Brand Focus
‘Being a woman shouldn’t be risky’ | Virginie Berçot, AXA
AXA acquired the naming rights to Liverpool Women’s new Melwood Training Centre to support a global campaign targeting female consumers, according to Virginie Berçot, global brand director for the French multinational insurance firm.
‘A Man City player talking about their home is authentic’ | Crystal Tsang, Etihad
Crystal Tsang of Etihad Airways explains how the brand's sponsorship strategy is based on helping it grow in key destinations to which it flies.
‘Our goal is to work with every Premier League team’ | Charlie Ebersol, Infinite Athlete
Infinite Athlete chief executive Charlie Ebersol says the technology brand has seen an immediate benefit from its front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC.
‘Our target audience over-indexes in cricket’ | James Morrison, Laithwaites
James Morrison, head of brand and partnerships for Laithwaites Wine, explains why the wine delivery service returned as a sponsor of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
LA Tourism seeks Covid bounceback with sponsorship strategy
LA Tourism is leaning into sports sponsorship to attract more overseas visitors and restore visitor numbers to pre-pandemic levels, according to Adam Burke, chief executive of the tourism body.
Meltzer: Sorare focusing on ‘growth and marketing’ in next stage of evolution
Sorare is unlikely to make significant additions to its sports licensing portfolio in the immediate future and will spend the coming months focusing on “growth and marketing”, according to the company’s head of business development, Michael Meltzer.
‘The Women’s Ashes has given us huge momentum’ | Danielle Lee, Metro Bank
Danielle Lee, director of brand and marketing for Metro Bank, explains why the company is making grassroots women's cricket the focus of its sponsorship deal with the ECB..
DP World ramps up McLaren sponsorship activation for Singapore Grand Prix
SportBusiness Sponsorship talks to DP World and its agency of record 160over90 about the brand's sponsorship strategy and how it is leveraging a deal with McLaren F1 to support its B2B objectives.
‘I was adamant I wanted our car on the pitch’ | Laura Wood, Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover is making its Defender brand the centrepiece of its Rugby World Cup sponsorship deal, according to director of global brand partnerships Laura Wood.
‘Fifa was amazing reputationally’ | Steven Kalifowitz, Crypto.com
Crypto.com’s sponsorship of last year’s Fifa men’s World Cup generated a spike in visits to its website and communicated ‘staying power and solidity’, according to CMO Steven Kalifowitz.
‘We’re moving more towards content partnerships’ | Rollo Goldstaub, TikTok UK
Rollo Goldstaub, UK head of sport and gaming at TikTok, says the short-form video platform is pivoting to more of a content partnership strategy in sport.
‘The Knicks overlap with our target audience’ | MSC Cruises
Swiss-based cruise line MSC Cruises has significantly increased its sports sponsorship activity since the turn of the year. Matthew Williams talks to head of sponsorship, Alberto Revelli.
‘Wembley is a physical embodiment of the mobile network’ | Matt Stevenson, EE
EE sponsors Wembley Stadium because it “big, bold and iconic” and allows the brand to “bring the network to life”. Ben Cronin speaks to the company's head of sponsorship, Matt Stevenson.
‘At Wimbledon, our tech capabilities become accessible’ | Kevin Farrar, IBM
Kevin Farrar said the sponsorship's longevity represents its success and showcasing technology is at its heart.
‘Sponsorship leads to a different conversation with clients’ | Thomas Hirsch, Capgemini
As a B2B company, sponsorship allows Capgemini to showcase its wide-ranging capabilities to clients in exciting and emotive ways. Faaez Samadi speaks to the company's sponsorship director Thomas Hirsch.
Sponsorship is crucial in ‘extremely competitive’ market | Catherine Fang, Hisense
Consumer electronics company Hisense believes there is a direct correlation between sales of its televisions and appliances and its aggressive global sports sponsorship strategy. Matthew Glendinning speaks to Catherine Fang, executive vice president of Hisense International.
‘We were really struggling to connect with male audiences’ | Emily White-Heath, Sure
Unilever-owned deodorant brand Rexona uses its sponsorship deals with Premier League sides Manchester City and Chelsea FC to connect with male audiences and to amplify its grassroots sports initiatives. Ben Cronin speaks to global senior brand development manager Emily White-Heath.
‘Formula 1 was the natural fit’ | Andrew Bennett, Smartsheet
Project and work management software company Smartsheet uses sports sponsorship to integrate its services into high-profile sports organisations like McLaren Racing and NHL franchise the Seattle Kraken. Matthew Williams reports.