AEG, British Athletics and What Car? are the shortlisted brands in the “Rights Holder” sponsorship category for the 2013 ESA Excellence Awards to be decided this month.
The ESA Awards, organised by the European Sponsorship Association, recognise excellence within the sponsorship industry across Europe.
The rights holder nominees were entered for the following sponsorship projects: AEG for the Barclaycard British Summer Time Festival, British Athletics for the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, and What Car? for the What Car? Awards.
The winners of the 2013 ESA Excellence Awards, of which Sports Sponsorship Insider is a partner, will be announced at the Awards Ceremony and Dinner to be held in London on January 29, 2014.
Below, in the ninth of a series of sponsorship profiles across ten award categories, Sports Sponsorship Insider summarises the three rights holder category contenders
Project: AEG Global Partnerships and BBST
Rights holder: AEG
In November 2012 AEG was announced the winner of a tender with the Royal Parks in London to manage a music concert series in Hyde Park from the summer of 2013 for five years. The concerts were due to start in the summer of 2013. A sponsor for the event was integral to deliver the vision AEG had set out in the tender process. In a short time period, AEG secures Barclaycard as title partner for The Barclaycard British Summer Time Festival, a 10-day festival consisting of six nights of music including The Rolling Stones and four days of non-ticketed events including comedy and sports.
Project: Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games
Rights holder: British Athletics
British Athletics’ 13-year relationship with major sponsor Aviva ended in January 2013, as the governing body sought to work with new partners and increase athletics’ public exposure. This allowed British Athletics to seek a title sponsor specifically for the Anniversary Games, a three-day official celebration of London 2012, one year on.
The priorities for the event, which were shared by Sainsbury’s, was to sell out and increase awareness of the event, provide an excellent customer experience and secure athletics’ legacy as the premier Olympic and Paralympic sport.
Project: What Car? Maximise Their Commercial Potential
Rights Holder: What Car?
What Car? was not satisfied that its flagship event – the What Car? Awards – was reaching its full commercial potential. Historically, the 36-year-event had been unable to sustain nor consistently secure sponsors. In 2011, only one sponsor was involved and the event achieved the lowest revenue in its history.
Through a competitive pitch, What Car? chose the Slingshot Sponsorship agency to revamp their strategy. The key objective was to create sustainable revenue against the What Car? Awards. The restructuring of the sponsorship offering created a platform through which sponsors could wholly integrate themselves through various channels both online and offline.