The marketing industry lived in 2020 one of the worst years in its history. The coronavirus crisis has caused brand budgets to fall by around 17% in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to IEDM (Index of Expectations of Marketing Directors) forecasts.
Sports sponsorship has not been immune to this situation. In your case, it has greatly affected cancellation of sporting events and absence of public in those that have been able to celebrate. That is why the vast majority of brands have worked in recent months to renegotiate sponsorship contracts what they had with properties. And it is that the physical activation of the sponsorship agreements has hardly been possible since the pandemic began.
For 2021, the forecasts for sports sponsorship are not good either. The public has not yet returned to the stadiums and it seems impossible that it will do so before September. There’s also uncertainty about whether or not the Olympics or the European Championship can be held, events that were already postponed last year. As if that were not enough, the new regulation that vetoes the sponsorship of online bookmakers, approved at the end of last year, has not helped either.
In this adverse context, the “Sports Sponsorship Barometer 2020”, produced by Carlos Cantó, CEO of SPSG Consulting and member of the Spanish Marketing Association; reveals that 52% of marketing managers surveyed last December will decrease their investment in sports sponsorship this year. Of that percentage, 24% even estimate that the decrease in their budget will be greater than 20%. Other 38% assure that their spending will remain stable, while only 11% of the participants in the report declare that they will increase their games in sponsorship rights. Increases that will be, in most cases, below 5% year-on-year.
The activation of sports sponsorships already signed between the brand and property it will also suffer this year. 45% of marketing managers reveal that they will reduce their budget for it, in front of 21% that will increase it.
It must be taken into account that sports sponsorship in Spain revolves around the 400 million euros per year, according to Infoadex data corresponding to 2019. Investment that has grown steadily in recent years until the 2o2o marked by the coronavirus arrived.
And, according to the aforementioned study, COVID19 has had a negative impact on the physical activation of sponsorships, either in the experiences associated with the link between brand and property or to VIP hospitality. This last point – being able to invite the most important customers to sponsored sporting events – is especially important for brands. It is, in fact, one of the most interesting benefits of sponsorship for marketing managers – according to the results of the study – along with brand visibility.
However, the pandemic has also brought positive parts to the management of sports sponsorships. According to the brands surveyed, the current situation has favored the digital activation of sponsorships, the activation of the social sense of this type of agreement and The empathy between the company and the property. In addition, the brake that the current crisis has meant has also allowed brands to have time to redesign the strategy of their sponsorships and their activation.
Coca-Cola, the brand most associated with sports sponsorship
Despite all these conditions, what has not changed is that Coca-Cola continues to be the brand that is most associated in our country with sports sponsorship, according to the “Sports Sponsorship Barometer 2020”. Up to four years out of the last seven, this multinational is the one with the highest Sponsorship Awareness Index (SAI) in our country. Second is Banco Santander and third is BWIN. It remains to be seen how the new regulation on online bookmakers affects the latter company.
Regarding the properties, they stay one more year in the lead Rafa Nadal, Pau Gasol and Fernando Alonso like the Spanish athletes with the best image. As for the international ones, they stand out Leo Messi, Roger Federer and Cristiano Ronaldo.
–
