The 10 commandments of Sport Sponsorship getting the best out of sports marketing programmes. By RTR Sports Marketing

1. rtr sports marketing
The 1 commandments
of sport sponsorship
getting the best out of sports marketing programmes
by

2. Sports sponsorship is one of the few tools offering complete,
across the board opportunities to marketing professionals.
Competitive events transcend traditional language and overcome
cultural and linguistic barriers, speaking in a uniform and
consistent manner to wide-ranging audiences. Sport, adored in
all its diverse manifestations, is the perfect partner for all the
marketing activities of a company – from visibility to positioning,
from the conquest of new markets to strengthening relations with
customers.
And more than that, because the brand name/company becomes
an integral part of the show, it can bypass the psychological
barriers that the viewer erects against traditional advertising and
is thus particularly effective in creating preferences for companies/
products.
In the following pages we offer 10 tips for maximising the
effectiveness of sponsorship and sports marketing programmes.
Recipes
for success
zero
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Sporting
events
transcend
traditional
language

3. However simple and elementary it may seem, a clear reflection on
business objectives is fundamental for anyone intending to use
sponsorship as a component in the marketing mix. As mentioned
previously, sports marketing has many weapons available and
many opportunities for using them.
When a company enters the sponsorship market, it must have a
list of objectives and priorities on which all its future decisions on
strategy will depend.
If for example the business priority is to increase the worldwide
awareness of the brand name, then it will be important to
concentrate on sport, athletes and events for their international
and wide-ranging audience. If however the company wishes to
raise the profile of the brand, it will need to select disciplines with
the right values.
Be that as it may, it is important to start from the assumption that
everything changes according to the objectives specified because
there is no standard sponsorship strategy, only unique programmes
custom made to suit the companies that implement them.
Defining
the objectives
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There is
no standard
sponsorship
strategy

4. Putting the elements of sponsorship together is a process too
often underestimated.
Sports and athletes are sometimes chosen out of a gut feeling
according to the personal inclinations of staff, or the ill-concealed
passion of fans.
But it is a very different matter uniting a brand to a sporting event,
to a team or to one athlete in particular. It is not just a question of
fame but of more specific strategic elements.
LeBron James, Manchester United and the F1 World
Championship are three examples very well known in their fields
but naturally, if a company is a leader in the technological field, F1
will be a better option than the Miami Heat.
In the same way, if a brand’s area of interest is fixed in a certain
location, it will be better to choose the football team of the city
itself rather than, say, the prestigious rugby tournament between
South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Athletes, Teams
and Events
two
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Too often
decisions are
based on
gut feelings

5. One of the commonest questions from the company that wants
to enter into a sponsorship programme and sports marketing for
the first time is “how much does it cost?”.
It is an understandable but misleading question.
Far from being a ready-made and fixed package, a sponsorship
programme is a very flexible communication tool that necessarily
depends on the marketing budget of the company.
You can for example choose less visibility on the motorcycles or
the riders’ suits and invest a lot instead in the communications
activities that allow you to exploit the many image rights obtained.
In each case, whatever the strategy followed in the sponsorship
programme, each euro invested in sports marketing will
generate investment returns higher than any kind of traditional
advertising and communications.
Costs
and benefits
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A flexible
communication tool
unique
to each
company

6. Sponsorship exploited to the full can operate effectively and in a
homogeneous manner on all platforms, in every nation and on
any medium.
From television spots to out of home, from window decals to
websites, it is important that the entire business marketing
operation is clearly aware of the limits that they must respect.
It is therefore appropriate that, on signing the sponsorship
agreement, especially when the company has locations in different
nations, the head of marketing/communications draws up a
sponsorship operating manual in which the list of benefits and
the operating rules to be followed are included.
A practical example: at its official opening, a foreign branch of your
brand wants to put on show inside the branch building the show
car of the F1 team that the company sponsors.
The sponsorship manual will provide useful directions on the
dimensions and the weight of the car, the cost and the procedure
for transportation, the staff necessary to set it up and the
alternative uses that can be made of the car.
The sponsorship
manual
four
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The manual makes
sponsorship
understandable
and usable
by everyone

7. “Does a tree that falls in the middle of a forest make a noise if
there is no-one to hear it?” It is a question as old as the world,
often used in the world of business, to make the point that any
activity of marketing, however bright, is ineffective if not correctly
communicated.
In the case of sponsorship, the same applies and it is fundamental
to communicate the sponsorship both inside and outside the
company.
Internally, it is essential that employees and contractors are
informed and involved. Explaining to staff why we have chosen
to tie our name to a MotoGP team or to an Olympic athlete will
generate enthusiasm and participation in every business area.
Communicating internally tidbits normally reserved to the experts
can also strengthen team spirit.
Externally, communicating the signing of the agreement through
press releases and a press conference is always important but
remember too that one of the great benefits of sponsorship
is the capacity of sponsorship programs to generate
communications coverage automatically. It is unnecessary
to constantly reconfirm the partnership of a brand with a team if
each Sunday the company logo appears loud and clear on
the fairing of a motorcycle broadcast to over 100 Nations around
the world...
Communication
is important
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it is essential
that co-workers
and stakeholders
are involved
in sponsorship

8. Hugo Boss, the famous brand of clothing, has been a sponsor of
McLaren F1 since 1981. The length of the partnership is a clear
sign of its success but its visual expression is limited to a minimalist
sticker on the two single-seaters from Woking. Where then does
Hugo Boss find its much-envied ROI?
The truth is that the German brand, a leading authority on
sponsorship, knows well that the real value of sponsorship lies
not so much in square inches of exposure of the brand as in the
exploitation of all the marketing rights related to the contract.
A 360° view is therefore not just advisable but essential to
get the most from the sponsorship.
To this end it is necessary to study with particular care various
aspects:
• The opportunity to use championships as a movable
communications platform
• Use of images of athletes (or cars, or teams) in your own
printed or digital communication materials
• Participation in the digital activities of the team or the athletes
• Use of the hospitality facilities and the buildings of the team
for PR, B2B or B2C activities
• Licensing opportunities, i.e. uniting the brand name of the
team or the athlete to your own for the creation of ad hoc
Taking a
360 degrees view
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Taking a
360° view is essential
for a
complete exploitation
of sponsorship

9. products or services
• Displaying show cars or show bikes at fairs, events, exhibitions
• Presence of athletes at important moments in the life of the
company
• Creation and production of ad hoc merchandising
• Production and sending of newsletters and communications to
the databases of the team
It is quite clear from these examples, that certainly have not
covered the whole range of opportunities tied to a partnership
with a team or an athlete, that the value, especially in terms of the
financial return, does not lie just in the increased visibility that is
obtained from displays of the brand name.
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10. Along with the evolution of the discipline, the tools to monitor and
track trends in the sponsorship programme have also evolved.
Having a constant finger on the pulse of the situation, as well as
giving an ongoing guarantee of the effectiveness of the road taken,
allows for important fine tuning to get the best performance from
the programme.
RTR, as well as being an agency particularly attentive to the
calculation of ROI, has always taken the advice of the best
independent sports marketing research agencies.
Far from concerning purely generalist considerations, the ultimate
aim of their reports is to provide for the client a very precise
measure of the return from sponsorship.
More specifically:
• Regarding the exposure time of the brand name on TV, it is
converted, with the help of the best international independent
agencies, into the equivalent monetary value for the same time
of coverage on traditional advertising.
• Regarding activations and activity in the field, the ROI is
calculated using precise parameters of the value of each
contact engaged.
Reporting
e monitoring
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The ultimate aim
is to give
the customer
a precise
financial value

11. • On specific activations such as promotions for individual
sports events the ROI is measured by calculating the impact on
sales in the period following the marketing programme.
• On digital activities and on social media the Return on
Investment is calculated thanks to specific 2.0 monitoring tools
and platforms. Thanks to data such as engagement, influence,
size of the fanbase and reach, it is possible to estimate with
precision the amount of money required to get a similar
coverage via press office activities.
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12. As well as the many benefits already discussed, bear in mind that
there are other opportunities related to the world of sponsorship,
less regular and for this reason less discussed.
So let us start by stating the obvious: paddocks, stadiums and big
sports events are often meeting places for the largest financial
groups in the world.
More than 80% of Fortune 500 Companies invest in sport and it is
an active part of numerous sponsorship programmes.
Being a sponsor, in this sense, means being able to enter into
contact without barriers with an extraordinary number of
national and international companies and investors.
What’s more, the context is often informal, without the usual
rigidity of business, where it is easier to develop new relationships
and make new agreements.
Opportunities
to be seized
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Being a sponsor
means
being able to enter
into contact
with the top companies

13. We live in a world that, communications-wise, is changing under
our very eyes at a phenomenal rate. While Twitter tells us minute
by minute what is going on in the world, the big influencers on
Facebook speak to hundreds of thousands of people at the same
time.
Being active and present on the social media is not just a strategic
choice, it is becoming more and more a business necessity.
Sponsorship and sports marketing, in this sense, are an important
driver for the success of social media activities.
They not only provide themes, cues and content which is both
enjoyed and sharable to sponsor companies but they can count on
the support and drawing power of athletes and clubs with a high
media profile.
Sporting and show business stars are among the important
personalities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, with millions of
followers and fans who are always eager to know the latest news
about the stars.
Social media can also be an effective tool for the creation of
databases and the best place for producing User Generated
Content.
Old media
and new media
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Sponsorship
is an important driver
for the success
of all social media
activities

14. In the course of a sponsorship programme the reason why sports
marketing works should never be forgotten, i.e. the great passion
of fans and those who love sport, a passion that can change
spending patterns and make sales rise.
Sponsorship and its effectiveness are based on the reiteration
of values and other things that stir positive feelings which can
increase the preference for the brand name or the product on
show and that ultimately drive the purchase of the same.
As may be easily understood, these are psychological processes
that require time and constant nurturing.
Because it is not an intrusive marketing technique, rather an
inclusive one, sponsorship improves over time.
The longer and better planned programmes are, the more the
experience is prolonged and the positive association reinforced.
Many years after the event, everyone remembers the Marlboro
sign on the McLaren of Senna, the famous Gauloises decal on the
motorcycle of Rossi or the large-script Carlsberg on the red shirt
of Liverpool F.C.
Unlike other forms of traditional communication that over time
become annoying and boring and have negative effects on
Time
is on your side
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sponsorship
programmes are
always alive,
always improvable,
always engaging

15. marketing, sponsorship seems ever more natural as the months
go by. And the more natural communication is, the lower the
consumer’s resistance. And the greater the gain for you and for
your business.
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16. Do you want more information?
Since 1999 we have been a leading agency
in sponsorship and sports marketing
www.rtrsports.com
emanuele.venturoli@rtrsports.com
/rtrsportsmarketing
@rtrsports
rtr sports marketing
+39 051 305112