LAST WEEK TODAY: INNOVATION & BRANCHING OUT
MISSING SPONSORSHIP NEWS?
Check out the blog every Monday for a weekly roundup of the past week's most exciting and industry-altering news. These stories cover March 4-10, 2019.
Some exciting deals over the past week - and in categories we don't see every day. We had three noteworthy announcements in women's sports and arts & education - some expanding on previous partnerships on the men's side. This is a great sign - to go with that earlier one by Visa & UEFA - that women's sport sponsorship is on the rise. International Women's Day was last Friday, and while we don't have a Twitter-popular recap for you yet, keep an eye out next week. Also rapidly changing are apparel and kit sponsorship allegiances. There's two discussed below, and we're sure you recall when PSG's Emirates to Accor switch was announced. We loved this week's out of the mainstream partnerships, and hope you will too.
- We mentioned last week it's Women's History Month. Fittingly, we've seen a good number of sponsorship deals in women's sport, as well as pieces about the importance of women's sport sponsorship and marketing to women. Nice.
- Several well-known entertainers are turning 50 this year (try Jennifer Aniston and Gwen Stefani), and The Drum reports that marketers are finally seeing the benefit of marketing to women 50+ (namely, that they account for 27%+ of consumer spending).
- Great Britain is doing especially well when it comes to the uptick in sponsorship of women's sports. Three deals made the news last week:
- In the north, Scottish Women's Football has found a new sponsor for its National Performance League (elite level girls' football). Interestingly, its the policy group Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems - a stark difference to the ABInBev partnership at the FIFA level.
- Team England - the women's team - has partnered with Lucozade Sport leading up to this year's World Cup. The sports drink and hydration brand has history with the Three Lions (first signing on in '08) prior to partnering with the Lionesses.
- Same category, different partnership: Gatorade has extended its deal with Manchester City, becoming Official Sports Nutrition Partner to the women's team.
- Also on the football front, Business Insider reports on just what makes EA's 'FIFA' better than the rest.
- Three noteworthy deals in the arts/education this week (TBH, we love seeing these because they can have so much impact!):
- Grammy-winning band OK Go and sponsor Cognizant Technology are hosting a contest - "Art in Space" - that will allow teams' ideas to make it onto a Blue Origin spacecraft.
- In San Francisco, Blue Shield of California has signed on to the naming rights of the theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
- Tribeca Film Festival has announced its sponsor lineup, and it's impressive: AT&T, 23andMe, P&G, PwC, Chanel, ESPN and others.
- The Boston Red Sox are first off the mark in the MLB signing MGM Resorts International to be its "official and exclusive resort casino."
- The apparel category has been shifting a lot lately. You may have seen the news about Arsenal and Adidas, but did you check out these two:
- Manchester City's new deal with Puma has inspired Borussia Dortmund to seek an improved deal with the brand. While Man City is replacing another brand with Puma, Dortmund is already a Puma partner and reportedly seeks the increased deal to better compete with perennial Bundesliga favorite Bayern Munich.
- In better news for Nike (as that's the brand deserted by Man City), the outfitter is apparently close to a deal with LA 2028. It would likely cover the period between 2021-2028 and include both LA2028 and USOC assets. Once signed, this appears to be the first deal done by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties.
- Courtyard by Marriott is the Official Hotel of the NFL, and the brand has figured out how to best activate that partnership at the Super Bowl. Check out Event Marketer's recap.
- Content is important. Check out below for how to make content an experience - as well as an example of a brand that has figured out how to make it work best.
- MarTech Advisors' article - 4 Reasons Why Content Experience Is the New Content Marketing - is your answer on why you'd expend this effort. Read carefully.
- Someone doing it right: the PGATOUR. The Tour found the right partner - Brave Bison - and are now reaping the rewards of a great content strategy on YouTube.
Did we miss any? Tweet @be_tandem to let us know - we hate being behind the times just as much as you do.
Look out next Monday for the usual round-up on sponsorship news.