Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

The Co-operative has unveiled a sponsorship deal which will see the retailer supporting the academies of sports stars Andrew Flintoff, Lee Westwood and Paul Sculthorpe.

The agreement, which has been made via Activate Sport, will see the stars’ Cricket, Golf and Rugby League Camps co-branded by the Co-op. It also provides The Co-op with a range of benefits including places on the academies and appearances with Flintoff, Westwood and Sculthorpe.

Commenting on the deal, Co-operative Group marketing director Patrick Allen said: “We are delighted to be working with Activate Sport, Andrew, Lee and Paul to support their camps and academies. The partnership allows us to reinforce The Co-operative’s ‘Good For Everyone’ brand campaign in 2009, whilst associating ourselves with three high-profile sporting role models in the process.”

Activate provides sport and adventure camps for 5-18 year-olds. As part of its activities, it supports the specialist academies of Flintoff, Westwood and Sculthorpe. “All the schemes take place in communities and promote participation and inclusion for children and families,” added Allen. “So it was a natural fit with our brand values. We’ll be working hard to involve our staff and customers in the activity, integrate the sponsorships across all our businesses and promote our association to a wide audience.”

Luke Sutton, Activate Sport Director said: “The Co-operative is a superb brand for us to have as our title sponsor. They’re very proactive and we can’t wait to start working with them to raise the profile of our activities and promote healthy and fun lifestyles.” Generate Sponsorship, who secured the sponsorship, will manage the partnership.

United Parcel Service (UPS) has signed up the London office of agency Momentum Worldwide to help expand its UK and European brand presence via sponsorship.

UPS already sponsors the European Golf Tour - a property which Momentum will now activate across a number of territories. However the new arrangement will also see Momentum look at other sports sponsorship opportunities.

Momentum’s appoint comes just weeks after UPS announced that it would be introducing domestic express pickup and delivery services in 16 new countries around the world. As a result it now provides domestic pick-ups in 45 countries - in addition to the international services it is already well-known for. This growth may explain why it wants to increase its activity in the sponsorship sector.

Aside from golf, UPS has quite a low profile in European sponsorship. But it is a very prominent player in other parts of the world. Current partnerships include deals with US motor racing circuit NASCAR and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. It was also the Official Logistics and Express delivery sponsor for Beijing 2008.