Stunt vs Strategy – the real difference in great sports sponsorship activation

By The Secret Strategist

A recent UP podcast rightly gave a light biff on the nose to the lazy, creatively “safe” activations of many sports sponsors. Sniffy disdain was - with absolute fairness - dished out to the repetitive, forgettable swirl of skills challenges, carpool, emotive sofa chats et al (*full seven deadly sins list at bottom of the blog).

However it was hard to discern what their solution to such bland creativity was, other than telling their teams not to produce one of the seven deadly sins* and to do something that will surprise people and live in the memory (I think the dreaded “drive fame” was also mentioned….). The obvious question posed to them was who did do this well?

The answers were a veritable trope of repeated glorification. One said “Nike”, one said “This Girl Can”. For brand managers of most sponsors who have to sell mundane products to a broad audience this is not inspiring stuff. TGC is a fantastic campaign but it never shifted many bottles of pop/mortgages/cars/loo roll/pair of glasses (insert own mundane category as you like).

More helpful and inspirational may have been a list of brands from the above mundane categories who have not been forgettable – and whose sponsorships have left campaigns that can be studied for guide. The key word in that sentence brings us to the true differentiator to memorability….campaign.

Much debate and summising can be had around brand purpose, brand vision, brand idea, brand

character and ever onward….but the only piece of strategy that the punter ever sees is execution (to paraphrase AG Lafley and a few other marketing heavyweights).

Brands that nail it turn the myriad of words they have somehow crammed onto a page into a simple, powerful campaign idea that unlocks executions for years to come. This alchemy doesn’t have a guidebook - possibly other than to be lucky enough to have a brilliant planning director who can turn the clients dull brief into something that hits just the right creative director on a very good day – and then miraculously finds a brave CMO willing to go out on a limb and buy it (you can see

why there aren’t many in existence).

And this brings us neatly back to the best sponsorship activations. For simplicity, let’s put them into three basic buckets.

1. Simple stunts. At their best, utterly genius, of the moment. They create a piece of execution to be celebrated at that year’s awards jamborees. Not a campaign in sight, or they may be so good they accidentally lead to the creation of one.

a. Paddy Power are the undisputed current and consistent champions of this.

b. ALS’s Ice Bucket Challenge went global, the fact they launched it with Tom Brady was fast forgotten, but the $100million raised made up for it.

c. Linford Christie’s PUMA contact lenses, one for the older reader to recall.

But for almost everyone else….a dismal waste of short term excitement when the big moment fizzles like a damp catherine wheel on a chilly November evening. The seven deadly sins list* often highly prevalent here.

2. Executions that sit neatly within existing campaigns – but which are sadly in themselves forgettable and dreary. Lost in the classical swirl of safety and category norms. The seven deadly sins list* highly prevalent here too.

3. Executions that sit neatly within existing campaigns – but which are inspiring and memorable. See any of……

a. Specsavers – “Should have gone to Specsavers”

b. Mastercard – “Priceless”

c. 02 – “Priority”

d. Coke – “Happiness”

e. Dove – “Real Beauty”

The agencies who get asked for activations here are in lucky territory. They have a good campaign (which means it has flexibility) and they have now been further blessed with a sports property and assets to leverage within its powerful embrace.

Even if a more mundane execution is pursued it will still in all likelihood feel stronger and better – as it sits within a known, liked and relevant territory for the audience. It isn’t chance that the best, consistent sponsor activations come from brands in this position.

You won’t solve a brand or marketing issue by sponsoring sport. For that look back to the harder work of first setting your brand apart through a differentiating and relevant positioning and campaign. Sport may be a smart way to make that come alive for your audience, but it is simply a conduit, an enlivening carrier, not the core of likely success. Don’t just do it - think first - as Nike did.

For real inspiration, let’s go really big – be Red Bull. Redefine your category, redefine a whole area of sport and do some of the greatest sponsorship activations of all time within a truly memorable brand campaign. Remember Felix Baumgartner skydiving from the edge of space? Give you wings? Not half.

*The seven deadly activation sins – done to the proverbial death.

1. Skills Challenge,

2. The Surprise and Delight,

3. The Carpool,

4. The Emotive Interview,

5. The first PE teacher,

6. The Spotify Playlist,

7. The Fanzone Foosball Table

Get th full Sponsorship Tumbleweed report here.