What’s your name and position within the organisation?
Simon Dent – Founder and Managing Director of Dark Horse
How did the organisation come to work with Rights Holders and Brands? What “bigger picture” did this relationship seek to meet?
We initially launched as a creative agency
We initially launched as a creative agency and the first work we did was with brands who wanted to move into sport, sports brands and rights holders around their strategy and creative output.
What we found was that a number of the brands and rights holders operated in the partnerships space so we started assisting them with their strategy in this area.
A number of brands, who were aware of the strategic work we were doing, then started approaching us to audit the events and properties they currently sponsored to see if it aligned with their overall strategy.
How is the effectiveness of the relationship(s) measured? What metrics do you use?
All the relationships are different and the variety of metrics that we use to assess the success of a relationship vary with a lot, obviously, now heavily data-led.
We also work with a number of specific agencies that we plug into the back-end to assess specific ROI.
What are the current trends within sports sponsorship and how are they affecting how you work and how you deliver on strategy?
There are a number of trends at the moment, but one key theme that is evident is the industry’s move away from the traditional sponsorship model into more genuine partnerships.
No longer are brands looking just for a media buy, what they want is a deep and meaningful engagement with rights
No longer are brands looking just for a media buy, what they want is a deep and meaningful engagement with rights – it isn’t just about purchasing assets, it is how you bring them to life.
As an agency, this is where we are in a fortunate position in that we can offer the brokerage service to rights holders and brands as well as our strategic and creative arm being able to bring these relationships to life in a deep and meaningful way.
How are you harnessing and executing on digital strategy, and what problems / opportunities has this created?
We are very plugged into the digital and social world and two of our biggest clients, City Football Group (Manchester City) and Southampton FC, use these channels very well – a lot of work that both clubs do in this space is best in class, which we are proud to support.
The opportunities are vast but it is about utilising these channels appropriately to get cut-through with quality ideas and execution
The opportunities are vast but it is about utilising these channels appropriately to get cut-through with quality ideas and execution. Social media is a wonderful platform but there is a challenge in the changing audience and making sure you realise that not all people are in all areas so you need to align your communications mix to reflect this audience spread.
What makes Dark Horses different to other sports marketing agencies?
It is the emphasis that we put on brand strategy and creativity. We always start the creative process having done a very strategic deep dive and we think that gives us a real competitive edge when it comes to the effectiveness of the work we create.
How would you summarise the services you offer to brands in the world of partnerships?
A key service that we offer to brands is an audit of their existing partnership roster to see what is and isn’t meeting their business objectives and delivering ROI. From our investigation, research and subsequent reporting we then align this with the brand’s strategy going forward to partner them with rights holders that will help meet those objectives.