SPONSORSHIP / PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR
Alpine x BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
Leading motorsports brand Alpine and esports tournament organiser BLAST.tv embarked on an integrated cross-promotional partnership for the iconic BLAST Paris Major, one of the biggest esports tournaments in the world The campaign combined sim racing, F1 activations, and CS:GO talent, making it the first-ever sim racing and CS:GO crossover in esports history The campaign successfully connected with the CS:GO community and expanded Alpine’s reach within gaming and esports, leaving a lasting impact on both audiences.
The primary goal was to engage a new and young tech-savvy audience and attract future racing enthusiasts while achieving tangible KPIs through direct marketing sponsorship. The activation featured in-person and virtual moments, with Alpine heavily featured during the live stream of the BLAST tv Paris Major.
The results were remarkable, with the tournament reaching a peak of 15 million views and 58.9 million hours watched across four days Alpine’s social media following skyrocketed, with an 800% increase on Twitter and 100% on Instagram, resulting in an overall 393% increase across all platforms. The brand value was also outstanding, with the Alpine brand visible in over 330 streams with 590,000 brand placements, amounting to €6,165,187 in total media value.
DP World x European Tour Group
DP World and the European Tour Group jointly announced a landmark evolution of their partnership, with DP World becoming the new title partner of the main tour from the start of the 2022 season.
While DP World had a proud heritage with the European Tour, this partnership was of a scale that they had never undertaken before. The new DP World Tour represented a truly global property with a far-reaching international schedule.
The agreement heralded a new era in the history of the European Tour Group, which, along with DP World celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, the first season of the newly named DP World Tour. It was only the second time in history that the European Tour had welcomed a title partner, enhancing DP World’s relationship, and associated opportunities, with the sport.
It provided a platform to reinforce the brand, enable business, leave a legacy, and unite DP World’s people. It was also significant in terms of global sports partnerships, dedicated to three key areas: elevating the Tour in every way, growing the game of golf globally, and driving positive community impact.
To ensure sponsorship assets were utilised impactfully, a season-long 360 activation plan was developed and implemented.
Peroni Nastro Azzurro x Aston Martin Formula 1™ Team – CSM Sport & Entertainment, & Trouble Maker
Peroni Nastro Azzurro’s collaboration with the Aston Martin Formula 1™ team is its first truly global partnership. It is a central platform to establishing global fame and stature for the brand, whilst positioning its 0.0% product in an increasingly competitive non-alcoholic drinks category.
After a successful launch of the partnership in 2021, the activation programme evolved in 2022, doubling down on business and brand objectives.
21 markets activated throughout the season across ATL (TVC & OOH) and BTL (social & digital) channels, as well as elevated brand experiences at track and in the city to connect with fans across the globe.
Increases in spontaneous and prompted brand awareness combined with growing positive sentiment, consideration and trial for Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, demonstrated the global power of this platform. Direct feedback from fans also confirms that the approach makes a tangible and meaningful difference to fans, affirming the brand’s partnership ambition to enable fans to Feel The Passion Inside.
Taking Basketball to a Global Fanbase – Euroleague Basketball and UNRVLD
Euroleague Basketball is a sports and entertainment business that runs the top European professional basketball competitions. Digital experience and technology agency, UNRVLD, is working on a digital transformation programme to revitalise the online presence of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the BKT EuroCup and the Adidas Next Generation Tournament with brand-new competition websites.
Together we are taking basketball to a global fanbase with a connected, multi-site digital platform which requires specialists across all disciplines; from Digital Strategists to Solutions Architects to UX Designers.
The Community Integrated Care ‘Inclusive Volunteering Model’ – Sport England, Rugby League World Cup 2021, UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, and World Gymnastics Championships 2022
Community Integrated Care’s revolutionary ‘Inclusive Volunteering’ model has seen it partner with Sport England, Rugby League World Cup, UEFA Women’s EURO, and World Gymnastics Championships to tackle some of society’s deepest-rooted inequalities.
Creating a ground-breaking template which has redefined the social purpose of major events, transformed the lives of more than 700 people, and successfully enabled thousands of people with the most complex barriers to enjoy sport, this is a society-changing model.
Community Integrated Care is one of the UK’s most successful social care charities, delivering 10 million hours of care annually to people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health concerns, brain injuries, dementia, and complex care needs.
Through twinning the charity’s unrivalled reach, expertise, and connection with disabled communities with the opportunity of major events, this programme has changed the lives of people aged 12–106 Delivering more than 11,500 hours of life-changing support, it has had an unprecedented impact.
Evaluation by Substance shows 96% of volunteers report improved confidence and skills, 91% report greater independence and 100% report it as a life-highlight With an equal impact on the sporting partners – enabling them to pioneer disability inclusion and deliver a life-long impact, this is a partnership with unique ambition.
The Home Nations FAs – EE – Havas Play
Purpose is the core of EE’s ‘4-3-3 Game Plan’: the most ambitious sponsorship strategy in UK football that straddles the four Home Nations Football Associations.
The goal? Supercharge overlooked areas of the game: para and disability, women’s and grassroots.
It’s a lead partnership like no other – a promise to elevate the game and positively impact society. The work is a true embodiment of the brand’s ‘We Connect for Good’ purpose, and our mission is a simple one – how can EE continuously positively impact football communities, making the game more accessible, innovative & inclusive than ever before?
We’ve been busy and this year, some highlights that are doing just that, include…
• Recruiting our 100,000th EE Playmaker, a major milestone in EE’s support of the grassroots game
• Starting our search for the world’s first British Sign Language football pundit team
• Giving 28,000+ grassroots players the digital skills they need to tackle online hate
• Telling the stories of seven non-binary teams to raise awareness about discrimination in football
• Supported both England and Wales teams as they played each other in a historic men’s FIFA World Cup game
Visit Rwanda x Arsenal Football Club
Rwanda is Open
Visit Rwanda has been Arsenal’s first and only official sleeve partner since 2018. This ground-breaking partnership sets out clear objectives to leverage Arsenal’s global profile and reach to promote Rwanda as a luxury eco-tourist destination.
Like elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 deeply affected Rwanda’s positive tourism growth. For two seasons, Arsenal was unable to facilitate any core rights – no talent visits to the country took place. 2022 was therefore a crucial year to reconnect with Arsenal fans and beyond to showcase what this amazing country has to offer.
Once Rwanda was ‘open’ again, a record number of player, legend and influencer visits were activated, to catch up with reduced activity during Covid-19:
Rwanda continues to make significant progress in its efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth, despite the global challenges that were faced during COVID-19.
In 2022, the partnership contributed to a remarkable increase in tourism revenues, with $445M recorded in 2022 compared to US$164M in 2021, representing a 171.3% increase.
There’s clear evidence that through the Arsenal x Visit Rwanda partnership is reaching a global audience which is increasing consideration of supporters visiting Rwanda.
Youth Sport Trust’s National School Sports Week powered by Sports Direct
Youth Sport Trust equips educators and empowers young people to enjoy the life-changing benefits of play and sport. Recognising the concerning decrease in PE hours from the curriculum and the Chief Medical Officers’ recommended 60 active minutes per day, we joined forces with Sports Direct to raise awareness of this guidance, through our annual National School Sports Week campaign.
National School Sports Week promotes physical activity and sport. This year we asked schools, organisations and families to “play for fun, play for 60”. Our collaboration fostered the development of cobranded assets and engaging campaign films displayed on digital platforms and in Sports Direct Stores, capturing a wider audience.
Through our partnership, National School Sports Week experienced a new level of impact, including 30% uplift in school registrations, 84% increase in organisation registrations and a new audience of families with 95% uplift. Over half a million people pledged to be active for 60 minutes per day. Our social and media impressions grew significantly, totalling 16,284,623 for Youth Sport Trust content between 19th-25th June. This increased impact confirms our partnership reached families, caregivers and teachers and encouraged them to take action.
