JUDGEMENT DAY

Top-ranking UK companies and brand names are in line for trophies in the 1995 Hollis Sponsorship Awards, run in association with ESCA, the European Sponsorship Consultants Association.

The nominated campaigns demonstrate the sponsorship industry’s ability to work creatively and effectively to achieve a variety of communication objectives and reach tightly focused target groups with varying levels of budget. They span the full range from blue-chip players with big budgets, to community projects with minimal financial backing, and cover a wide range of sponsorship areas from sports and the Arts, to charities and the media.

All the nominees for awards bear witness to the industry’s growing effectiveness, maturity and professionalism. Some of the entrants rejected were found guilty of running campaigns in isolation from other media channels, under-exploiting and under-resourcing promotional activity, relying on press cuttings as evidence of success, and post-rationalising their sponsorship decisions.

The five categories in the awards cover Corporate Sponsorship, Brand Sponsorship, Sponsorship Continuity, First-Time Sponsorship and the ESCA Pan-European Award.

The judging panel comprised: Richard Ellis, senior sponsorship manager at TSB Bank; Scott Menneer, head of sponsorship for Bass Brewers; Locksley Ryan, director of public affairs at British Aerospace; Adrian Hitchin, executive director at research specialists SRi; Bob Peach, marketing manager at The Sports Council; Robin Ford, managing director of consultancy DSM Sponsorship; and ESCA and Orbit International chairman Ian Wight.

The panel was chaired by Hollis publishing director Rosemary Sarginson.

The winners of the 1995 awards will be announced at an awards lunch on February 13 to be held at the Eighth National Sponsorship Conference, run in association with Hollis Directories. The event includes: a presentation on Tennents’ T in the Park music festival from Scott Menneer and Mark Hunter of Bass Brewers; a session on barter conducted by Peter Benassi of Media Resources International; sponsorship lessons from experts in the US and Australia, along with many other workshops and presentations. The conference takes place at the London Metropole Hotel on February 12 and 13.

Corporate Sponsorship

Sponsor: Allied Domecq

The Royal Shakespeare Company

Agency: Scope Sponsorship

The three-year programme includes sponsoring all RSC productions in London and Stratford, the RSC’s education programme and touring programmes and the Prince of Wales Summer School for teachers. Allied Domecq has been successful in achieving its aims, which include being seen as a good corporate citizen, enriching the life of the community and being seen as a leading sponsor of the arts.

Sponsor: British Airways

The International Children’s Conference

Agency: Orbit International

The inaugural International Children’s Conference on the Environment was held in Eastbourne, Sussex, in October 1995. BA flew the 600 delegates from 80 countries to the conference, organised a satellite link to Russia and a space station, and created several other subsidiary activities. Coverage was broadcast in more than 40 countries around the world and associated the airline with caring, responsible values.

Sponsor: Commercial Union

LWT’s London’s Burning

Arranged by: Laser Sales

Commercial Union found a fit to its core values in that the fire brigade, like the insurance company, is a safety net that helps when disaster strikes. The difference is that LWT has made a drama out of a crisis, which, of course, CU doesn’t.

Sponsor: Telia

The World Championships in

Athletics

Scandinavia’s largest telephone firm sponsored the World Championships in Athletics, held in Gothenburg, Sweden, which also guaranteed it exclusive telecoms operator status for the event. Telia was seen as highly professional throughout and consumers’ views of the company were almost universally positive.

Brand Sponsorship

Sponsor: Beefeater Gin

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Agency: Scope Sponsorship

Beefeater has sponsored the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race for ten years, since deciding the race fulfilled its criteria of generating TV exposure, reflecting the brand’s character and pedigree, and appealing to ABC1s. The bias is towards the South of England, while also attracting international interest.

Promotion of the sponsorship included holding consumer rowing nights in pubs in London, Oxford and Cambridge; extensive point-of-sale efforts; scratch cards; neck hangers; direct mail to Gordon’s drinkers; and competitions in regional papers and radio stations. Media evaluation showed the 1995 venture had achieved greatly improved coverage across all media, with regional press coverage up 43 per cent and national TV items up 30 per cent on 1994.

Sponsor: Bass Brewers, Carling

Carling Premiership

Agency: In-house at Bass

The perfect synergy of football and beer attracts many brewers to sponsor football clubs, but as brand leader, Carling wanted to go one step further. The sponsorship of the FA Premier League emphasised the position of Carling as an active participant in the sport and “Football’s No 1 supporter”, with roadshows, a trophy tour, free newspapers for fans, a nationwide five-a-side competition, the Carling Net Internet site and a swathe of promotions and competitions. The ten per cent increase in sales of the product since the promotion began equates to 110m, and Carling now leads in both the on-trade and the take-home sector.

Sponsor: Whitbread, Heineken Export

Rugby World Cup 199Agency: In-house at Whitbread

The relaunch of a major sporting country, South Africa, was chosen as the ideal place to relaunch Heineken Export and establish it as a brand that was premium, global and smooth, while differentiating it from the core Heineken product. On- and off-trade promotions as well as joint investment by retailers, coincided with TV sponsorship of the five-week championship. TV ratings for the event were up 66 per cent on the 1991 World Cup and the event was watched by 92 per cent of 18 to 34-year-old ABC1 men – the product’s core target.

Sponsor: Lilt

The Lilt Notting Hill Carnival

Agency: Karen Earl

The largest street festival in Europe; a fun, “totally tropical” celebration of Caribbean history, art and culture, was seen as ideal for communicating directly with consumers and bringing the Lilt brand to life. The Lilt name was on all promotional material and many sites along the carnival route. Money was given for additional prizes and to pay for extra stewards at the event. The event attracted 1.7 million people and more media coverage than in previous years and was hailed as the most successful Carnival ever.

Sponsor: Stella Artois

The Stella Artois Grass Court Championships

Agency: Orbit

The Stella Artois sponsored tournament, which has been running at Queens Club, West London, since 1979, takes place two weeks before Wimbledon and is among the world’s top 15 tournaments for quality of entry. By 1988, Stella had© become the brand leader in the premium lager market, with a share of 10.4 per cent, and has remained there despite hundreds of competitive brand launches during that period.

Sponsorship Continuity

Sponsor: Beefeater Gin

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Agency: Scope Sponsorship

In the tenth year of Beefeater’s connection with the Boat Race, Scope made an extra effort to link the sponsorship more closely with the brand, with merchandising in off-licences as well as competitions and point-of-sale material in pubs. While retaining continuity with work carried out in previous years, an NOP Consumer Awareness study found consumer awareness of Beefeater’s sponsorship to be up 60 per cent on 1994, from 12 per cent to 19 per cent.

Sponsor: Lever Brothers, Persil

Persil Funfit scheme

Agency: APA Sponsorship Consultants

The Persil Funfit programme set out to address young housewives with children by communicating warm and caring brand values and associating the product with health and fitness, while diverting media attention from the soap wars. Play group and community involvement expanded the badge scheme for three to 11-year-olds outside the school gates. Endorsement from celebrities such as Frank Bruno and Sally Gunnell ensured plenty of media coverage. In the summer, the scheme was awarded a Meeting the Challenge logo by the Department of Health for its contribution to enhancing the health of the nation’s children.

Sponsor: Stella Artois

The Stella Artois Grass Court Championships

Agency: Orbit

In the 15 years that the Stella Artois Grass Court Championships have been running, the event has grown to have the highest recall of any UK tennis event sponsor, through a combination of strong media relations, sales promotion programmes, corporate hospitality and defini tive branding throughout the site.

Sponsor: TSB Bank TSB Athletics

Agency: APA Sponsorship

Consultants

TSB maximised its involvement with young people by sponsoring schools’ athletics as well as British Athletics in general. Initially a three-year deal set up in 1991, in 1995 the programme moved on to create the TSB Athletics Rankings and the TSB Team, with Sally Gunnell and Roger Black alongside sponsorship of the GB Athletics team. The programme has generated high-profile, year-round, regional and national media coverage and established TSB as the “young people’s” bank.

First-Time Sponsor

Sponsor: IDV, Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila

Wild Water Rodeo Series

Agency: APA Sponsorship

Consultants

Clean, exciting, bold and risky, the cult sport of rodeo kayaking (stunt canoeing on white water) was seen as ideal to complement Jose Cuervo and attract opinion leaders to the brand. The four events of the Wild Water Rodeo Series, endorsed by the British Canoe Union, attracted many event goers to sample the brand and garnered substantial TV, radio and press coverage.

Sponsor: Danka UK

The Lambourn Trainers’ Association (LTA) Agency: In-house at Danka

The UK’s second largest independent photocopier supplier wanted to increase brand awareness from the unprompted 12.3 per cent level of February 1995. The LTA represents 30 trainers with 1,500 horses running in 5,000 races a year. The deal ensured the Danka logo appeared on colours, paddock sheets, cooling blankets and horse boxes. Within a week of the programme’s start in March 1995, three major races had been won by Danka horses, to be followed by the Martell Grand National, watched by 12 million BBC1 viewers.

Sponsor: HNE Huntleigh

National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends

Bed and mattress manufacturer HNE Huntleigh found the chance to target a substantial customer base of 900 autonomous leagues, notoriously difficult to contact by sponsoring an awards scheme through their national association. It projected the core values of patient care, while broadening league members’ knowledge of the group’s products.

Sponsor: Lilt

The Lilt Notting Hill Carnival

Agency: Karen Earl

The first sponsorship of the 30-year-old Carnival also marked Lilt’s first foray into the arena, and successfully raised brand awareness, improved sales and conveyed the brand’s intrinsic values – of spirit, colour and vibrancy and being the totally tropical taste – to its core target of 16 to 35-year-olds.

ESCA Pan-European Award

Sponsor: British Airways

The International Children’s Conference

Agency: Orbit International

As a result of sponsoring the International Children’s Conference on the Environment, British Airways-branded activities were broadcast in more than 40 countries, and the conference organisers received more than 2,000 gifts, letters and expressions of gratitude, as well as great interest from governments and international companies.

Sponsor: Durex Dial MTV

Agency: McCann-Erickson

Durex hoped to play on its position as the world’s biggest condom manufacturer, while maintaining a youthful image and emphasising protection and sensitivity. This is against a background of advertising limitations, religious issues and the existence of various sub-brands in different markets.

MTV was seen as the ideal style-setting forum to recruit young adults to the fold, and with the abolition of restrictions on advertising, the sponsorship of interactive programme Dial MTV was able to work alongside ad spots. Extensive sampling at MTV events around Europe, such as the Cannes Film Festival, brought the product to a wide audience. Following the success of the deal in Europe, the sponsorship is to be rolled out in international markets this year.

Sponsor: Allied Distillers, Teacher’s

Teacher’s Jazz

Agency: Scope Sponsorship

Phase one of the pan-European music sponsorship programme consists of 48 concerts in 14 cities, aimed at encouraging consumers to try the brand and seek it out, while reflecting Teacher’s international status. Promotional relationships with key jazz publications and radio stations, as well as branded backdrops, on-site bars, drip-trays, tickets, posters and brochures, ensure the name has prominence during and around all the concerts.