remark January 2015 | Page 7

SLICED //04 Six sponsorship themes to look out for in 2015 THE RISE OF IN-STADIA OPPORTUNITES THE YEAR OF WOMEN’S SPORT We predict 2015 will see big change with the Women’s sport continues to grow but it is onset of stadia connectivity upgrades, opening the lack of coverage and the fact that it only up huge commercial opportunities for sponsors gets 0.4% of commercial investment that to engage with ticket holding fans. This creates holds these sports back from really taking an exciting opportunity for official sponsors to off. Things maybe about to change with the interact with fans (pre/post-match and with BBC confirming they will be broadcasting breaks in play), but importantly could add every game of the FIFA 2015 Women’s credible value to the overall fan experience. World Cup in Canada. NFL FRANCHISE THE NEW RIGHTS HOLDER Content creation is changing our consumption of With the popularity of NFL in the UK and media and how brands engage their audiences. Europe bigger than ever before, demand for Early adopters who embraced the notion of tickets has surpassed all expectations - over content from the outset, and used partnerships to half a million people having applied for satisfy this need, are now rights holders tickets to the Wembley Series in 2014. themselves. Red Bull, once a sponsor is now a Three more games have been announced for media house and brand at the forefront of the Wembley in Autumn 2015. Will momentum content revolution. lead to a London NFL franchise? THE INFLUENCE OF WEARABLE TECH But it’s not just brands who are benefitting. Content focussed media channels are giving rise to a new type of influencer…You Tube or Vine celebrities. Yes, they are out there curating, creating and publishing to an audience of millions. So, what for the future partnership landscape? EXPERIENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS From Google Glass and Nike’s Fuel Band to Experiential activity is a great way for Samsung’s Galaxy Gear and Nabu Razer the brands to create memorable experiences for explosion of wearable tech over the last couple their consumers. Partnerships provide a of years is impossible to ignore. With global strong platform for emerging, start up brands market estimates from $5-$50 billion the to create tangible experiences, as seen with question is no longer whether wearable Airbnb and their successful partnerships technology is the next big thing, but who’s with Waterstones and KLM. Keep your eye going to take advantage and lead the way? out for emerging brands utilising experiential activities in 2015.