TBWA Group launches sponsorship consultancy

TBWA Group this week launches a sponsorship consultancy called Stream/MSI.

The venture will offer strategic, creative and practical advice to brand owners, and is a joint venture with TBWA’s US-based Omnicom sister agency Millsport.

Millsport currently acts as chief sponsorship adviser to Pepsi, Sony and Visa.

Stream/MSI has hired a group of consultants in key areas including media, online, sport and music, and has already picked up a number of clients including a major contract with Cadbury which culminated in its sponsorship of the Commonwealth Games (MW last week).

As well as operating in the UK, Stream/MSI expects to expand into Europe.

Mike Falconer, managing director of Stream/MSI, says: “The sponsorship market is hugely different from the way it was three years ago. It now extends across the entire spectrum of entertainment and information.”

“There is an urgent need for specialist intermediaries who start with the needs of the brand, can advise right across the sponsorship spectrum and have responsibility solely to the brand owner.”

TBWA Group chairman Paul Bainsfair adds: “TBWA has been examining the best route into the burgeoning world of sponsorship for some time. This is a new and potent proposition for sponsors.”

In June, Octagon Marketing announced that it was launching a cause related marketing service within its marketing division (MW June 14).