Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

Continental Airlines has been unveiled as the sponsor of 2009’s Tower Festival – a Harvey Goldsmith/AEG Live music and arts event which is held at the Tower of London in September. Acts taking part this year include Nigel Kennedy, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Lesley Garrett.

The partnership was negotiated by Starcom MediaVest sponsorship division SMG Plus. The goal of the link up is to promote Continental Airlines’ London to New York route to London-based business travellers who love arts & music.

The event itself will include several New York themed spaces with chances to win return trip tickets to New York on Continental flights. There will also be media activity on radio and internet – with advertorials on Classic FM for example.

Commenting on the deal, Continental’s senior VP of marketing programmes Mark Bergsrud said: “The sponsorship offers our consumers the chance for a more personal experience with our brand. The historic setting offers us the perfect environment to talk directly to our core customers about our London Heathrow to New York service, which was increased last year.”

If you’re going to do music sponsorship, you need to do it right. And there’s no question that Barclaycard is putting a great deal of effort into its own foray into the arena.

In recent weeks, it has announced partnerships with Live Nation and The Mercury Music Prize – two of the most respected names in the business. Now it has started to drill down into the sector by forming a one-year partnership with Global Radio, the company which owns leading station brands such as Heart, Capital FM, Galaxy and Xfm.

As a result of the latest deal, Barclaycard now has a series of mass-market channels which it can use to inform music-lovers about competition prizes and promotions. It will also have a branded presence at Capital Radio’s Summer Ball.

There was also news this week that Samsung’s mobile phone unit is seeking to increase its presence in the music market. In the UK, it announced plans to sponsor NME’s Radar Tour – which runs throughout May. The timing coincides with the launch of a new range of music-themed mobile phones – designed to take on the likes of Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Apple. Over the coming year, Samsung is expected to increase its investment in music event-based marketing across a range of territories.

If you’re going to do music sponsorship, you need to do it right. And there’s no question that Barclaycard is putting a great deal of effort into its own foray into the arena.

In recent weeks, it has announced partnerships with Live Nation and The Mercury Music Prize – two of the most respected names in the business. Now it has started to drill down into the sector by forming a one-year partnership with Global Radio, the company which owns leading station brands such as Heart, Capital FM, Galaxy and Xfm.

As a result of the latest deal, Barclaycard now has a series of mass-market channels which it can use to inform music-lovers about competition prizes and promotions. It will also have a branded presence at Capital Radio’s Summer Ball.

There was also news this week that Samsung’s mobile phone unit is seeking to increase its presence in the music market. In the UK, it announced plans to sponsor NME’s Radar Tour – which runs throughout May. The timing coincides with the launch of a new range of music-themed mobile phones – designed to take on the likes of Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Apple. Over the coming year, Samsung is expected to increase its investment in music event-based marketing across a range of territories.

As the Hollis Bulletin went to press last week, Barclaycard announced that it was taking over the sponsorship of the prestigious Mercury Prize.  The new partnership is a four-year deal – and comes just a week after Barclaycard said its was shifting its sponsorship strategy towards music.

Aside from backing the Awards, Barclaycard says it will introduce new initiatives such as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize Sessions – live music events to be held at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden. Barclaycard replaces another financial services company Nationwide – which also used The Mercuries as a way of lessening its dependency on sport.

Leading festival promoter Festival Republic is working with research and strategy agency Crowd DNA to launch Sixty Thousand Voices – a massive research programme which will offer sponsors and agencies insights into the behaviour of around 65,000 music-loving 16-24 year-olds.

Working closely with marketers, Festival Republic will use its Reading, Leeds and Latitude Festivals to develop a bespoke programme “that stretches further than the standard weekend lifespan of most festival brand research.” It will  generate online and onsite research “allowing for a more insightful understanding of the role brands play in live music, and in the lives of those people that consume it.”

Topline findings will be presented to the industry pre- and post-festival, while there will also be category-exclusive research content for brands that take part. Commenting on the initiative, Festival Republic Sponsorship Manager, James Kent says: “In the current climate, brands need to work harder to ensure their music sponsorships deliver. Sixty Thousand Voices will allow them to engage in a long-term dialogue with a key demographic and help inform those aspects of a campaign that really deliver ROI.  While there is a wealth of statistical research around how many kids listen to music on their mobiles etc, there’s a lack of qualitative insight into the roles brands play in the festival periods. I believe the brands that listen are the ones that will enjoy the benefits of live music sponsorship.”