Sport Sponsorships in the time of COVID-19

A few days ago I listened in and watched a webinar on "Sport Sponsorships - Trends and Opportunities during COVID-19". The event was moderated by Eric M. Gottschalk, CEO of SPIA ASIA. The panel was made up of seasoned experts from the sport sponsorship industry: Mike Keech, Managing Director, Impact Sponsorship, Paul Poole, Founder, The Sponsorship Experts and Ole Schlke, Executive Director, Corporate Partnerships - Asia, Lagardere Sports. I met Mike and Eric at an SPIA ASIA conference event in December during the South East Asian Games wherein part of the panel was football legend Ronaldo and athletics legend Edwin Moses.

Aside from the panel discussion there was also a survey conducted among the 300 listeners and viewers. According to Eric, 75% of industry professionals are worried about their job security if "closed door events" or "fan-less" events continue. In another poll taken during the discussion, 79% of future online sponsorship sales will be through the sales approach, what is the sales approach? According to the National Association of Sales Professionals website or nasp.com, "People in every industry and in every walk of walk have an approach to their jobs and to their lives. One person may approach their life with an optimistic viewpoint where every cloud has a silver lining. Others may approach their jobs are a labor of love while another may approach their professional life as nothing more than labor for labor's sake.

An approach is the general attitude that you hold both consciously and subconsciously when you approach something that you repeatedly do. And though approaches are malleable, you tend to return to your most familiar approach.

Your sales approach is defined and governed by the general attitude and feelings about your position, your employer, your opportunities for success, your customers and your belief in your sales skills."

There were several takeaways and learnings from the panelists like sponsorship will be sold as "media and broadcast" is at a "re-set" stage which means everybody will be starting from scratch. Memoranda, contracts and agreements will be re-negotiated, extended or shortened. 

Another takeaway was the technology industry, specifically payment solutions, online sales and insurance are the new drivers. What is meant by new drivers is, these industries benefitted from the uncertainty due to necessity of consumers. Mike Keech said that Zoom's value is four times what it was before the pandemic. 

One of the learnings was a big shift from sports brands investing in "traditional CSR" to "purpose driven" partnerships. Brands are more focused and centered on COVID-19 and COVID-19 related issues. Another learning was for products to find an arc of a bridge for their services against the new consumer needs and mindset after the outbreak.  Finally, the gentlemen were all in agreement that sport needs to become competitive in the new arena of safety and health even after doctors and scientists find a cure. Digitalization will be here to stay even after a vaccine is found and things return to normal because. The panel said that "uncertainty is the new certainty". I think the "new normal" is the "new game".