22

Sep

10 things we learnt at Sports Marketing 360, 2011

Ten highlights from our gathering of leaders, thinkers and networkers at this year’s Sports Marketing 360 .

1. Charlie Wijeratna, Executive Director, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, unveils some interesting stats: 3m fans in UK, 16m fans globally, 32,000 on a paid waiting list for season membership. Spurs also have an eye on commercialising global markets – they currently make almost no revenue outside UK

2. Olivier Bremont, CCO, Volvo Ocean Race, said that the Volvo Ocean Race focuses on multiple investment platforms including the ports, teams, partners and an increased focus on licensing revenue with brands such as Puma.

3. Jez Jowett, Global Social Media Director, Cake, Havas Sports & Entertainment, gave some insight into brands social media campaigns – 67% of people will re-tweet if you ask them to and once you have an established community, encourage conversation by posting questions, not statements. He gave the example of Smirnoff Vodka who asked “Do you like small or large events” which received hundreds of comments and interactions.

4. Josh Robinson, Director of Consultancy, Sports Revolution & SMG Sport, compares digital media to glue that sews together a campaign and avoids ‘dead-end’ media

5. Tim Duncalf, Director Oxygen8 Communications, talks mobile and the trials of Near Field Communications (NFC). “The new wallet in your pocket” will allow you to swipe your mobile for contactless payments, exchange digital content and information collection.

6. Andrew Steele, Olympic and Commonwealth Games Sprinter said that brands that look to invest in developing sports professionals have the opportunity to create a ‘culture’ rather than just a ‘winner’.

7. The success of a particular sport (traditional or ‘new-look’) is about taking it from being fashionable to being popular, comments John Taylor, Chairman, Sports Impact – this is the only way to secure longevity.

8. Tim Crow, CEO, Synergy, comments that sports marketing leverages people’s passion and social media allows people to share that passion

9. The new Westfield Stratford City will see 75% of the people attending the London2012 games walk through its doors which presents a huge opportunity for marketers.

10. Tim Crow discussing mobile marketing and how mass one-to-one marketing to mobile is going to be the ‘golden-ticket’ for marketers

To find out more about what was discussed, search #SM360 on Twitter or visit http://www.sportsmarketing360.com

Compiled by Byron McCaughey, Account Manager, Braben (the PR Partners of SportBusiness Group Conferences and Events)

607 days ago Short URL Comments

Advertising/Content/Digital/Research/Sport

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07

Jul

Sport And New media 2011 – The Lowdown

More than 200 senior sports marketing professionals from all over Europe gathered at TF1 in Paris last week for the second annual Sport & New Media conference by SportBusiness Group and sponsored by Eurosport.

Kicking off the first panel, Social Media Commerce, Bert Van der Auwera, Brand Manager, Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, described how Anderlecht uses social media to engage with its fans:

“In Belgium, Anderlecht was the first club to embrace social media. For us, it’s about engaging with our fans, encouraging a community spirit round the club. At the start it was one way, but we have changed our approach and now it’s about conversation, about seeking reaction and opinion from our fans, involving them. That way we can launch new events and release details of new products matching their interests. We find this new approach helps us better reach commercial objectives.”

Ed Wooller, Head of Mindshare Sport, commented: “Social media engages fans, thereby moving them from armchair to active to avid fans, ultimately spending more money in the long run. One avid fan is worth 10 times the value of an armchair fan to sports rights holders and brands alike.”

Matteo Pastore, Director of Media Rights and relations, RCS Sport, agreed: “Social media is about engagement, about building your core fan base but also about bringing in new, younger audiences.”

The panel went on to discuss the best application of social media by a sports body globally, agreeing that the NBA sets the bar high with 120m followers on Twitter and Facebook alone. That said, it has not always been smooth sailing, as like everyone else, it has had to learn the scope and power of this tool ‘on the job’. The NBA has 250 of its major stars on Twitter, which makes control very difficult. This is a challenge that the UK will have to plan carefully for ahead of the London Olympics in 2012.

An interesting debate then got underway, as the rights holders and brands sparred over the level of control a brand can or should expect to have over a rights holders’ social media presence. With social media becoming a staple part of all sponsorship agreements, output through channels like Facebook and Twitter will become even more carefully monitored. Bert Van der Auwera argued that a rights holder that gives up control of social media is leaving itself open to major problems, as they are then relying on a brand – without intimate knowledge of the fans – to manage the relationship.

Digital Marketing Manager at UEFA Events, Dejah Meldem, described UEFA’s policy for sponsors, saying that rights holders must instead carve out exclusive social media space for brands to activate their rights.

Next, Alexandre Callay, Director, Eurodata TV Worldwide, introduced some interesting points:

• The average person watches 3.45hrs of TV per day, +6min in the past 5 years

• Football is still king of sport on TV, reaching 241m per year people in China alone

• China is the fastest growing consumer of sports content in the world, with 34.5m viewers watching the French Open as China’s first female professional player, Li Na, won in 2011

• Local talent still provides a huge draw card for audiences, as they engage in their attempts

• 2-screen viewing is growing, as media owners increasingly take audiences beyond the TV through digital add-ons like the live timing in Formula 1, deepening the viewer experience

• Stepping beyond that is direct digital/reality fusion, seen in only a few places so far – such as the gamer who this year won a place to drive in the winning Nissan team in the 24h Le Mans

A combative Ciaran Quinn, Director of Strategic Business development, Deltatre, kicked off panel two by challenging his fellow panellists and the audience on the topic ‘The One Screen Reality’. Andy Stout, editorial director at SVG Europe picked out the following comments from Quinn: “A 2% value was the figure which was plucked out of a feature in the conference program by panellist Ciaran Quinn from DeltaTre, suggesting that the entire VoD market in the UK was only worth £60m in 2010 compared to £3bn for TV.

Elsewhere in the same feature (an excerpt from TV Sports Markets Volume 15 Number 10) Timo Lumme of the IOC suggested that less than 5% of the IOC’s rights fees came from online. So, 2% or 5%, you can take your pick, but it has to be pointed out that even 1% of the roughly $4.5bn that NBC spent on Olympic rights is a serious amount of money in itself.”

Quinn said: “TV will become a one screen hybrid for content consumption thanks to connected TVs. Over 8m of these sets have been sold in the UK and 15m worldwide, a device that didn’t exist until recently. Also, the threat of piracy is lower– it’s almost impossible to steal video and data together.”

Rhys Beer, Commercial Director, Perform commented: “Connected TV will simplify the viewing experience. The common view is that the many platforms available make for a confusing offer to audiences. Added to that, catch-up TV is growing all time in sport, especially with big events like Wimbledon happening during the working day and the Rugby World Cup 2011 in the opposite timezone. This allows for far more viewer interactivity and engagement in the viewing experience.”

Aidan Cooney, CEO of Opta: “Rights holders have divided to conquer and sold the rights to different media and inflated the prices accordingly. Too many people though are just streaming video and not utilising the platforms properly.” Opta has been adding metadata to sports footage since 2002 and now collects, packages and distributes data on around 60,000 fixtures per year from more than 30 sports in around 70 countries, so Cooney knows how to drive the new screens with interactivity.

Answering a question from the audience about the value of 3D TV vs HD TV, Quinn continued: “Infrastructure providers will need to do more to embrace 3D TV before it can begin to work.”

Beer agreed, commenting: “When Perform broadcast the England vs Ukraine World Cup qualifier 18 months ago infrastructure was our biggest concern. As we were breaking new ground with a game broadcast only on the internet, we had to work closely with major ISP providers to ensure quality.”

Moving on, Luke D’Arcy, former commercial director at Marussia Virgin Racing, now EMEA Growth Officer at Momentum, showed the audience how Virgin worked to bring the F1 world closer to fans through digital and social media. Having worked in Formula 1 myself for many years, I don’t underestimate what a challenge it would have been to introduce these new ideas. D’Arcy described how Virgin introduced its 100m customers globally to Formula 1 by bringing fun and interactivity to online communications. Richard Branson’s bet with rival team boss Tony Fernandez was amplified magnificently online globally. The pair, also owners of rival airlines, staged a bet that would see the losing team boss at the end of the year appear on the rival airline as a “Trolley Dolly.” Branson lost!

Frederic Saint-Sardos, Head of Digital and Brand Content, Havas Sport & Entertainment presented research results on the ‘Future Consumption of Sport’, with data from around 2,000 respondents:

• The research looked at TV, mobile, internet, press and radio in GER, ITA, SPA,UK and FRA

• The showed that TV remains king, when combining HD, 3D, On Demand and Internet TV

• The research also found sport is not passive, 7 out of 10 sports fans check results each day and 58% of respondents think their sports consumption will increase in the future

• The peak age group for sports consumption is 21-30 years old

• Around 5% of fans now have a 3D TV and over 50% say it’s now a buying consideration

Saint-Sardos was then joined on stage by Arnaud Maillard, Internet and New Media Director, Eurosport and Ed Wooller, Head of Sport at Mindshare to discuss the sports fans relationship with their mobile phones. The panel agreed that while TV remained the main platform, new technologies like tablets and smart phones were opening opportunities for interaction and monetisation. Much debate ensued, with a question from Robin Clarke, Head of Sport at SMG Sport sparking discussion around the role of mobile versus other platforms. It was agreed it remains a supplementary device.

Onto the final session of the day, John Phillips, Senior Vice President digital marketing ATP World Tour and Richard Johnson, Director of Corporate Communications, Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) both presented extremely well on the challenges and opportunities for rights holders in the new media world. Johnson, whose mantra is ‘baby steps’, walked us through the changes this fairly traditional organisation had to make in order to accept the type of access social media gave fans. Listen and learn was his advice to other rights holders. Phillips agreed, advising they “be fast and be friendly – tell short stories, make it easy for fans to follow and engage.”

To find out more about what was discussed, search #snm2011 on Twitter or visit http://www.sportandnewmedia.com

684 days ago Short URL Comments

Advertising/Content/Digital/Events/London 2012/Sport/TV

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23

Feb

YouTube Bidding To Become Global Sports Broadcaster

The MediaGuardian’s reporting this afternoon that YouTube is in negotiations with a range of sports rights holders including the NBA and the NHL.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/23/youtube-sports-nba-nhl

That’s a potential game-changer and it is an obvious move for a global online TV business sitting on a very large chunk of change.

As the web meets TV, any sporting event on a local, national or international scale can reach sports fan worldwide. Live sport has the power to bring in an audience like no other form of content, particularly an affluent male audience.

I suspect last year’s IPL was just the start for Google. So when will the Olympics or the World Cup be delivered by Google TV to screens across the globe?

Of course, the technology does need to play catch-up as there’s still a large part of the world’s population that haven’t got internet access on their TVs in their front rooms. Or HD. Or 3D. But sports fans who are passionate about seeing how their favourite team/player performs will happily watch it on a laptop screen in the meantime!

The interesting thing here from a sports PR perspective is the power of online video to engage with sports fans wherever they are and the ever-growing role of YouTube in the mix as the key channel to reach sports fans.

And it reinforces once again how live sport continues to be the number one acquisition target for all big media companies.

818 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Sport/TV

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10

Nov

10 Nuggets from Sport and iGaming 2010

I attended a great event today, presented by SportBusiness and iGamingBusiness, and attended by a selection of movers and shakers in the rapidly growing world of sport and online gambling. As background, online gambling brands are the fastest growing sponsor of professional sport. In the UK alone, 28 per cent of Premier League and Championship football clubs have a gaming company as a shirt sponsor.

The following are 10 nuggets that I’ve picked from the day’s presentations and discussions:

1. Steve Keall, Pinsent Masons LLP, revealed that 9.9% of the UK population participate in some form of igaming. His session included discussions around the Gambling Commission and its role as a restrictive rather than permissive body.
2. Andrew Croker, Perform, presented the Watch&Bet service, an online TV for bookmakers facilitating in-running betting, which he likened to the old world equivalent of a TV in the corner of the bookies. In-running betting represents 90% of the betting market in Asia.
3. Key sports for in-running betting are football and tennis because they appeal to all territories and have multiple betting opportunities during the match.
4. Alex Gough, Professional Squash Association, outlined the strategy to sell squash through a much-improved TV product. They started by realising the value of the betting rights and built a TV property for the Watch&Bet service using the content available. This has allowed them to fast track the growth of the sport to the point where they can begin to properly market the sport rights to TV.
5. During ‘The changing face of iGaming’, Mike Falconer, Bettorlogic highlighted the big change for bookmakers was that they were now interested in all content to bet around to provide a 24/7 offering to customers. This was highlighted in anecdotes around the interest in Filipino basketball because it is scheduled for a Wed and Fri at 10am.
6. It was also suggested in the same session that the regulated betting markets deal with issues of cheating in sport and that the current issues (in particular, for cricket) are being caused by the unregulated markets.
7. Kevan Moretti, Racing Post, raised an interesting point as to whether taxation levees on betting can be used in such a way as to protect live sport against virtual sport, which is having an impact on sports and betting.
8. In ‘The challenges in iGaming’ session, Nick Hawkins, Danoptra observed that sponsors want sports to be clean and that this will be an issue for sponsors around the next England v Pakistan test series. He stressed that online bookmakers do not cause the fault for this failure in cricket, that the opposite is true as they provide unprecedented levels of data for audit trails and that this needs to be highlighted to the anti-gambling lobby.
9. Mike Shaw, Comscore, presented a comprehensive set of data on online gambling sites highlighting that the UK is one of the most active gambling nations in the world with 18.5% of UK traffic goes to line gambling sites. The 365mediagroup had the highest representation of heavy gamblers in the UK.
10. The day was rounded off through case studies from Betfair and Bodog about their experiences of sponsoring Manchester United and Fulham FC respectively. The Betfair CityvUnited campaign delivered for the derby in April 2010 was fascinating and well worth checking out.

If you’d like further details, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me at matt@braben.co.uk. I’m now off to place some bets for this weekend’s England v Australia game and the Haye v Harrison bout.

923 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/London 2012/Sport/TV/World Cup 2010

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29

Sep

The inside track on the London 2012 commercial campaign

The London 2012 commercial team was the focus of ‘The Big Interview’ in the Licensing Academy at Brand Licensing Europe 2010 today. London 2012 Vision – Retail, Licensing and the Olympic and Paralympic Games – The Story So Far, created an opportunity for licensing industry professionals to hear, in detail, about the commercial campaigns surrounding the London 2012 Games.

The Big Interview featured three key members of the London 2012 team: Charlie Wijeratna, director of commercial negotiations, Simon Lilley, head of licensing and retail and Warren Traeger, licensing manager, toys, games and souvenirs. It was hosted by Kevin Roberts, the editorial director of SportBusiness Group, and was followed by a Q&A session from the floor.

1. There will be 205 nations taking part in the London 2012 Olympic Games, consisting of a combined 10,500 athletes, 70,000 volunteers, 20,000 accredited media, 8m tickets, a global audience of 4bn and 26 Olympic sports across 300 events in 17 days. This will be followed two weeks later by the Paralympic Games, the world’s 3rd largest sports event with an additional combined 4,500 athletes, 2m tickets, 20 Paralympic sports, across 12 days and a total of 471 events.

2. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the public body responsible for the regeneration of the east London site and developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the Games, is investing £9bn. LOCOG, a privately funded company, will secure approximately £2bn of private investment to enable the Games to be staged. This will be raised from a combination of ticket, broadcast, sponsorship and licensing revenue.

3. More than £650m of domestic sponsorship revenue has already been raised nearly two years before the event. Licensing royalty revenues are anticipated to generate approximately £80m.

4. Around 50 licensees are projected to produce over 10,000 products for the Games, covering everything from clothing and headwear to toys and games, stamps and coins, souvenirs, jewellery, pins, stationery and publishing. The range will be diverse from pocket money items under £1 to highly valuable, collectable and limited edition products such as a £28,000 solid gold souvenir coin.

5. LOCOG will open a range of London 2012 shops to showcase official licensed products, including a 40,000ft megastore in the Olympic Park. However, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are an opportunity for all retailers in the UK to sell London 2012 products.
6. LOCOG anticipates retail sales to be in excess of £1bn and describe 2012 as “the year of two Christmases”, advising retailers to adjust planning and buying strategies to encompass two major sales seasons.

7. The iconic heritage of the Olympic Movement offers a new angle to licensees. Imagery from previous Games, including those hosted by London in 1908 and 1948, present a fantastic opportunity for higher end vintage ranges.

8. It is crucial that LOCOG protects its revenue by maximising legal rights, deterring infringers through education and action and pursuing infringement action thereby protecting the financial commitments made by sponsors and licensees.

9. It is not just the London 2012 logo that is protected from unofficial merchandise outlets. The words London 2012, Olympic, Paralympic, Olympian, Paralympian, Olympiad and Paralympiad are also to be protected along with the mascots and mascot wordmarks.

10. As well as the London 2012 ranges of merchandise, LOCOG will be launching a range of patriotic Team GB and Paralympics GB merchandise in 2011. An initial collection of adidas Team GB merchandise, designed by Stella McCartney, was launched last week in London 2012 online and St Pancras shops and selected sports retailers.

965 days ago Short URL Comments

Events/Licensing/London 2012/Sport

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27

Sep

10 Useful Things To Know About Brand Licensing Europe 2010

Brand Licensing Europe 2010 is the definitive event for the European licensing industry. Over 230 exhibitors and 5,000 visitors are expected to descend on the Grand Hall at Olympia for the next three days to see what’s new and hot for 2011 in the lucrative, multimillion pound world of licensing and brand extension.

Here are 10 useful things to know about Brand Licensing Europe 2010:

1. Andrew Davenport, the award-winning creator, writer and composer of the children’s television phenomenon, In The Night Garden, and co-creator and writer of the global smash television hit, Teletubbies, will deliver the 2010 keynote speech on Tuesday 28th September at 13:00

2. The London 2012 Commercial team will feature in The Big Interview on Wednesday 29th September at 13:00 in the Licensing Academy – an exclusive opportunity to hear, in detail, about the commercial licensing campaign surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games

3. This year’s inaugural License This! The Next Big Thing event will showcase new licensing concepts on Thursday September 30th at 13:00. The competition is hotting up between Bondiband, a boys’ action animation, starring a rock band with very special musical instruments; Animaru, a graphic design property from UK artist Sophie Hinton; Made in Me, a web-based concept for young children, centred on story telling and imaginative play; and Gombby, a Portuguese animated pre-school series about a boy baker

4. In total, 236 licensors and agents will exhibit, representing over 2000 fashion and lifestyle brands, children’s characters, celebrities, art and image libraries, sports clubs, movies and TV shows

5. Exhibitors including the NBA, Manchester United, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and many more will be present representing the world of sport, which is witnessing rapid growth in licensing opportunities

6. Licensing remains a huge revenue opportunity for TV, with exhibitors present including BBC Worldwide, ITV Global, FremantleMedia Enterprises & Zodiak Rights

7. Joining them will be exhibitors from the world of film and entertainment including Twentieth Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Aardman Rights and Hasbro Entertainment & Licensing

8. Another growth area for licensing is in the world of arts and culture, where exhibitors include The Natural History Museum, The Royal Opera House, the Royal Horticultural Society and The Royal Parks

9. Or if you’re intrigued by the new licensing opportunities in the digital and gaming space, exhibitors present include Sega Corporation, Sony, Ubisoft Entertainment and specialist digital licensing agency, AT New Media which specialises in licensed apps

10. And witness Europe’s biggest parade of costume characters, when 50 costume characters including Peppa Pig, Elmo, SpongeBob, Dennis The Menace and Cat In The Hat come together in a hugely exciting and colourful visual extravaganza

967 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Events/Licensing/Research/Sport/TV

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23

Sep

Why The Simpsons is the perfect example of a licensed media product

In these changing times for the media industry where traditional advertising revenues are under pressure, The Simpsons has been cited in a survey by our client, Brand Licensing Europe 2010, as the best global example of driving revenue in through licensing by a TV show.

Licensing is becoming an increasingly important factor in revenue-generation for media companies. Next week’s event at Olympia is the ultimate showcase in pan-European licensing as the industry comes together under one roof for three days.

Full details on the survey below. One thing to bear in mind is that its not just media that is benefiting from the growth in licensing; other vertical sectors are too as our research for the event is demonstrating, including sport and technology.

For more details on Brand Licensing Europe 2010, go to http://www.brandlicensing.eu.

THE SIMPSONS VOTED MOST SUCCESSFULLY LICENSED TELEVISION SHOW OF ALL TIME

- The Simpsons has over 400 official licensees and worldwide retail sales topping $8 billion, in a global industry worth $191 billion -

- Harry Potter edges out Luke Skywalker and Superman as the most powerful licensed film character of all time –

- Twilight’s Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) most profitable licensed film character of 2010 -

London, 23 September 2010: a global survey conducted by Brand Licensing Europe 2010, Europe’s premier licensing trade exhibition, has revealed that our fascination with the antics of Homer Simpson and his family remains as strong as ever despite more than twenty years on our screens and over 450 episodes.

The survey asked global licensing professionals to rate a range of film and television shows and characters in terms of licensing success – the ability to generate a successful revenue stream through the sale of licensed merchandise, from clothing to toys, games, books and films. The Simpsons took 31% of the vote, followed by Sesame Street on 26% and Looney Tunes on 10%.

Officially the longest running primetime comedy in TV history, The Simpsons has over 400 official licensees and worldwide retail sales topping $8 billion. The licensing industry itself is worth $191 billion globally.

Boy wizard Harry Potter, star of the upcoming and eagerly anticipated two-part film finale – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – was voted the most powerful licensed film character of all time. With 20.8% of the vote, Potter narrowly edged out Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker on 20.6% and Superman on 20.1%.

Proving yet again the buying power of Twilight fans the world over, vampire Edward Cullen, played by British heartthrob Robert Pattinson in the films, took over 32% of the vote as the most profitable film character of 2010, followed by Toy Story 3 spaceman Buzz Lightyear on 27% and Harry Potter on 18%.

Perennial favourite, The Muppet Show, was also voted the TV show most likely to offer the best licensing opportunities should it be revived again, with nearly 35% of respondents putting it ahead of Star Trek on 24% and Friends on 7%.

The survey also helps answer the age old question of who is the ultimate superhero – with 33%, Spiderman netted the title of most valuable superhero of all time, ahead of Superman on 31% with the caped crusader, Batman, on 29%.

And finally, Lost, despite finishing in 2010 after six seasons, is not lost forever. The drama was voted the TV programme with the most potential for further licensing growth, taking nearly 30% of the vote, ahead of New Jersey-based mob drama The Sopranos on 16%, and Baywatch on 12%.

The survey boasts feedback from a diverse global panel of heavyweight licensing brands across many different sectors, from newspapers to film, digital and technology brands through to sportswear, retail and FMCG, gaming, automotive, toys and fashion, plus an interesting sample of global media organisations.

Jessica Blue, event director, Brand Licensing Europe 2010 said: “The licensing power of film and television is phenomenal, so it’s not surprising to see The Simpsons top the survey given the bold and clever nature of their licensing programme. Brand Licensing Europe attracts over 230 exhibitors and 5,000 attendees annually, making it the number one place for brands to explore opportunities and develop new avenues for extension and commercial revenue.”

Brand Licensing Europe will take place at Olympia from 28-30 September 2010, with film, TV and entertainment brands represented from across the globe. Exhibitors this year include: BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Paramount Studio, Nickelodeon, RDF Media, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Turner CN Enterprises.

To register to visit Brand Licensing Europe 2010, go to http://www.brandlicensing.eu.

971 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Licensing/Research/TV

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17

Sep

10 Nuggets From Sports Marketing 360 2010

I attended this one-day conference yesterday by SportBusiness Group, an excellent gathering of leaders, thinkers and networkers in the sports marketing world. The following are 10 nuggets I gleaned from the myriad of speakers present at this fascinating day.

1. Suzi Williams, Director, BT Group Marketing & Brand, said that the business is starting to see real returns from its investment in sport and the combined effect of its involvement in London 2012, the WC 2018 bid and launching Sky Sports on the BT Vision service

2. Tom Fox, Chief Commercial Officer, Arsenal FC, acknowledged that the brand awareness for the team outside of the UK was principally due to TV and the penetration of the Premier League and Champions League. In a comment silently applauded by all PRs present, he highlighted the ‘massive ‘ value PR represented internationally and outlined plans to use PR through Chinese students to spread the word about Arsenal

3. Richard Heaselgrave, VP Business Development, NBA, speculated about the future creation of a global event that would be perfect for global sponsors, stretching across a 12-month period, local in all key territories, maximising all new channels (beyond TV), flexilbe and free of rights-holder restrictions.

4. In the same session about Brands and major events, Nick Sykes, Managing Partner and Head of London 2010, McCann London, talked about how mega-events now offer billions of eyeballs with the ability to engage one-to-one. He summarised that he sees a rosy future for the major events and relationships with big brands, particularly mature established brands looking to build profile in emerging markets

5. James Tipple, VP Marketing, Yahoo EMEA, presented a showcase on Yahoo’s campaign for this summer’s world cup, bringing together content, social, experiential and communications in an integrated global competition. The numbers behind the campaign were compelling evidence of Yahoo’s ability to provide a global platform for a truly global penalty shootout competition and exclusive content from the world’s biggest footballing star, David Beckham

6. In ‘Sponsorship’s Digital Future’, Jeff Nathansen, Head of Partner Management for YouTube in Northern Europe, Google, revealed the viewing figures for the IPL which ran on YouTube earlier this year. 50 million views globally across 100+ markets, the biggest inevitably was India and second largest the US (despite the low profile of cricket in this territory)

7. Charlie Dundas, Global Director – Sports & Entertainment sponsorship, Mediacom, highlighted that digital is still considered by clients to be a ‘risky’ option and that it is important to get the test-level of the digital pitch right. He also believes that sport is a great sector for testing digital solutions, offering a chance to be creative and really test the environment for the brand before enlarging the campaign

8. Mark Foster, when talking of the injury that prevented him from competing at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said he dealt with his disappointment by applying an ‘ERO’ principle – Experience, response, outcome – your response to an experience affects the outcome. His response was to write for the Evening Standard and enjoy the success of his friends.

9. The ‘Toxic Talent’ panel observed that the world is a very small place now and the advent of digital communications are “tools of the devil for sportspeople”. Governing bodies and teams have been slow to start educating their young players.

10. Patrick Nally, the godfather of sports sponsorship, who with his company West Nally laid the groundwork for the commercial framework we see around the FIFA World Cup even today, believes there has never been a more exciting time to be in sports marketing. He said ‘conventional advertising is dead and conventional sports sponsorship is dead – the world is digital’. He pointed to this video as a useful eye-opener for anyone not convinced by the power of digital – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

977 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Sport

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06

Sep

Key events this September

We’re busy focusing on a range of key events this month here at Braben across the media, media tech, sports and licensing sectors so I thought I’d post a brief run-down on each plus links for further info.

IBC 2010 – http://www.ibc.org/
IBC bills itself as the premier annual conference and exhibition for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and media content worldwide. It takes place September 9-14 in Amsterdam and our team will be in the ground at the event.

Sports Marketing 360 – http://www.sportsmarketing360.com/
Now in its third year, Sports Marketing 360 is established as the must-attend event for sports marketing professionals from around the world. We are the PR partner for this event which is a vibrant, challenging and highly relevant one-day conference designed to deliver significant value to those who work in sports, marketing, media, brands and related areas. September 16, 2010.

Ad:tech London – http://www.ad-techlondon.co.uk/
The online marketing and advertising community gathers together at ad:tech London to reveal the latest trends and market figures, share best practices and address industry challenges. Our team will be there as we track the latest media developments. September 21, 22, Olympia.

Brand Licensing Europe 2010 – http://www.brandlicensing.eu/
Brand Licensing Europe 2010, the Avanstar-organised licensing exhibition, returns for its 12th successful year to Olympia, London and we are the official PR partner. 230 licensors and agents will exhibit, representing over 2000 fashion and lifestyle brands, children’s characters, celebrities, art and image libraries, sports clubs, movies and TV studios. September 28-30, Olympia.

988 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Events/TV

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09

Aug

Opposition Nil, Smart PR Move?

It’s all kicked off in Southampton. Its decision last week to restrict access for photographers to home games to one exclusive agency has prompted a stinging response from media. Click here for a great example and the debate is rolling on…

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3086600/Opposition-0-Plymouth-1.html

This throws up an interesting question about the balance which needs to be struck between sports brands and rights holders monetising their content versus reaching the widest possible audience in a positive fashion.

We have a Southampton fan in the Braben office and the consensus here is this has been a bad move, opening up the opportunity to criticise the management team and creating a hostility towards the club in a season when they were starting out favourites. Will be fascinating to see how long this type of restricted access lasts at the club with the breaking news that The Digital South (the exclusive picture agency for Southampton FC has pulled out).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/09/southampton-fc-photo-ban

1016 days ago Short URL Comments

Digital/Events/Sport

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