Logo, legacy, or laundering - what is sponsorship?

The Beatles once sang that money can’t buy you love. However, spent in the right way, and on the right thing, it would seem it can buy you the attention and potentially even adoration of thousands, nay millions, of people around the world.

How? Sponsorship.

Once the process of getting your logo on a shirt, today it’s all about stadiums, series, songs, influencers, even causes. Sponsorship is now a critical, strategic marcomms channel — used for everything from encouraging engagement, to winning hearts, as well as burying some frankly dodgy reputational baggage. Allegedly.

It is perhaps no surprise then that last year in the UK alone, £4.6bn was spent on sponsorship, up 10% on 2023, with this year looking like it will enjoy similar healthy growth.

So what is sponsorship and how does it work? Where are the opportunities, the traps and how can you tell the difference? What is the role for us corporate communicators, especially if and when things go south it’s us that has to rush around with the dustpan and brush? We’ll look at examples that made headlines, ones that built empires, and a few that made us bury our heads in our branded tote bags.

This time, Apella Advisors partners Andrew Brown and Matt Young chat through the challenges. benefits and failures of this ever growing part of the industry.

Andrew Brown; formerly Director of Communications and Public affairs at Ageas Insurance, Andrew has more than ten years’ experience leading the corporate affairs functions for global, listed, multifaceted firms across a range of regulated and unregulated sectors. He has considerable experience in issues, crisis and change management as well as reputation sentiment analysis and insight. Formerly Director of Communications at Drax Group plc and Group Corporate Affairs Director at Regus plc.

Matt Young has 25 years of experience across media relations, public affairs, regulatory development, employee engagement, brand development, competition and CSR. Group corporate affairs director at Lloyds Banking Group, part of the senior team which rescued the bank and rebuilt its reputation following the financial crisis. Formerly communications director at Santander UK and board member of the BBA.

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This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach.