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There is a significant risk of major properties pricing themselves out of the market. Current price levels for major events are just astronomical and very difficult to justify. company’s second-quarter and half-year results for 2010, World Cup-related activity was credited with enabling AB InBev to maintain sales levels in a difficult global market and gain significant traction in key territories worldwide. Not least of these is the hard-to-crack Russian market, where the American icon Budweiser was successfully launched on the back of its World Cup involvement. And it was the success of the digital strategy which most clearly highlights the potential for a gap to emerge between properties and their sponsors as fast-moving brands continue to embrace digital opportunities, leaving rights owners trailing in their wake. The rationale for and execution of sponsorships is changing and Van der Noll believes that will be a major factor for companies seriously reflecting on the opportunity to renew deals with major sports properties. “The situation is different now. In the 1970s and 80s, these brands were involved in major sports events because they were in the process of building global brands. “Most of them now have close to 100 per cent awareness and, quite simply, brands are no longer in it for exposure. “There are two key elements which need to be linked into sponsorships, now and in the future. “The first is that marketing is all about building a relationship with consumers. Brands want to be able to tell their story and have customer tell them theirs. We want to tell the world who we are, what we stand for. The sponsorship should be a platform to allow the brand to do that. “While major sports events like the World Cup are a passion point which provides the basic connection with consumers, FIFA and other rights owners have to recognise the transition which is taking place and look at how they can do more to facilitate this story-telling. “Where I think FIFA still has room to add value for partners is in the whole social media space. That is where the fish are, it is where we need to be fishing and FIFA could do more to help us connect with consumers in the online world. “They don’t technically allow us to use their marks in the social media space and that is something we would like to see changed. They could also do more with their own digital offering which is run by real professionals but which, at the moment, provides only limited opportunities for partners.” Van der Noll believes that the future is bright for those properties able to embrace the marketing realities of the digital age and move away from traditional methods of evaluating and selling sponsorship. “The bigger properties need to become more realistic about pricing,” he says. “At the moment there is a significant risk of them pricing themselves out of the market. Current price levels for major events are just astronomical. For example the fees for the World Cup rose 250 per cent between the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and that sort of increase is very difficult to justify. “I see massive prices for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and future Olympic Games as well as the World Cup, and I just don’t believe that trend can continue.” In fact, Van der Noll believes high prices may simply force brands away from sport and into taking a more creative approach to the use of social media: “Our Bud House programme was a tremendous success during the 2010 World Cup and the fact that we were associated with the event certainly helped us. “But the point is that the association was not critical. With new media it becomes easier to develop programmes without paying expensive rights fees.” It’s a view which might just send a shiver down the spine of some rights owners who have become accustomed to year-on-year increases in sponsordriven revenue, and might just act as a wake-up call for those properties that continue to offer much the same package of sponsorship rights that was on the market a couple of decades ago. Times have changed. And the question is whether or not sport has the ability or appetite to change with them. Away from the World Cup there are likely to be further changes to AB InBev’s approach to its Budweiser partnerships in the United States. But, as Van der Noll is quick to point out, there will be no reduction in the company’s appetite for sport any time soon. “It’s simple. Beer, sports and entertainment go hand-in-hand so while there may be changes in the way we activate our sponsorships there will be no change of direction in terms of commitment to sports. “We have to engage with our customers through their passion points and sport is key among them.” In the United States that change of approach marks a shift away from the massive, “in your face” Bud-branding exercises of the past towards what van der Noll describes as a “smarter, more sophisticated and creative era.” “The US is by far the biggest market for Budweiser and the brand has associations with many properties. The NFL ( for Bud Light) is our biggest sponsorship in sport - bigger even than the World Cup and was secured at the expense of Coors Light. “While we have reviewed our US properties and may lose some smaller ones, in the main it is a steady portfolio which, of course, includes two other massive properties in Major League Baseball and NASCAR.” Outside the US it is likely that the AB InBev portfolio will expand further with the emphasis still on football. “We want to build on the momentum of the World Cup and will be looking at events and leagues rather than clubs or individual players,” explains Van der Noll who believes that the sponsorship sector continues to mature and, when executed effectively, continues to have much to offer unique opportunities to marketers. “Sponsorship is no longer a surrogate media buy. It is a discipline that can deliver measurable results in its own right,” he adds. “At AB InBev we have developed the most sophisticated measurement dashboard I have ever seen. “A lot of money and human resources have been invested in the system and at the core of it is a brand tracking system in 10 key markets which measures not only awareness but also preference and brand health. “These are areas we take very seriously and are at the heart of everything we do. As for the World Cup, it has been the proof point for a new era in marketing at AB InBev. 32 SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10
L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport 4 TH PEACE AND SPORT INTERNATIONAL FORUM MONACO, 1-3 DECEMBER 2010 Under the High-Patronage of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco A GROWING SUCCESS SINCE 2007: 450 participants 85 countries 40 International Sports Federations 42 NGOs 40 international athletes 35 governments 32 National Olympic Committees 20 global companies 10 IOC members 8 UN offices 3 days of discussions 20 hours of debates The world's most influential decision-makers from sport, peace, members of the private sector and civil society unite to put sport at the service of sustainable peace. Cooperation Coordination Decision-making PEACE AND SPORT Immeuble Les Mandariniers 42 ter Boulevard du Jardin Exotique 98000 MONACO tel. +377. 97. 97. 7800 contact@peace-sport.org Apply for the Peace and Sport Awards ● Peace and Sport Image of the Year (in Partnership with SPORTEL MONACO and AFP) ● Best Peace Project from an International Sports Federation ● Sports Event for Peace of the Year ● Best Sports NGO for Peace ● Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year For further information, please contact Nicolas Petit np@peace-sport.org or visit www.peace-sport.org
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4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

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