the combination of a fascinating insight into blind football, combined with the allure of Beckham’s talent and good looks (sorry!) makes for compelling viewing. Football is the best loved sport in the UK, and so provides a good route into the discovery of Paralympic activities for those with little prior knowledge.

The last time blind football caught the public’s attention to such an extent was probably when Paddy Power released this controversial advert in 2010 and Sainsbury’s approach to blind football, naturally, could not be more different. It evokes the skill required for the sport, provoking exactly those feelings of inspiration and patriotism that the best sponsorships should.

The 1 Million Kids challenge is an ambitious programme to promote Paralympic sport to the mainstream, and using Beckham as its Paralympic Games ambassador shows that Sainsbury’s is serious about trying to make this happen.

Sainsbury’s core asset might be the London 2012 Paralympic Games, but by creating content that combines this sponsorship with a superstar ambassador from outside the Paralympic world, they are truly maximising its impact.

By Jessica Enoch on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Celebrity, Content, David Beckham, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympics, Synergy Loves

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I was in Auckland with the British and Irish Lions when London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. Very excited, my first thought was ‘how can I get involved’?

Roll on two years and my excitement grew when I filled in my volunteer form. After working at Synergy for nearly 30 years and with an employment history of running media offices in a number of different sports, I assumed – wrongly as it turned out – that I would be an ideal volunteer to work in one of the many media centres.

Over the next nine months I continued to receive emails from the LOCOG Games Maker programme saying I hadn’t been forgotten but on the other hand I hadn’t been chosen…

Suddenly, three weeks ago, I received an email saying my application had been reconsidered and could I come in for an interview – not for the media centre but instead the Spectator Entry Team!  Still keen to be involved, I rang up and booked my interview time.

So it was that last Friday I found myself heading towards LOCOG’s offices in Canary Wharf to attend my interview.  A group of us sat waiting – about 12 in total – representing a cross-section of London society.

Escorted to the office, the group was full of questions and we were given an outline of the role for which we were being interviewed – in short, we would be ambassadors outside the venues helping spectators with information and also ‘providing entertainment’ if the security queues got too long.  Not quite sure what he meant by that, but it certainly was a worry when we were told that it might take an hour and half to get through security into the venue…it might need a little bit more than us entertaining them with that wait!

We moved on to have our ID checked and our photo taken – in case we are chosen – and were then taken into a holding area full of information about 2012.

Next stop a cinema to watch a short film on the programme – with sweets provided by a nice man from Cadbury and clear mention of our training was being provided by McDonald’s – which constituted a very funny to camera piece from Eddie Izzard. Then the interview…

The interviewer assured us that this would be very informal, asking us the following questions: what is your favourite Olympic memory (I chose Steve Redgrave winning his fifth Gold medal); why do you think you can do the role (given that we had only been told what it was 10 minutes earlier, there was a need to think quickly); how many days can you commit to, etc.

My favourite Olympic memory

With the interview over, we headed down towards the Tube, and I discovered that I was not the only person that hadn’t been selected when their experience might be best-suited…there was a doctor (who had ticked the ‘Medical’ box) and two other media officers (who had ticked the ‘Media’ box).  Most interestingly there was the guy who had researched Boris Johnson’s background for ‘Who do you think you are?’ – I am not sure which box he’d ticked though!

So I am now waiting to see whether I have been chosen and if so to which venue…perhaps it will be Lord’s which is only five minutes from my house and I know like the back of my hand having worked there for various sponsors over the past 20 years – just please don’t  give me Wembley!

Stay tuned for the next update…

By Fiona Foster on November 18th, 2011

Tags: Default, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy, Team GB

2 comments

It seems that we’ve stirred up quite a debate, with dozens of responses ranging from emphatic agreement to outraged omission. Thanks for all your comments and opinions so far, it’s been fascinating to hear from marketers and sports fans from around the globe and in particular to hear from some of the industry leaders and nominees themselves.

However, the time for talk is over and so let the voting commence.

Below is a list of nominations as requested by you, so tick the box of your choice and vote (we’ve limited it to one vote per person). You will then be able to track your nominee’s progress before we announce the final result on Monday 24th January.

By Synergy on December 23rd, 2010

Tags: Default, Sponsorship, Synergy, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?

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Who better than Patrick Nally, for many the originator of modern sports sponsorship, to offer the latest contribution to our ‘What’s the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?’ debate? Earlier this week Patrick threw his hat into the ring, not only offering us insight into his role in the inception of the industry, but also to give us his own nominations for the top spot.

In a wide-ranging interview, Patrick talked about his formative years working with Horst Dassler to create the first FIFA World Cup global sponsorship packages which became the template for the IOC, IAAF, F1 and most sports marketing deals today.

You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel here, or below. 

So where do you stand? What do you think is the greatest sports marketing innovation of the modern era? Let us know your thought in the comments box below, or in the original blog, before the big vote starts later this month.

By Lucie Bartlett on December 2nd, 2010

Tags: Football Sponsorship, Formula 1, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Ryder Cup, Sponsorship, Synergy, Television, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?, World Cup

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A few weeks ago, Tim Crow and I found ourselves sat in the back of a car on a stationary motorway for five hours. A lot of filling time by anyone’s standards, but we turned to one debate which actually not only filled the five hours, but is still going - what is the greatest modern sports marketing innovation?

This is not about the biggest financial deals but decisions made off the field that were genuine game changers in the wider sports marketplace. We brought the debate back to Synergy and found the more we’ve all discussed it, the more we’ve argued and the more we’ve argued, the more we’ve enjoyed it. So we thought it was only fair to open the debate up.

The format is simple:

a) We’ve listed below our initial thoughts – once you’ve read them, let us know if you think we’ve made any glaring omissions or if you disagree with any of our choices in the comments section.

b) In December we’ll then publish the full list including your suggestions, with a voting mechanic alongside giving you the chance to vote for what you think is the greatest modern sports marketing innovation.

c) The vote will determine the Top Ten, which we’ll announce in January.

It wouldn’t be a real debate without some house rules though, so here they are – short and simple:

1. It must have been a genuine game-changer

2. It must have impacted primarily on the marketing and financial side rather than on the field of play

3. We’re talking global impact

4. Keep it within the last 50 years

OK? So, here are our thought starters, in chronological order:

1960 – a promising American golfer called Arnold Palmer shook hands over a representation deal with his friend and Yale law grad, Mark McCormack. This handshake was the start of IMG and birth of modern sports marketing.

1968 – After the NFL and AFL merged in 1966 the first two championship games between the two winners were called, snappily, the NFL-AFL World Championship. KC Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt then came up with the term Super Bowl for the game after seeing his grandson playing with a Super Ball, (a densely elasticated ball) and a global phenomenon was born.

1976 – already prevalent abroad, Kettering Town became the first British football club to have a sponsor on its shirt – the deal may only have lasted four games but it changed the rules in the UK. The forward thinking brand? Kettering Tyres.

1978 – Horst Dassler and Patrick Nally created a sponsorship model for world events starting with The FIFA World Cup that other rights holders have followed ever since.

1978 – Bernie Ecclestone became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) which culminated in Ecclestone securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts turning F1 into the global financial phenomenon it is today.

1979 – Jack Nicklaus argues successfully for the inclusion of European (rather than just British) players in the Ryder Cup, transforming a struggling, one-sided tournament into what is today probably the most significant global event in golf.

1981 – the first major PPV boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns was screened by Viacom Cablevision, the event sold over 50% of its subscribers for the fight and a new form of sports viewing was born.

1984 – Nike, a struggling sports shoe company, signed rookie Michael Jordan and created the first shoe named after a player – The Air Jordan.

1985 – Horst Dassler, Juergen Lenz and Michael Payne (pictured) create the TOP (The Olympic Partners) concept – the building block of the most lucrative sponsorship format in the world.

1992 – The English First Division clubs resigned en-masse from the Football League and formed the Premier League (with the considerable help of Sky TV) which is now the most watched and most lucrative football league in the world with the format copied across the globe.

1995 – The first ever Extreme Games (later changed to X Games) was held with the backing of ESPN – it catapulted fringe sports into the mainstream, bringing with it vast corporate investment.

2003 – The ECB introduced the world to Twenty20 Cricket via the Twenty20 Cup between counties, the mould breaking game has gone on to be adopted across the globe with IPL changing the financial face of the sport.

Now it’s over to you - let us know what you think (good, bad and ugly) and we hope you enjoy the debate as much as we have.

By Dominic Curran on November 5th, 2010

Tags: American football, Barclays Premier League, Brand marketing, ECB, Football Sponsorship, Formula 1, New Product Development, NFL, Olympic sponsorship, PR, Public relations, Ryder Cup, Sponsorship, UEFA Champions League, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?, World Cup

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I wasn’t surprised by Wednesday’s announcement of Procter & Gamble’s TOP sponsorship agreement with the IOC. If you read my August 2009 blog on P&G’s sponsorship deal with the NFL, and subsequently followed P&G’s wonderful ‘Proud Sponsor of Moms’ activation of its USOC partnership across Vancouver 2010, you probably weren’t surprised either. It was an inevitable next step in the colonisation of a new(ish) piece of Olympic white space by P&G – using sport to market to women.

P&G’s strategy is as simple as it is brilliant.

1. Large numbers of women watch sports, but because sports marketing is so male-oriented, no one is talking to them: P&G decided to own that white space.

2. There are certain sports, and certain events, which very large numbers of women watch and enjoy. In the US, the NFL is the most popular; globally, it’s the Olympics.  P&G decided to own those events for its brands.

If you’re not familiar with how P&G activated its USOC deal around the Vancouver Olympics, celebrating the unsung role played by Mom, it’s worth your time. Here are a couple of sports from the campaign, created by W+K in Portland.

Evidently, the campaign paid off big time for P&G, apparently generating $100m in incremental sales. As the company’s North American VP Kirk Perry said on Wednesday at the launch of the IOC partnership.

“We had a terrific run in Vancouver, and realized the potential on a global basis. It became obvious the next step wasd to expand to other markets around the world.’

It will be fascinating to see how P&G’s move into this white space impacts on the Olympics, and maybe on sports marketing as a whole.

How will other Olympic sponsors react now that they know what P&G’s thematic territory will be around London 2012?

How will P&G’s competitors react – will we, for example, see them move into ambush sponsorships with Olympic sports?

Will other traditionally male-oriented rights owners attempt to get in on the action and create new female-oriented sponsorship platforms?

Will male-oriented sports sponsors re-engineer their marketing to appeal more to women? On which subject, take a look at this fascinating piece by Janie Curtis from Forbes.

And finally, I wonder how former IOC TOP partner Johnson & Johnson is feeling about P&G colonising the Olympic white space they pioneered with their ‘Thanks Mom’ campaign around Beijing 2008?

By Tim Crow on July 30th, 2010

Tags: Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Vancouver 2010

4 comments

Last week saw two bad-news stories break on Olympic sponsorship by the automotive industry.

First was the news that the IOC had ended its long search for a global Olympic sponsor in the automotive category, exclusively scooped by Around The Rings. The only thing that was surprising about this story was that it took the IOC so long to go public on it.

This followed hard on the heels of General Motors – a major domestic sponsor of Vancouver 2010 - announcing that it was closing 245 dealerships in Canada in the run-up to today’s filing for bankruptcy protection, which unsurprisingly led to speculation in Canada that GM would not be able to meet its commitments to the Vancouver winter games - claims strenuously denied by VANOC.

Will the post-recessionary automotive industry be prepared to fuel each Games’  habitual Games-time requirement for thousands of vehicles? (VANOC’s fleet requirement from GM, for example, is 4,600 vehicles, a not untypical figure, on top of which GM is also paying $14m in cash.)

Unless there’s a major overhaul both of the package of rights on offer by the Olympic Movement and of the approach of auto sector brands to this type of sponsorship, we doubt it.

We’re yet to see any evidence that previous Olympic sponsorships by automotive companies have justified the investment – and this reported statement by VANOC Deputy CEO Dave Cobb, commenting on the GM situation, perhaps partly explains why:

“Not sure we were expecting that much promotional activity at a dealer level, the sponsorship is with the corporate entity and not the dealerships themselves.”

By Tim Crow on June 1st, 2009

Tags: Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Vancouver 2010

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Given that the announcement by Andy Burnham of Team 2012, the replacement fundraising programme for the ill-conceived Medal Hopes, was very long on PR and positioning but very short on detail, I give Team 2012 only a cautious welcome.

On the plus side, it’s good to see the various stakeholders in London 2012 are working together – a rarity in British sport. And it would be extremely churlish not to applaud the motivation behind the scheme, which is to ensure that all our Olympic sports and athletes have the best possible chance of success at London 2012, including the eight Olympic sports that were hit hardest by the budget shortfall that Medal Hopes failed to plug.

I’m also encouraged that the announcement promises that Team 2012 will include alternative funding models I suggested last year - creating a non-ambush entry point for smaller businesses to 2012 using the Team Business West Midlands model, and sourcing private donations using the Vancouver 2010 Patrons Programme model - as an alternative to Medal Hopes.

But until the full details of the scheme are revealed, questions remain about the nature of the rights being sold, and the implications for London 2012′s global and domestic sponsors.

Perhaps the biggest question, however, is why it has taken DCMS so long to begin sorting out a job it was tasked with back in 2006 by the then-Chancellor Gordon Brown?

Contrast this with Vancouver 2010′s equivalent Own The Podium programme, launched in 2005 with adequate national and regional Government funding, on track in every respect, and currently completing the job with a clever and perfectly-timed fundraising appeal to the Canadian public, $20.10 for 2010.

By Tim Crow on February 27th, 2009

Tags: Default, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Team GB, Vancouver 2010

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