Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

Karen Earl, Chairman of ESA and Synergy and Amanda Fone, Managing Partner of f1 recruitment llp, will be leading ‘Building A Career In Sponsorship’ a European Sponsorship Association seminar designed to help graduates and newcomers to sponsorship with their career planning.

Karen and Amanda will draw on their considerable experience to share insights into the sponsorship industry. They will be joined by ATP’s Marc Harris, an experienced professional who has worked within the industry for many years across a number of agencies including Momentum, Bell Pottinger PR and IMG. The Workshop will provide an introduction to the sponsorship industry with an overview of the sponsor, agency and rights holder roles. Practical advice on career opportunities and progression will also be provided.

Members working more broadly in marketing roles are welcome to attend to learn about the specifics of sponsorship. The session will be held on March 23rd at the British Olympic Association from 4.00-6.00pm. For more details, please contact ESA at esaoffice@sponsorship.org.

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards judging team is delighted to announce the shortlist for the Sponsorship Innovation of the Year category, the winner of which will be announced at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards Gala Dinner

on March 27th. On the shortlist are: Betfair for its Betfair Bum-vertising campaign, the BP Portrait Award 2011, TRESemme and Next Top Model and the VIY – Volunteer It Yourself campaign which is sponsored by A4E, V,

Wickes and Pimlico Plumbers. The four candidates were was selected from the shortlisted entries and were campaigns which the judges deemed had introduced eye-catching innovations and solutions to their campaigns and the

industry.

With just a month to go before the Gala Dinner on March 27th, tables at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square event are selling extremely well. To avoid any disappointment, please email us now with your requirements or

book online at www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk. We would be pleased to reserve and hold tables/places for one week.

The Rugby Football Union has announced a new partnership with consumer healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK). The deal will run to 2016 and sees brands Lucozade Sport and Maximuscle, part of the Maxinutrition portfolio, partner with the Elite England Rugby Squads as Official Hydration and Sports Nutrition partners respectively. The deal represents the first collaboration between the two companies since the GSK acquisition of Maxinutrition in February 2011.
Alongside elite rugby, the two brands are committed to supporting adult rugby outside of the professional game and will bring their enthusiasm and expertise to players and clubs throughout the country.
Peter Harding, General Manager of GSK Consumer Healthcare Great Britain and Ireland, commented,“We are delighted to announce the beginning of an exciting partnership with the RFU in what is a promising time for not only the senior England team but English rugby as a whole. GSK are positive that our significant experience in delivering outstanding sports nutrition will help the team maximise its potential, starting with the RBS 6 Nations.”
Sophie Goldschmidt, RFU Chief Commercial Officer, said, “We are excited about our new strategic partnership with GSK’s Consumer Healthcare business. Lucozade Sport and Maximuscle are leaders in their field and are highly respected within the industry. This partnership will benefit all levels of the RFU’s elite game, providing products and tailored nutritional expertise to England’s Senior, Saxons, Sevens and Women’s squads – this reinforces our commitment to excellence across all levels.”

Ford has extended its long-standing sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League through to June 2015.

“Our new three-year agreement shows how strongly we feel about this partnership,” said Stephen Odell, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe. “For a global company like ours, the UEFA Champions League is an ideal platform to connect with millions of people around common values. It is about the best-of-the-best on the ultimate stage, and that’s why Ford wants to be part of it.”

Added David Taylor, CEO UEFA Events: “We are delighted that Ford has chosen to extend their agreement with UEFA and the UEFA Champions League for another three years. Ford has been a valuable partner of ours since the inception of the competition back in 1992. This renewal in our partnership further strengthens the close relationship we have.

“The UEFA Champions League continues to go from strength to strength and we are confident that it will carry on providing Ford with excellent opportunities to connect and engage with fans on a global basis.”

The UEFA Champions League is one of the most popular sports competitions in the world. More than one billion television viewers tuned in last season, with a cumulative audience of more than four billion, more than half of which were outside of Europe.

“This may be a European competition, but like Ford’s latest global vehicles, it is shared and enjoyed throughout the world. Great football, like a great car, is universal in its appeal and this partnership generates world-wide exposure,” said Roelant de Waard, vice-president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “This is the reason why the UEFA Champions League played such big role in the launch of the new Ford Focus earlier this year.”

The UEFA Champions League was indeed instrumental in revealing the new Ford Focus to a global audience through television break bumpers, stadium perimeter boards and online channels. Activities around the competition, such as the FocusCam attraction at the UEFA Champions League Festival, allowed visitors to the Ford stand to be captured in a 180 degree ‘Matrix’ style animation using a bank of 40 cameras. Participants could then share their video with friends online using the Focus Wi-Fi hotspot, uploading to the sites like Facebook or YouTube. The 77,630 subsequent views online of these films further demonstrated how Ford and UEFA work together in front of huge audiences to bring new Ford technologies to life.

Ford’s use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to communicate more directly with consumers will be further enhanced by the new sponsorship deal. And for all of those customers who engage with Ford on these social media platforms, there will be more chances for them to interact with the Company and its continuing partnership with the UEFA Champions League.

To celebrate the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final being held in Munich, Ford in Germany will play a major role in the support of this event. This will include the launch of “Champions” special value models, as well as the provision of 200 vehicles featuring the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final livery to support transport logistics

brandmeetsbrand has brokered a campaign between UK digital radio station Jazz FM and TomTom. The one month deal (November-December) will help to promote TomTom’s retail Christmas offer of £30 towards a customer’s Christmas shopping when they purchase a TomTom LIVE device.
The competition will require listeners to submit their Christmas journeys, and those selected will have their journeys planned for them live on air using TomTom’s HD Traffic information.

Karen Morris, director of brandmeetsbrand, said: “Audience interaction is a fantastic way of promoting TomTom’s HD Traffic.”

“We are thrilled to be working with TomTom this December. With this new partnership, the masters of the highways help us to navigate the increasingly complex road systems in the run up to Christmas, whilst we can help navigate the wonderful world of jazz. It’s a match made on the motorway.” says Jo Coltman, Director of Sales at Jazz FM.

Lyndal Newman, UK marketing manager, TomTom, added “Research we released earlier in the year proved how stressful sitting in traffic can be. By providing the fastest route through the traffic using HD Traffic, we can help Jazz FM listeners avoid this added tension at one of the most stressful times of the year.”

Urban media brand Metro published by A&N Media has created an experiential environment at London’s O2 Arena during this week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Metro is an official media partner of the event and has partnered with brand experience agency Flourish Creative to engage visitors through a tennis-themed activation that reflects the brand’s urban roots.

The result is Metro Urban Tennis, a twist on mini-golf in which participants score points by hitting tennis balls against and into different targets within a cityscape environment.

Each player has three attempts to get the highest possible score and can also see how their performance measures up to that of tennis legend Greg Rusedski, who posted his score on Sunday (20th November). Pat Cash and Tim Henman will also try their hands during special appearances later this week.

Metro Marketing Executive Camilla Markham said: “As official media sponsor of the tournament, we needed a concept to help create stand-out and Flourish have a done a great job in helping us create a fun and innovative space where visitors can connect to the Metro brand.”

What Car? has secured free newspaper Metro as Supermini Category Sponsor of the annual motoring awards – The What Car? Car of the Year Awards, to be held in London in January 2012.

Justin Lovric, Client Planning Manager and Director EcoVelocity, Metro commented “Our sponsorship of the 2011 What Car? Car of the Year Awards provided Metro with a fantastic presence in front of the most important and influential figures in the automotive industry to successfully launch EcoVelocity this year.” The deal was negotiated by Slingshot Sponsorship.

Aviva is handing over its shirt sponsorship of Norwich City to children’s charity Railway Children this weekend when the club plays Arsenal, a game televised by Sky Sports.
The charity supports vulnerable young people in the Norwich area.This is the first time that a commercial sponsor has given over its shirt sponsorship to a charity for a Barclays Premier League match.

London-based sports marketing agency is seeking a marketing/brand manager. To view this and all the latest opportunities on jobs@sponsorship, visit www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk and click on the jobs@sponsorship button.

Hundreds of leading lights from the sponsorship industry gathered at The London Marriott Hotel last night (March 29) to see British Gas and Carat Sponsorship secure the Hollis Sponsorship of the Year Award for their work with British Swimming. The winning team was presented with its Award by Double Olympian James Cracknell, who was named Hollis Sponsorship Personality of the Year for his Herculean achievements in raising funds and exposure for the charity sector.
Altogether, 15 brands including British Gas picked up Hollis Sponsorship Awards this year. Among the highlights were HSBC’s success in the Arts Category with Festival Brazil, Specsavers’ success in the Media Category with the TV Book Club and Evian’s success in the big budget Brand category for its Wimbledon activity. Among new winners, Compeed’s partnership with the ATP won the first-timer Award while Theakston’s triumphed in the low-budget category.
Across the categories, a high number of blue-chip brands proved successful, notably Asda, Castrol, Unilever, Jaguar and O2, the latter picking up the Continuity Award for its naming rights deal with AEG. Lesser-known brands also shone, notably Brakes and Ekspan. Flying the flag for Scotland were Glenmorangie and Tennent’s.

Hollis Awards organiser Rosemary Sarginson said: “The quality of entries this year was excellent. While the economic downturn has clearly taken its toll on many companies and individuals, the sponsorship industry has again shown its resilience and innovation.”

Looking to the future, Sarginson was also delighted to see Carat’s Matthew Riches pick up the Barrie Gill Award For Most Promising Young Sponsorship Executive. “We had four great candidates in this category. There’s no question that the future of the industry is in safe hands if this group of rising stars is anything to go by!”