Analysis of industry data suggests that the F1 ecosystem raises over £1b per year from sponsorship. This includes Team Sponsors and Suppliers (ranging from £100m for the big boys to £20m for the smaller teams), F1 Partners (around £25m per year in cash or Value in Kind from each of the 6 global partners) and Race Sponsorship (around £10m for each of the races with title sponsors plus trackside advertising).

To put that into context, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games raised around the same amount (£750m from domestic sponsors plus around £250m contribution from the IOC for TOP partners) – but that was for a 4-year cycle.

So here’s a question: Given how much is spent on it from some of the world’s leading brands, why is F1 Sponsorship not at the leading edge of sponsorship thinking and activation?

It’s fair to say that F1 is ahead of the game in virtually everything else it does. So surely F1 Sponsors should be cleaning up at the major sponsorship industry awards.  In fact, over the past 5 years, an F1 sponsorship has won only once out of a possible 47 SIA awards (Vodafone’s Best Sponsorship of a Team or Individual in 2009). Case studies from F1 should be inspiring sponsors in other sports.  Here at Synergy, we should regularly be showcasing examples from F1 in the ‘What We Love’ section of Synopsis. But this just isn’t the case – at least not to the extent that one would expect.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great pieces of activation in F1 (I’ll point out some of them later), but as a whole, F1 sponsorship is pretty uninspiring.

Having run the Reuters sponsorship of WilliamsF1 from 2000 – 2003 (yes – I agree – it was nowhere near ‘award-winning’!), I thought I would have a go at answering that question based on my own personal experiences.

1. Most Formula One sponsorships are B2B

Reuters primarily used F1 for B2B relationship building. A quick scan of F1 sponsors shows that over 40% have significant B2B businesses. There is little better than F1 if you have a relatively small number of high-value, global customers who you reach through targeted sales and marketing programmes.  Travelling around the world to all the key markets, Formula One and Paddock Club™ are the absolute gold standard of corporate hospitality. With this being the focus of the brands’ activation programme, it is little wonder that it remains unseen by the mass audience, award panels and the Synopsis editors.

The activation challenge for the B2B partners, however, is to create the most compelling brand stories and event experiences to attract their audience.  Because the fact is, especially in the small markets, most of the B2B sponsors are going after a very similar audience, in some cases exactly the same people.

2. There is too much focus on brand exposure and logos on cars and not enough on activation

Whenever brand exposure is such a critical part of the sponsorship package, it is easy to rely too heavily on it at the expense of all the other things you can do with the sponsorship. I absolutely hate the “media value” figures that are at the heart of so many F1 sponsorships.  However, it is easy to measure and as long as the media value is bigger than the cost of the sponsorship, brands can be tempted to think “job done”. In comparison, Olympic sponsors can’t rely on any media value to justify their sponsorship.  That’s why they have to work much harder and be far more creative with their activation.

A knock-on effect of this over-emphasis on media value is the fact that it can lead to an under-investment in activation.  Typically, the rights fee is so high (because brands are paying for the exposure) that there isn’t enough left over for activation. I’m not a big believer in any rule-of-thumb ratios, but the proportion of rights fee to activation spend when I was at Reuters is definitely not going to make it into any how-to textbooks. I suspect this isn’t unusual for F1 sponsors up and down the Paddock

3. The calendar gives you no time to plan and develop great campaigns

The F1 season is relentless. The first race is in early March and the last race is in late November. In between is a never-ending cycle of travelling and managing the day-to-day execution of race weekends. Everyone goes on holiday during the 4-week summer break and at the end of the season, which then leads into Christmas. Trust me, if you want a year to fly past, get a job in F1.

Which basically just leaves January and February to do any sort of campaign development. But even those months tend to be dominated by tactical planning for the season ahead. There just isn’t the time to think about a season-long campaign or a brilliant piece of activation.

Another challenge is the global scale required by an activation campaign. Japan, Abu Dhabi, Britain, the US and Brazil have very little in common with each other from a marketing perspective.  So as an F1 sponsor you are sort of in limbo between creating and delivering a global campaign that doesn’t quite work in loads of markets and developing local campaigns which feel a bit ‘small’ and short term.

4. The F1 community is too closed

There are some great people who work in F1.  However, it needs more ‘churn’.

For example, when I needed a sponsorship agency, everyone I invited to pitch was effectively a specialist F1 agency. I understand why most sponsors do that, but it leads to a form of ‘groupthink’ where new ideas are thrown out in favour of “what we did last year” or “what we do with our other clients”.

This happens up and down the paddock. If an F1 team needs a new Account Manager, they are likely to hire someone from one of the other teams. If a brand needs an F1 Sponsorship Director, they are likely to hire someone who has done a similar job at another sponsor. If an F1 agency hires a new Account Director, they typically hire someone who already has F1 experience.

The danger of this ‘closed’ community is that it loses the fresh influences and perspectives that drive creativity.

I know it’s tough (I’ve been there myself) but I think F1 sponsors need to be braver and set the bar higher for their activation campaigns. The benchmark should not be: “we want to create the best F1 sponsorship campaign”, but rather “we want to create the best sponsorship campaign”. And to do that, I think that it is critical for sponsors to look for inspiration outside the very small world of F1.

The point of this blog is not to say that there are no good F1 activations – because clearly there are some great examples.

My point is simply that given the number of world-class brands who are sponsors in F1, the amount that they invest and the possibilities of F1 as a platform, there should be far more ground-breaking activation programmes than there are.

Some of our Favourite F1 Activation Case Studies:

Johnnie Walker – Step Inside the Circuit Series

Johnnie Walker extended this campaign with some experiential activity in Travel Retail environments but at its core was some great behind-the-scenes content, from Monte Carlo (below), India, Singapore and other races

Vodafone:

One car, no team:

Camping:

Santander:

London Grand Prix:

The Silverstone Chase

Hugo Boss - Dress Me for the Finale

Using a special online configurator, consumers in each country could create bespoke designs of the drivers’ race suits. The drivers wore the designs during qualifying for each race, while the best two designs as voted by the audience were worn on the Sunday during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Boss also did a good job of connecting this activation to their social media and retail channels:

Red Bull – Faces for Charity

In exchange for a donation to charity (which Red Bull matched), consumers could upload a photo which was then put on the car for the British Grand Prix.

Vodafone –  Drive to the Big League

Vodafone introduced this initiative at the British Grand Prix in 2010 which offered one of their small business customers the chance to put their logo on the car for the British Grand Prix.  Vodafone have taken it to a whole new level in India now, where they have combined it with a Dragons Den style TV programme to select the winner – watch it – it’s brilliant!!!

See – it is possible – more of that please!!!

By Carsten Thode on November 15th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Alcohol, Awards, Brand marketing, Branded content, Consultancy, Content, Default, Digital marketing, Experiential marketing, Facebook, Formula 1, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Red Bull, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Synergy, Synergy Loves, Synopsis

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I’ve been pretty lucky over the past few years, working in sport and enjoying some incredibly memorable events. Maybe even the odd Welsh Grand Slam – certainly not the type of thing I was used to when I was growing up.

Indeed, I’ve been privileged to work on the Olympic Games, helping to plan and deliver BMW’s London 2012 vision. Sometimes I really do have to pinch myself.

You could argue some others are not quite so lucky. Some people are born without arms or without sight. Some suffer from debilitating illnesses that they fight for a lifetime. But some don’t think about it that way.

Today marks the start of what I think will be the most amazing and emotive event we’ve ever seen, in what has been the most amazing and emotive summer of sport. Today, the Superhumans begin the greatest show on Earth at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

As a nation, we’re fired up. We’ve developed a thirst for the most compelling of sporting stories. Tomorrow, when the action begins, we’ll be ready to lap it up.

Athletes will take to the field, pool and track ready to give it everything. Brands at London 2012 have shown great support to the Paralympic Games, but right now, I think one or two will realise they’ve missed out. Have they given it their all?

The next few weeks will define Paralympic sport in the UK and inspire a nation. It will challenge the way we think and the way we perceive disability sport. It will also show us the future in sponsorship.

Brands that have got it have been brave, they’ve trusted their instincts and they’ve exploded into a new space. This is the very essence of creating great creative sponsorship – brands that are prepared to step into the unknown and re-imagine the way they think and deliver.

So as we sit back to enjoy the lionhearts of Paralympic sport in action, we’ll also be experiencing a key part of the development for the future in sports marketing. The Paralympic Games will show that the brave come out on top; both on and off the field.

Full disclosure: Synergy works with BMW on London 2012

By Ben Wilkinson on August 29th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Paralympics, Sponsorship, Synergy

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Having been slightly underwhelmed by certain pop-up venues away from the official Olympic events, a visit to the Mizuno Performance Centre was met with a certain level of trepidation. On approach, the grubby windows of the building did little to attract passing footfall, and it was only through strained eyes that the extensive Mizuno window displays could be made out. This seemed a shame and a missed opportunity, yet we were greeted inside by friendly staff decked out in striking purple uniforms. They directed us up the Mizuno-adorned stairs to an exhibition room that was filled with staff but noticeably short on visitors.

The concept behind the ‘Mizuno experience’ was first hand consumer involvement with the brand. This was achieved through three sporting tests, each performed wearing a different set of Mizuno footwear from their new ‘Seiei Collection’. The football and handball challenges involved measurements of accuracy and speed; we were issued with a pair of boots for football and, perhaps slightly unnecessarily, a pair of trainers for the handball. Nevertheless, all the footwear received unanimous nods of approval for lightweight feel and comfort. The technology raised the challenges above other similar, simpler experiential events and it was the athletics experience that represented the most impressive area of the centre. We were each handed a pair of Mizuno spikes and invited to record our quickest times over 20 metres on the custom-made indoor track. Accurate times were recorded and replays of the sprints were shown on surrounding widescreen TVs.

Away from the challenges, an exhibition showcased Mizuno’s Japanese heritage, whilst the VIP rooms provided the brand’s athletes and corporate guests with a place to unwind, away from the Olympic hustle and bustle. Part of this included a Mizuno wall, where athletes had scrawled notes of thanks to the brand for their continued support. It seemed a nice touch and lent the lounges a more personal feel.

Due to Olympic regulations, Mizuno were unable to leverage any of their ambassador assets around the Centre, and instead cleverly relied on sketched sporting artwork on the walls. This presented a slight issue when it came to any of the Synergists naming a Mizuno athlete, which in turn reflected a bigger issue for Mizuno: as impressive as the centre was, do ventures like this provide real value for smaller sports brands when breaking into Western markets so dominated by the larger companies?

The Performance Centre represented a display of how a brand can showcase itself in a simple yet effective manner. The challenges allowed a level of immersion into the brand in a way that did not feel overly gimmicky, and the crisp and clean technological delivery was thoroughly impressive. It was a fine showing from Mizuno through a series of athletic experiences, which, when handled differently, can so often lead to indifference and disappointment.

By Rob Guppy on August 15th, 2012

Tags: Athletics, Brand marketing, Experiential marketing, Football, London 2012, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Running, Sport, Synergy

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The first thing anyone in sponsorship learns about the Olympic Games is that the Field of Play is sacrosanct. No advertising or commercial branding. No marques or sponsorship identification on any athlete uniforms, save from a Nike swoosh here or a Puma feline there. This strict ‘clean venue’ policy is zealously enforced by the powers that be, and underpins the commercial model from The Olympic Partner (TOP) programme, down.

But it is not quite that simple. London 2012 has seen a number of brands appear on the Field of Play and into the eyes and Twitter feeds of fans worldwide. Some of this exposure has even been sanctioned by the IOC. In typical post-event style, here’s the London 2012 Field of Play Top 10.

1. Omega

An unexplained quirk of the Olympic sponsorship programme, and a source of irritation for fellow TOP sponsors;  despite the clean-venue approach, Omega was plastered across every timing screen or timing-related piece of equipment at every venue. The brand even featured on the ‘final lap’ bell at the Athletics, the Velodrome and the Aquatics Centre.

2. Panasonic

A new entry on to the Field of Play for London 2012. Creeping into the Omega realm of explicit but sanctioned Field of Play branding, Panasonic logos were visible on all event screen venues. Screens variously showed spectators scores, replays, venue instructions and films about the rules of Water Polo, the ‘kiss-cam’ and ’bongo-cam’ and the official Muse song and montage. In terms of eyeballs on logos, one for the attendees rather than the TV audience.

3. MINI

Anyone who watched the Athletics cannot have failed to see the remote controlled ‘mini MINIs’ zipping around the Olympic Stadium, retrieving stray javelins, hammers and discuses, as part of BMW’s sponsorship of the Games. Although the car marque was absent, you didn’t have to be a Top Gear devotee to recognise the signature silhouette (or the  ‘it’s a MINI adventure’ tagline). And it certainly helped that the Olympic Broadcasting Service regularly zeroed in on the cars to ensure the MINI became a quirky focus of coverage rather than an incidental logo.

4. Powerade

Athletes have got to stay well hydrated throughout competition, so inevitably there will be drinks on the Field of Play. At the Olympics, Powerade is the sports drink of choice. While The Coca-Cola Company was required to produce special labels for the Games – reading ‘Sports Drink’ rather than ‘Powerade ION4’ – the signature blue Powerade product would have made it clear to viewers what athletes were consuming.

5. Schweppes Abbey Well

Another Coca-Cola brand that was evident on the Field of Play, again without the brand logo. Instead, the label read ‘Still Water’ in the Abbey Well colours. The fairly recent re-launch of the brand’s identity probably made this a less immediately recognisable brand for many consumers.

6. Heineken

While we’re talking hydration, Field of Play exposure does not come much more high profile than the plastic Heineken bottle launched onto the track at the start of the 100m Final. ‘Bottle yob’ was dealt with, but not before global media coverage of the offending item.

Looking at all the above, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the rules are a tad inconsistent – Panasonic branded things they sell (TVs); Omega branded things they don’t (bells); Powerade and Schweppes Abbey Well de-branded their products; while MINI removed their brand but included their tagline (including the word ‘MINI’). I’m sure there’s IOC method somewhere in the madness…

So what about the non-Olympic family, AKA the ambushers? Leaving aside the permitted sportswear logos on athlete kit, a few brands managed to stand out on the Field of Play.

7. Beats by Dre

Dr Dre and his Beats headphones became the most high profile recipient of LOCOG’s policing, but not before the headphones had encroached on to the Field of Play, and become a talking point in the Twittersphere. Inevitably, the clampdown simply brought the oxygen of publicity to Beats’ use by athletes – entirely in keeping with the brand’s endorsement-led strategy. The sweet sound of success for an orchestrated approach that reportedly included a collection point at Shoreditch House for invited athletes.

8. Nike

When your rival has Bolt, how do you grab attention on the track? Bring out the Volt. Nike’s fluorescent yellow / green shoe didn’t contravene any rules and certainly brought a new colour to the track. Of all the colours in the spectrum, the eye is more sensitive to yellow / green than any other (according to the Nike press release). Nike has form when it comes to iconic footwear at major sporting events – from the golden pair given to Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996 to the orange boots worn by Nike footballers at the 2010 World Cup.

It will be interesting to see if rivals will copy their ambusher blueprint when Nike moves from poacher to gamekeeper as an official sponsor of Rio 2016.

9. Kinesio Tape

More fluorescent adornment. London 2012 has seen unprecedented use of Kinesio tape in a variety of colours and patterns. According to inventor Dr Kenzo Kase, the Japanese-made tape can help to mend injuries by allowing more movement of fluids below the skin than conventional tape. Interestingly, the scientific research has not proved as sticky as the tape itself. In spite of this, London 2012 has certainly brought it into further the public consciousness, not least as female Beach Volleyball players had a particular penchant for the tape. Cue a fad akin to Robbie Fowler’s nasal strips?

10. Yohan Blake’s watch

Yohan Blake risked a slap on the wrist from the IOC for wearing a custom-made Richard Mille tourbillon watch during the Olympic sprints. It was designed in the Jamaican colours of black, green and yellow, reportedly in an attempt to comply with the regulations. But, as official sponsor of the time pieces category (including watches), Omega will not have seen it that way.

Media exposure analysis of the Field of Play brands would no doubt score Omega top of the chart. Does that mean they take home the sponsorship gold, as suggested below?

Hats off to Omega for emblazoning their logo across a supposedly brand-free environment. If that was the objective they have well and truly succeeded. But sponsorship has evolved from a discipline obsessed by media exposure as a measure of success to focus on relevant engagement. Omega’s exposure is relatively meaningless ‘wallpaper’ that says little about their luxury products and does nothing to connect meaningfully with consumers.

I’m pretty sure there would have been more column inches, tweets and Facebook posts about Blake’s timepiece than the Games-wide Omega timing system. Winning the ‘Field of Play’ gold is about more than maximising brand exposure, it’s about relevant brand or product integration that is amplified and engages with consumers. Not branding for the sake of it, but talking points that generate fan conversations and a become part of the memories from London 2012.

By that measure, there is only one winner for me, and it is operated by remote control. One of the unintended legacies of these Games will be the rush of Rio 2016 sponsors knocking on the IOC’s door to claim their equivalent of MINI’s little adventure at London 2012.

Full disclosure: Synergy worked with The Coca-Cola Company and BMW UK on their London 2012 sponsorships.

By Tom Gladstone on August 14th, 2012

Tags: Ambush Marketing, Athletics, Beach Volleyball, BMW, Brand marketing, Brazil, Brazil 2014, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship Consultants, Default, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Product placement, Rio 2016, Rio 2016 Sponsorship, Rio 2016 Sponsorship Consultants, Social Media, Twitter

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It was predictable that the Olympic bandwagons would soon start rolling and there’s one catching fire right now as a result of our gold fever. Clearly we’ve got it very right at an Elite funding level but it’s at the grassroots that we need to galvanise the nation and the current cause célèbre is how to get more sport played in schools.

Downing Street started it with a call for teachers to spend more time on PE; Boris carried it on reminiscing on his schooldays and the media have driven it with a campaign fervour not seen since berating politicians’ expenses.

A snapshot of this week’s press sums it up. The Sun was out the blocks fast with its ‘Support Sport in our Schools’ while The Telegraph Group has opted for ‘Keep the Flame Alive’ – a drive to specifically improve sport in schools through volunteering in sports clubs.

Brands too are getting in on the act, with a whole range of initiatives targeted at all ages and abilities. We are already seeing a mixture of Olympic sponsors and general UK sport / governing body sponsors looking to build on the after-glow at both a local and national level.

This bandwagon has a point. Australia enjoyed a similar sporting buzz after Sydney 2000, but a glance at the current medal table and the soon-to-be-glimpsed sight of their Sports Minister rowing in Team GB kit is all the evidence you need that they didn’t get it right in the aftermath of their Games.

Listening to the political parties in the media over the last few days, we’re already in danger of this becoming a political football and a mash-up of hundreds of well-intentioned but ultimately tactical schemes with slightly differing objectives, as the battle for share of voice begins.

So here’s my plea: Tessa Jowell has already asked for a party-neutral 10-year solution, but I think it should go further – why not a moratorium between politicians, media, sponsors and governing bodies – all working together on a common goal / scheme for organised sport in schools? This unprecedented, singular focus could ensure that Team GB’s success on the field doesn’t just inspire the next generation but embeds sport as part of their daily routine.

The Games have produced role models from all walks of life, athletes that ‘the people’ can aspire to – we’ve got medallists of all ages, genders, ethnicities and social groups. There will never be a better opportunity to harness the power of sport to do social good.

The lead needs to come from Parliament, then Fleet Street and boardrooms to draw all parties together – making this a reality is a process beset with pitfalls, but that alignment, in my mind, would be the real human legacy of London 2012.

By Dominic Curran on August 10th, 2012

Tags: Athletics, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship

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At the end of last week a couple of the Experiential team took a trip over to East London to see if all the hype around the PUMA Yard is justified, and investigate just how well their campaign is going. We also wanted to see how they have created the experience whilst staying within the confines of the 2006 Olympic Act.

PUMA Yard opened a day after the official start of London 2012 in part of the Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch. Revelling in PUMA’s sponsorship of Usain Bolt, but with Olympic legislation prohibiting them from mentioning Bolt explicitly, the idea is obvious and simple: bring Kingston, Jamaica to the Heart of London. The sprawling pop-up caters to the crowds with hefty portions of jerk chicken, Red Stripe, Kingston Bowl and Montego Bay Brew. The inside is chock-a-block of yellow, green and black. There is a legacy wall to Bob Marley and a ‘Listening Wall’ full of PUMA sneakers which, by linking up a shoe to headphones, will play a popular reggae song from a particular decade. Plus, if you fancy it, you can kit yourself out in Jamaican-inspired PUMA gear including the Cedalla Marley speciality collection. Polishing off the theme is the constant sound of chilled reggae that permeates throughout the entire space, to really hammer home the Jamaican vibe just in case anyone had managed to miss it!

Within the space there are several interactive essentials which integrate with PUMA’s Social Club ongoing global marketing campaign. The PUMA Social Club is based around everything and anything the ‘After Hours Athlete’ needs to turn the night into a sport. Think ping pong, photo booths, famous DJs and the Bolt Speed Test which gives everyone a bash at challenging Usain Bolt’s 100m record time of 9.58 seconds.

And PUMA haven’t missed the commercial opportunity. No pop-up event is complete without its own unique and engaging shopping experience, and the PUMA Yard is no different. Out in the back yard is the PUMA Quad, an impressive mobile structure made from shipping containers and best known for its appearance at a few Volvo Ocean race stopovers. The Quad overlooks the back yard where there’s a rather large lawn and chill-out area to watch all the Olympics coverage on the big screen.

All in all, the PUMA Yard blew our socks off with ping pong, speed tests, jerk chicken and live Olympics. Does it break LOCOG’s rules? No. It has merely capitalised cleverly on the popularity of one of PUMA’s most valuable assets and created an area that encapsulates PUMA’s ongoing lifestyle campaign. Great work.

By Synergy on August 9th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Art & Design, Athletics, Brand marketing, Default, Experiential marketing, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy Loves

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With Rio following London as the next host for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016, Casa Brasil is naturally a big focal point of the Olympic Houses for many. Myself and a few other Synergy employees were lucky enough to go down to Somerset House and have a guided tour of the Brazilian experience.

Setting off, we were all eager to see what they had to offer and on arrival, the venue did not disappoint. Somerset House is the perfect setting for Casa Brasil and on the sunny afternoon that we visited, really lent itself to the relaxed vibe so familiar with the Brazilian way of life.

Outside, the terrace bar and the courtyard were both are filled to the brim with people relaxing and enjoying the famous Brazilian hospitality. By night, the seductive sounds of Brazil fill the air, as each evening from 6:30pm free musical performances showcase the very best from the country’s diverse musical heritage. Lucky visitors can sip a Caipirinha, sit back, close their eyes, and allow themselves to be transported across the continents to the magical land itself.

Inside, visitors can pick up a headset and make their way through the first of three exhibitions, starting with Brazil, the time is now! which aptly demonstrates Brazil’s flamboyant nature, colour and diversity. Next up is From the Margin to the Edge: Brazilian Art and Design in the 21st century, which proudly displays the vibrant art to be found across the country. Here, a range of contemporary art and design is showcased through various paintings, sculptures, photograpic and video installations. There is also a 3D room where visitors can experience Sugarloaf Mountain in all its glory, and if you want to go the whole hog, you can even be strapped into a harness as you watch, for a full-on paragliding experience!

Finally, my own personal favourite was Passion and Transformation: a unique experience through sport. This exhibition provides information on how their Olympic project is unfolding, including details around the creation of Rio’s Olympic emblem which, as an aside, is a great bit of design.

Another part of this section includes a short video clip showing the various venues take shape. This is where I truly felt my excitement grow at what lay ahead for 2016.

Brazil still has four years to plan and learn from our successes and failures at London 2012. I think they were just giving us a taster of what is to come from them, a fleeting glimpse at what will be on offer in the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. As such, Casa Brasil achieves a great balance: it whets our appetites whilst leaving room for us all to be dazzled when the time comes, and I for one, can’t wait.

By Synergy on August 7th, 2012

Tags: Athletics, Brazil, Default, London 2012, Rio 2016

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The biggest story of the Games so far, away from the field of play, is undoubtedly the number of empty seats at Olympic venues.

Official figures revealed yesterday show the extent of the problem, with around 60,000 Olympic seats a day – more than one in 10 sold – left empty. The initial response from LOCOG was somewhat baffling with Lord Coe claiming venues were “stuffed to the gunnels”.

Images tweeted by those inside the venues revealed a much different story with swathes of empty seats, even at marquee events such as the Swimming finals – just one of the many ways social media is impacting these Games. Initial ire was misguidedly placed firmly at the door of the sponsors, with Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP, fuelling the conjecture. Unsurprisingly, the media were happy to add petrol to the fire, despite their complicity.

Public sentiment has naturally followed suit, with sponsors on the end of some fierce criticism. However, the guilty parties have slowly been revealed as the “Olympic Family” – in a nutshell, officials and the media.

Former IOC Marketing Chief Michael Payne shed further light on the situation, explaining these “floating spectators” are common at every Olympics, and that this is a long-established non-story.

Where they’ve floated to, however, remains a mystery. It certainly isn’t between Olympic events, as the swathes of empty seats have been visible across all venues, throughout the day, every day.

For those who have made the effort to travel to the venues, there’s always the opportunity to tout your tickets, as Sky News revealed when they captured a representative of the Azerbaijani government doing just that at the ExCel.

This is anything but a non-story, and will undoubtedly be a bone of contention once judgement is finally passed on whether London 2012 delivered on its promise to Inspire a Generation.

The IOC and LOCOG somehow failed to foresee what a contentious issue this would be for the British public; an audience that has an insatiable appetite for attending live sport. We’ll travel to the ends of the Earth, and pay through our noses, to watch our teams and athletes compete.

When the greatest sporting event in the world lands on our doorstep, it’s only natural we want to make the most of it. Which is why the continuous shots of empty seats, as a result of faceless administrators and a complicit media, leaves such a sour taste, and is undermining LOCOG’s claim that London would truly be a people’s Games.

One of the prime objectives of every Olympics should be to maximise attendance at each and every venue. Not only as it gives something back to the people of the host nation, but because it improves the atmosphere within venues which inspires athletes to do amazing things. It makes for a greater presentation of broadcast sport, creates a more memorable image of the Games from which sponsors can communicate their brand messages, and it also focuses both traditional and social media’s attention on the sport itself, which is all anyone really wants.

LOCOG are, to their credit, scrambling to find a short-term solution to satisfy the public demand. However, in the midst of all this, they’ve hung their sponsors out to dry, many of which have had to release public statements to defend their use of tickets. It would have been good to see LOCOG return some value to sponsors by using their marketing programmes and channels to reallocate tickets clawed back, but I can’t imagine there’ll be much sympathy for the sponsors, despite their significant contribution to funding the Games.

How this affects the IOC’s approach to future Games, and Rio 2016 in particular, remains to be seen. Maybe we should accept this is the way it’s always been and always will be, or just maybe this could be a watershed moment that motivates the IOC to place greater importance on the needs and wants of those who ultimately pay for Games.

By Paul Whitehead on August 2nd, 2012

Tags: Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Public relations

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With Team GB’s first gold medals won, national attention is naturally focused on GB’s Olympians. So this seems like the perfect time to reveal our analysis of brands’ GB athlete endorsement strategies, and to unveil our latest Synergy infographic - Synfographic - to the purpose.

We’ve looked at a group of 45 brands using current and former Olympians and Paralympians. The group comprises:

- Global and domestic sponsors of London 2012

- Major GB sport sponsors which aren’t London 2012 sponsors

- Other non-sponsor brands leveraging athletes in their marcomms

This revealed a total of 404 individual agreements and, if taking into consideration athletes such as Jessica Ennis or Louis Smith who have multiple sponsorship deals, endorsement of 267 unique individuals.

It is worth noting that whilst we have factored in Lloyds TSB’s support of athletes across GB via the organisation’s Local Heroes programme, the figure of 404 agreements does not take these numbers into account. Similarly, neither do the figures quoted incorporate Visa’s sponsorship of the Team 2012 programme. Both these programmes are based on the brands creating or sponsoring group athlete support systems, whereas we wanted to analyse brands’ strategies for individual endorsements - brands that have taken on the challenge (and the risks) onus of selecting, contracting and activating individuals, many several years ago, as part of their London 2012 campaigns.

Risk versus reward: over half of the endorsed athletes have qualified for Team GB and Paralympics GB. 

Whilst you may not be surprised at the dominance of athletics amongst endorsees, the Synfographic does demonstrate that there’s a healthy range of sports sitting beyond the usual suspects, reflecting the diversity of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Men’s deals outnumber women’s by 234 to 170, but the two most popular individuals for sponsors are both women –  Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Ennis. The two most popular men? Louis Smith and Sir Chris Hoy.

Looking at the brands, it’s striking that the seven Tier 1 London 2012 partners are the heaviest endorsers, with 244 agreements in total, an average of 30 per partner, massively outnumbering any other sponsorship tier. Interestingly, non-sponsor brands are the next biggest endorsers, with 91 deals in total, despite the IOC Charter’s Rule 40 restricting leverage of these individuals during Games-time, which has recently been challenged by several US athletes.

One of the major successes in terms of athlete selection has been BMW’s London 2012 Performance Team*. This is a programme that began with the BMW UK’s central sponsorship of 27 athletes, both past and present, and evolved into a dealer-by-dealer support system for local London 2012 hopefuls. The result: BMW and MINI athletes now form 11% of the entirety of Team GB.

The main questions now are which sponsor has backed the most winners, and who’ll be the post-Games winners in the endorsement stakes. After yesterday’s heroics and today’s headlines, Bradley Wiggins is sure to be at the forefront. Let’s hope that Team GB and Paralympics GB produce many more over the next month or so.

* Full disclosure: Synergy is BMW UK’s London 2012 agency

By Jonathan Izzard on August 2nd, 2012

Tags: BMW, BOA, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Rio 2016, Rio 2016 Sponsorship, Rio 2016 Sponsorship Consultants, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Sport, Synergy, Synfographic, Team GB

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Sport has taken centre stage this week as possibly the least hyped major international football tournament in recent memory – the consensus seemingly having developed that the ridiculous build-up around previous tournaments was never exactly vindicated by brilliant England performances or particularly exciting matches – started with a bang. Added to that Harry Redknapp’s surprise departure from Spurs and Rangers’ sad demise, as well as the continued journey of the Olympic Torch and the unveiling of the details of the Opening Ceremony, and this week’s papers could rightfully be described as a sports fan’s dream.

The new Premier League TV rights agreement was unveiled on Wednesday, and Thursday’s papers were replete with the news of the bumper deal for top flight clubs. Coverage focused on the sheer value of the deal, as well as the surprise entry of BT into the market. The Mirror led with fears that the higher rights prices would be passed onto fans via higher subscription fees.

Meanwhile, England’s solid if unspectacular start to the Euros – a 1-1 draw with France – absorbed several column inches. The Sun got in early with a patriotic stunt, beaming the cross of St George onto Parisian landmarks.

England-France rivalry always provides amusement on both sides of the Channel, and Eurostar has used this as the basis of their latest advertising campaign, making fun of Brits with posters depicting chubby and slobby Greek-style statues.

With only so much to write about how England must get on the ball more and not sit as deeply against Sweden as they did against France, and while the team took a break between their first two matches, the arrival of the WAGs and some controversial new hairstyles proved excellent tabloid fodder…

Rooney’s extreme hairstyle hasn’t totally diverted media attention from what Tim Crow and Siobhan Sharpe call the Jubilympics though. The Torch in Scotland featured on the Guardian’s front page yesterday, while Wednesday’s papers were all about Danny Boyle’s pastoral opening ceremony. While some in the press were enchanted by his rural vision and Glastonbury mosh pits, a commentator in the Mirror responded rather more cynically, asking “What is the point of wanting to bring the countryside into the capital?”

The Jubi in Jubilympics also continued apace, with Kate Middleton accompanying the Queen on the Nottingham leg of her UK tour in the absence of the convalescing Duke of Edinburgh. Kate’s presence at an event virtually guarantees a substantial picture story, with her favoured shops and designers reaping the rewards for their association with the Duchess of Cambridge, whose outfit is fully itemised every time she steps out in public. Missoni were the lucky recipients of this week’s Royal wardrobe choices.

With so much going on, David Cameron might have hoped that his minor slip-up at the weekend – leaving his young daughter at the pub by mistake – might have gone unnoticed. Unfortunately for him, this couldn’t have been further from the case, with his momentary memory blank making front page news on both Monday and Tuesday. The Independent even decided to review the previously low-key watering hole where the mishap occurred, The Plough. Great exposure for them, but with only a few weeks gone since Greggs made headlines at the PM’s expense during pastygate, he’ll be looking to avoid catching the public’s imagination again for a while…

By Jessica Enoch on June 15th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, David Cameron, Default, Diamond Jubilee, Fashion, Media, Olympics, PR, Public relations

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