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Who's Who of Yacht Racing 2009 Announced
Pilote Media Release Details About the Dark Blue Book. Pilote Media, publishers of yacht racing business website yachtsponsorship.com, have announced a new directory of professional sailing. The Dark Blue Book - the who’s who of yacht racing will be published in early 2009, containing information about key people and organisations from around the world. “Although competitive sailing has been around for a long time, yacht racing as a professional endeavour is relatively new,” says David Fuller of Pilote Media. “Having launched yachtsponsorship.com earlier this year we have seen a growing number of people who are interested in the business of yacht racing. Other sports like Motor Racing have similar directories and the market for competitive sailing has reached a point where it can support a product like this.” The directory will feature people and companies who are involved in the business of yacht racing including teams, rights holders, event organisers, sponsors, press and photographers and suppliers. Individuals or companies who wish to be considered for inclusion in the directory can register their submission at http://wwww.darkbluebook.com. The Dark Blue Book will be available for pre-order from the website in the coming months.Interview with Mark Turner - How to run a Yacht Race
Administrators and Event organisers take note - sport is not the same anymore. Some sports like sailing are learning that the old ways might work for amateur competition but will not attract money, sponsors or the public interest unless they adapt.OC Events, the owners of the iShares Cup for Extreme 40 catamarans are showing how it can be done.
In this interview with www.yachtsponsorship.com - Mark Turner, the CEO of OC Group talks about how the rules need to be thrown out the window.
http://www.yachtsponsorship.com/2008/10/mark-turner-on-the-ishares-cup/
Measurement becomes Mainstream?
Originally posted at Pilote SportOne of the promises of an integrated digital media offer, powered by the Internet, has been tons and tons of useful measurement that can be used to make content relevant and advertising efficient.
Most companies don't actually use this data. They make users fill out registration forms, collecting information about gender and age and postal code, with an implicit undertaking to provide a more customised experience, but in reality this data is rarely used.
There have been notable exceptions. You probably don't want to know the level of detail about your habits resides in the Google databases. Bolt.com, one of the early Social Networks employed a team of statisticians to analyse teenage behaviour that was then sold to blue chip marketing brands.
Now the big-boys are waking up, perhaps. NBC have announced that they will use next month's broadcast of the Olympics to research how their audience consume media across several platforms including mobile (cell phones).
The 'billion dollar research lab' may go towards producing what NBC calls a "TAMI" -- Total Audience Measurement Index, which takes into account TV, online, video on demand and mobile phone usage. It may eventually be used to negotiate deals with advertisers across several platforms at once.
2008. The technology is available. The knowledge is available. And yet, words like 'eventually' and 'may be' are still used. Perhaps content providers don't want to know that nobody is watching or that the advertising is not relevant.
Sailing through Sponsorship Noise.
First posted at the Pilote Sport Blog (Monday 30th June)
Yesterday,
more than 1850 boats competed in the JP Morgan Round the Island Race.
So, that's 1850 possible news stories multiplied by the number of crew
plus a few sponsor press releases and a myriad of results. There was
only one story that mattered to the UK media though, Lewis Hamilton,
the 'British' F1 driver was aboard Hugo Boss.On these pages, we try to show that, even if you don't have the budgets of these big companies, you can still learn how to make the most of your sports marketing money by watching the best. Hugo Boss is a fantastic case study.
If you read our story last week about David Beckham's shirt, you will know that not all sponsorships manage to generate awareness with a wider audience. Until now, you may not have known that Hugo Boss is a partner of the McClaren F1 team, but this was a win-win opportunity for everybody that ensured maximum marketing exposure.
By putting Lewis Hamilton, alongside Britain's top Olympic sailor; Ben Ainslie, on a 60 foot, carbon fibre, racing yacht, the marketing gurus managed to promote Hugo Boss, McLaren and sailing all in one go. Even though Hugo Boss collided with another boat at the start and compromised the 'podium' finish, the headlines were guaranteed.
When Hugo Boss started working with Alex Thompson on his Open 60 campaign, they showed how, with a bit of thought, a racing yacht could become a huge floating billboard. The current boat's hull and sails are aligned to highlight the brand from every possible angle and of course the value of naming rights are apparent.
So what can smaller companies with more modest budgets take away from this example? Spreading sponsorship budget across multiple, complimentary sports allows you to take advantage of cross-promotional opportunities that benefit all.
Do Coaches need to know the Game?
Originally Posted on the Pilote Sport Blog (Friday 27th June, 2008)A controversial post for Monday Morning to stimulate some debate.
I've got a problem with coaches. Not all coaches mind you, just the ones that set themselves up as motivators, but have no technical knowledge about the subject at hand. This is especially true of the trendy new job of 'life coach.'
Now a newly published study by Amanda Goodall, Lawrence Kahn, and Andrew Oswald (Opens in PDF) finds that having expert knowledge of the thing you are coaching definitely matters. The Abstract of the report says "We show that a strong predictor of a leader's success... is that person s own level of attainment, in the underlying activity... Our data come from 15,000 professional basketball games and reveal that former star players make the best coaches. This expert knowledge effect is large."
How Large? The report finds substantial evidence that the difference between having a coach who never played NBA basketball and one who played many years of NBA all star basketball is, on average, approximately 6 extra places up the NBA league table. In a league where there are 29 teams, this is significant.
The report also tries to draw some conclusions as to why this is the case. One possibility is that the same quality that drove the individual to the top of the game still exists, an 'x-factor' that determines success. Other explanations include an ability to impart expert knowledge that can only be acquired by playing the game. A third hypothesis offered is that players who are recognised as 'greats' command more respect from those who are at the top of their game in the present, whereas lesser players, or those who have never played the game would find it harder to convince current players of their credentials.
There may be exceptions, but at last there are some hard facts that show that a coach with expert knowledge will provide better results than a coach who is 'motivating' only.
Who's on Beckham's Shirt?
Originally Posted at PiloteSport.com
Quick.
Think. You've seen this image in all kinds of press. The front page of
the Sun, the back page of the News of the World, the front cover of
Sports Illustrated. So why can't you name the sponsor?If you are in the industry, or a die hard Galaxy fan, you may know the answer, but a straw poll reveals that 9 out of 10 people can not tell you the sponsor's name. So much for the use of sports properties as mobile billboards. So much for extrapolated numbers of coverage. If ever there was an argument that the 'exposure' model of sports sponsorship is flawed, this is it.
You can almost imagine the board presentation. "Next year, the world's most famous footballer will be playing in a shirt with your brand on it. Your brand will be seen by millions of people around the world. If you were to pay for that kind of exposure at market rates, you would not be able to afford it... "
Unlike a billboard, which allows other images, associations, strap lines and messages to be conveyed in the time it takes to drive past on the motorway, a logo on a shirt is just that. There is no call to action. Just an implied endorsement of the participant. Without activation, the sponsorship is lost in the noise.
So how to do it properly? Well think of a sports property and then name their sponsor. If you can, then they are probably doing it right. In fact, some may have done such a good job that you may be thinking of a sponsor who hasn't been involved for several years.
Try it with the following examples: a) Tiger Woods, b) Roger Federer, c) Jeff Gordon, d) Kimi Raikkonen, e) Andrew 'Freddy' Flintoff, d) Manchester United.... Answers below.
Answers.
LA Galaxy Team Shirt Sponsor - Herbalife
a) Accenture, Nike, Gatorade.
b) Emmi, Gillette, Jura, Mercedes Benz, Nike
c) Dupont, Nicorette, Pepsi
d) Marlboro, Fiat, Shell, Martini
e) Vodafone, Barclays Capital, Woodworm
f) AIG, Nike
Activating Sponsorship to a Wider Audience
First Posted at PiloteSport.com/BlogA great example of using a sponsorship across different markets. This distinctive yellow Aviva advertisement ties in with the company's backing of the English yachtswoman Dee Caffari.
The Open 60 yacht most recently completed the Artemis Transat and will shortly compete in the Vendee Globe.
It's great to see some joined up thinking and some good activation of the sponsorship on the water.
It's also good to see the activation outside of the sailing press. Traditionally, one would expect to see an ad like this in a publication like Yachting World, however Aviva are running the campaign in 'mass-market' publications like Time. 'Intelligent Life', the quarterly publication from the Economist is a niche publication, but importantly a non sailing title and shows that the marketing folk have considered multiple, but targeted audiences.
