Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

adidas has renewed its agreement with the ECB to be the official team-wear supplier to the England team for a further four years.

The new agreement will run from 2013 to 2017 and will give the sportswear manufacturer the exclusive right to supply match and training wear to all England teams from Test, One-Day and T20 sides through to England Lions, EPP, England women and England disabilities teams.

It is the second major financial deal secured by the ECB Commercial team in recent weeks following the announcement earlier this month of Investec as the new title sponsor for Test Match cricket in a ten-year deal.

adidas became England’s official team-wear supplier in 2008 and is one of ECB’s key Commercial partners. The partnership gives adidas a range of marketing rights around the England team and the right to design and market official England team-wear.

Commenting on the deal, John Perera ECB Commercial Director said: “Major global brands want to be associated with winners and we are delighted that both our men’s and women’s teams have achieved major successes on the international stage since entering into partnership with adidas.

“Over the last three and half years, the England Test side has reached number one in the ICC’s world Test rankings, the England T20 side has won an ICC global event for the first time and our women’s team were victorious in both the Women’s World Cup and the Women’s World T20 tournament.

“adidas has provided world-class support for all our England teams throughout this period and we look forward to working ever more closely with the company over the next four years to secure even greater exposure for the Team England brand.”

Robin Money, Head of Sports Marketing for adidas UK & Ireland said: “Since we signed our partnership in 2008, we have worked extremely closely with the ECB and individual players to ensure the England teams have the best technical apparel required to allow them to be at the top of their game. It is fantastic to see the hard work and efforts pay off and to celebrate the team’s fantastic achievements. We very much look forward to continuing this relationship over the next four years.”

It’s not just the handful of teams who are now enjoying success at the World Cup.  Some of the world’s leading brands are battling it out for dominance in an event that is being watched in over 200 countries by a cumulative global audience estimated to be a staggering 26 billion. 
For the first time at the World Cup moving electronic perimeter advertising for the sponsors is being used, reports sponsorship specialists brandRapport.  Each of the World Cup’s six partners, eight sponsors and five local sponsors have their brands displayed in 30 second slots on the LED boards during each match.  The partners – Coca-Cola, Emirates, Visa, Hyundai, Sony and adidas -  each receive exclusive branding which can amount to eight or nine minutes per match while the sponsors appear in pairs – McDonalds with Yingli Solar, Budweiser with Castrol, Continental with Mahindra Satyam and MTN with Seara.  The local sponsors all appear on the boards together.
This new system guarantees a specific amount of exposure for all the brands during each match.  However those brands that happen to be showing when each goal is scored receive significantly greater benefits.  The goals are of course the most repeated and most widely shown part of each match and as the tournament progresses each goal becomes more important as do the benefits to the sponsors who are visible when they are scored.  Also certain key goals will be shown for years after the tournament has finished.
After the group stages and round, of the last 16 matches a total of 123 goals have been scored in the tournament.   FIFA Partner Coca Cola has been on show for 15 of the goals.  Close behind Coke with 14 is the boards showing the joint branding of sponsors MTN and Seara. Visa is next with 13 goals, Mahindra Satyam and Continental have been on show for 12 goals and adidas for 11.  David Villa’s winning goal for Spain against Portugal was scored while the Coke branding was on show which took Coke into the lead.  However, had Frank Lampard’s disallowed “goal” been awarded in the match against Germany, MTN and Seara would have joined Coca Cola in the lead with 15 goals. Only goals scored during normal time and any extra time period have been counted. 
Three of the partners are using the World Cup platform to promote more than one of their brands.  Hyundai shares its exposure with its sister company, Kia Motors, Coca Cola gives over exposure time to its sports drink Powerade and Budweiser showcases a number of the brands in the Anheuser Busch portfolio depending on which teams are playing.  For example, Brahma Beer appears when Brazil are playing, Hasseroder when Germany play and Quilmes when Argentina are in action.
 After the 2006 World Cup, there was criticism of the sponsorship structure which saw 15 main sponsors shared among the limited amount of branding space offered by a static perimeter board system.  What FIFA has done is to open up the categories, limiting the number of elite “partners” to just six. 
However, it is the eight sponsors that comprise the next tier that are perhaps the most interesting in terms of what we can expect in the future – Mahindra Satyam, an IT service provider from India, Seara, a Brazilian food manufacturer, Yingli Solar, the Chinese Solar Energy specialists and MTN, the African mobile communications company.  Major companies and brands are developing fast from economies outside of Europe and North America and are specialising in sectors which are new to the World Cup and they have clearly identified the event as the way to launch their brands globally.
Another great commercial battle between adidas, Nike and Puma is also hotting up.  Adidas is, of course, an Official FIFA Partner, but both brands have kit supplier/sponsorship agreements with many of the teams in the competition and both will be hoping that teams carrying their brand will be competing in the final on July 11th.  At the start of the tournament adidas had 12 teams wearing its kit while Nike had 10.  Puma who had the 2006 World Champions Italy had seven teams including four of the African nations.  The hopes of Adidas now lie with the German and Spanish teams, Puma with Uruguay and Nike with the Netherlands.
Commenting on the commercial aspects of the tournament, brandRapport’s Director of Football, Richard Thompson said, “The Football World Cup has established itself as the stand-out global sporting event  for commercial partners.  The passion and levels of interest in all the matches are unrivalled and the fact that sponsorship revenue for this year’s tournament is up 80% on Germany 2006 speaks volumes for the demand from companies and brands to be part of it”.

A poll by reputation auditors Echo Research has shown that the British public may well be uncertain which companies are sponsoring the tournament. Respondents were clearer, however, about sponsors’ motives, understanding they are driven by hard-nosed targets, such as TV coverage and selling product, rather than any commitment to any softer issues.
Echo’s Group CEO, Sandra Macleod, remarked “these findings show that, as the tournament gets underway, sponsors have much work to do to raise awareness of their role in the World Cup, and to convince the British public that they are motivated by a genuine concern for the host nation and for football and its supporters, as much as by commercial gains. Should confusion in these areas continue as the World Cup unfolds, sponsors will not realize the brand and reputation benefits that sponsorship should bring”.

Conducted the day before the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony on 11 June, the 1,005 adults polled across Great Britain struggled to correctly identify eight World Cup sponsors and partners (Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, adidas, Sony, Visa, Budweiser, Emirates and Hyundai) from a list of well-known brands. Coca-Cola was the only company to be correctly identified as a sponsor by more than half of those polled (57%) and Hyundai by the least (10%).
Nike was incorrectly identified as an official sponsor by 30% of those polled – more than identified adidas, an actual sponsor (29%). Carlsberg was also incorrectly identified as a sponsor by 23%, not far behind the 28% identifying actual sponsor Budweiser.

When asked to select reasons why a company would sponsor the World Cup, 81% agreed it was “to get their company name or logo on TV” and 50% “to sell more of their products within South Africa”.
Thirteen percent agreed it was “because they care about football and its supporters”; nine percent “because they care about issues of health, fitness and wellbeing” and seven percent “because they care about South Africa and its people”.

John Lewis yesterday became the 26th domestic sponsor to join the London 2010 team with the title Official Department Store Provider.  As a Tier Three Provider to London 2012, John Lewis will offer its staff the opportunity to work at LOCOG in the build-up to the Games, help to furnish lounge and reception areas at Games-time venues, and provide warehouse space.  The John Lewis shop on Oxford Street and  a new shop due to be opened in 2011 adjacent to the Olympic Park at Stratford are set to become key retail outlets for Games-related merchandise.  These shops will give back all net profit to London 2012 on Olympic merchandise sold.

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe commented: “We are thrilled that John Lewis has chosen to join us on the journey to 2012.  They supported us during the bid and so it is fantastic to have them on board as a sponsor.  They bring a wealth of retail experience which will  be invaluable to us as our merchandise programme ramps up and crucially, members of their staff will join our own to provide expertise and ensure those visiting our Games receive the warmest of welcomes in 2012.”

Andy Street, Managing Director of John Lewis commented: “Sustainability and community are at the heart of our business and we are therefore delighted to be involved with the regeneration of east London through anchoring the Olympic development in Stratford with our latest full-line department store as well as helping to fund the most exciting sporting event for a generation.”

Contributing to LOCOG’s budget of £2 billion for staging the Olympic and Paralymic Games are seven Tier One Partners – adidas,  BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB, six domestic  Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS.  There are now 13 domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, Crystal CG, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, GSK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Ticketmaster and Trident.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.

Adidas, Nike and Puma are the best-known football sponsors in the five largest European football markets, according to a survey by sports marketing analysis and evaluation company Sport+Markt among 3,000 European football fans.

Unsurprisingly, “Jersey sponsors and kit suppliers dominate European communication in football”, says Hartmut Zastrow, Sport+Markt’s executive director.  Adidas is the top football brand, according to Zastrow who expressed surprise at seeing Audi in number eight position and commented:  “Audi pursues a decentralised football strategy, with partnerships with many European clubs and is even outstripping rival automobile supplier Ford, as a sponsor.”  Another reason, however, for its position could be the press coverage following the company’s purchase of shares in FC Bayern Munich.

The top twenty sponsorships are an illustration of the variance in sponsorship strategy that European companies can use to gain the attention of European football fans.  A global group such as Coca-Cola is ranked fourth and is omnipresent as a sponsor in football and sport in general, although it has no shirt sponsorships, whereas Emirates (ranked fifth) do have shirt sponsorships and the naming rights of Arsenal FC.  Moreover, it is a FIFA World Cup Partner.

The UK is the only market where shirt sponsors, namely AIG and Carlsberg, score higher than the actual kit suppliers or technical partners; only Barclays as the league title sponsor is able to compete at such a high level.  Internationally, the popularity of the Premier League and the success these clubs enjoy in the UEFA Champions League has enabled these sponsors to reach overseas fans.  For more information on the report, visit www.sportundmarkt.com

Leading sports brand adidas has confirmed its Official Partner status of Sky Pro Cycling. adidas has spent more than six months working with Sky Pro Cycling to produce nearly 100 different bespoke pieces of apparel and accessories. Over 14,000 units of kit will be supplied to the team per year.

adidas has formed a strong and successful association with British Cycling over a number of years and the progression to work with team principal Dave Brailsford and Sky Pro Cycling is a natural one.

Robin Money, Head of Sports Marketing, adidas UK & Ireland, said: “The adidas partnership with Sky Pro Cycling is one we are proud to be taking on. adidas has worked successfully with British Cycling and Dave Brailsford for a number of years, supplying riders with the very best in technical apparel.”

As well as apparel and accessories for Team Sky itself, adidas has developed a range of both on and off-bike products that will be available to purchase from retailers in March 2010.

England Hockey has signed a five-year kit supply deal with adidas this week. The deal coincides with the launch of a new logo and the men’s squad’s departure to Australia to compete in the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy.

Kalle Melin, managing director of Specialist Sports Shoes Ltd, adidas’ hockey distributor in the UK, said: “We are proud to enter into a new partnership with the England Hockey Board to supply all the England and Great Britain teams and Performance staff with technical teamwear. The partnership encompasses the Great Britain squad who have used adidas kit at the Olympic Games for more than 20 years. The partnership with England will also be important for the future development of the adidas hockey ranges.”

The new logo is part of a strategy to inject more dynamism into hockey’s image. “Our aim is to bring this fast, entertaining and highly-skilled sport to a bigger audience,” says EHB commercial director Mark Armitage, “and ultimately attract more fans, sponsors and media coverage whilst engaging current participants, fans and volunteers.”

Tennis star Novak Djokovic has switched his allegiance from adidas to Sergio Tacchini, the sportswear brand worn by his childhood idols Pete Sampras and John McEnroe. The deal runs for 10 years and starts next season. In the same week, US star Andy Roddick – currently recovering from injury – renewed his partnership with the Lacoste brand. The deal extends their partnership for four years.

As tennis star Andy Murray works his way through the field at the US Open, reports have come in that the young Scot is set to sign a £3 million-a-year sponsorship with Adidas.

Murray, whose has been with Fred Perry until now, was courted by a number of companies before deciding on adidas. Under the terms of the deal, Murray will double his money to £6m p.a. if he makes it to the top of the rankings.

Sources have cited a couple of reasons why Murray chose adidas (apart from the size of the deal). Firstly, rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are both already with Nike – which would make it hard for Murray to stand-out. Secondly, Murray will be able to keep his sleeve sponsors Highland Spring and RBS. Nike wouldn’t allow this.

Underlining the importance of sponsorship to tennis stars, the £3m adidas pay out is more than Murray currently makes from prize money – an estimated £2.25m last year.

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.”