01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

BrandZ map - Brand equity across markets
80
60
40
20
0
-20
10 15 20 25 30 35
Source: BrandZ 2008 Base: 400 per market
PartnerZ - Consumer engagement in sports (France)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
16
15
Mexico 2008
Sweden 2008
UK 2008
Taiwan 2008
Spain 2008
Brazil 2008
Japan 2008
France 2008 Australia 2008
Thailand 2008
China 2008
Russia 2008
USA 2008
Canada 2008
Italy 2008
Korea 2008
Germany 2008
Netherlands 2008 Denmark 2008
Hong Kong 2008
Czech Republic 2008
Rugby Formula Football Cycling Tennis Skiing Sailing Horse Golf
union one Racing
Source: France PartnerZ 2008 Filter: 3,000
R.O.S.E - Event’s impact on brand buying intention
Event XX explains 12% of exposed XY brand buying
intention
75%
12
18
India 2008
12%
Source: Rose 2008 Base: 461
It was in last November’s issue of SportBusiness
International that Editorial Director, Kevin
Roberts, highlighted that the sports industry
could benefit from better PR, given the
disconnect between the public perception of
sports marketing and the business realities.
This disconnect, it was suggested, could
drive some brands away from sport out of fear
of upsetting and alienating the public. And sure
enough, we’re witnessing it all over the world
with high profile fall-out from the likes of AIG,
Buick and ING, to name but three.
Call it a necessary ‘correction’ or ‘spring
clean’ brought about by the recession, but we
should not shy away from the fact that there are
some fundamental challenges in the industry
that need to be addressed. Brands are rightly
scrutinising every marketing dollar spent and
need to understand the return that they can
expect from their investment.
Too often in the past sponsorships have
been established without appropriate research
and insights, an understanding of the role of
16
16
8 6 4 3 2 1
4 5
9
12
16
16
MALE
FEMALE
18-34
25-34
UP TO $3,000
OVER $3,001
Event impact
Love it
Like it
It’s OK
Dislike it
Not interested
Unaware of it
Brand impact
sponsorship within the wider communications
mix, the setting of clear objectives and KPIs.
Rarely will a perfect partnership come from
a single flash of inspiration. Research and
insight should play an integral role across
the sponsorship process and should feed the
strategy, property selection and its activation.
So where should a brand-owner start We
know about all the investment that has already
been pumped into associations with FIFA
through 2014, and London 2012, many of which
will have built a robust business case for that
investment. But beyond these there is a wide
range of high-profile opportunities on the horizon
in the world of sport that with the right strategic
approach, brands could be capitalising on.
The starting point is a thorough investigation
into the brand, the appropriate platforms and
properties and an in-depth analysis of the target
audience. We use BrandZ, a proprietary WPP
resource, which delivers in-depth measurement
of brand equity and imagery across 23,000
brands and 31 countries.
BRANDS & MARKETING
Extending this insight and research is the
PartnerZ tool which moves the principles
of BrandZ into the sponsorship arena and
maps consumer engagement and perceptions
of platforms and properties across 13 markets
worldwide. Supplementing this is the extensive
profiling of consumer demographics, behaviours
and attitudes delivered through TGI which
itself covers the major markets worldwide.
A rigorous approach such as this will help
brand-owners build a compelling and objective
business case for sponsorship investment.
These tools help to confirm brand issues,
identify property strengths and weaknesses, and
ensure that the consumer is put at the heart of
all strategic development.
Without it brands run the risk of wasting
marketing dollars on inappropriate associations
that fail to drive meaningful engagement with
their audience and consequently deliver a
negligible return on investment.
For those brand owners that have made the
decision to invest in a sports property it’s critical
for the long-term viability of the association that
this investment can be monitored and its effect
determined. In the past, much of the focus has
been on measuring the output, evaluating brand
exposure delivered through the association and
measuring the awareness shift.
However, with sports marketing having the
capacity to deliver against multiple brand and
business objectives this will more often than not
be an insufficient evaluation of the association.
The industry has been crying out for a
robust model that can help isolate the effect of
partnership activity and identify the direction
and strength of influences between partnership
activity and consumers, which in turn can help
drive the credibility of the discipline.
Over the past two years, such a tool has
been in development within MEC Access. The
recently launched ROSE© model is a unique
consumer research and modelling tool that
maximises the effectiveness of sponsorships.
It measures the overall performance of
partnerships, isolates the influence of
association on brand buying intention and
delivers a roadmap for future improvements in
their activation. We should be in no doubt that
the sports industry continues to make enormous
progress and that more and more brands are
realising the potential power of sponsorship.
With the right strategic approach to determining
the most appropriate solution, brands will
capitalise on the great many opportunities that
exist within sport in the years to come.
Supplement this with comprehensive
measurement of any partnership activity and
there should be ample justification to support
long-term investment in the discipline. On
that basis, I believe sponsorship and sports
marketing will not just maintain its position
in the marketing hierarchy, but will become a
driving force for the future.
SportBusiness International • No.152 • 12.09 17