Blogs

Claire Ritchie is an international, commercially focused business leader with extensive senior level experience in telecommunications, high-tech and sports giving her a unique skill set for creating technology enabled sponsorships. Results driven, Claire has over 25 years experience in-house and ... read more

Andy has worked in the sponsorship industry for 25 years, first on the media owner side for Capital Radio and EMAP developing and marketing commercial radio and cross media sponsorship properties. Since 1998 he has been actively involved in the agency world, initially building a sponsorship ... read more

  Chris Cooke is MD and Business Editor of CMU, which supports the music community through a news and information service, a training and consultancy business, and an education programme for future talent. For the music industry, brand partnerships are an ever more important part of the ... read more

Rob started his career at The Works London, initially supporting Canon, Sun Microsystems and SAP, who were all sponsors of the McLaren F1 team. He later lead all the marcoms and production for Canon’s sponsorship of UEFA EURO 2004™ in Portugal before joining ABN AMRO, as Global Sponsorship Manager, ... read more

Karen is a highly respected veteran of the Sponsorship industry and has amassed a wealth of knowledge and contacts over the past 30 years. Karen started Karen Earl Sponsorship in 1984, and continued on as Chairman after its name change to Synergy in 2008 until stepping down in April 2012. As ... read more

ESA Chairman, Karen Earl, was recently interviewed by the BBC for an article that looked at how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had relaxed the sponsorship rules around athletes who have commercial deals with firms that are not official Olympic sponsors. The article is live on the BBC ... read more

Sophie Morris Strategic Marketing & Sponsorship Consultant Millharbour Marketing What’s your favourite ever sponsorship activation? Can I have two? Firstly it would be MasterCard’s 23rd Man as part of their sponsorship of the Barbarian’s rugby team. I was leading sponsorship of ... read more

The ESA Excellence Awards aren't just about recognising the best examples of sponsorship and activation across Europe. They're also the perfect excuse for our industry to let their collective hair down, meet up with old and new friends and enjoy a great evening of entertainment. And what a line up ... read more

British Canoeing (BC) is the national governing body for paddlesports in the UK. Formerly known as the British Canoe Union, Canoe England and GB Canoeing, BC now bring together the Scottish, NI and Welsh bodies into a unified umbrella. We spoke to Mark Taffler about what they’ve learnt since 2012, ... read more

Member Spotlight: SSE plc is one of the UK’s leading energy companies, involved in the generation, distribution and supply of electricity and in the extraction, storage, distribution and supply of gas. Its core purpose is to provide the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way. It ... read more

Career Top Tips: Edd Hood is Director, Communications, at JMI, the world’s largest motorsports agency. ESA Future Leaders Board member, Lizzie Isherwood, spoke to Edd about his role, how he got to where he is today and the highlights of his career to date. In a nutshell, what does your role as ... read more

Member Spotlight: RTR Sports Marketing is based between Bologna, Italy, and London, UK. Founded in 1999 by Riccardo Tafa, the company has worked with clients from across the sporting spectrum, with activities ranging from sponsorship to licensing and from hospitality services to digital ... read more

Career Top Tips: We recently spoke to ESA Future Leaders Board (FLB) member Joe Ogden about how he got into sponsorship and asked him to share some words of wisdom. Getting into Sponsorship - Five Career Tips I found myself in the same position as many graduates when I left University a few ... read more

Member Spotlight:   Diageo is a world leader in beverage alcohol and owns brands that include, amongst others, Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Smirnoff and Guinness. As a global company, Diageo employs more than 28,000 talented people, and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around ... read more

Member Spotlight: Dorna Sports is an international sports management, marketing and media company that was founded in 1988. With its HQ in Madrid, and further branch offices and/or subsidiaries in Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam and Tokyo, Dorna has been the exclusive commercial and television ... read more