While the sponsorship market and its professionalization continue to grow in neighboring countries, much potential and great opportunities remain untapped in Belgium for now! Therefore, a group of leading sponsorship experts is announcing today the foundation of the “Belgian Sponsorship Association” (BSA).
The BSA breaks away from traditional, heavy federation structures, opting instead for an agile community approach to professionalize the sector and reverse the downward trend in budgets. The first pilot activity will be organized in the coming months to allow the market to experience this new way of collaborating firsthand. The goal: to unite the fragmented Belgian market, share knowledge, and increase the visibility of local best practices.
Work to be done: from visibility to impact
The Belgian sponsorship market is unique due to the strong interconnection between sports, culture, and entertainment, but it is currently missing too many opportunities. While international markets are innovating, Belgium is struggling with budget cuts, reduced activation plans, and a one-sided focus on visibility. Furthermore, Belgium has lacked a neutral platform until now where brands, agencies, and rights holders can find one another. The BSA fills this gap by focusing on a flexible network where engagement is more important than formal membership.
“There is work to be done,” say the BSA initiators. “We see that many brands are not optimally utilizing the potential of sponsorship and that the need to prove impact (ROO/ROI) is greater than ever. CEOs and CMOs are asking for results, but the expertise to deliver them is fragmented. The BSA aims to bridge that gap by sharing knowledge and preparing a new generation of talent.”
The core group consists of independent sponsorship experts from various domains: Filip Waegemans (Skaut, ex-Proximus), Delphine Baise (Spring Yellow, ex-ING), Peter Maris (Ethias), Monia Ben Tahar (MBT Consult, ex-National Lottery), Wim Mathues (Decathlon, THE·TEAM, Entain), Charlotte Elton (Pine Agency), Neal Van Loock (UCLL), and Ken Vanhalle (KRC Genk).
Start small, think big
The BSA is starting deliberately “lean” and organically, but with a sharp focus on three pillars to catch up with the Belgian lag:
- Professionalization, knowledge sharing, education: Building a bridge with educational institutions (such as UCLL) to attract young talent and feed the sector with modern expertise regarding activation and measurability, through regular guest lectures or keynotes at various Belgian colleges, universities, business schools, or other relevant courses.
- Focus on business impact: Repositioning sponsorship from a ‘cost’ to an ‘investment’ through in-depth interviews and roundtables about Return on Objectives (ROO).
- Connecting across borders: Forming a bridge between sports, culture, entertainment, and the different language regions to inspire the marketing sector as one strong community. Belgian projects and talent deserve the necessary recognition, both nationally and internationally.
“In a small and multilingual market like Belgium, personal relationships and trust are more important than rigid structures,” states the BSA core group. “We are starting from content and a passion for the profession. We want to learn by doing and only later decide what final form the association should take.”
Not an island, but a bridge
The BSA emphasizes that it does not want to compete with existing networks, media, or educational institutions. On the contrary, the community actively seeks synergies to professionalize the sector as a whole and attract young talent. As a catalyst, this community aims to unlock the necessary expertise for brands that are currently hesitant, in order to grow the entire market.
In the coming months, the BSA will organize a first pilot activity to let the market taste this new way of working together. “We don’t just want to talk about the problem; we are going to tackle it, together with the entire sponsorship and partnership marketing sector. Our ambition is high: we want Belgium to rejoin the European top in terms of sponsorship innovation,” the group concludes.
Follow further updates from the “Belgian Sponsorship Association” (BSA) via their brand-new LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/belgiansponsorshipassociation
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