Sometimes adding new brandable areas at a venue is not possible but this doesn’t mean that you can’t enhance what you currently offer to sponsors.
In the absence of at-stadium brand activation, sports organisations find themselves in the difficult position to renegotiate or to carve out new sponsor benefits to replace what would have normally been used to engage with fans in person.
As per October 2020, research from the European Sponsorship Association shows that 75% of organisations were yet to finalise negotiations of sponsorships hit by COVID-19.
With in-person experiences put on hold in many countries, the focus shifted to digital rights and the live match. Pitch and stadium branding have therefore become a critical part of the equation, especially for sponsors aiming to target large audiences.
Retaining sponsorship investment without losing future venue advertising value
In normal conditions, rights holders have to constantly retain the commercial integrity of the property by assuring proportionate and fair value to all partners, which is a difficult exercise in itself – as eloquently evidenced in a recent Australian academic study. More so these days when certain assets cannot be delivered.
To mitigate the risks associated with contract resolutions – sometimes rebates – and the consequential issues of cash flow, rights holders turned to the branded seat banners. Part of the reason for choosing this solution was down to aesthetics – covering unsightly empty seats – but also to retain the commercial value of premium branding spaces near the pitch.
Compensating sponsors with temporary assets, that will be lost once fans are back in their seats, makes it easier in future negotiations, whilst ‘taking back’ a permanent benefit could have a negative effect on the perceived value of the overall sponsorship contract.
When leagues or federations are in charge of the commercial standards for stadium branding or manage the rights for competition-wide sponsors, clubs have even less ‘wiggle room’ in the conversation with their commercial partners.
However, for the rights holders unable to generate new inventory or for those being protective of the brandable spaces near the pitch, it is still possible to go the extra mile to support their sponsors. There are, in fact, many other opportunities to add value near the field of play without increasing the branded ‘real estate’.
Our 3D branding technology is at the centre of this
‘Product Placement’ with 3D CamCarpets
Undifferentiated messaging can be overcome by stimulating the fans’ cognition without using words. Through precision calculations and printing, we can bring products to life and help companies get straight to the point with fans.
Marketing slogans and branding can be used more strategically in the design of a multi-layered communication campaign that is bolder, more relevant, more effective and leverageable both through long-form live content and short-form highlights.
For those clubs already using 3D CamCarpets, adding products near the football goal can generate exceptional levels of attention, as proven by the 3D CamCarpets we delivered for the Carabao Cup Final in 2020, or the Nakd bar at Club Brugge.
Make your existing assets work harder with 2VIEW
The goal-side position taken by a 3D CamCarpet traditionally gives sponsors over 20 minutes of exposure during any given match. Using the same valuable positions near the action, with our 2VIEW technology we are able to produce two different prints on the upper side of the carpet.
This means that at half time, you can change the message on the most valuable advertising positions near the pitch with a simple 180° rotation.
This feature, combined with exceptional print quality, adds more options for brand activation through traditional and digital media channels.
Take Seat banners to another dimension with 3D technology
Earlier we mentioned how popular stadium seat cover banners have become in the past few months to cover up the empty stands, but many of these branding solutions don’t have what it takes to bring the sponsor logos to the front. And this is often the case with 2D prints, where the rarely favourable combination between the camera position and the gradient of the stand makes the graphics too flat to be readable.
Our 3D branding technology applied to large format banners has proven to be very successful even before any restrictions to the fans access came into place, and now is showing all its value allowing new sponsorships to fall into place during this complicated era we live in.
Take advantage of our expertise
By servicing clients across the most popular sports, at the highest level and globally, we have a unique and in-depth understanding for how to maximise at-venue advertising and bring creative new ideas that improve performance for sponsors and visual experience for fans.
