Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

The 2010 ESA European Sponsorship Awards are now open for entry - to sponsors, rights holders and agencies.  The Awards, organised by the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), celebrate excellence across all sectors - sport, culture, entertainment, media and corporate social responsibility.
Karen Earl, Chairman of the European Sponsorship Association explained that the awards are devised to focus on the varying business objectives of a sponsorship campaign.  In a bid to attract smaller sponsorship campaigns, two new categories - Business to Consumer, (budget under €100,000) and Business to Community (budget under €50,000) - have been added for 2010. Karen Earl added that many of the previous entries featured high-profile campaigns by well-known brands with large budgets and ESA wanted to encourage successful campaigns orchestrated on lower budgets to have an opportunity also to be recognised for excellence.
Final deadline is  September 20th , but entries submitted by September 6th will benefit from a special early-bird discount.   Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in Amsterdam on Wednesday 24th November, as part of ESA’s two-day annual conference, Future Sponsorship. 
For more information on the Awards, please visit www.sponsorship.org.

The European Sponsorship Association’s two-day conference Future Sponsorship is scheduled to take place in Amsterdam on the 24th and 25th of November 2010. The conference will also incorporate the European Sponsorship Awards on the evening of the 24th.
The conference, which is to be organised by the Informa Sports Group, will focus on sports, media, entertainment and the arts/culture and is also planning to offer workshops to take place either side of the conference.  For more information, please visit www.sponsorship.org

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) has risen to the defence of FIFA World Cup sponsors who are facing mounting criticism from lobbying groups – The World Cancer Fund, to name just one – that they are promoting ‘unhealthy products’. 
ESA’s standpoint is that sponsorship is a legitimate means for brands and companies to promote themselves as they might with other marketing disciplines.  The difference being, however, that sponsorship programmes also have the ability to deliver invaluable funding for a wide range of youth, community, environmental and charitable causes. 
One of the World Cup Partners and two of the sponsors of the 2010 event, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Budweiser have been specifically mentioned.  All three have a long  established position as major sponsors of the World Cup.  Coca -Cola has had an official agreement with FIFA since 1978, Budweiser since 1986 and McDonalds since 1994.  These brands have not only invested heavily in the World Cup but also through a wide range of relationships with different football-related bodies and rights holders across many markets globally.
According to ESA, these brands recognise that they are not operating in a vacuum and are well aware of developing health issues. As a result, all three brands have taken steps to adapt their sponsorship programmes and communication messages to take account of greater health consciousness in society.  Coca Cola and McDonalds, in particular, have  invested significantly in major initiatives, through their sponsorship programmes, aimed at getting many more children and teenagers playing football.
These types of programmes, set up and coordinated by governing bodies, are made possible through significant levels of funding from sponsors.  They provide opportunities for tens of thousands of children to get outside and get active by taking part in officially run programmes that governing bodies would  be unable to support without sponsorship investment.
ESA is in full support of sponsors legitimately promoting their businesses but encourages all sponsors to follow the example of these brands and look beyond immediate commercial returns to how they may also make a wider contribution to the communities in which they operate.

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) will hold its next ESA Insights Forum ‘Beyond 2012’ at the offices of the British Olympic Association (BOA) in London on Thursday 27th May 2010.
The Insights Forum will cover the impact of the London Olympic Games and anticipated post-Olympic activity, the broader legacy of the Olympics including cultural and grassroots activities and the impact on business and the sponsorship industry post 2012
The leadership session will comprise a strong line-up of speakers and panellists including Hugh Chambers, Chief Commercial Officer, BOA; Paul Vaughan, Business Operations Director, Rugby Football Union; Diana Spiegelberg, Associate Director, Development and Learning, Serious (involved with Cultural Olympiad); Sally Hancock, Director, London 2012 Partnership & Group Sponsorship, Lloyds TSB; Sally Atkins, Deloitte, Programme Director for London 2012;  Dr Martin Yelling, Director, Yellingperformance and Presenter, Marathontalk, and Matt Rogan, Commercial Director, Lane4 as moderator.
The morning event starts with a networking breakfast from 8.30am and closes at 11.45am. To reserve a place, contact the ESA 0208 390 3311.

The European Sponsorship Association’s Insights Forum: ‘Sponsorship in a New Era’, the second in the series, on April 29th will look at the swift pace of change within the digital landscape and explore the implications for the sponsorship industry and what can be done to maximise the opportunities.

Speakers Trevor Johnson, Head of Strategy and Planning (EMEA) at Facebook and a senior director for Digital Marketing at RIM/Blackberry, will provide an overview of the latest trends for social media and digital marketing.

Johnson will talk about the growing reach of Facebook, how the brand is being developed and the opportunities it presents. He will focus on social media’s unique role in being able to target consumers based on their self-declared passions and interests.

The RIM/Blackberry director will cover what the proliferation in social media and apps means for brands and how this impacts on sponsorship while also giving examples of how Blackberry is using and maximising sponsorship within its marketing activity.

Thomas Godfrey, Commercial Director of Sport England will join Johnson to add some details about a partnership the community sports governing body has entered in to with Facebook and how the ‘Sport Hub’ initiative is succeeding in reaching the public through social media.

A panel discussion will follow focusing on the opportunities and challenges facing sponsorship professionals as they incorporate digital marketing into their campaigns to add further value. The discussion and debate will be moderated by Matt Rogan, Commercial Director of Lane4, who heads ESA’s Educational and Training programme.

Rogan said: “Sponsorship works when a brand engages in a very active way with its key audiences. Increasingly this involves deeply personalised communication. Our delegates will hear about the latest advancements within digital media which enable this - be it via social networking or through a mobile device.”

ESA Insights forums are designed specifically for senior sponsorship professionals to expand knowledge and understanding across key issues at the heart of the industry. 
The morning forum will be held at the offices of The Football League, 30 Gloucester Place, London, W1U 8FL.  It starts with a networking breakfast from 8.30am and closes at 11.30am. Prices start at £100 (plus VAT). ESA members receive a special rate and there is a discount for group bookings. To reserve a place contact ESA on +44 (0) 208 390 3311.

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards recognise not only the best sponsorships but also seek to recognise talented individuals.  The Barrie Gill Award, supported by the European Sponsorship Association, seeks out the up and coming talented and motivated young executives who are making a difference to the sponsorships they are working on, their companies and the professionalism of their sectors.  On the shortlist this year were Nick Marsden from the Royal Albert Hall, Jasmine Sall from agency Generate and Sarah Steel from Sheffield Football Club.  Of these three extremely talented individuals, Nick Marsden was deemed the winner and presented with champagne and a cheque from ESA’s vice chair and Sponsorship Consulting’s  Managing Director Pippa Collett.
To find out how to nominate your talented members of staff, please email rsarginson@wilmington.co.uk.

Sponsorship experts, Mike Thompson, head of Global Sponsorship at E.ON, Karen Earl, Chairman of Synergy and the European Sponsorship Association and Andy Sutherden, Managing Director of Hill and Knowlton are set to lead a panel discussion on the implications of current consumer behaviour for the sponsorship world.
Joining international trend forecasting consultancy, The Future Laboratory, for ESA’s Future Trends Forum this Thursday morning, they will launch ESA Knowledge 2010 – a programme of education and training events designed specifically for the ever-changing demands of the industry.
Tom Savigar of The Future Laboratory will discuss how emerging phenomena such as Brandtocracies and Prohibition Culture are shaping consumer behaviour, and how the industry, in turn should respond to stay in touch.
ESA Board Director and Chair of the ESA Education Working Group, Matt Rogan of Lane4 explained that the Insights Forums seek to be provoking and challenging: “The Future Trends Insights Forum is the first of four morning Forums and will provide the broad context from which the sponsorship industry will be working, with the later ESA Knowledge forums exploring how specific factors are influencing the industry”.

Future Trends will be held at the offices of Hill and Knowlton in central London on Thursday 25th February. It will start at 8.30am with a networking breakfast and conclude at 11.30am. The Insights series has been competitively priced from £100 (plus VAT) per forum, with discounts available on all sessions for ESA members, as well as discounts for multiple bookings.
To find out more about ESA Knowledge, or to reserve a place, contact ESA on +44 (0) 20 8390 3311 or visit the website: www.sponsorship.org/knowledge.asp

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) has responded positively to the research findings into the effects of sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorship on underage drinking reported on in last week’s Bulletin. The report concluded that a ban on sponsorship of sporting events would have little effect on youth alcohol consumption. Carried out by Dr Fiona Davies, lecturer in Marketing at the University of Cardiff, the report adds weight to the arguments put forward by ESA over recent months in response to criticism regarding the rights of alcohol brands to sponsor sporting events.
Commenting on the report’s findings, ESA Chairman, Karen Earl said, “We are not at all surprised by the findings of this report, indeed there was a similar set of results from research completed in 2008 in New Zealand. What we have always argued is that sponsorship and other marketing disciplines do not actually encourage people to start drinking alcohol or increase consumption levels. However, they can direct consumers to a particular company, product or brand but that is very different and is the fundamental point that needs to be stressed”.

A recent report on alcohol published by the UK Government’s Health Committee did not fully represent the alcohol sponsorship landscape, according to ESA. The association had submitted a detailed paper to the Health Committee outlining steps being taken by organisations involved in alcohol sponsorship with regard to responsible marketing activity. However, the report did not take into account, according to ESA, the considerable self-regulation activity currently undertaken by rights holders and sponsors alike.

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) has just released details on its 2010 training and education programme -  ESA Knowledge  - which offers affordable, high quality events for the industry. The Insights Forums are morning sessions aimed at decision makers and senior industry figures, starting with the Future Trends session on the 25th February in London, and running until May.  The Skills Workshops begin in the autumn and are interactive evening sessions aimed at executives and managers from sponsors, rights holders and agencies. ESA members receive a discount, plus an extra discount for multiple bookings. For details on the programme, please visit www.sponsorship.org.

Encouraged by the uptake and feedback from its first suite of webcasts, Sponsorship Consulting will be launching a new series on February 26^th.  The webcasts’ focus is to drive the professional development of newcomers to the sponsorship industry worldwide.

According to Sponsorship Consulting’s MD, Pippa Collett, the webcasts constitute the basic building blocks that all sponsorship practitioners need to create and maintain strong sponsorship relationships, with the programme offering modules for both sponsors and rights holders.

The new dates are Friday 26th February and 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th March 2010, and can be booked by visiting www.sponsorshipconsulting.co.uk/webcasts or calling +44 (0)20 7147 9957.  Modules cost £69.00 (including VAT) and can be purchased individually or as a series.  Each webcast lasts one hour and qualifies for European Sponsorship Association Continued Professional Development accreditation.