ESA News

A study released by IMG Consulting has revealed the increasing importance that social media plays in the daily life of football fans, highlighted this week by the England World Cup team announcement, which was instantly relayed across social media long before the official squad announcement at 2pm. According to the report, 16-29 year olds proved the most likely to use social media sites to engage with sports brands, while 35% of UK football supporters on Twitter are now following their team, ... read more

ESA’s Knowledge event entitled ‘Connected Audience, Commercial Return' being held in London next week (Thurs 22nd)May will look at how digital audiences can maximise commercial return. The ESA Skills Workshop is being held in partnership with RadiumOne, the programmatic advertising experts whose unique Marketing Operating System (MOS) understands connected audiences everywhere. The session will start with an overview of the latest developments and be followed with breakout sessions where ... read more

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) launched a new policy document on ambush marketing at its annual Sponsorship Summit held in London yesterday, 3rd April. The 13-page updated policy paper explores the current sponsorship issues relating to ambush marketing and campaigns that may be developed to take advantage of the staging of major events. The paper addresses situations where brands have developed and run creative marketing campaigns using the opportunity to push the boundaries and ... read more

This Thursday’s ESA Sponsorship Summit in London will see 150 professionals gathering to discuss and debate the critical issues affecting the industry. The day’s packed programme includes five panel discussions plus two keynote speakers, giving the industry the opportunity to put time aside to have a frank discussion about what is working, what needs changing and how best to maximise new opportunities. ITV’s MD of Commercial, Online and Interactive, Fru Hazlitt will deliver the keynote address ... read more

Adidas wins Sponsorship Of The Year Trophy as UK Industry Awards celebrates its 20th Anniversary and Lloyds TSB/BOS’s London 2012 Partnership scoops Best Sponsorship of the Last 20 Years Adidas’ Team Messi sponsorship was named Sponsorship Of The Year at the 20th UK Sponsorship Awards, held in front of a capacity crowd at the London Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, March 26 2014. At the same time, Lloyds TSB and Bank Of Scotland’s partnership with London 2012 was named as The Best Sponsorship of ... read more

A discussion focusing on how the industry promotes itself currently and how it can improve will form part of the ESA Sponsorship Summit in London on Thursday 3rd April. The session has been arranged following feedback from the industry, which feels it is not very good at telling its own story. A panel will explore the issues holding sponsorship back and seek positive steps to improve its image which is largely shaped by its portrayal in the media. The panel comprises a mix of journalists and ... read more

A discussion focusing on career opportunities will form a key part of the ESA Sponsorship Summit in London on Thursday 3rd April. The session is aimed at those interested particularly in making sponsorship a career path towards a Board level position. It will explore whether, in career development terms, sponsorship is viewed as part of marketing or whether it is more often considered as a cross-functional discipline. Finally, it will examine how CMOs view their sponsorship team – as an ideal ... read more

Does sponsorship have a future in a changing social landscape and could it be threatened with radical decline? This question will be raised and addressed by the second keynote speaker, industry veteran Patrick Nally, CEO of West Nally, at the ESA Sponsorship Summit in London on Thursday 3rd April. Challenged with presenting The Second Model for sponsorship, Patrick Nally will discuss his vision of a new approach to succeed his original model in the 1970s which was designed to maximise a rights ... read more

Fru Hazlitt, Managing Director of Commercial, Online and Interactive at ITV will tackle the ‘Meaning of Sponsorship’ seen through a media lens as she delivers the keynote address at this year’s ESA Sponsorship Summit in London on the 3rd April. With over 20 years’ experience of the media sector and previous roles at Virgin Radio, Yahoo and The Guardian Media Group, Fru will provide a media perspective on some of the current challenges facing the industry. She will then be joined by industry ... read more

The industry’s must-attend conference taking place in London next month (3 April) will address a core issue concerning practitioners – the need to prove to businesses the value of sponsorship. This challenge was identified at ESA’s Summit last year and in response, the Association has invited a panel of experts to discuss and debate the current approach to evaluation and how this is being developed to keep pace with a fast-changing marketing landscape. The panel will discuss the methodologies ... read more

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) is delighted to announce that ITV’s Fru Hazlitt and industry veteran Patrick Nally will deliver Keynote speeches at the 2014 ESA Sponsorship Summit to be held in London on Thurs 3rd April. This year’s Summit will open with Fru Hazlitt, Managing Director of Commercial, Online and Interactive at ITV, giving the Keynote address which will look at the state of the industry and explore current issues. With over 20 years of experience in the media sector ... read more

The 12th edition of Sports Marketing Days will be held at the Polish Olympic Centre in Warsaw on the 6th and 7th of March 2014. The annual conference brings together representatives of the largest companies, clubs and sports organizations, local governments and marketing academics. Sports Marketing Days is where sport meets business. During the event, respected and influential speakers will discuss the current trends that are changing the world of sports. Topics include digital media, ... read more

Over the past year, ESA has been in discussions with the Portman Group, the UK organisation representing all alcohol producers. The work was part of the UK government’s Responsibility Deal, with the aim to develop a UK Code of Alcohol Sponsorship that would be binding on all alcohol sponsors. In particular, ESA has assisted in including rights holders in these discussions in order to represent the views of those hosting and staging sponsored events supported by alcohol companies. The Portman ... read more

Global and national brands Aberdeen Asset Management, British Gas, Liberty Insurance and SAP were among those crowned winners at the prestigious 2013 ESA Excellence Awards held in London yesterday evening, 29th January. The Awards Ceremony took place at the stunning Plaisterers’ Hall and was hosted by Steve Parry, UK Radio/TV presenter and former Olympic swimmer. The sold-out event attracted a record number of guests. The European Sponsorship Association’s (ESA) annual awards received entries ... read more

Irish sponsorships picked up two of the most prestigious awards at the ESA Excellence Awards last night, with Liberty Insurance winning the Business to Consumer category for its joint sponsorship of Gaelic Athletic Association sports, Hurley and Camogie, and Electric Ireland winning the gold medal in the ESA Best of Europe category for its Sponsorship of Team Ireland in the London Olympics 2012. The ESA Best of Europe award is the prize given to the best of six national sponsorship association ... read more

A memorandum from the European Commission reveals that sport, in its broadest sense, adds €294 billion in gross value to the EU economy. The memorandum also reveals: • 4.5 million people in Europe are directly employed in sport – that’s 2.1% of the total EU workforce; • twelve to 15 million international trips are made worldwide each year for the main purpose of watching sporting events; • sport is a growth engine for the wider economy – generating value added and jobs across a range of ... read more

From f1 recruitment: f1 is supporting the Professional Development Award at the ESA event on Wednesday and it sends good luck to all the finalists! The ESA Excellence Awards will be presented in London this Wednesday evening at Plaisterers' Hall. Congratulations to everyone on the shortlists. Entries have been received from 11 European countries and have been judged by 14 independent expert judges from across the continent. The ESA Members’ Professional Development Award is being supported by ... read more