How analysing notable developments before the Cazoo sponsorship wave took hold can help rights holders potentially identify the next big sponsorship thing 

The most common task we’re asked to help rights holders or their agencies with is variously described as finding companies: ‘on their way up’/’new kids on the block’/’hidden gems’/’breakthrough brands’. Essentially, finding the next TeamViewer or Cazoo before everybody else.

So, how do we do that?

It’s about researching and analysing developments going on around the world to identify potential triggers or buying signals. So, using Cazoo as an example, one can learn how to spot similar patterns with other companies and potentially identify who could be the next big buyer of sponsorship.

Admittedly, Cazoo is a very rare example: a company that within 20 months of forming entered into a major £29 million sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Everton – and has since gone on to sponsor around 20 different rights holders. However, it does makes it easier to understand all the key ingredients as they fit together in a much shorter period of time.

Timeline until first Cazoo sponsorship

1. 15 Oct 2018:  (Launch) Cazoo is established as a new limited company. T-minus 20 months until first sponsorship deal.
2. 2 Dec 2018: (Funding) Receives £30 million in seed funding. T-18 months.
3. 1 Jul 2019:  (Hire) Appoints a Chief Customer Officer responsible for digital and brand marketing, customer experience, insight, PR. T-11 months.
4. 3 Jul 2019: (Milestone) Named in an influential UK top start-ups list for 2019,  despite not having launched yet. T-11 months.
5. 6 Aug 2019: (Hire) Makes several senior hires across marketing, product, tech, data and finance. T-10 months.
6. 12 Aug 2019: (Hire) Appoints creative and media buying agencies for launch marketing campaign. T-10 months.
7. 1 Sep 2019: (Funding) Raises £25 million of pre-launch funding.  T-9 months.
8. 2 Dec 2019: (Launch) Platform launches to the public in the UK. Also secures another £25m in funding. T-6 months.
9. 31 Jan 2020: (Marketing) Launches a national marketing campaign. T-4 months.
10. 23 Mar 2020: (Funding) Raises a further £100m of funding. Note: has now raised £180 million – a record for a UK start up in its first year of operation. T-3 months.
11. 8 Jun 2020: Strikes first sponsorship deal – with Everton FC at £29 million for three years. T-0 months.

So, although Cazoo’s timeline is squashed into a much shorter period of time than most other companies, it does contain all the key triggers or buying signals to help identify the next big thing: a mix of a few rounds of substantial funding along with some significant marketing and agency hires, appearing in a “top X” list from a reputable source and a notable marketing campaign.

Although Cazoo jumped straight into sponsorship with a huge deal, caytoo also researches smaller deals that could be a buying signal or precursor to bigger ones such as the Everton deal.

For example, Crypto.com’s first major sponsorship was with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team in March 2021 – less than five years after being founded. However, in January 2018 – when Crypto.com was still called Monaco – it sponsored Asian fintech event Money20/20. This was just over three years until its the Aston Martin deal.

In fact, the first record we found of any Crypto.com branded sponsorship was a much smaller one with YouTube channel “Crypto Fiend” in December 2020 – just three months before Aston Martin. Since Crypto Fiend, the brand has gone onto spend in the region of $2-3 billion on sponsorship.

From small acorns grow mighty oaks.