Andy’s ‘ESA Duty’ chat
by Andy Westlake – ESA Chariman
It’s been a busy couple of weeks on ESA duty. First up, we were very excited to be invited to be part of the SBC Sponsorship Forum – it was a great day at the Hilton Olympia and provided an opportunity for a broad range of stakeholders from the betting and gaming sector to gather to discuss opportunities to create value through sport sponsorship.
There were some great speakers and a real sense of how sponsorship can continue to contribute positively to the reputation of the industry. We were delighted to be on a panel hosted by Maarten Haijer from The European Gaming & Betting Association, an organisation we’ve had a long and fruitful relationship with.
The following week, I was delighted to be representing The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) at the SportsPro The Brand Conference. We’ve been working in collaboration with SportsPro on this event, so it was terrific to see so many great people, and, as the name suggests, lots of great brand leaders, in attendance.
If I had to draw THREE KEY CONCLUSIONS from the sessions I attended, they would be as follows:
1. Sponsorship is alive and well! I attended a number of presentations and panel discussions where brand marketing leaders were evangelising about the power of sport as a way to build their business. From Monster to Beko, authentic, value adding sponsorship can still be the essential marketing supplement that helps make a more powerful connection with your customers – and gets them to behave differently.
2. Technology & innovation is at the heart of the industry. We heard from Jeremy Waite at IBM about Artificial Intelligence, Bayern Munich’s Head of Digital Strategy about their digital fan engagement and rights holders like Tie Break Tens and the ECB on rights holder innovation. We also saw a presentation from Zarah Al-Kudcy from Formula 1 on how they’re evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of fans. It’s clear that we’re in a time where we must be brave, try new things and constantly look to reinvent business as usual – it seems that the organisations doing just that have a great story to tell.
3. We also heard from brands that were investing in campaigns that had a real social agenda at their core. Beko’s ‘Eat Like a Pro’ with Barcelona FC and the work that Nature Valley are doing to drive participation in tennis, are two great examples where a getting behind a social agenda is paying off big time and I’m sure we’ll see more work like this as brands seek to build trust and reputation.
Alongside a few brilliant breakout sessions, a panel session on sponsorship and some great networking drinks, we’re already looking forward to 2019!
Andy Westlake, ESA Chairman | Westlake Consulting