Sponsorship: Get with the Programmes
In this article, Ronan Murphy, Head of Commercial Solutions puts a spotlight on sponsorship.
A total of €86 billion was invested globally on sponsorship in 2018* and in Ireland total sponsorship is expected to grow by 8% to €189 million** in 2019.
Sponsorship has been consistently delivering results for RTÉ’s clients for many years, and can range from a simple on-air association with a single programme or strand, to a long-term, fully-integrated partnership including branded content, product placement, branded events, promotions, competitions, licensing and lots more.
Defining the sponsorship brief
Big or small, tactical or strategic, there are RTÉ sponsorships to fit all, and in the Commercial Solutions team our role is to find the right fit and to build an activation plan around the sponsorship to ensure maximum engagement and impact from launch.
Sponsorship selection is dictated by brand priorities, target audience, and of course budget. But in terms of defining the sponsorship brief there are a number of questions you should ask:
- Do you want to make a new product famous fast?
- Do you want to re-position your product?
- Do you want to take the high ground in a competitive market?
- Do you have a variety of product or variants to display over time that do not have an advertising budget?
- Or do you want to change consumer perceptions of your brand?
The power of association
The true power of sponsorship lies in the power of association. The association of a brand with a programme that can strengthen or enhance the brand's existing attributes, or the brand can borrow missing attributes from the programmes. The Thinkbox research ‘TV sponsorship: a brand’s best friend’ established that sponsorship can help make brands famous by association. The study showed that for fans of the content, brand fame is increased by up to 10%. Brand fame is a key driver of effectiveness. The study also showed that sponsorship not only makes brands famous but increases purchase intent and favourability.
It's all about the right fit
Some of our highest profile sponsorships such as Renault and ‘The Late Late Show’, or Muller and ‘Dancing With The Stars’, Hyundai and Radio 1’s ‘Traffic & Travel’ work as hard for the sponsor off- air as they do on-air. Many of our sponsors have built entire Marketing Communications & Activation plans on the foundation of their sponsorships, incorporating both B2C and B2B dimensions to their activity.
While some sponsorships are larger in scale and scope, the fundamental factor for success starts with the right fit. By way of illustration, our recent collaboration with Aer Lingus and StoryLab on the sponsorship of the original RTÉ Player series ‘Jen's Weekend: London’ was all about the fit between the content, the target audience, and their lifestyles. This premium content partnership was highly effective in meeting the KPIs of the brief and the client.
Underpinning this, it’s crucial that a brand drives home the connection between the content and brand through the creative. In that context, sponsors should resist the temptation to ‘badge’ by using broadcast sponsorship as a billboard and focus instead on integrating the sponsorship creative across all elements of a campaign. Our work with Largo Foods and Vizeum on O’Donnell’s Crisps sponsorship of Grey’s Anatomy is a perfect example of this. The creative, produced by the creative unit of RTÉ's Commercial Solutions team, placed the brand at the heart of the content, and the campaign won a Tam Ireland ‘TAMI’ Award for Best TV Newcomer.
Sponsorship is now no longer considered as a quick fix for reach & frequency but rather a key function in any brands marketing plans.
Sponsorship has a proven track record to boost brand metrics, including awareness, consideration,
word-of-mouth and consumer relationships so investment in all associated creative is paramount.
Brands that invest in sponsorship for the long game testify to the benefits.
To discuss all RTÉ Sponsorship opportunities please contact the Commercial Solutions Team at: commercialsolutionsteamdl@rte.ie
*WARC Global Ad Trends 2018
**Core Sponsorship Estimates