It was the biggest Sponsorship Summit Ireland has ever hosted, the best in Europe in 2016 and a pleasure to be involved with from the outset.
Here are some of the thoughts and themes that struck us and those in attendance throughout the day…
Jonathan Cloonan grew up in Castleknock but crowned the very international nature of the day by bringing us stories from his ESP Properties base in New York around the digital influencers who shape the way we relate to brands.
“It’s not a new phenomenon. Â The Royal family endorsed Wedgwood pottery in the 18th Century and the first sporting and celebrity endorsements have been around for a century, mainly starting off with promoting cigarettes.”
“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is. Â It is what the consumers tell each other it is.”
“Creating the content only works if it is correctly teased in advance, anchored in the right community and amplified, through paid peer to peer endorsement if needed.”
It would appear that while this present movement sprung from individuals making their own statement and gaining traction organically that it has quickly developed its own ecosystem of referral and when paid, becoming a part of the wider marketing scene.
‘For every $1 spend on digital influencers $7 comes in the door’ – @CloonanJ discussing the effectiveness of digital influencers #iss2016
— MDP UCD (@MDP_IE) February 25, 2016
Rob Mills of the Gemba Group brought us on a journey to the East with some stunning figures around the growing power and influence of China.
“They have used more concrete in the last two and a half years than the US has in the last 100.”
And this in terms of the numbers of passionate and engaged sports fans. Â If you thought that mandarin ads on Premier League TV broadcasts were just a fad, think again.
Wow! 18M football ‘fanatics’ in UK, 485M in China. Seismic power shift hurtling towards us. @Millsyrob#ISS2016pic.twitter.com/T5Jerjjegm
— Sport for Business (@SportforBusines) February 25, 2016
The 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2019 Rugby World Cup will all take place when we are thinking more about breakfast cereals than beer and that will have a major impact on the kind of local sponsorship deals and activations that are coming.
When Patrick O’Brien bounded on stage in a white stetson and rawhide boots it looked as though the whole Garth Brooks episode at Croke Park had come to a natural conclusion.
His high energy presentation of creating sponsorship opportunities and enhancing the experience at the massive Calgary Stampede was something of a master class for event marketers with a winning mix of planning, execution and management. Â It’s a 112 year old event but as fresh and popular today as ever.
It certainly left everyone in the room thinking that this was a scouting mission we should all be going on in July…
RTÉ sponsored the lunch and told the story of how Operation Transformation had been transformed itself through a sponsorship partnership with Safe Food Ireland.
Matthew Leopold of British Gas delivered his presentation at 11,000 kilometres per hour and amid some telling commentary about sponsorship pitching, reporting and measuring he also left us with no doubt as to why the idea for turning swimming pools gold to celebrate Olympic medal success was simply a bad idea.
“Sponsorship is the magic bullet that gets us to a place in people’s minds that we want to be. Â It’s the lifeblood of teams and organisations around the world.”
“We need to research, test and prove that sponsorship is a robust marketing channel.”
“We do it because it feels right but that doesn’t give it the respect it deserves.”
Six lessons Matthew has learned:
- Know what you need
- Know your audience
- Create a unifying vision
- Outputs must be based on inputs
- Big numbers are not always helpful
- Not all brand activations are sustainable
Justin Clarke of Taste Festivals, as part of IMG really connecting brands with consumers through shared passion.
“23 cities around the world, all incredibly diverse. We know what we are but we never supposed that we knew everything about where we have been.”
“It’s about being curious, asking questions, learning as we go.”
Avril Bannerton up now, back after a break from Taste of Dublin and happy to have grown to bring second biggest of the global Taste festivals.
Danny Glantz, the man behind AIG’s global sponsorship of the All Blacks, Man United and Dublin GAA is up on stage now.
“Critical to align objectives and priorities.”
“Big challenge to rebuild reputation after financial crisis. Strength, preparation, integrity and teamwork were the shared values that brought us together.”
“30 cameras, 360 virtual reality haka, 1 take, 100,000 engagements”
“Objectives in Dublin were different. In 2013 we wanted to move from known in connection with Man United but a consumer business launch needed greater local connection.”
“Dublin GAA became a company case study in how to drive revenue through sponsorship, as well as awareness.”
“From the North Wall in Dublin to the Green Monster at Fenway, this has worked for us.”
“350% increase in business and we built attribution model to test how the sponsorship worked.”
“Jerseys on fans makes up 5% of broadcast coverage.”
Jon Burkhart the man who created Newsjacking  trying to get brands involved in the conversation that’s happening right now.
“I might have created a monster”
“Newsrooms around whether you fold or scrunch toilet paper may have gone too far.”
“Little real time pieces of content are needed. Â Think of your content strategy in terms of balls, from ping pong balls to bowling balls to wrecking balls.”
There’s not many presentations before 9am that get Sir Alex Ferguson, Rihanna’s see through dress, Martian potatoes and Motherwell into the mix.
“Put the fans first. Create surprise and delight ideas.”
“Come up with lots of bits of creative content, then wait for popular culture to catch up”
The action got underway after a Gourmet Fuel breakfast at 8am with Adrian Barry of Newstalk chatting on stage with Luke Evans and Patrick Haslett of Paralympics Ireland, nominated as the days Charity and pushing the wonderful campaign that is #MorethanSport
We will return to the Summit next week with a few of the presentations, an image gallery of those that were there and a video round up of the day.
We will also of course be back for the Irish Sponsorship Summit 2017. Â We will not be alone. Â Well done to Bruce Mansour and the team from PSG Sponsorship on the work that went into creating a memorable day. Â It is truly the work that goes in on a wet Wednesday morning in November that pays off then the spotlight switches on.
