caytoo’s analyst team reveals their Top 5 sponsorship deals in February in terms of the ideas they provide for other rights holders

Our Top 5, in no particular order, aren’t necessarily the biggest or most high-profile. Each one has been selected as it represents best practice for other rights holders and brands or an important lesson it provides rights holders.

Selling product: OUNO x Excel London

The best sponsorships, like any marketing activity, help sell product. This is certainly the case with OUNO’s deal with Excel London, the international exhibition and convention centre.

The business ride-hailing platform became the centre’s Official Executive Transfer Partner and one of the activations includes dedicated kiosks located across the venue. In addition, an OUNO pick-up and drop-off point has been made available within Excel’s underground parking facilities, providing further convenience and customer service.

Not surprisingly, OUNO’s founder characterised Excel London as a “superb brand activation platform which presents us with a significant business development opportunity.”

Lesson: identify what physical activations your organisation can provide to help get a sponsor’s product or service into the hands of your audience. This can be done by thinking about the journey – literal and physical – that your audience/fanbase goes through when following/supporting/attending your organisation.

Showcasing product attributes: Bajaj Auto x Boho Bazaar

One of the more unique sponsorship deals in February: the auto brand’s electric motorcycle scooter, the Bajaj Chetak, became the Presenting Partner of a Delhi fleamarket called the Boho Bazaar.

It’s a pretty unique way of showcasing the key attributes of the product in a highly practical and resonant way. Anyone familiar with traffic in the Indian city will relate to the idea of it being hectic, chaotic and spending more time stuck in traffic than being at your destination.

So, the deal with the fleamarket – which includes a space at the event – speaks to the scooter’s ability to “Zip through Delhi in style” by navigating the city’s tumultuous roads (such as through the touchscreen display and long mileage range) as well as the 35L boot space for storing purchases from the market. It also reinforces the ‘fully waterproof’ product characteristic and the wider ‘fully lifeproof’ moniker.

Lesson: as with the OUNO x Excel London deal, think about the ‘bigger picture’ around the context in which your rights and organisation happens. This can be the physical and literal journey that your audience/fanbase goes through when following/supporting/ attending your organisation. It will identify both categories to go after and characteristics that you can match to particular brands within them.

Showcasing capability: Atlassian x Williams Racing

The specific driving forces behind this deal make it a signature example of brands using sponsorship to genuinely showcase their capability.

The F1 team had publicly stated how out of date their infrastructure and processes were after delays to the launch of their latest car. Although the team had attempted to overhaul its working practices – which included the use of Microsoft Excel to handle the management of its car build and individual components – they had little success in achieving them.

Enter Atlassian – a software company known for its project management collaboration tools. Williams will use Atlassian’s technology and expertise to connect different departments and make better use of AI to “help unleash our full potential by improving teamwork and collaboration right across the organisation.”

By partnering with Williams in the midst of their technical revolution, Atlassian has positioned itself as the solution to help an organisation overcome its infrastructure challenges and achieve future success.

Lesson: do an honest audit of your organisation to reveal areas in which you are genuinely struggling. This will reveal categories and individual brands you can target to show how a deal will publicly showcase in a real-world manner how their product or service works and/or is of benefit.

All-round authenticity/fit: Neutrogena x WSL/Kanoa Igarashi

Neutrogena’s Official Suncare Partner deal with the World Surf League makes it into the Top 5 sponsorship deals in February due to being a really great fit in a number of ways.

Firstly, the natural fit between beach-related activities and sunscreen and the fact the activations include ‘brand in hand’ purchase opportunities at WSL events. There’s also a really smart activation in which the WSL broadcasts will include “Neutrogena UV Reports” – these measure the strength of the sunburn-producing ultraviolet radiation at a particular place and time.

Secondly, together they’re also addressing a wider societal issue by promoting sun safe practices as “34% of Americans admit that they rarely or never wear sunscreen”. 

But what stands out most is the quote from a related ambassadorial deal with surfer Kanoa Igarashi which was part of the official announcement. He says: “It’s really cool that Neutrogena’s supporting surfing and supporting the WSL. It’s really important to protect ourselves from the sun. It’s something my mom drilled in my brain since I was a young kid.”

This strongly resonates as it sounds like Igarashi actually came up with the quote and one can imagine him saying this as part of a natural conversation.

It’s in stark contrast to the bland, cookie-cutter corporate announcements coming from the comms departments in the majority of deals. Many of these don’t resonate at all with fans and can even put them off if they can see through them as being “reverse-engineered” to create a fit between the sponsor and rights holder.

Lesson: put more effort into making your deal announcements seem more authentic, particularly in the sponsor’s quote.

Targeting a specific audience: Student.com x Visa Cash App Racing Bulls

Surprisingly few sponsorship deals make a big play on targeting a very specific audience. However, this deal between the online student housing marketplace and the F1 team centres on targeting and engaging Gen Z (born circa 1996 to 2012).

The deal is very much a coordinated effort to help both parties do this, not just the sponsor. Clearly student.com’s offering is targeted at this market while VCARB claims to have the youngest fanbase in the sport. Together, the entities aim to “inspire, educate and engage the next wave of motorsport fans and open the world of motor racing to a new generation”. Part of the deal will also help the rights holder itself to expand its reach across the global Gen Z audience using the sponsor’s customer base and channels.

Lesson: the relative lack of deals focusing on a specific demographic is a timely reminder not to forget this key benefit/angle of selling sponsorship. Clearly VCARB, like many other rights holders, will have a wide fanbase but the focus is on a single strong element within it. So, establish what demographics (age, socioeconomic, gender, location, interests etc) your organisation scores strongly on (it can be more than one) to identify targets looking to reach and engage that particular one.

Summary

All these sponsorship deals in February provide an example of the great utility sponsorship provides which all rights holders and brands can look to emulate to benefit both parties. This is particularly the case for rights holders who can come up with their own version to spark a conversation with potential sponsors.