At this Thursday’s ESA Summit in London, a panel will discuss the ‘T-shaped career’ path, the opportunity for sponsorship sector people to work across marketing disciplines and apply their knowledge in areas of expertise other than their own.
Sports Sponsorship Insider editor Matthew Glendinning asked Nick Caplin, director of communications, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, whether the sponsorship sector does enough to develop the skill sets required for its practitioners to reach further up the career ladder.
The panel also includes Amanda Fone, founder and managing partner,
f1 recruitment, Andy Sutherden, global head of sports marketing & sponsorship, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Mark Evans, marketing director, Direct Line Group and Michael Fleming, business development manager, Havas Sports & Entertainment ignition.
Sports Sponsorship Insider: How has the sponsorship sector traditionally function next to other marketing disciplines?
Nick Caplin: For too long, sponsorship has been a closed shop, in fact, I would go as far to say that sport has been a closed shop. More than most industries, sport has been built around networking and experiences that are specific to sport.
As such, people sometimes felt it’s better the devil you know or, at least, better to work with people you know and trust rather than bring in new blood from different areas of marketing.
But the sports industry is changing significantly. Sponsorship values have reached whole new levels and the expectations of fans, consumers and sponsors are changing.
SSI: How is the sports industry developing new skill sets?
NC: The situation has been forced on the industry to look outside itself and to the skill sets of branding. Sports events always were brands but now they are perceived as such.
Football clubs are now less about a community institution and more about a global brand. Governing bodies too are trying to branch out into new areas of business, bringing in people with wider brand experience.
In most cases, sponsorship is about enhancing brand recognition and association with the sport and cannot be separated from that fact.
SSI: How do organisations like ESA promote better understanding of career options?
NC: The T-shaped career path is an issue that has been around the sponsorship industry for some time, but there is now far greater discussion about the skill sets required to develop careers further, as well as the potential for development because of where the sponsorship industry is going.
ESA has recognised that there is a problem and that it has to do something about it, whether that’s through the ESA Diploma at the early career stage or promoting discussions like this. There’s no doubt that people from the sponsorship sector have skills to transfer to the wider marketing area.
SSI: Why hasn’t practitioner from the sponsorship sector become a global marketing voice in the mould of Sir Martin Sorrell?
NC: There are not many Martin Sorrels in the world, he’s a special talent, but can someone from sponsorship rise to that level? Of course, there’s nothing to stop you taking on the world in the marketing arena. Sponsorship won’t necessarily hold you back but you need a rounded experience and experience of sponsorship alone is not enough.