Left: John Trainor, managing director, Onside Sponsorship
Right: O2 was one of the most appealing sponsors in 2010. Pictured is Naomi Fogarty with (l–r) David Wallace, Brian O’Driscoll and Cian Healy at the launch of the O2 Be The Difference ‘Bring Back The Roar’ campaign
SPONSORSHIP <
Among the main movers were 3 Mobile, which opted not to con-
tinue its sponsorship of the Irish Golf Open, but instead signed a €7.5m four-year deal with the Irish soccer team. Another soccer- related move saw Airtricity take over the vacant position as main sponsor to the League of Ireland Championship. The Tour of Ireland Cycle Race was cancelled last year after
main sponsor FBD pulled out, but An Post has since stepped in and it is hoped that the event will be revived in 2011. In rugby, AIB ended its long association with the All-Ireland Club League, with Ulster Bank assuming the mantle of main sponsor, while Asics has replaced Adidas as the main apparel sponsor for the 2011 Dublin City Marathon. There was also plenty of activity in the GAA sector, with
SuperValu replacing Toyota as one of the three main sponsors of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship after the motor man- ufacturer opted to leave the deal a year early due to plummeting vehicle sales. In September Vodafone announced that it would not be renewing its contract as a main sponsor of the same champi- onship. Meanwhile, Centra signed a three-year deal early in 2010 to replace RTE as one of the three main sponsors of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Top performers The Onside report also identified the top sponsorship performers of the past year, with Aviva’s sponsorship of the new Lansdowne Road stadiumcoming out ahead of Guinness and O2’s sponsorship of the Irish rugby team and O2’s sponsorship of the former Point Depot concert venue in the eyes of the industry. The most admired national rightsholders were revealed as the
Aviva Stadium, Munster Rugby, the GAA and IRFU, with ERC and Live Nation winning the international rightsholder plaudits. Interestingly, these views also tallied with the results of the con-
sumer survey, which saw seven out of the top 10 most appealing sponsorships voted for by both industry and consumers as best in class for 2010. In the survey, O2 overtook Heineken to join Guinness at the top of the list of 10 most appealing sponsors in the public eye for last year, where they were joined by Aviva, SuperValu and Ulster Bank for the first time.
Looking ahead This year will be another busy one for the sponsorship sector, with a series of major events scheduled for this part of the world that will help to drive a return to growth. However, this will be damp- ened somewhat, at least from an overall market value viewpoint, by continued reductions in rights fees for existing deals, with half of those questioned for the Onside survey expecting rights fees to decrease this year. According to Trainor, these reductions will be counterbalanced to
some degree by incremental sponsorship revenue derived from the Rugby World Cup 2011 and the 2011 Solheim Cup, which is set to be held in Ireland for the first time. Spending will also be ramped up ahead of other key events such as the London 2012 Olympics, the Euro 2012 Football Championships and the Volvo Ocean Race 2011–12, which finishes up in Galway in July of next year. Further potential growth drivers for this year include new rights
deals that will be made available by rightsholders for the first time as they look to grow their overall sponsorship intake along with increased spend by energy and betting companies and a return to the fold of old stalwarts such as motor companies and financial institutions as the recovery takes hold. Following on from the success of the Aviva Stadium and the O2,
naming rights will also be significant revenue drivers, particularly for sports and music venues. “Over the next few years I think we will see greater numbers of companies entering the sponsorship arena for the first time, par- ticularly if rights fees remain at realistic levels. Sport will continue to dominate overall spend,” Trainor concludes. “Activation will continue to be the key to ensuring return on investment for sponsors, with new and more innovative experien- tial-based strategies required. I expect social media and digital marketing to become increasingly important in this regard.”
Volume 5 Issue 1 2011 Marketing Age 51
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