ESA Diploma alumni in focus
Want to know how taking part in the ESA Diploma can take your career to the next level? Check out our interview series with previous graduates to find out how their careers have flourished:
Michael Higham – Head of Sponsorship, Sevilla FC
Daniel McEwan – Head of Partnerships, McLaren Racing
Natasha Cabral – Senior Sales Manager, AEG
Luke Wilson – Head of Partnerships, Pitch Marketing Group
Feedback from 2020 Diploma Graduates
Natalia Stanowska – Sponsorship Coordinator, Toyota GB
The ESA Diploma has been a really great experience for me, not only professionally (learning the ins and outs of the sponsorship industry) but also in terms of personal development. Juggling work and study is something I am very familiar with from my university studies, but I never expected to be working and studying, during a worldwide lockdown, from my makeshift dining room table office space!
Natasha Maher – Marketing Manager, Mitsubishi Motors Ireland
I would highly recommend anyone involved in sponsorship activities (regardless of your role) to look into completing the ESA Diploma – the experience and industry experts you are exposed to are reason alone to take part.
Ashley Keating – Assistant Campaigns Manager, Aer Lingus
I am delighted to have successfully graduated the ESA Diploma in Sponsorship Marketing. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would 100% recommend it to anyone considering taking it on. The content provided including some great guest lectures along the way.
Stuart Searle – Commercial Partnerships Manager, British Triathlon
Being a part of the ESA Diploma in 2020 has been a genuinely excellent experience.
Personally, it’s been a great distraction from the trials and tribulations of a difficult year for everyone. It also gave me the opportunity to work hard, develop and push myself academically in a way that I haven’t been able to for a few years, as well as make a few good friends along the way. In light of not being able to meet up as much as we would have liked, the course organised for us to divide into networking sub-groups, a great improvisation in light of challenging circumstances and in lieu of the normal seminars.
Professionally, I would estimate that the amount I learned about sponsorship on this course equates to what you would learn organically over 5-10 years on the job. Case studies and professional perspectives from rights holders, brands and agencies allowed me to hugely expand my understanding of the industry and sponsorship as a discipline.
I am tremendously grateful to my classmates, to the team at ESA and particularly to Peter Raymond for being an amazing mentor throughout the 9 months of this course. Whether you’re starting out a fledgling career in sponsorship, you’re looking to diversify from other areas of marketing or you’re a seasoned partnerships veteran, I highly recommend this course.
Katie Hanley – Sponsorship Manager, Packed.House
Covering a wide range of topics and including brilliant guest speakers from across the industry, the ESA Diploma gave great insight from every aspect including the rights holder, the agency and the sponsor. I would highly recommend this diploma to anyone looking to further their knowledge within the sponsorship and sports marketing landscape.
James Wilson – Commercial Partnerships Coordinator, Bristol Sport
It was a pleasure to take part in the ESA Diploma this year alongside some experts in the sponsorship industry. The course has been a great learning experience both professionally and personally.
A big thank you to Peter Raymond for all his support and guidance throughout the course and the team at ESA for all their hard work in putting together such a fantastic curriculum, which saw a host of great guest speakers who provided plenty of live examples and a deeper understanding of sponsorship and marketing overall.
Megan Cotter – Account Executive, 160Over90
I would highly recommend the ESA Diploma to anyone in the sponsorship industry or wanting to enter the industry (all professional levels!). The course has allowed me to build a comprehensive understanding and knowledge within the wider sponsorship landscape, beyond my discipline, and introduced me to a large network of fantastic individuals in the industry. The teaching and guidance from Course Director Peter Raymond is fantastic and he was available throughout the whole course for any advice and questions you needed. Each course session included presentations from various individuals in the sponsorship industry (Octagon, Evian and many more) and I thought this was brilliant as we were able to interact with different rights holders, sponsors and agencies and explore the 360-degree approach to sponsorship.
Conall Devlin – Solicitor, A&L Goodbody
The ESA Diploma provides an unique opportunity to creatively learn about the prevailing commercial world of Sponsorship negotiation, regulation, activation and evaluation from a sponsor, agent and right holder’s perspective. The life cycle of a Sponsorship and how Sports Marketing manifests itself today is taught through contemporary and insightful course material, access to cutting edge sponsorship intelligence websites and seminars from some of the most renowned and passionate practitioners in the sporting Sponsorship space. These teachings are applied to challenging and enjoyable modular assignments and culminating in a Set Brief – as an example, in 2020 this was to present partnership recommendations for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. As someone coming from a legal background, I would highly recommend the Diploma to anyone, across various related industries, interested in developing their understanding of where sponsorship fits in to the business of sport generally and improving their marketing and people competencies.
Robert Taylor – Account Manager, Boundless by CSMA
It has been an extremely enjoyable experience undertaking the ESA Diploma over the last 10 months, as well as highly beneficial in helping me to broaden my knowledge of marketing and sponsorship.
A big thanks goes out to Course Director Peter Raymond, whose guidance, work and support was invaluable and made the content of the diploma come to life.
Feedback from 2019 Diploma Graduates
Steve Elworthy, Managing Director – ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP
(2019 ESA Diploma graduation guest of honour)
The ESA Diploma is unique, which is absolutely fantastic and it can only raise the standards of the industry. I learnt through marketing and then being a sponsorship manager you’ve got to figure out the ecosystem – learning about all the different rights and what sponsorship means. Having a diploma in sponsorship is fantastic because it’ll fast-track the students in the industry – their understanding of the industry will just be at a different level and they won’t have to learn on the job, and that is one of the key successes.
At the inaugural World T20 tournament in 2007, when you think about what those sponsorship agreements looked like in comparison to sponsorship now, the space has gone through an incredible evolution, the pace of acceleration is so rapid. The industry needs to understand where the market is going and the ESA Diploma equips its students to do that.
Edward Barnard, professional cricketer – WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB
I absolutely loved the ESA Diploma. The amount of work was perfect, it struck the balance of being really engaging but also manageable during the cricket season. The quality of work was tough at times but [Course Director] Peter Raymond was brilliant and was always free for a chat.
The quality of people on the course and all their diverse backgrounds has opened my eyes to the full potential of sponsorship and marketing and broadened my knowledge so much. The course is held in such high esteem and that will open up opportunities for me in the future.
Harry Eckersley – CSM
I couldn’t recommend this course highly enough. It was a challenge but being taught by someone with such an amazing passion about the discipline of sponsorship is amazing. I’m just starting out my career in sponsorship so it was an amazing learning curve and has equipped me with the skills I need to move forward. Within CSM it’s already opened up some conversations, so as a qualification it’s obviously well thought-of within the business and the industry.
Sharon Fuller – PWC
I thoroughly enjoyed the ESA Diploma. The course was challenging but that’s good because it means you’re learning continuously and putting those learnings into action throughout the course. I was lucky enough to be promoted within PwC recently and I have the diploma to thank for that – my experiences with the course got me across the line. I found the content extremely good – as someone from the brand-side of the industry it was really interesting to get new perspectives and I found the course gave me a really broad knowledge of the whole industry.
Naivasha Oakes – ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB
The ESA Diploma is a diverse course that allows you to build a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the wider sponsorship landscape, beyond your specific disciplines or sports. The ESA team are incredibly supportive throughout the course and the opportunity it gives you to meet a wide range of people within the industry is fantastic.
Feedback from 2018 Diploma Graduates
Every year our students submit feedback via an anonymous survey. Here is a selection of their comments:
“The ESA Diploma has greatly enhanced my confidence to create sponsorship packages which I know are going to provide real value to our clients, and will change the nature of the sponsorship that we sell.”
“My involvement in this course certainly contributed towards me stepping into a more senior role at work. The course has allowed me to take everything I have learnt and practically apply it to the day-to-day decisions and challenges I face. I’ve enjoyed connecting with like-minded individuals who have a passion to excel in this arena.”
“The course provides an essential skill set to anyone looking to work in sponsorship. I’ve learned a broad range of knowledge regarding the industry and its functions. It was hugely enjoyable and insightful, and has given me the knowledge to allow me to better undertake my job.”
“The course provides an excellent overview and subsequent interrogation of the sponsorship industry that has provided me with a key set of tools and understanding to take into a new role. It has also provided me with some insight into the types of roles available within the sponsorship industry.”
“…the Diploma has just been great fun – and has re-invigorated my desire to progress in the industry. I really enjoyed the assignments, the seminars were brilliant with some fantastic speakers, and the after seminar drinks were great for networking. Overall, I’d highly recommend the Diploma to anyone working in sponsorship!”
“Well organised and the course covered a breadth of topics that are all relevant to the industry. Some great speakers too.”
“It was great to gain a deeper understanding from professionals that have been in the business far longer than I had been and learn from their experiences/journey.”
“I think consciously and subconsciously my industry knowledge has been furthered and I feel a lot more confident talking about subject matters outside of my day to day activities.”
“Very happy, helpful how easy it was to access resources online for distance learning.”
“I have really enjoyed doing the course. I have learned a lot and meeting people from different rights holders and agencies has been an added bonus. I feel I now have the background knowledge to sponsorship which I was lacking – and I’m now more confident in my role at work.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the entire diploma. It was extremely informative, especially for an individual with limited experience within this space. It provided me with opportunities to understand a deeper look into the world of sponsorship, covering an array of areas which I may not have considered. I feel i’m now more equipped within my own role at work and have more wider breadth of knowledge to enhance my work performance. It was also a great opportunity to increase my network within the sponsorship sector.”
“A truly wonderful course that has really blown right open to me, the wide ranging world of sponsorship. It has provided me with an increased level of confidence to talk about the industry with clients and other stakeholders.”
“Exactly what I was looking for as a broad overview of the sponsorship industry. Not only have I increased knowledge, but I have gained more confidence now that I have a wider understanding on the role of different stakeholders in partnerships.”
“It has helped develop my external knowledge of the whole sponsorship landscape from start to finish. It has helped me understand the wider picture and helped me immensely when talking to clients and helping strategically advise.”
“I found the course extremely engaging. Peter is so passionate about the Diploma and that runs through the course and is frankly infectious. I would absolutely recommend it to others in my company! I felt like I learnt a great deal and have already been putting my learnings into practice within my day job!”
“I loved studying the ESA diploma. I feel much more knowledgeable about sponsorship and feel it has already propelled my career, even just in my confidence. I understand more, and feel much more capable to take the brand’s sponsorship campaign to the next level. I also feel that my employers have more confidence in me too.”
