What’s your name and position within the organisation?
Fiona Crichton: Head of Partnerships The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
How did SEC come to work with Rights Holders and Brands? What ‘bigger picture’ did this relationship seek to meet?
Our Live Entertainment venue opened in September 2013. It had been decided previously that we should offer Naming Rights to generate income for the business. The business brought in AEG Global Partnerships as a consultant, to ensure best practice in securing the largest ever naming rights sponsorship to be signed in Scotland.
Live Entertainment offers certain brands obvious opportunities for customer engagement and AEG approached the major brands in each category who would fit as sponsors, while also offering quality supply deals.
Hard on the heels of SSE, AEG signed Heineken; Coca Cola; Clydesdale Bank; Scotrail and Raymond Weil.
Our current partners comprise: SSE; Heineken; Clydesdale Bank (Virgin Money and B); A. G. Barr (Barrs Irn Bru); Deezer; Capital FM; Parks Motor Group; Raymond Weil; Bacardi; Nordoff Robbins (charity Partner).
How is the effectiveness of the relationship(s) measured? What metrics do you use?
As each Partner comes on board, Partnerships will meet with them and discuss their KPIs and Smart Objectives for the coming year. They can vary widely, as some Partnerships are very much sales-led, whilst others can major in brand amplification.
Once these are established, we embark on a number of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including in-venue research and face to face focus groups. Our market research Partners, MOR (Ministry of Results) will then pull together quarterly and annual evaluations, which measure the effectiveness of Partner activity in achieving the KPIs and Smart Objectives set.
Resulting evaluation documents are designed (both hard and digital copies) and sent to Partners. These include extensive research with top takeaways highlighted and full sales figures for supply Partners.
Evaluations are face to face (quarterly and annually) and can include film content with talking head soundbites to enrich. Our key sponsorship contacts within each brand will attend evaluations and may bring agency representation that they work with to deliver the Partnership. Regular evaluations are a method of sense-checking the health of the Partnership and ensuring that the KPIs and Smart Objectives are on track.
As a rightsholder, what makes SEC unique?
- The SSE Hydro consistently in #5 busiest global Arenas
- Increased capacity to 14,500 ensures top acts will consider The SSE Hydro as a viable Arena
- Geographical exclusivity. Nearest competitor venues Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds
- Arena adaptability to a breadth of content, attracting diversity of events.
What are the current trends within your business area, and how are they affecting how you work and how you deliver on strategy?
Multimediafication is the name of the game. Activation and engagement cannot be limited to just one platform. This means that when looking to activate Partner strategy, you are fleet of foot and cover as many bases as possible. Assets need to be flexed. This necessitates a team effort and consultation with Marketing and Digital departments across the business. Communication is vital.
What are the key changes in your industry over the past few years and how do you think the not too distant future will look?
The SSE Hydro naming rights deal is 10 years. This is now the exception rather than the rule. Brands appear to be more cautious regarding long term sponsorships, with five years being more commonplace. Brands now routinely suggest 3/ 5 year contracts, despite sponsorship being more accepted within the marketing mix.
Sport has always dominated the sponsorship landscape and that has not changed. However, over the last few years, Rights Holders outwith the sports ballpark have become increasingly aware as to what sponsorship can offer, with regard to monetisation and other additional commercial benefits.
Just 5 years ago, sponsorship was more about ‘badging up’, rather than the more sophisticated mix of media that brands now demand. The rise of social media, influencers and customers valuing experiences has resulted in a richer landscape for brands and Rights Holders to experiment with.
A more diverse and sophisticated media landscape has encouraged brands to venture into socio and political commentary to a degree which would not have been considered 5 years ago.
For example, The SSE Hydro Partner, Clydesdale Bank, will again this year support PRIDE nationwide. One of the key support drivers for this relationship will be their use of our rights holder social media platforms and right to host promotional competitions.
Partnering with our venue has encouraged our carbonates Partner, A.G. Barr to focus on ways to reduce their single use plastic footprint, as environmental considerations dominate best practice for large venues.
The Rights Holder/ Sponsor relationship has evolved in such a way that now both parties are more aware of mutual business sensitivities and how to make them work beneficially for each.
Future trends look to be focused on relevant money can’t buy experiences and the opportunity to bring exclusive content and talent direct to the customer.
How are you harnessing and executing on digital strategy, and what problems/ opportunities has this created?
The SSE Hydro is an iconic venue with world class content. This on its own, however, is not enough to lure brands to contract. Partners rely on our digital clout to engage with customers and beyond.
Digital rights are intrinsic to all our Partner contracts. For some Partners it’s the base upon which the contract is constructed. An example of this is Deezer, our music streaming Partner. The KPIs and Smart Objectives for this brand are totally aligned to our digital reach on their behalf.
All Partners are encouraged to use digital for engagement and most do so on a regular basis through promotions and competitions. Digital offers the opportunity to engage with a much wider audience than simply that which comes through our doors.
The SSE Hydro has an internal digital network of plasma screens, offering brands a call to action in the venue and an opportunity to be front of mind.
Partnerships has a share of voice with SEC Food, and SEC Marketing and it’s the venue aim to be as dynamic/ intuitive as possible with regards to usage.
I can’t think of any problems with digital strategy apart from the very odd occasion when it doesn’t work!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
The SSE Hydro is rather unique in Scotland. The sponsorship landscape is less populated than in England. In 2018, Partnerships founded an informal Group across several other venues throughout the UK (Liverpool M&S Bank Arena; The SSE Arena, Belfast; The Royal Albert Hall; 02; and Manchester Arena). This Group meets two or three times a year to discuss best practice across Partnerships and Hospitality. A different venue hosts the meeting each time. We can all learn from each other.
In 2018, The SSE Hydro Partnerships attended Think! Sponsorship for the first time, again in 2019, and has just joined the ESA. It’s imperative that we deliver the best Partnership opportunities for our Partners and looking outside our business and venue to embrace best practice puts us in a great place to do that.
Contact Fiona Crichton
e: fiona.crichton@sec.co.uk
w: https://www.thessehydro.com/
