Brand Leaders Share Expertise At #sibc

David Wheldon, chief marketing officer of RBS and Gerhard Fourie, general manager for global brand strategy and management for Nissan, gave honest and insightful views at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club today as they discussed where the smart money is going in sponsorship, top tips for rights holders and agencies, and the need for transparency in sponsorship.

The networking event came in the wake of World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) independent commission’s damning report about widespread doping in the athletics world, accusing Russia of sabotaging the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Fourie, who has been with Nissan since 1994, commented: “Anything that impacts the commercial property is a major consideration. When we go to boards to justify sponsorship investment, we project a certain return. So if fans stop engaging, especially for reasons off the field of play, it should be a concern. When we engage with fans we are excited about the sport as they are, so it’s very difficult when off-the-field things happen and we say ‘we don’t comment on that’, because that’s what they’re doing.”

Nissan is relatively new to the sports sponsorship market, adding more major deals with the UEFA Champions League and the ICC in recent times, as well as a deal with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) covering sport sponsorship for 100 US colleges and universities.  

“I agree that sponsors have to take a stand. My only concern is sponsors will often only know what everyone has read in the media, so if I was involved in athletics at the moment I certainly wouldn’t be tweeting my opinion just yet!

“At the heart of all this you need to respect the sport,” added Wheldon.

David Wheldon, who joined RBS in July from Barclays, commented that the role of sponsors has changed for rights holders: “When Sky first won the broadcast rights for the Premier League it was about even with Barclaycard who sponsored it, now the ration is about 10,000:1, so there’s not the money in football sponsorship for rights holders that there is in broadcast.

“But football gives you an entry to passion points that really cross borders. That passion is very difficult to replace and replicate.”

Fourie also commented on the influence of UK and European football on an international basis, especially in the South East Asia market: “Football is the global sport full stop. There are more Manchester City fans in the USA than there are in the UK.”

Asked by sports broadcaster James Pearce where the ‘smart money’ lies in sponsorship, the panel agreed that the Paralympics is likely to play a major role in the next 12 months, while women’s football will also become a key player in the market.

Whichever sport sponsors move into, Wheldon advised that the community level not be ignored: “If you want to be involved with sport, you need to be involved in the grassroots, and the two need to be joined up. It’s not just about the top end. A sponsor should also encourage the rights holder to do that at the same time.

“The power of sport to do things within a community is astonishing. I’m a big fan of sponsorship where you can get social benefit and brand benefit as well.”

The pair also offered some advice to agencies, and stressed the importance of their place in the market.

Fourie said: “Sponsorship is so much more than just a deal. To have an agency that understands you and what you are trying to achieve is very important. An agency needs to prove that they can build a long-term relationship. They should understand your business and opportunities across various platforms.”

“Answering the brief is important. Answering the brief and going beyond it is even better,” Wheldon added, who also championed employee engagement as a crucial factor in sponsorship.

He continued: “It’s essential for employees to get behind what the company is doing. If 35% of the population are football fans then it is very likely that 35% of your staff will be too. Employee engagement is massively underused and is often forgotten.”

So far in 2015 the Sport Industry Breakfast Club has seen the president of the Union Cycliste Internationale Brian Cookson; CEO of World Rugby Brett Gosper; football icon Gianluca Vialli; Aston Villa CEO Tom Fox and international cricketer Kevin Pietersen share their views with the industry audience.

The Sport Industry Breakfast Club is the industry’s number one networking event series with four content-led networking breakfasts over the course of the year. The Sport Industry Breakfast Club will return in 2016 with new speakers and dates are to be announced shortly.