TENNIS
marketing budget to push the sport, is one of the single biggest things which a sport can aspire to.” AEGON is using its link with tennis
to push across its messages in its cam- paigns. Last year, the campaign was built around the message “from grassroots to centre court”, introducing the partner- ship. This year tennis is being used as financial messaging for the campaign. “We’re showing the planning which Brit- ish Tennis is putting into its future stars and pushing the fact that you need to put just as much planning into your finances,” says Ponzio.
WORKING TOGETHER
Earl says that sponsorship agreements work best when they are mutually beneficial: “There is always the feeling that getting the money in is the priority, and of course that is fundamentally important, but I think sports also need to think carefully about the value of what they are offering, rather than the budget they have to find. For longer term success, they need to consider how the value and benefits can work togeth- er with the brand to maximum effect,” Earl explains. “In the past, many sports have made
the mistake of just grabbing the money and running, but there is now a growing realisation within the industry that what is needed is a partnership with a brand that’s going to help market the brand, the sport and the association.”
BRITISH TENNIS SPONSORS
AEGON is the first lead partner of British Tennis and plays an integral part within the four pillars of the commercial programme that makes up British Tennis. This includes: community – the parks and schools programme; competition – both na- tional and international tournaments; performance – including elite and matrix- funded players; and events – including the ATP, WTA and ITF tournaments. BNP Paribas is the official sponsor of British Tennis, Highland Spring is official
supporter and official water supplier of British Tennis. Lucozade Sport is official sports nutrition supplier to the LTA and InterContinental Hotels Group is the official supplier to British Tennis.
Although the recession has made
it harder, and some sports have in fact lost sponsorship, Earl thinks that some of these lost deals may have been ill advised in the first place. “One of the things the recession has done is to make sports think harder about their product, about their offer to sponsors and how they can help sponsors reach the desired audiences which are otherwise difficult to access,” she says. Philipps agrees: “It’s really about un-
derstanding your assets. You have to know what you have to offer and imple- ment proper programmes associated with the sport. Everything which AEGON is linked to, we would’ve done anyway, which makes the programme seem all very real and a genuine part of tennis.”
A recent campaign was built around the message ‘from grassroots to centre court’
THE WAY FORWARD
The figures for the sponsorship indus- try as a whole have held up well despite the recession, with a small increase last year over the year before. Earl says this is because marketing directors are now re- alising how cost effective sponsorship is. “The sports market is growing as a way of successfully marketing products, be- cause it engages with consumers through their passions,” she says. “The most suc- cessful sponsorships are those that place their sponsorship properties centrally within their marketing activities. Whereas advertising, sales promotion
and PR were the three most recognised pillars of marketing, sponsorship is now being recognised as the fourth, and pos- sibly the more effective, pillar. It’s the glue which links all the other marketing disciplines together.” Clearly the timing and the partnership
was right for both AEGON and British Tennis. The LTA was fortunate to find a large global company that needed to get a new identity across, had the same audience and was keen to get involved in all aspects of British tennis – not just the high-profile tournaments. Having the sport underwritten by one sponsor allows consistency of the look and the brand and takes away the pressure of continually selling its properties. Like- wise, AEGON’s strategy of choosing to dominate British Tennis means that its name will be synonymous with the sport until at least 2013 – resulting in a win- win situation. ●
Kath Hudson is a freelance writer
54 Read Sports Management online
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Issue 2 2010 © cybertrek 2010
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