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As the women\u2019s football season draws to a close in England, and before the Women\u2019s Euros kicks off, I wanted to look at how the main sponsors have activated their sponsorships.<\/p>\nAs the women\u2019s football season draws to a close in England, and before the Women\u2019s Euros kicks off, I wanted to look at how the main sponsors have activated their sponsorships.<\/p>\n
I started looking at Barclays and its title sponsorship of the Women\u2019s Super League. But I couldn\u2019t find any activations online or on social media channels. So I looked at its sponsorship of the Men\u2019s Premier League and couldn\u2019t find anything there either.<\/p>\n
I then looked at Vitality and its sponsorship of the Women\u2019s FA Cup but it was the same. Same thing with Emirates and its sponsorship of the Men\u2019s FA Cup.<\/p>\n
So I started thinking about these title sponsors and what they\u2019re getting from these sponsorships.<\/p>\n
Is the visibility provided by title sponsorship rights enough? Does being one of several logos on a backdrop provide enough Return on Investment?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a sponsor and your objective is brand awareness, then it definitely does the job. If you\u2019re looking for brand preference, then you\u2019re probably ok too as research has shown that brands associated with sports tend to have higher preference than those who have nothing to do with sport.<\/p>\n
However, if you\u2019re a rightsholder and your task is to grow the sport or increase participation alongside making a profit, then a brand that just wants the title sponsorship or some form of association with the sport might not be the best partner (although I appreciate not many NGBs have the luxury of picking and choosing their sponsors).<\/p>\n
If we focus on women\u2019s sport, I\u2019d argue that title sponsorship isn\u2019t enough and that brand awareness shouldn\u2019t be the default metric. Rightsholders
\nshould look for brands that can add some value to the property, for its fans, participants and stakeholders. And brands should see women\u2019s sport as a huge opportunity to be more innovative in their approach to sponsorship activation whilst also maximising interest in such a growing area.<\/p>\n
We all want women\u2019s sport to succeed and be seen as a commercially viable investment option. However, brands need to revisit how they measure that investment and move away from clicks and views into something more meaningful. Given the entry point is generally lower for women\u2019s sport, sponsors and rights holders should aim for a more equal split between spend on buying the rights and spend on activating the sponsorship. The deal should be seen as the start of the hard work, not the end.<\/p>\n