Welcome to the third of three industry roundtables focusing on the future of sponsorship. In each of the roundtables, we hear from multiple guests, from rights holders, brands, and agencies, about how they think the future of sponsorship is shaping up. Each guest will share their views and opinions across the same six questions and, joining us in this episode, are: Stuart Ramsay, Head Of Brand Partnerships at the British Olympic Association Katherine Butterworth, Mastercard’s, Marketing Director, Consumer, Partnership & Sponsorship Marketing Australasia Michael Israel, Senior Account Director, Client Consulting + Services at GMR Marketing Mark Thompson, co-Founder at Sports Rights Tech Jordan Rutner, Research Manager at KORE Software Enjoy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the second of three industry roundtables focusing on the future of sponsorship. In each of the roundtables, we hear from multiple guests, from rights holders, brands, and agencies, about how they think the future of sponsorship is shaping up. Each guest will share their views and opinions across the same six questions and, joining us in this episode, are: Misha Sher, Global Head of Sport, Entertainment & Culture at MediaCom Rajesh Menon, VP | Head & Director on the Board of Royal Challengers  Alice Larkworthy, Senior Partner Services Manager at Arsenal F.C. Scott Tilton, CEO at Hookit Gareth McCarthy, Sponsorships Manager at HCF Australia Enjoy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the first of three industry roundtables focusing on the future of sponsorship. In each of the roundtables, we hear from six guests, from rights holders, brands, and agencies, about how they think the future of sponsorship is shaping up. Each guest will share their views and opinions across the same six questions and, joining us in this episode, are: Joel Seymour-Hyde, Octagon Managing Director, UK;  Sophie Morris, who is not only the Strategic Marketing & Sponsorship Director of Millharbour Marketing, but also Board Director of the European Sponsorship Association and Advisory Board Member for the Institute of Sport Business at Loughborough University; Sven Gloor, Global Manager - Rugby Partnerships at HSBC; Josh Kritzler, Co-Founder at 4FRONT; Andrew Mikhail, Chief Commercial Officer at the Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Club; and Brendan Moynihan, Executive Vice President, Consulting and Sponsorship Activation at SPORTFIVE Enjoy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Based on total website traffic, social media behemoths, YouTube and Facebook are the second and third most visited sites, respectively, behind only Google, with Twitter in 4th and Instagram 5th. To be clear,4 of the top 5 most visited websites are social media websites. All of those people, all over the world, spending all that time on social media, every day, sharing, questioning, arguing, promoting, and engaging, it is a truly magnetic place to be. Understanding audiences has always been a key plank in sponsorship. That’s why, social listening can be a very powerful tool to be able to help sell, find, align, activate, and report on sponsorships, regardless of whether you are a rights holder, brand, or agency. As such, joining us on the show to discuss how social listening can be used in sponsorship is Benjamin Foster, Talkwalker Oceania Enterprise Partner. Talkwalker is an AI-powered analysis tool that provides real-time insights into what's happening on all social channels and online media, across 187 languages. You can connect with Ben on LinkedIn and find out more about Talkwalker on their website. Jordan Rutner, Research Marketing Manager at KORE Software, also joins us to talk about his latest blog, Tokyo 2020 In 2021: Broadcast And Sponsorship Breakdown.  Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No longer can audience understanding be superficial i.e. females in New York who are between 25 and 40 years old. Consumers are complex people and a rights holder’s and brand’s understanding must go deeper. But what happens when a rights holder can’t provide a potential sponsor with a fully formed, deep, and complex view of their fans? What happens when the brand has a deep view of their target audience and is looking for the right fit but won’t simply just accept the stock standard, demographic driven, fan profile so often presented by rights holders? Well, the obvious answer is that the rights holder is a good chance of missing out on that sponsor. In today’s sponsorship environment, that’s a risk less and less rights holders are willing to take. That is where Nielsen’s Fanlinks is an amazingly powerful data source that fuses consumers’ detailed lifestyle, attitudinal, and purchasing behaviour with their sporting interests & passions. Joining us on the show to discuss best-practice fan data and use, and a little peek inside Fanlinks, is Nielsen Sports’ Director, Commercial & Consulting, Steve Whately. You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn and he is happy to share more information about Fanlinks if you get in contact with him through the Nielsen website here. Also joining the show is Jordan Rutner, Research Marketing Manager at KORE Software, who joins us to talk about his latest blog, Deal Scoring - Comparing Investments Across Markets. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a world where traditional reach and attention are diminishing, brands are looking for cut-through and engagement to drive relevance and ultimately accelerate their growth. Through sponsorship, rights holders help brands access an audience they would otherwise find it hard to access or would not be able to access as cost-effectively. However, we all know that being a sponsor and simply logo slapping is no longer enough; it hasn’t been for a while. That is why creative in sponsorship is one area where brands can really activate their sponsorships to achieve cut-through & engagement to drive relevance & growth. What is, however, the process of creative in sponsorship? What part can it play in activation? How can brands and rights holders bring it to life? What are the pitfalls along the way? Joining the show, to help answer those questions is Misha Sher, Global Head of Sport, Entertainment & Culture at MediaCom, based in London. Also joining the show is Jordan Rutner, Research Marketing Manager at KORE Software, to talk about one of KORE’s latest blogs, Building a Sustainable Sponsorship Department. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big sponsorship announcements are not commonplace right now; as we still aim to get back to whatever normal is going to look like post-pandemic. That is why it was great news to hear that Football Australia recently announced that the Commonwealth Bank will become the official naming rights partner and bank of the Australian national women’s team, known as the Matildas, as well as the Junior Matildas and Young Matildas, from August 2021. The initial four-year partnership will inject millions of dollars into elite women’s football and grassroots initiatives around the country, and it’s just the start of what is set to be an exciting new partnership. It is great news for Football Australia as it comes as they move into a huge cycle of Olympics 2021 and 2024, the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cups 2022 and 2023, and, of course, FIFA World Cups 2022 for men but also the Women’s FIFA World Cup 2023 which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Further, and another feather in football’s cap, is the latest Sport Australia Ausplay study which reaffirms football’s position as the number one team sport in Australia for both men and women. The platform is certainly set to accelerate football’s long-term growth and the Commonwealth Bank and Football Australia’s other commercial partners will play a huge role in that growth. In this episode, Tom Rischbieth, Head of Commercial and Events at Football Australia, takes us inside the exciting Commonwealth Bank partnership as well as Football Australia’s wider commercial program. You can connect with Tom on LinkedIn or learn more about Football Australia here. Eva Rieder, Sr. Marketing Manager at KORE Software, also joins us to discuss her latest blog, How to Modernize Your Sponsorship Strategy. Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout the world we have seen tobacco sponsorship and alcohol sponsorship banned or curbed in most markets and, right now, the sponsorship industry is watching the UK after a House of Lords Select Committee on gambling recommended that not only should gambling shirt sponsorship be banned by 2023, but “there should also be no gambling advertising in or near any sports grounds or sports venues”. The review is driven by concern at the number of problem gamblers, which is estimated at 430,000 in Britain, and which has seen the losses of punters rocket to £14.4 billion per year in 2019; that’s almost US$20 billion. Of course, the pervasiveness of betting in sport, and football in particular, is there for all to see and certainly a driving factor. It seems surprising that gambling has avoided the spotlight for so long. It may, in some part, be due to the rapid rise of online gambling which has developed at a breakneck speed. Interestingly, however, the opposite is happening in the US with betting sponsorships being signed with regularity. Somebody, right in the middle of it in England, is Joel Seymour-Hyde, MD of Octagon UK, who not only boats Paddy Power as a client, but who has also served as a director on the European Sponsorship Association Board. As such, in this episode, we welcome Shannan Quinn, Managing Director at PRISM. Also joining the show is Jordan Rutner, Research Marketing Manager at KORE Software, who has written a fascinating blog recently on Visualizing Sponsorship Assets Across Collegiate Programs. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcasting platform! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been a whole year since the world shut down because of the pandemic. The plights of rights holders and brands is well documented. Often forgotten in the sponsorship conversation, however, is the third side, the agencies; the ones working between rights holders and brands to activate the biggest sponsorship deals in the world. There are some amazing minds in the agency world who are not always bound by the hierarchy and bureaucracy often found in rights holders and brands. Agencies can start with a blank whiteboard and work on ideas and solutions; some of which find their way into sponsorship deals, and the industry is better for it. That’s why, in this episode, we wanted to check in with one of the world’s great agencies, PRISM, and find out how they’ve pushed through COVID, their learnings, their successes, and how they are moving forward a year after it all started. As such, in this episode, we welcome Shannan Quinn, Managing Director at PRISM. Also joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, The Shift in Assets. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcasting platform! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an ever-present Premier League team, Arsenal are a global brand and, while current results are not favourable, they are one of the big six English football clubs, boasting a sponsorship portfolio with some of the world’s most recognisable brands including Adidas, Cadbury, Intel, and Lavazza. Arsenal is just like every other team around the world as they responded to the pandemic, welcomed football back, welcomed some fans back, and then the ever-changing environment and the rules and regulations that come with it. Right in the middle of Arsenal’s great sponsorship team is Alice Larkworthy, Senior Partner Services Manager. Alice joins us to take us inside Arsenal FC’s corporate partner's program. Also joining the show is Noelle Fanella, Product Manager at KORE Software, who discusses her blog, Brand Sponsors, Take Full Advantage Of Your Hospitality Perks.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the challenges of 2020, it was still a great year filled with lots of amazing chats with sponsorship professionals from all over the world. As always, we've wrapped up the year and re-visited the 13 episodes of Inside Sponsorship in 2020. You might have seen on social media that, for each show, we pull out a 30-45 second snippet and turn it into a video to help whet your appetite. As such, we’ve gone back and pulled the full question and answer, for that snippet, and created a best of 2020 show for you. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Passions drive us. Passions define us. Passions connect us. Yet, passions are changing and with the explosion of digital, the democratisation of media, and a plethora of publishing tools available, expression can come in any form and inspiration can come from anywhere. Research from M&C Saatchi Intelligence identified that interest areas that were traditionally considered hobbies, including fashion, food, beauty, health, and wellbeing, have exploded into passion areas and have identified this trend as hyper-passions. It sounds an obvious and simple enough opportunity for brands. However, it also sounds fraught with danger. How do big brands, with big budgets, weave themselves through the hyper-passions and sub-cultures of the world which have long been guarded by the passionate members themselves?  These hyper-passions are highly nuanced, a point that should not be lost on brands, agencies and rights holders. How would, and how will, those with hyper-passions, respond to corporate involvement?  That remains to be seen but what is undeniable is the opportunity in front of brands to connect with their target markets through their hyper-passions.  While it can be lucrative, all involved are looking to help enable and enhance hyper-passions as opposed to simply hijacking them for corporate outcomes. It is an intriguing scenario to say the least and joining the show to discuss M&C Saatchi's work around hyper-passions, is Luke Haynes, Group Account Director at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment - Australia. Also joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, What Type of Report Will Have the Most Impact on Sponsorship Strategy in 2021. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Data, measurement, and most importantly, the insights and what we do with them, is something that is driving the sponsorship industry. In a world where we are so connected, 24/7, globally, and with so many data capture points, the power that can be unlocked is immense. Interestingly though, what brands ultimately want to achieve through sponsorship, and increasingly data-driven sponsorships, hasn’t changed – they want more sales. That is always the end game. Social media has long been a big player, but this year, with people suddenly restricted in movement, and less sports content to consume, social and other digital platforms suddenly accelerated. Scott Tilton, CEO at Hookit, joins the show to discuss sponsorship data and takes us inside their whitepaper, Chasing Sponsorship Value - An Inside Look At The Top Brands In Sports, How They Got There, And What They Could Do Even Better. Be sure to visit hookit.com to find out more about their work, download the whitepaper here, and connect with Scott on LinkedIn. Also joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, Unlocking Sponsorship Data And Beginning To Use It More.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all seen some great examples of sponsorships adjusting, doing something different, and really creative activations this year because of COVID-19. A lot of those have been driven by necessity. Probably the most talked about activation of 2020, however, has been Burger King’s sponsorship of Stevenage FC, who, at the time of the sponsorship, in 2019, were last in the fourth division of English football. It left many people scratching their heads. It is, of course, the sponsorship that ultimately gave us the hugely successful Stevenage Challenge. This amazing partnerhsip wasn’t driven by COVID-19 or necessity. It was driven through vision and creativity, and, as our guest phrases it later on in the show, “a leap of faith”, to pull off a truly brilliant activation. One of the reasons it was so brilliant was because the opportunity was right under so many people’s noses, yet so many didn’t see it. The activation is both amazing in its boldness yet so jarringly simple. Tap into the already huge, but growing, eSports market, specifically FIFA. Tap into the underdog status and fairytale storyline of them winning. Tap into the desire for people to share their gaming highlights online. Tap into the fact that everyone loves an easily accessible giveaway, especially fast food. The results have been absolutely amazing and driven directly from the 1.2 billion impressions that Burger King’s shirt sponsorship, of Stevenage FC, has produced through the Stevenage Challenge on FIFA. Furthermore, those commercial outcomes and further opportunities are both online and offline. Alex Tunbridge is the Chief Executive at Stevenage FC and he joins us in this episode to take us inside Burger King’s sponsorship of his club. We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who joins us to discuss the blog which outlines 3 Things That Will Provide Both Short and Long-term Benefits to Sponsorship Managers. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One thing that sponsorship professional’s fear, mostly those at rights holders, is a crisis; a situation that may see sponsors walking away from the organisation. Let’s be clear, when we say “crisis” we mean an athlete or staff member brings the organisation into disrepute. For those that are high profile rights holders, it almost feels like it is only a matter of time before a crisis will impact their commercial portfolio. How long can a sponsor put up with, or how bad does, a crisis need to be before a sponsor seriously considers whether their values are still aligned? In a commercial world, particularly one where a rights holder may still be providing great ROI on the sponsorship, it can be a cloudy question. It almost feels like it is only a matter of time before today’s, or this week’s, bad news story directly affects you and your sponsorships. That’s why, knowing how to communicate with sponsors during a crisis, and being prepared for the inevitable crisis, is where the focus should be in quiet times. In sports, two of the industry leaders, when it comes to crisis communications, are Jim Rocco and Isaac Benjamin, from PRCG | Sports. PRCG | Sports provides strategic marketing, public relations, and crisis communications services to owners, managers, athletes, and brands.  Jim and Isaac join the show to take us inside crisis communications in sponsorship. We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has delivered part three, and his final part, of his part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship and he joins us to discuss the blog which looks at Perceived Value and Audience Segmentation.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no doubt that the pandemic whacked us all and there was a period where we were so reactive to what was going on, and how it played out in different markets, that it felt like we just couldn’t catch our breath. These days, however, we have mostly started moving forward, some markets differently to others. And in that, we’ve seen some really innovative work. One section of the sponsorship industry that has been a source of great wisdom, guidance, leadership, and innovation, to both rights holders and brands, has been agencies. Of course, brands and rights holders are full of really smart people, lots of our listeners, but, interestingly, the smart people at agencies, combined with their unique views from working with a wide array of rights holders and brands, gives us a much more holistic view of the industry right now and where it is going, especially considering that so many agencies work across multiple geographic regions. In this episode, we continue hearing from inside an agency by welcoming Stephen Hutchison, Managing Director at Fuse, in London, who discusses the industry right now and where it is going. Fuse, who are powered by Omnicom Media Group, provides marketing and commercial services for brands and rights holders specialising in partnerships and experiences across sport, entertainment, causes, and culture. Stephen has experience in leading projects across many of the world's leading platforms including; UEFA Champions League, Olympics, World Cup, F1, and the America's Cup for brands including Nissan, HTC, McDonald's, Vodafone, and Visa. We also hear from Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has delivered part two of his three-part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship. Daniel joins us to discuss the blog which looks at 'After the Chaos' and specifically hacking asset management and hacking creative.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At Octagon, their purpose is, “to create work that earns attention. Through smart partnerships and generous ideas -- always built around the stuff your audience really loves -- we help you compete for, capture, and ultimately earn the attention of those who matter most to you.” In these current times, it could be argued that that is more important than ever and it aligns very nicely with what we so often talk about on this show, that sponsorship is about brands accessing an audience that they would otherwise not be able to or as easily be able to access. Octagon understands that we live in a world where time is our most precious commodity and that audiences’ patience has never been shorter. As an industry, sponsorship has never had to work harder to gain the attention of the people we are trying to reach. The way Octagon see it, “ … there’s two ways to go about it. Attention is either bought. Or it’s earned”. We all know which one sponsorship truly seeks to achieve! Joining us on the show, to give us a current agency perspective of sponsorship, is Andrew Clarke, Agency Director at Octagon Australia. Andrew is an integrated marketing specialist with 17 fun-filled years of creativity and problem solving under his belt. He’s seen life from both client and agency sides and he always like to present a balanced picture to lead projects and the Octagon Australia team. He believes people’s passions will change the world we live in, and helping brands find a unique role in this equation, whether through sport, entertainment, culture, or causes is what motivates him. Also joining us is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who has kicked of a three-part blog series which focuses on hacking sponsorship and he joins us to discuss part 1, Planning for the Return. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born in 2008, the Indian Premier League, the IPL, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India contested during March or April and May of every year by eight teams representing eight different cities in India. The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and is ranked as the 6th most attended sport in the world, beating out leagues like the MLB, NBA, NHL, and La Liga and, in 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event in the world to be broadcast live on YouTube. The Rajasthan Royals are one of the eight teams in the IPL and, from a sponsorship perspective, they have fairly unique story in that they were the first team Red Bull have sponsored without actually owning the team. The Royals, sometimes considered as the "moneyball" team of the IPL, because they have a reputation of unearthing obscure, high potential talent, have a real focus on evolving into a global brand, leveraging technology in their sponsorships, and building partnerships through education and academies. Joining us on the show, to take us inside the Rajasthan Royals’ commercial program, is their COO, Jake Lush McCrum. You can learn more about the Rajasthan Royals at rajasthanroyals.com as well as connect with Jake on LinkedIn. Also joining us, to discuss KORE’s latest sponsorship focused blog, which looks at some of the global sponsorship trends happening right now, is a team effort of Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, Derek Stanek, KORE Software's VP, Sales, and also Alex Hay, KORE Software's VP Commercial & Strategy. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ONE Championship is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural treasure and its deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. Their mission is to unleash real-life superheroes who ignite the world with hope, dreams, inspiration, and strength. It has been an impressive rise, to say the least, for the Singapore-based ONE, having launched in 2011 and reaching their 100th event inside eight years. It has seen them grow to be Asia’s largest global sports media property in history with a global broadcast reach of 2.7 billion potential viewers across 150+ countries. As the world’s largest martial arts organisation, ONE has achieved some of the highest TV ratings and social media engagement metrics across Asia. With a focus on both martial arts and esports, ONE Championship is Asia’s largest global producer of live sports content for youth and millennials.  And that success, on a commercial front, attracts a coveted client roster of blue-chip Fortune 500 sponsors and advertisers, including the likes of Disney, Marvel, LG, Sony, Facebook, Haier, Kawasaki, L’Oreal, Casio, Bayer, Shiseido, Grab, Singtel, and more.  Joining this episode, to take us inside ONE Championship’s Commercial program, is their Group Chief Commercial Officer, Hari Vijayarajan. Also joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, to discuss his latest blog What To Consider When Returning To Sell Sponsorship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like any crisis, throughout COVID-19, many of you have had to deal with managing events and making decisions on canceling, postponing, or pivoting those events. Further, some of you have events on the horizon where a decision will need to be made soon. Chris Baylis is President and CEO of The Sponsorship Collective but also a founder of the Partnership Conference, held annually in Canada, and which was meant to be held what ended up being right in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. However, early on, like so many of you, Chris and his business partner for the conference, had to decide whether to cancel, postpone, or pivot. Ultimately, the decision to postpone was made and Chris joins the show to talk, in great detail, about how they came to that decision, worked through all of the elements, and have now gone above and beyond in what they have and will continue to deliver for the partners. Also, joining the show is Daniel Collier-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Director – APAC, who discusses his latest blog, COVID-19: Sponsorship - What's Now And What's Next? Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have contracts for a reason. They set out the rules and expectations for us all to operate in a sponsorship for the good of all and they are set out with all the right intentions – to do good work but also to protect ourselves. What happens, however, when we get blindsided and things change so quickly, through no fault of any of the contracted parties? Sure, we know that the contracts all have force majeure clauses but how does that reconcile with our often-spruiked approach that sponsorships should be a true relationship? Also, how does that reconcile with sponsors, as a collective group, who would want the sport and entertainment industry to return to normal as quickly as possible so that they can activate sponsorships and reach their target audiences? Surely there is a vested interest in working things through? Yet, how does that happen when so many businesses are directly threatened and are dealing with an ever-changing landscape and one where there is no certainty about what the other side looks like? Will in-progress seasons be completed or abandoned? Will one-off events be shifted or simply cancelled? Who knows? Some see it is an amazing opportunity for rights holders and brands to collaborate on innovation (but that innovation still has to be executed within the contract). To help work through all of the big issues, James Earl, Partner and Head of Sport Business Group at Fladgate LLP, in London, joins us on the show to answer lots of questions about how we should all be navigating through this legal space right now. James is regarded as one of the leading experts in the international sports sector because, with over a decade of experience, he has truly unique expertise working with a broad range of national and international governing bodies, funders, teams, clubs, and investors in sport. James is exceptionally well-connected and his pragmatic guidance is consistently sought by senior stakeholders across the international sports industry. James’ deep level of experience in sport comes from working with Manchester City Football Club, the London 2012 Olympics,  2015 Rugby World Cup and also acting as sole legal adviser to the delivery vehicles for the London 2017 World Athletics and ParaAthletic Championships. Also joining us on the show is Mark Thompson, KORE Software’s former Head of International Business, who discusses his latest blog about how, in this very tough time for our industry, it is important for us all to be supporting each other in sponsorship to navigate these unknown times. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part of the complexity around the conscious consumer is their expectation that brands stand for something, that they believe in something, and that they will actually do something about it. As such, if brands don’t stand, believe in, and do something, around social causes, then, these days, they are at a massive disadvantage. The nagging question is, however, can brands and rights holders truly achieve great, commercially beneficial sponsorships where a cause is positively impacted? One man who thinks they can is John Balkam who has written a great book called, 3-Win Sponsorship, The Next Generation Of Sports & Entertainment Marketing. John joins us to discuss how to create and execute sponsorships that achieve commercial goals for brands and rights holders while not just treating the cause element as an afterthought and, instead, truly integrating it. During the chat, John mentions some great examples including: Hellmann’s® Feeds a Stadium Food Waste – Real Food Rescue. More Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Says Company Destroyed $5 Million Worth of Assault Rifles to Take Them 'Off the Street'. More Lebron James’ I PROMISE School, an Akron Public School dedicated to those students who are already falling behind and in danger of falling through the cracks. More If you would like to connect with John, visit his website or connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter. Of course, if you'd like to pick up a copy of his book, 3-Win Sponsorship, The Next Generation Of Sports & Entertainment Marketing, you can do that here. Also joining us on the show is KORE’S Sam Irvine, Director - Customer Strategy & Success, Australasia, to discuss his latest blog, which asks, and answers, the question, Governing Body vs Pro-Team - Which Has A Greater Commercial Advantage?  Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Data has become such an essential part of the world and doing business that if you aren’t actively collecting your own first-party data, and then utilising third-party data, you really are at a massive disadvantage; especially considering that your competitors and partners are making very good use of it. As such, for those in working in rights holders, where it is often hard to differentiate your sponsorship offering and positioning, in a crowded market, not only is data powerful and essential, it may just be your biggest differentiator. Clearly, big brands and their agencies are using data, first and third-party, and you really aren’t keeping up with best practice if it isn’t an essential part of your proposals, execution and reporting. Joining us on the show, to talk all things data, digital, and analytics, is Eddie Fitzgibbon, VP, Global Solutions at 4FRONT, the global sports agency. You can connect with Eddie on LinkedIn or visit team4front.com. Daniel Collier-Hill also joins us to discuss his latest blog, which tees up our chat with Eddie very nicely, and that blog looks at Quantity vs. Quality – The Fan Segmentation Debate in Sponsorship. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Player appearances can be immensely powerful as part of a sponsorship. And it seems simple enough - put a huge star on stage, in front of a room of people you are trying to impress, or in a marquee as part of an activation, and you’ll engage your audience and there will probably be lots of digital to help spread it all. However, not everyone can afford the superstars and, even if you can, it isn’t always the best play when it comes to appearances. Like all sponsorship assets, it depends so much on what you are wanting to achieve. Add to that that so many sponsorship deals get ‘topped up’ with player appearances, as a bit of an add-on and a feel-good gesture, and a lot of brands, and rights holders for that matter, can miss out on the huge benefits available through appearances. This is an especially important point when you consider that many athletes are on the lookout for more paid opportunities and the chance to broaden their experiences and engage with the community. One man who knows the space well is James Begley. Not only is James the Founder, and CEO, of Pickstar, the most trusted platform for facilitating paid engagements, large and small, but he’s also been on the other side, as an athlete, when he played 61 games of Australian Rules Football with St. Kilda and Adelaide. He was one of those athletes on the lookout for more paid opportunities and the chance to broaden his own experiences and engage with his community. James joins us in this episode to discuss how rights holders and brands can maximise the use of appearances in their sponsorships. You can connect with James on LinkedIn and find out more about Pickstar on the website. Along with James, also joining us on the show is KORE’s Head of International Business, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at The Changing Face of Broadcast and What This Means For Broadcast Partnerships. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2019 has been a great year filled with lots of amazing chats with sponsorship professionals from all over the world. As such, we thought we’d wrap up 2019 and visit the other 13 episodes of Inside Sponsorship. You might have seen on social media that, for each show, we pull out a 30-45 second snippet and turn it into a video to help whet your appetite. As such, we’ve gone back and pulled the question and entire answer for that snippet and created a best of 2019 show for you. Along with some great highlights from the 13 episodes of 2019, also joining us is KORE’s Head of International Business, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at Expanding Competition Geographies And How Sponsorship Needs To Be Approached. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The right look for an event can make or break the impact it has not only those attending but also those watching from afar and definitely on how sponsors, and even potential commercial partners, perceive the event. Rights holders can significantly enhance the experience for fans and corporate partners with the right look, the right environmental branding, whether it is dressing whole cities, a stadium, or an activation space. Obviously, on the partnership front, there are elements of the look of an event that will be assets or inventory that can be sold to sponsors e.g. signage, or, if you are a brand, assets that you can activate as part of your sponsorship. How the overall look is planned and executed, however, can really elevate the prestige and engagement of an event and, without putting to crude a point on it, means that rights holders can command more sponsorship dollars and brands can extract greater ROI and ROO. Interestingly, when we are immersed in an event with a well planned and executed look, it is almost seamless; we don’t really separate it from the activity of the event itself. So, we aren’t often conscious of it. We become very conscious, however, when an event’s look is not up to scratch and we definitely feel its impact on our engagement. Remember, it isn’t just us - sponsors, and potential commercial partners, are also forming perceptions when an event’s look isn’t right. One person who knows well is Sam Goodwin, Managing Director at CSM Sport and Entertainment. Sam’s experiences across events include Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and Rugby World Cups and he joins us on the show to share some great advice on how you can ensure the right look for your events and maximise your commercial revenue. You can connect with Sam on LinkedIn or visit csm.com or csmlive.com. Also, on the show, is Mark Thompson, KORE’s Head of International Business, to discuss his latest blog. Mark recently attended Leaders Week in London and has been mulling over some of the key takeaways which are very heavily focused on how data continues to dominate. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are a lot of great minds working in the sponsorship space, across brands, rights holders, and agencies. We often see a lot of movement within the community, with people moving from one rights holder to another or maybe from brand side to the rights holder side or vice versa. Although it does happen, it isn’t common, however, for someone to move from agency side to a brand, especially a large global brand with a wide-ranging sponsorship portfolio. Someone who has made the move from agency land to the brand side is Katherine Butterworth who is Mastercard Australasia’s Director of Sponsorships. Not only does Katherine get to manage amazing, big-ticket sponsorships with rights holders such as the Australian Open, Cricket Australia, and the Opera House, and work with brand ambassadors such as Richie McCaw, Katherine and her team also get the opportunity to work on, and be exposed to, international properties such as the Rugby World Cup and the Grammies. The whole Mastercard business works really hard to connect with each other, globally, and learn from and share experiences with each other. For example, Katherine and the European based team can share learnings and experiences around two of the Opens that Mastercard sponsor; the Australian Open and the French Open. In the chat, Katherine shares some of the amazing Priceless Surpises activation Mastercard undertake. Check them out. Australian Open 2019 Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Plus, there is the Rugby Wolrd Cup activity where a young rugby player from New Zealand received the ultimate Priceless Experience of experiencing Tokyo with Richie McCaw and attending the Rugby If you'd like to keep the conversation going, you can connect with Katherine on LinkedIn. Along with Katherine, also on the show, is Daniel Ferguson-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Manager – Australasia, who joins us to discuss his latest blog ‘Does This Sponsorship Suit My Marketing Strategy?’ which looks at the important things that brands should be considering to help them sift through all the proposals they receive.  Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s an age-old question, and challenge – how do we value our sponsorship assets? Unfortunately, there are still large parts of the rights holder section of the industry pedaling pre-determined packages, largely based on the income they are looking to generate and not necessarily the value that they can deliver. Despite some of the best brains in the industry consistently counseling against such approaches, we still see it. Yes, there are many factors that come together in an organisation that means that end up just offering pre-determined packages, but not deeply understanding the value of their sponsorship assets, as stand-alone assets, is always a contributing one. No one pretends there is a simple answer. We’ve had conversations with rights holders where they’ve been convinced there is some magic formula that can be applied that will spit out the market value of their sponsorship assets. They’ve begged us to share it with them. Sadly, there is no secret magic formula. However, led by Rob Mills, Turnstile Group are tackling this issue head-on with valuations based on actual market rates. While the industry spins in circles making subjective assumptions, Turnstile is making definitive valuations. Turnstile uses actual prices being paid for rights globally to determine real-world market values of the three key components of a sponsorship deal - Benefits, Exposure, and Intellectual Property. This unique approach not only provides realistic and quantifiable sponsorship valuations for buyers and sellers, but clear visibility across the three components of value. And, on the show, as always we also look at one of KORE’s latest blogs, and this time around, Mark Thompson KORE Software’s, Head of International Business , joins us to chat about Sponsorship Measurement and Reporting – The Fan Data Way.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some brands are just constants in the sponsorship landscape. Sure, they may move properties from time-to-time but they are always part of the experience, somewhere. How do these brands consistently figure out ways to stay relevant, engage audiences, and yet not distract from the experiences that audiences are actually there to experience? How do they keep coming up with new ideas and not go stale, while still working as part of the brands overall marketing, because those brand’s objectives and goals don’t generally experience big shifts in small amounts of time? Plus, how does sponsorship remain an important element of that overall marketing when the brands are household names already; we are highly unlikely to forget who they are? Further, while the highly visible assets are obvious, the naming rights, the signage, the uniform branding, etc. what other assets are they utilising to help achieve their goals? What do they find most valuable? To help answer all these questions, Alison Tyson, Senior Manager, Brand and Sponsorship, at Nissan, joins us on the show and provides some really interesting and insightful views into how Nissan approaches and executes their sponsorships.  As usual, we also look at one of KORE’s latest blogs, so, also joining us on the show is KORE Software’s, Commercial Manager, Australasia, Daniel-Ferguson-Hill, who asks “Is Sponsorship worth it if we don’t need the ‘Branding’ play?” Enjoy                   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all seen it; the awesome creative execution in a sports sponsorship. Sometimes it is big, bold, and complex, while other times it is so simple, both in idea and execution, that we think to ourselves: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Those executions engage and excite us; not just as consumers but as professionals in the industry (even if you don’t work in the sports sponsorship sector specifically). There is no doubt that the global sports sector is booming. eSports has quickly established itself as an important player with so much potential. That catches the eye of brands. Then there are sports that are venturing out of their homelands more and more as they try to engage with global audiences who can now stream games wherever they are. For sponsorship, it has been recently reported that global brand spend on sports sponsorships will grow to US$65 billion in 2019. That’s an average of 4% growth, per year, since 2014. As a result of this continued growth, this year, Cannes Lions created a new category that focussed exclusively on Sport. The Entertainment Lions for Sport celebrate creativity that taps into fan culture and leverages the power of sports in connecting people to brands with the jury rewarding excellence in breakthrough creativity within the sports marketing ecosystem. This includes the use of effective strategic planning, sponsorship, brand management, media, entertainment, and/or talent. Our guest this episode is Ben Hartman, Managing Director at Octagon who was a judge for the first-ever Entertainment Lions for Sport. Ben’s job was to define what best in class work looks like in the category and ultimately, what was the standard that future work would be measured against? Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is KORE Software’s, Commercial Manager,  Australasia, Daniel-Ferguson-Hill, who has also taken a look at awards in asking ‘Is sponsorship keeping up with award trends?’.  Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Airlines have been major players in the sponsorship space for some time and their affinity with sports, fashion, and other major events makes sense considering some of their passengers travel to not only these events but also for business and other leisure activities. Further, a lot of airlines in the sponsorship space have a global footprint and are transporting passengers both in and out of their home countries. As such, their audience isn’t just locals who are attending events in-country, it is also those traveling from outside their home country to attend events. Finally, add to that how the travel industry has become so much more accessible to the world’s population, and utilizing sponsorship in their marketing, makes sense for a lot of airlines. One airline that has been very active in the sponsorship space is AirAsia, a Malaysian low-cost airline. It is the largest airline in the ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia Group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to more than 165 destinations spanning 25 countries. Amazingly, they have been voted the world’s best low-cost airline for the past 11 years running. Ben Rynjah is Regional Brand Manager and joins us on the show to take us inside sponsorship at AirAsia, including how they are involved with the ever-growing eSports sector. You can connect with Ben on LinkedIn and learn more by visiting the AirAsia website. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is KORE Software’s, Director for Customer Strategy and Success, Australasia, Sam Irvine, who after having watched an unhealthy amount of football, ponders the question: “Airline Sponsorship; surely they do more than just football?” Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just like data and measurement, activations is a topic that comes up in sponsorship discussions a lot and that’s why we have been focussing a lot on activations at the moment, almost like a mini-series. However, the last episode focused on physical activations, while this episode focuses on experiential activations. There’s no doubt that an activation that moves people from just engagement to one where they are truly touched by an experience is very powerful. Maybe, experiential activations are the equivalent of viral content on social media? With truly great experiential marketing, the brand and message are amplified so much by those who have experienced the activation, because, they really want to share how awesome it is and they’ll often be doing that with people in the same demographic. It certainly leaves a lasting impression. Sounds like an amazing thing for rights holders and brands to be working towards and the end goal sounds achievable, right? “Let’s create memorable experiences that get people talking, sharing, and have a lasting impact”. In the cold hard light of day, however, that’s easier said than done. But one person who has a wealth of experience in helping brands and rights holders achieve just that, is James Ward, Head of Events and Consultancy at TLA Worldwide. TLA Worldwide is a leading, fully integrated talent representation and sports marketing group. With over 140 full-time personnel, TLA serves its clients from 10 locations including its offices in London, UK; New York and Newport Beach, USA; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. And James Ward has over fifteen years sports marketing, sponsorship and public relations experience, working in Australia, the UK and China. James heads up a 40 strong team of experienced staff working for leading sporting bodies, sporting brands, and sporting events. He has worked on campaigns covering three Olympics, two football World Cups, and most recently the Cricket World Cup in Australia. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is Mark Thompson, Head of International Business at KORE Software, with the topic of Evolution of Sponsor Activations And How Businesses Are Changing To Manage Success. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Activations, just like data and measurement, is a topic that comes up in sponsorship discussions a lot. Physical activations, the ones designed to engage with audiences, can absolutely drive massive ROI and ROO; when executed well. Those well-executed activations are the ones that bring us closer to a brand or compel us to share on social media even if we haven’t seen the activation in person. The best ones cross over into entertainment and that’s powerful for engagement and resonating. On the other hand, however, we’ve all seen activations that appear to have just been thrown into a contract, probably because there was some unused space in a precinct, and audiences are greeted with bored looking staff, wearing corporate polos, standing outside a drab looking white tent, handing out flyers, and stress balls. Most likely, that's because the rights holder rang the sponsor a fortnight before and asked: “So, what have you planned for the activation?”. Someone who has a lot of great experience, and executed some amazing activations, is Rik Conti, Co-founder and Managing Director, at MAAKE. MAAKE is an experiential agency who have been creating engaging experiences with iconic Australian and global brands for over a decade including Heineken, Jack Daniel’s, XXXX Gold, James Squire, and Lavazza and Rik joins us in this episode to take you inside what makes great physical activations. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is Daniel Ferguson-Hill, KORE Software’s Commercial Manager for Australasia, who has been talking to lots of brands lately and there are four things that keep coming up that brands wish rights holders knew about activations. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of us are old enough to remember when the broadcast landscape was dominated by TV, radio, and print. As we all know, however, the internet came along and the opportunities to engage with audiences exploded, and continues to grow, as digital provides innovative ways to take people’s offerings, products, rights, and sponsorships right around the world. Some will remember reading stories and hearing opinions about the decline, the decay, the fragmentation, and the death of traditional media. While traditional media’s dominance has certainly diminished, it hasn’t died nor is it going away. In fact, just like all good companies and organisations, traditional media has often adapted, and continues to do so. In a lot of cases, they’ve taken the “If you can’t beat them, join them” approach and moved into digital offerings themselves which gives them some advantages in integrating their offerings across many platforms. A man who knows the space well is Patrick Moloughney, Network Director of Sport Sales at Seven West Media which is one of Australia’s leading integrated media companies, with a market-leading presence in broadcast television, magazine and newspaper publishing and online.  The company is the home to many of Australia’s leading media businesses and the biggest content brands including My Kitchen Rules, House Rules, Home and Away, Sunrise, the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia, and the Olympic Games. Pat joins us on the show to take us inside broadcast sponsorship. You can connect with Patrick on LinkedIn and find out more about Seven West Media on their website. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is Sam Irvine, KORE Software’s Director for Customer Strategy and Success, Australasia. Sam’s latest blog provides us with his 5 biggest takeaways from the recent Business of Sport Summit (BOSS) in Sydney.  Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The refrain, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." is essentially a paraphrase of an exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It is particularly apt in a sponsorship sense when, even today, we see so many sponsorships that seem bereft of objectives and goals. Those sponsorships are always set up for the comment “We just don’t feel like this sponsorship is working!”. Feeling, however, shouldn’t come into it at all. Most of us would be familiar with the name Peter Drucker, the man known as the father of modern management and one who wrote 39 business management books. Even in today’s vastly different business environment, he is still widely regarded as the greatest management thinker of all time. One of his most famous quotes is, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." Today, teams and budgets are under pressure to produce more, and better results, with less. So, it becomes pretty obvious why measurement is so important in a sponsorship. Yet many don’t do it well, or at all, over above the 'feeling' of how it is all going. Our guest this episode, to take us inside best-practice sponsorship management, is Ian Davidson, Head of Events & Sponsorship at INNOCEAN Worldwide, a company that has worked with the likes of Heineken, KIA, Hyundai, and Samsonite. You can connect with Ian on LinkedIn and find out more about INNOCEAN Worldwide at www.innocean.com.au Also, on the show is Daniel Ferguson-Hill, KORE’s Commercial Manager – Australasia, who discusses his most recent blog which looks Where Should The Money Go; In The Sponsorship Deal Or In The Leverage? Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are a lot of people who will write blogs and rock up to conferences to talk about the future of sponsorship. While I tip my hat that they have the guts to get up and present, I don’t know about you, but I am often not left full of confidence and enthusiasm for a way forward. As Senior Manager Global Rugby Strategy & Planning at HSBC, Sven Gloor is not like that at all. Passion and enthusiasm are words used too readily these days, however, they are apt for describing Sven. He believes that sponsorship is undergoing huge change and is becoming more and more important for brands in order to solve specific and real business problems. In this episode, he joins us to take stock of the sponsorship industry and share his views and insights on where it is all heading and what you need to do to prepare and position yourself for success. Also, on the show is Mark Thompson, KORE’s Head of International Business, who discusses his most recent blog which looks at the increasing importance of Business Intelligence in sports and entertainment. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every time you discuss Asia, and the opportunities it presents, it is hard not to get overwhelmed by the numbers involved. They are truly staggering and just continue to grow. There’s no doubt that Asia has been growing in terms of sport and, with that, sponsorship as well. It would seem that lately, However, that there is a continued trend towards major events being hosted in Asia. Further, we are starting to see more Asian brands sponsoring large events, outside of their home markets, such as China’s 1573 sponsoring the Australian Open and China’s Mengniu Dairy sponsoring the FIFA World Cup. Joining us to discuss sponsorship in Asia is Adam Hodge, Head of Planning & Strategy [APAC] at Octagon. Also joining us on the show is Daniel Ferguson-Hill, SponServe’s Commercial Manager for Australasia, who has taken a look and blogged about the five trends in sponsorship that we’re are not talking about. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is no doubt that sports teams now have a huge reach, with fans all over the globe, following their teams passionately through apps, OTT streaming, and social channels. The norm is for teams to be bound to their home country while traveling domestically for away fixtures. There are some sports teams, however, that travel the globe competing and that includes cycling. While some teams may yearn for the ability to take their sport across the world, and engage with non-domestic markets, it does come with its own unique set of challenges. In this episode, Kolja Koracak, Brand Director, takes us inside sponsorship at Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team. One awesome thing that Kolja mentions is the 360 video the team put together. You can connect with Kolja on LinkedIn and find out more about Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team on their official website. Before we hear from Kolja, Daniel Ferguson-Hill, SponServe’s Commercial Manager for Australasia, joins us to discuss the changing face of sponsorship deals and what the next generation looks like. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The rise of social media influencers, in recent times, has meant that some have been able to create full-time jobs around their influence and followers. They certainly have some power. Simply put, influencer marketing is the process of identifying, researching, engaging, and supporting the creators of highly engaging and impactful content and conversations around your brand, services, or products. The value of influence over potential and current customers, however, isn’t exactly a new concept in marketing. With the rise of digital marketing, and social media in particular, information travels far and wide and can do so quickly, especially when facilitated by influencers. That is because they have large followings where they already have trust and influence and they can use that to shape engagement and sentiment towards loving or shunning a brand. It all sounds very rosy but it isn’t always smooth sailing. The industry is rife with influencer fraud. Influencer marketing is home to one of the biggest, most elaborate, and wide-spread scams in the history of marketing. If you’ve worked with influencers this year, chances are you’ve been part of this scam and it has cost you money. Watch this video to see the full extent of it.   In this episode, Oliver Yonchev, Managing Director, USA at Social Chain joins us to discuss influencer marketing and provides some outstanding and practical advice and insights. If you like to connect with Oliver, you can do so on LinkedIn, and you can find out more about Social Chain on their website. Before we hear from Oliver, Sam Irvine, Director - Customer Strategy & Success, Australasia at SponServe, joins us to discuss his latest blog which looks at how to handle a sponsorship break-up. Here’s Sam. Also joining us on the show is SponServe’s Director - Customer Strategy & Success, Australasia, Sam Irvine, to discuss his latest blog, How To Handle A Sponsorship Break-Up. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sponsorship is clearly important to the banking industry with some of the world’s biggest and longest standing sponsorships involving banks. In Australia, banks have been a staple for many sports teams, events, and community groups. That includes Westpac Group’s brands including Westpac itself, St. George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, and RAMS.  Westpac Group’s portfolio of sponsorships is varied and includes the iconic Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service, City2Surf, Invictus Games, St.George Bank Dragons, St.George Queensland Reds, the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Our guest this episode is Pat Cunningham who is the Head of Sponsorship & Events at Westpac Group. Pat’s sponsorship roles have been at some of the world’s most recognisable brands including Vodafone and TUI. Also joining us on the show is SponServe’s Commercial Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Daniel Ferguson, to discuss his latest blog which dissects the key points around sponsorship from PWC’s 2018 Sport Survey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sponsorship, these days, is a well-worn path. Rights holder’s commercial programs are well established and there is lots of great advice and best-practice to follow. While fundraising is a long-established discipline for many charities, more and more sports rights holders have been activating fundraising initiatives to impact positive change in their communities or help fund special projects such as high-performance centres. Fundraising, in sport, however, is still on a learning curve. Patrick Walker is the CEO of the Australian Sports Foundation. The ASF’s mission is to help Australians fundraise to achieve their sporting dreams. Patrick has a strong finance background, strong leadership, and strategic skills gained in senior executive, CEO and board roles both in Australia and internationally. Patrick joins us on the show to discuss fundraising in sport and share his wealth of knowledge, insights, and advice. You’ll also hear from Mark Thompson, SponServe’s Managing Director, who joins us to discuss his latest blog, The Common Philosophies Which Align Sponsorship and Fundraising for Sport. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is loads of great advice on how to do sponsorship right. However, with all the advice, steps, guides, hints, and tips available, it isn’t an exact science and it is a challenge in the application. Plus, we are all human and we make mistakes. In fact, Chris Baylis, from the Sponsorship Collective, thinks a lot of you are sinners! That’s because we recently saw a great piece of content that Chris had produced called The Seven Deadly Sins of Sponsorship. Not only was it a great blog but an awesome and handy infographic as well. So, we asked Chris if he’d join us on the show and run us through The Seven Deadly Sins of Sponsorship. You’ll also hear from Daniel Ferguson-Hill, SponServe’s Commercial Manager for Australia and New Zealand. Daniel outlines the four main things that he thinks brands, who are renewing or negotiating new sports-based sponsorships, should consider to help ensure success. Enjoy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music and entertainment sponsorship isn’t an area of sponsorship that lives in the limelight. That is ironic considering the artists involved do exactly that day-to-day; live in the limelight. We know that so much about sponsorship is a brand partnering with a rights holder to access an audience that they would otherwise find difficult to access. It’s clear that music artists have huge audiences and highly engaged ones at that. Universal Music Group is the world’s leading music company. Universal own and operate a broad array of businesses engaged in not just recorded music, but also music publishing, merchandising, and audio-visual content in more than 60 countries. Combine that with the huge and engaged social media followings, and music certainly looks attractive to sponsors. As such, in this episode we go inside sponsorship at Universal Music Group and hear from Roddy Campbell, Managing Director, New Business. You can learn more about Universal Music group at www.universalmusic.com and you can connect with Roddy Campbell on LinkedIn. Also joining us on the show is our MD, Mark Thompson who recently read a report, by the Association of National Advertisers and the Marketing Accountability Standards Board, titled Improving Sponsorship Accountability Metrics. Mark’s summation of the report? While there are lots of great insights in the report, Mark’s take away was that sponsorship professionals should be focusing on measurement accountability. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming Expo has been the welcoming home of Australia’s pop culture fandom since 2000; a place where fans inspired by imaginary worlds emanating from comics, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, gaming, nostalgia, and literature have been able to come together to celebrate. A place to rejoice in cosplay and also a place to express their inner geek and their inner child. What used to be considered nerdy and not really mainstream has well and truly shifted into the spotlight in recent times. Some of that can be attributed to the rise in popularity of esports as well as the never-ending releases of superhero movies. At Supanova, supa-star celebrities, fan-clubs, exciting exhibitors, and exclusives have been woven in with entertainment technology, collectables, and toys. Whether they are seven, or seventy, Supanova boasts an incredibly engaged audience who have huge passion for the content. That presents a great opportunity for brands through sponsorship. Listen in as Patrick Bradley, Business Development, Brand Partnerships, takes us inside sponsorship at Supanova. You can learn more at www.supanova.com.au and connect with Patrick via email on patrick at @supanova.com.au or via LinkedIn. During the show, Patrick talks about Supanova’s dedicated sponsorship website, sponsor.supanova.com.au, which includes more information on the MWave case study discussed. Also joining us is Sam Irvine, SponServe’s GM – Product, to discuss his latest blog which highlights some of the things that we can all learn from Budweiser’s activations as an official partner of the FIFA World Cup. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having been formed in since 1889, 129 years ago, Brentford FC endured a nomadic existence, playing at five different home grounds before, in 1904, settling in at Griffin Park. And, that’s where they’ve played for the past 114 years! Excitingly, however, Brentford are set to move into a new home ground late next year. Our guest this episode is James Parkinson, Commercial Director at Brentford Football Club. James joins us to talk about the challenges of managing a commercial program in such a competitive market as London as well as the excitement of the impending new stadium and how that will impact his commercial team. If you’d like to connect with James, you can do so LinkedIn or visit the Club's site at www.brentfordfc.com In the past few weeks, sports betting has been legalised in the USA; something which has not been the case for a very long time in much of the country. As such, joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is SponServe’s Managing Director, Mark Thompson, who has looked at why sports betting and sponsorship is good for the industry. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just recently, and boasting 45 million players of the game, Epic Games announced that it will provide $100 million in prize pool money for Fortnite competitions in the first year of competitive gaming. Plus, the IOC will shortly be holding a summit, to better understand esports, which could be a precursor to inclusion in future Olympic games. Late in 2017, Essendon Bombers Football Club, a Melbourne based team who compete in the Australian Rules Football League, acquired Abyss esports team, in partnership with Executive Sports and Entertainment and, it included, a full re-branding of the team to the Bombers and full integration with the football club and its operations structures. Rohan Sawyer is the managing director of Executive Sports and Entertainment and is also the Executive Director of Bombers Esports and he joins us to discuss their commercial program as well as his experiences as GM Commercial and Marketing at the Rugby League World Cup 2017 and Head of Commercial at the Australian Turf Club. If you’d like to connect with Rohan you can do so on LinkedIn or on Twitter using or visit www.esetheagency.com. You can find out more about Bombers Esports on Facebook and Twitter and more about the Essendon Bombers Football Club on their website. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is SponServe’s General Manager – Product, Sam Irvine, who has looked at why working with your charity partners has become more than just a donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of people think sponsorship is a complex beast; that it is a hard job. Not Jackie Fast who founded Slingshot Sponsorship in 2010, from her apartment, with only a laptop, basically because no one would give her a job in sponsorship. Jackie grew Slingshot Sponsorship from a start-up to an international, award-winning agency with a head office in London as well as offices in Singapore and Oslo. It’s not so much that Jackie thinks sponsorship is easy. It’s more that she’s started a personal crusade to help people who she believes are making stupid mistakes that hurt their sponsorship programs; both rights holders and brands. Recently, after selling Slingshot in 2017 to The Marketing Group, Jackie wrote a book, Pinpoint – How challenging the norm is the only route to success in selling sponsorship. Jackie joins us on the show to discuss some of the learnings from the book as well as her wider views on the sponsorship industry. Also joining us on the show, to discuss his latest blog, is our MD, Mark Thompson, who has written about the keys to using talent in sponsorship. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you find hard researching and getting a foot in the door with those you want to discuss sponsorship with? Prospecting and researching potential sponsors is a a unique beast in the sponsorship industry. It’s definitely not the same as other industries. It can be a challenge to figure out a prospect’s position in the market, their appetite, their cycles, and their objectives. Lots of great advice around sales is applicable to the sponsorship industry. However, prospecting and approaching leads needs a little bit more attention and a refined approach. That’s why Brian McCue, Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales at Winmo, joins us on the show to help us navigate the tricky waters of prospecting sponsorship leads. Brian has helped hundreds of non-profits, event organizations, and professional sports teams build partnerships with major brands. From small non-profits in Alaska, to large professional sports organizations like the LA Lakers, Brian has helped companies of all shapes and sizes go after new partnerships and sponsorships more efficiently. Also joining us on the show is Sam Irvine, our GM Product, who, in his regular blog series, has penned a letter to his younger self, when he was a commercial manager. This time, Sam has provided some awesome advice on why sponsorship and membership is a marriage made in heaven. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many of you, who rely so heavily on traditional inventory, things such as signage, uniform branding, home game activations, tickets, and hospitality, would struggle if you could no longer offer them to your sponsors?   What about if you are a rights holder who enjoys long and regular periods of sustained awareness and engagement, like an annual twenty plus week season? Would your job be tougher if you couldn’t rely on that high-profile regularity?   How would you even approach your job without those things?   While they are interesting hypothetical questions for most you, they are the reality for Ian Sargeant, Commercial Manager at Paralympics New Zealand. In this episode, you’ll learn about how Ian and the organisation deliver a highly successful commercial program, without the plethora of traditional benefits most rights holders boast, as we go inside sponsorship at Paralympics New Zealand. You can learn more about Paralympics New Zealand, connect with Ian on LinkedIn, or email him directly on isargeant at paralympics.org.nz. You want more? Lucky that our MD, Mark Thompson, also joins us to discuss a very interesting topic, and not one that is talked about a lot, that being the sponsorship landscape in terms of understanding third-party influencers who could be vital to success.   Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Working in sponsorship is great. Yes, it is challenging, but there are loads of great aspects and it certainly beats working in some boring admin role in some boring office, right? For some, however, that can lead to staying in a role for a really long time and, when a move does come, moving to something very similar. Someone who has avoided that path, and gained a wealth of experience over some really great roles, is Sarah Lewis, Business Development Consultant - Sponsorship, Events and Luxury Tourism Specialist at Sursum Consulting. Sarah joins us on the show to share her stories and experiences which are really insightful for both rights holders and brands. There is lots of chat about activations and some of the challenges along the way including her being a graffiti artist! If you would like to connect with Sarah you can do so on LinkedIn. Sarah also talks about the upcoming Partnership Huddle where, if you get in contact with her, you can get a discount code for your registration. Sam Irvine, SponServe's GM of Product, also join us and shares his Recipe – 5 Key Ingredients For Fantastic Hospitality Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.