Has Sponsorship Finally Arrived in Asia?

If the activity within our sports and entertainment rights advisory business, ESP Properties, is anything to go by, 2016 is going to be a very busy year in sponsorship for us.  The number of conversations coming from clients interested in this space has never been greater - not just in sport but across arts, music and other forms of sponsorship such as broadcast.

Having first started working in sports marketing back in 1997 for Qantas Airways in their global sponsorship team, before moving to join Gatorade 2 years later, where I then spent the next 10 years, I've seen a lot of change and evolution in this space in that time, especially in Asia.  

Gone, largely, are the days of the 'Chairman's Sponsorship' and the other practice of randomly allocating leftover funds to whatever sounded interesting.

 Today's landscape starts with data and science and ends in the same space - everyone has become a lot more sophisticated with how they both select properties, what role those properties play in solving a business issue, how they sit within the overall communications framework and ultimately, how they build trust, brand love and shift sales.

Just as important though, the sellers have also (mostly) evolved.  Say goodbye to gold, silver and bronze sponsorship packages and hello to customised, relevant, adaptive packages that are well thought out, packed full of data and insights and answer a question / deliver a solution for the advertiser.

Moreover, I think the other thing that is really driving this space in Asia is that I am seeing more and more sponsorships that deliver integrated solutions both on-ground and on-air.  When I talk about on-ground, I'm talking about the on-ground, at-venue benefits of the sponsorship or partnership.  When I refer to on-air, I'm talking about sponsorships that build useful, premium media inventory (across multiple channels) into the sponsorship package so that a brand gets something far more useful, integrated and holistic.  

When 'sellers' do this, they are not just delivering an audience to the advertiser and saying 'thanks for the money, good luck with the rest', they are saying 'thanks for the money, here is your audience and now we are going to work with you to actually reach them and engage with them'.  

It's so much more powerful when it's holistic and I think it's clearly working, which is why advertisers are responding.

Is 2016 the year when we reach a tipping point with sponsorship in Asia - the year we cross the line from sponsorship being a 'nice to have' to a 'must include'?  I think it could be and I'm excited about the possibilites it will unlock for all of us.

About the Author: Josh Black is the CEO of GroupM’s Content businesses across Asia Pacific – the world’s largest media investment and management company.  With over 340 staff across 16 markets in Asia, GroupM is one of the industry’s leading players in content ideation, production, distribution, investment and management under divisions and businesses including Mindshare Content+, MEC Access, Mediacom MBA, Maxus Content, PLAY, Filmworks China, ESP Properties and GroupM Entertainment.