Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

Critics of Manchester City will have to stop the mocking soon. Having already demonstrated its ability to sign Brazilian star Robinho, this week saw the club confirm a record sponsorship with Abu-Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines.

The deal, which sees Etihad replace Thomas Cook, is worth between £10-£13 million a year and will run for three years (2009/10-2011-2012). It will be unveiled officially during the club’s pre-season tour of South Africa in July.

The Etihad link is not a big surprise given that Manchester City now belongs to the Abu Dhabi United Group. However it does reinforce the fact that Abu Dhabi’s business interests are serious about using the club as a platform for promoting the city-state’s global brand image.

Echoing similar arrangements with other clubs, there’s also talk of a Manchester City soccer school being set up in Abu Dhabi. Commenting on the sponsorship, Etihad chief executive James Hogan said: “We will work together on building ties between Abu Dhabi and Manchester, especially with youngsters through our soccer schools.”

Next Week: A full rundown of FA Premier League shirt sponsorship deals/rumours going into the new season.

Leading Dog’s Show Crufts (which is organised by The Kennel Club) has secured a new sponsorship deal with furniture retailer DFS. The deal, which commences in 2010, will give DFS title sponsorship rights to the event.

The deal comes at the end of a tough year for Crufts – which found itself subjected to heavy criticism last year after a BBC documentary looked into the practices of some dog breeders. After that, pet food giant Pedigree pulled out.

Despite the controversy, there’s no doubt that Cruft’s remains one of the best-known event of the year. Held at the NEC in Birmingham, it attracts 160,000 people a year.

Commenting on the deal, Kennel Club chairman Ronnie Irving said: “The Kennel Club is delighted to welcome DFS as principal sponsor of Crufts 2010. Dog shows are a great way to encourage and reward the breeding of healthy dogs and are also a platform for all dog lovers to ensure we achieve our goal of giving dogs happy, healthy lives.”

DFS chairman Lord Kirkham said: “I am massively excited that DFS will sponsor Crufts in 2010. The event is part of the fabric of British life and it is always clear to see that dogs enjoy being in the limelight in the show ring, just as much as cuddling up with their owners on the sofa. We are proud to be involved in an event that is dedicated to ensuring dogs have happy, healthy and comfortable lives.”

Integrated agency Adam & Eve’s run of good form continued this week with the news it has secured a marcoms brief from the Williams F1 team. Under the terms of the deal, it will help William establish its brand positioning then develop a creative approach which can woo sponsors.

Williams GP Engineering director of marketing Dominic Reilly said: “Adam & Eve’s approach is what we were looking for to help us realise the potential of Williams as a sponsorship opportunity for domestic and global brands.”

Adam & Eve has had a purple patch in the sponsorship space. Earlier this year, it was appointed by Lloyds TSB to work on its sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics.

For the first time in its ten-year history, Channel 4′s Big Brother will not have a phone sponsor attached when its new series launches this summer. Instead, series 10 of the reality show will be sponsored by Lucozade Energy.

Reports in the tabloid press have suggested that audiences on BB have got too low to interest phone sponsors – which like to build multi-platform content strategies around such deals. However the show is still a pretty big ratings puller. As such, it will give Lucozade a lot of summer exposure.

The deal, which also covers E4 spin-offs and the Big Brother website, was negotiated by Mediacom. Idents for the show were created by advertising agency M&C Saatchi.

In a separate development, car manufacturer Hyundai has signed a deal to sponsor movies on Five and its digital sister channels Fiver and Five USA. The deal, which started this week, runs until the end of 2009. Creative work is by M&C Saatchi – which won Hyundai’s UK ad account in October.

Sportswear giant Adidas has extended its sponsorship of UK Athletics beyond the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The partnership now runs until 2013. 

The new deal will see adidas providing more support at UK Athletics’ flagship events – such as the Aviva London Grand Prix where the company will be an official partner for the first time. A new kit will be worn for the first time at the European Team Championships in Portugal (June 20/21).

Robin Money, head of sports marketing, adidas UK and Ireland said: “adidas is extremely pleased to continue to support UKA. We will make sure British and Northern Irish athletes have access to the ultimate in sports kit so they can perform to their very best and hope our investment in the sport will enable more young people to take part.”

The Brit Oval has partnered up with the London Evening Standard for Twenty20 Cup matches played at the ground.

During May and June, the Standard will be the official media partner of the Brit Oval for the Twenty20 Cup. As a result, its readers will get access to free tickets, exclusive player interviews and in-venue promotions during match days. Commenting on the deal, Danny Mansfield, promotions manager at the Standard, said: “We are delighted to team up with the Brit Oval. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate London than to offer our readers exclusive opportunities to enjoy cricket in the capital.”

Wembley Stadium commercial director Jonathan Gregory is to take over as director of partnerships for England’s 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. In his new role, Gregory will be responsible for securing the bid’s sponsorship partners. 

Gregory, who has signed a number of high-profile deals while at Wembley, has had a varied career in sponsorship and sports marketing. Prior to joining Wembley in 2004, he was head of sports marketing, at Puma. Before that, he worked at Walkers, PepsiCo and Coca Cola. In his new role, he will report to Andy Anson, the former Manchester United commercial chief who now runs the 2018 bid.

French liqueur brand Chambord is quietly and efficiently building an interesting portfolio of cultural sponsorships.  Already linked to London Fashion Week, this week saw the brand become sponsor of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a stage version of Truman Capote’s novel starring Anna Friel. 

Under the terms of the deal, Chambord will be able to promote itself in the run up to the show and during its six month run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. With the show  debuting in September, that gives the brand a total of 10 months in which to market the innovative partnership.

In the run up to the show, the Chambord name will appear  on all marketing. After the launch, it will have its own branded bar at the theatre. The deal also gives Chambord an option to sponsor the show when it transfers to Broadway.

Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is rumoured to be on the verge of signing a £6m-a-year sponsorship deal with sportswear giant Nike. If this is right, the deal will be the biggest endorsement ever in the world of soccer. Ronaldo is the hottest property in football right now. Last month, he became a global ambassador for Castrol in the run up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Mobile network 3 is to sponsor original comedy on Channel 4 in a deal said to be worth seven figures. The deal, which runs until the end of this year, covers Channel 4, E4, More4, Channel4.com and on-demand platform 4OD.

3 takes over the comedy portfolio from beer brand Grolsch. Shows which are covered in the deal include Peep Show, 8 out of 10 Cats and a new vehicle for Alan Carr Commenting on the deal, Alan Doyle, director of integrated communications, said: “Sponsorship of Channel 4′s comedy stream is a great fit for us as a brand. Like Channel 4, we like to push the boundaries of our industry. And while we strive for constant improvement, we try not to take ourselves too seriously. These values are important to us, and we hope this deal will help us share them with the 16-34 year-old audience that C4′s programming attracts.” 

The deal was brokered by Mindshare content division Invention and the creative was produced by Glue. The concept behind the idents is a stand-up set based on Mobile Internet. Comic Spencer Brown shares surreal observations about how people use the internet on phones, what they can’t live without and what drives them round the bend.