Increasingly, sports marketing is central to many brands’ marketing mix. However, when you are investing large sums, and playing within customers’ passions, you need to get it right to achieve potential ROI.

We help at all points in the strategic journey, from establishing the vision for sport to identifying properties and rights. Crucially, we know the importance of demonstrating and justifying the strategy to senior decision makers and budget holders, through data and evidence.

Below outline example services to achieve this. These can be tailored to requirements and timelines:

• Vision alignment, including quantifiable objectives and timeline

• Brand and stakeholder audit (internal, partners and customers)

• Sports and partnerships landscape analysis, including strategic commercial insights

• Audience segmentation and insights, unlocking growth of existing and new customers through sport

• Creation of sponsorship strategy, providing brand platform to powerfully connect brand with sports events and fans

• ROI measurement approach tailored to vision and demonstrating return on partnership objectives

• Property analysis and selection, including data-led criteria analysis

• Partnerships portfolio roadmap, accounting for existing and prospective partnerships calibrated to business milestones

A sports partnership agreement is unlike any other marketing investment. It requires ambition and commitment from both parties and therefore must be carefully planned.

Once a partnership and target rights have been identified, careful planning of desired rights, surrounding terms and negotiation approach must be built.

We build ‘Future Fit’ principles into the process, ensuring you are future-proofed to maximize ROI.

Examples of deliverables to support execution of a successful agreement:

• Opportunity assessment in line with strategy framework, including SWOT analysis and roadmap

• Rights package assessment, including expected ROI modelling

• Industry benchmarking (rights and value)

• Future-proofing evaluation, ensuring consumption trends and tech innovations are factored into ROI analysis and rights

• Data sharing agreements

• Commercial terms and definitions: Ensuring business protections are in place based on performance, regulatory and other landscaping scenarios.

• Negotiation approach, including scenario plans

• Support with negotiation as required

• Contracting support

You’re ready to translate ambition and rights schedules into creative activation that will cut through with fans and deliver ROI.

We support this process, providing the know-how and tools to progress quickly and keep all stakeholders aligned.

Examples areas of support include:

• Designing activation structures, harnessing internal and external expertise

• Activation roadmap, building ambitious but realistic growth plans for partnerships, leading to achievement of objectives

• Support with announcement of partnership

• Playbook for key stakeholders

• Ongoing updates on key landscape innovations and implications for partners (tech, fan engagement, media)

• POV on changes in partner business, understanding impact and implications for your investment and plan

• Crisis management planning and support

We craft commercially compelling partnership propositions for rights holders and brands. Aligned with the evolving market expectations, these are designed to unlock growth, attract the right partners and deliver measurable business impact.

• Commercial landscape & competitor analysis

• Development of differentiated commercial narratives and positioning

• Structuring partnership rights and assets to maximise commercial value

• Optimisation of commercial processes, go-to-market strategy and sales materials

• Strategic partnership activation planning and stakeholder workshops

• Development of integrated partnership models aligned to evolving sponsor expectations

We help rights holders maximise the value delivered to partners through stronger strategy, activation planning and measurement. The result is deeper relationships, improved effectiveness and greater renewal potential.

Many rights holders have excellent sales and servicing teams but limited specialist resource across strategy, creativity and measurement. We plug into your existing partner servicing model, providing support where it is needed. Typical applications below:

• Sponsor strategy workshops and annual planning

• Activation planning aligned to partner business objectives

• ‍Category insight and creative development support

• Measurement frameworks and effectiveness reporting

• Key reports, ensuring clear commercial narrative emerges

• Renewal and growth planning support