Jon Long, ONSIDE Strategic Consultant
The Premier League trophy (Credit: Getty Images)
“Project Restart is going to be a bonanza for sponsors”
“Project Restart is going to be a disaster for sponsors”
Take your pick from the two headlines above, because it really depends on your perspective.
Those in the bonanza camp can point to brand exposure.
At the end of each season, every club in the Premier League sends a report to their sponsors showing how many thousands of seconds of exposure their logos and brand messages received around the world. According to the reports, more exposure equates to more value extrapolated from local audience ratings and advertising rates.
Despite the rise of digital and social media, the most recent round of reports still ascribes the majority of this value to live TV coverage.
In the UK, every single Project Restart game will be shown live by Amazon, BBC, BT and Sky, a significant increase on the old normal.
With no spectators to get in the way, we have seen clubs in Germany, Portugal and Spain expand the locations provided to sponsors that can be seen on TV.
We counted up to four tiers of pitch-side signage during Bundesliga matches at the weekend and there were three huge sponsor logos visible where spectators would usually be sitting when Barcelona netted their first goal against Real Mallorca in La Liga.
Barcelona score their first goal of 4 against Real Mallorca in the La Liga behind closed doors on June 13th 2020 (Credit: LaLiga Highlights)
Those in the disaster camp will decry that football is nothing without the crowds.
They will discredit the logo counters and call out the clutter as meaningless logo soup.
They will question the benefits of associating with a season that has lost its momentum in an environment lacking in atmosphere and highlight lost sponsorship assets, including tickets, hospitality and opportunities for activation.
In some cases, sponsors and their agencies will demand significant rebates.
The reality is – of course – more nuanced.
Sponsorship is a sub-set of marketing and every brand has different marketing objectives.
Sometimes it is simply important for your target consumers to be able to see your brand and know that you are present in their world.
Buying pitch-side exposure in the Premier League is a very efficient way of reaching a very large international audience. For brands seeking top-of-mind awareness and a degree of association with the world’s most valuable football league this will continue to be really useful.
Free-to-air transmission of some matches will ensure initial audiences in the UK will be the biggest of the 21st century. But pay close attention to the club sponsors in the early weeks of Project Restart and you will notice that only a minority are there for the UK audience.
The majority of sponsorship investment in Premier League football is justified on its international reach and prestige. These sponsors will be keeping an eye on audience trends in Asia and North America, as much as the inevitable boost on home soil.
Those logo exposure reports will still come in handy when Chief Marketing Officers are explaining the impact of Covid-19 on their football sponsorship to CFOs and CEOs at the end of the season.
The absence of crowds is a factor, of course, but experiments with noise and imagery are already having a positive impact in other leagues and will be introduced in the Premier League, as well. Social media and live streaming are also steadily increasing in significance as key opportunities for sponsors and rights holders to activate. 6 in 10 Irish sporting organisations are looking to engage in this manner as per the ONSIDE Covid-19 Sports Impact Monitor up, 9% and 16% respectively from April.
You cannot replace the lost assets directly, but clubs such as Manchester City have gone into overdrive to provide new digital opportunities to their partners. Content series like Movers and Makers with Rexona, Moments in Time with QNET and Iconic celebrations with WURKZ, allow for a continuous stream of interaction between the sponsors and the Manchester city fan base.
Movers and Makers by Rexona (Credit: Manchester City FC )
As importantly, it is time to be a sensitive sponsor. The public want to see the commercial sector supporting the recovery from the crisis, not spending money on lavish hospitality or extravagant product marketing.
Project Restart provides a canvas for brands to demonstrate their commitment to causes close to the hearts of the viewing public.
The crisis is highlighting public support for organisations in the cause and non-profit space. The ONSIDE Sponsorship Market Monitor showed that 70% of the Irish and UK public are united in their call-out to brands to continue to maintain or increase their sponsorship support of these key bodies.
The league and clubs have grasped this and will be recognising both Black Lives Matter and the NHS on playing jerseys for the remainder of the season.
Watch out for sponsors finding ways to integrate social messages into their matchday inventory and digital activation.
Some clubs will also assign unsold inventory to causes that resonate with their communities of local and international fans. Don’t be surprised if we see a Premier League version of this great activation from the LA Chargers. The National Football League team is offering one small business in California a free, three-month digital and promotional partnership over the summer, in a sweepstakes competition.
LA Chargers “Bolt Up Your Small Business” initiative. (Credit: Los Angeles Chargers)
In the final analysis, the overwhelming sentiment in boardrooms invested in the Premier League is likely to be neither bonanza nor disaster but relief.
Live action is a critical component of most sport sponsorship and, to the relief of all involved, live Premier League football is about to return.
ABOUT ONSIDE
ONSIDE is a leading specialist in marketing and sponsorship consulting and research services – With a proven track record and strong industry experience in a cross section of sectors, ONSIDE is currently feeding into the marketing and sponsorship decision making of circa €50m+ of Irish spend – working on many of Ireland’s premier sponsorships – on sporting, music, cause-related, broadcast and other platforms.
