Successful sports sponsorships can be good for the brand, good for the rights holder, and good for the agency – but are they always good for the game?
Toyota, long perceived for its reliability, faced the challenge of shifting perception to deepen brand desirability and emotional connection.
A transformative entry into UK cricket was guided by a singular, powerful philosophy: to be ‘Good For Cricket.’ To engage audiences at scale and forge emotional connections by delivering tangible value across every level of the sport.
Aligning with the ECB, Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and The Hundred, we let our audience know who we were and what we stood for:
- Generated unmissable association through matchday, shirt, broadcast, and digital visibility
- Built credibility by investing in the foundations of the game; hero’ing visibility of disability cricket and provided over 4,000 bursary places to the All Stars and Smash It programmes
- Inspired over 100 local cricket club, micro-sponsorships through our UK wide dealership network
- And launched, grassroots cricket fundraising platform, the Toyota Good For Cricket Prize Draw, which raised over £290,710 for local clubs.
Toyota’s unprompted association with cricket surged over four-fold, from 5% to 22% (YouGov), making us the most associated brand with cricket sponsorship.
We also boosted top-of-mind awareness, overtaking BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen.
But critically, we have begun to shift perceptions. From reliability to desirability.
- A brand ‘I feel an emotional connection with’ (+4pp)
- A brand that ‘Has strong personality and character’ (+3pp)
- A brand that ‘is Good For Cricket’ (+2pp)
