International code of sponsorship rules updated

Helen Day, Head of European Policy for the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), has spoken of the importance of the recent updates to the international sponsorship code of ethics.

The code is used around the world as the basis for creating local and national legislation across the industry.

It is a distinct chapter within the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Consolidated Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications Practice, a self-regulatory agreement which is designed to build consumer trust through best practise marketing and advertising.

ESA played an integral role during the year long negotiations with the ICC around their updated code, ensuring that the worldwide sponsorship industry's views were well represented in the discussions.

Helen Day, the European Sponsorship Association's Head of European Policy said: "The changes embrace the growing reach of our industry, now incorporating sponsor-owned properties and the sponsorship elements of CR programmes, as well as giving further clarity to the controversial issue of ambush marketing. ESA is proud to have been instrumental in co-ordinating views of the industry across Europe and helping to clarify responsible behaviour within the sector today.". The major updates are:

"Sponsor-owned properties are now included in the code,
    eg when sponsors create and own, for example, a golf tournament, and then present themselves as its sponsor they will now fall within the remit of the code,

"Corporate social responsibility (CR) programmes with a sponsorship element are now included in the code,
    eg when a company's CR programme includes sponsor benefits they are now included in the code.

"Responses to ambush marketing should be proportionate and not impact on the general public.

The code has always stated that brands should not pretend to be sponsors when they were not. This change urges property owners and sponsor brands not to over-react to ambush marketing and to bear in mind how their response will affect event audiences.

Full details of the sponsorship code can be found at www.codescentre.com/index.php/icc-code/chapter-b-sponsorship/46-article-b1-principles-governing-sponsorship

"Now to underline our long term commitment to Exeter we are delighted to be announcing this shirt deal which will initially last this season and next. The club is doing really well and playing some excellent and enjoyable football".

Exeter City fans will also be able to do their bit because Follett Stock has agreed to extend its Loyalty Card scheme to the Grecians. Under the scheme the litigation-focused law firm will pay over 10% of any money it earns from any work coming from the club's card holders.

Business Manager Fiona Higgins says that could be worth a substantial amount of additional money for the League One side. "From what we make on contentious work, if 100 Exeter fans instruct us on their disputes rather than one of our competitors, the club could benefit from another £100,000 or so on top of the sponsorship already committed", she said.

"This covers all sorts of disputes, whether matrimonial, employment, land, personal injury, or other litigation. Often this is paid by the other side or even an insurer. That's a clear win because we are also very good at what we do".

Exeter City's CEO Norrie Stewart said: "It is really gratifying that such a prestigious legal firm as Follett Stock have entered into this relationship with the Club. It is a ringing endorsement of the fact that sponsorship of Exeter City Football Club is recognised as a superb way of reaching and communicating with clients and customers.

"We, in turn, wholeheartedly endorse the quality of service provided by Follett Stock and commend our fans to make full use of the of the Loyalty Scheme which further benefits the Club."

Photo: From left to right: Rebecca Gurgul, Manager of the Exeter Office of Follett Stock, Paul Tisdale, Fiona Higgins, Business Manager of Follett Stock

It will be an invitation event featuring 12 of the top players in the world rankings plus four wild cards, with prize money of at least $200,000.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: "This is a fantastic announcement for snooker as it will be the first ever professional tournament staged in Brazil. It will be an invitation event in year one but depending on its success we do have plans to make it a full world ranking tournament.

"Brazil is a country with a great love of sport and an incredible sporting heritage. Snooker is very popular there and we want to tap into that support. Breaking into South America is a huge step towards our ambition of making snooker a truly global sport. These are exciting times for us, with this the latest in a series of new tournaments.

"We look forward to working with the promoter in Brazil and building foundations there".

Pablo Magalhães, Marketing Director of Publikimagem Projects and Marketing, the promoter of the event, said: "We believe that hosting an official event of World Snooker in Brazil will be the beginning of a new era of professional snooker in our country. We are very optimistic about the success of this first international tournament of professional snooker in South America".

Marcílio Cavalcanti, Chairman of Snooker Brazil Association, added: "The realisation of the Brazil Masters in 2011 is being awaited with great anxiety for more than 20,000 players from Brazil, mainly because we will conduct national qualifying to categorise the two best players for the Brazil Masters. This event will change the concept of professional snooker in our country and in a few years we believe that we will have more Brazilian players in snooker’s world rankings".

Brazil's top player Igor Figueiredo, who reached the final of the World Amateur Championship last year and is now playing his first season on the professional tour, said: "It's very exciting news that there will be a tournament in Brazil. Snooker is already popular in my homeland but there is potential for it to be much bigger. This event will bring snooker to the Brazilian fans and I know they will respond by welcoming the top players and creating a great atmosphere. Hopefully I can be successful on the main tour and provide an example for more Brazilian players to follow me".

The event will be straight knock-out, on one match table. The first two rounds will be best of seven frames, with the semis and final best of nine.

Building on major successes already achieved, say the companies, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes partnership will continue to focus on developing exciting new technologies as well as engaging Vodafone's customers in a series of innovative new marketing initiatives.

Under the new agreement, which runs until the end of the 2013 season, Vodafone will remain title partner and becomes official total communications partner of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

Covering fixed, mobile and broadband networks, content and communication services and associated devices, the partnership will continue, say the companies, to drive forward the relationship with a particular focus on empowerment and technical innovation by:

  •   bringing Vodafone customers closer to the passion of Formula 1 through its services, events and experiences

  •   helping support the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s on-track success through greater technical integration of Vodafone’s total communications services.

Morten Lundal, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone, said: "Vodafone is an international brand with strong local roots. As such, Formula 1 is a strong platform from which we can engage our customers with unique experiences and events. We've had great success in using the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes partnership to engage our customers in our key markets, and we're committed to new and exciting platforms which will allow customers to get even closer to the action".

Ron Dennis, Executive Chairman, McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive, said: "The success that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has enjoyed since our two companies' partnership began in 2007 has been prodigious. Of the sixty-eight Grands Prix that have been staged during our partnership, our drivers have scored twenty-one wins and fifty-five podium finishes.

"Going forward, I'm confident that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will build on and improve on our already impressive track record, delivering an ever more powerful return on investment for Vodafone, and proving once again what a formidable global marketing tool the sport of Formula 1 remains".

Applicado-FS is one of the fastest growing independent management consultancy companies in the UK and delivers large and complex financial programmes as well as smaller technology-focussed projects.

The company, which was launched in 2007, specialises in System Architecture, Network Design, Infrastructure Builds, Application and System Integration, Service Management, Project Support and Business Analysis.

Andrew Pickering, CTO and Co-Founder of Applicado-FS said: "We are thrilled to become the Main Sponsor for the next two seasons and are keen to extend our already great working relationship with Wigan Warriors. I am a lifelong Wigan fan and have thoroughly enjoyed the 2010 season, which culminated in the club being crowned as Grand Final Champions.

"I am looking forward to further success on and off the field for both the Warriors and Applicado-FS in the years to come".

Speaking about the news, Sales Director Geoff Warburton added: "We are delighted to announce Applicado-FS as our new Main Sponsor for 2011 and 2012. This is a natural progression of their involvement with the club, having spent the last twelve months as a Club Partner and Shorts Sponsor.

"We are delighted that the relationship continues to go from strength to strength, something which is reflected in the rapid growth and success of both the Warriors and Applicado-FS since 2007".

Photo: Andrew Pickering from Applicado-FS is welcomed to the DW Stadium by Wigan Warriors Head Coach, Michael Maguire.

Over the last five years, HSBC has been at the forefront of the expansion of the game in Asia with the creation of the HSBC Champions in China, which it has helped develop from inception in 2005 to become Asia's first World Golf Championship tournament.

It has also created a comprehensive programme of grassroots activity across China, designed to increase both interest and participation in the game.

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship at HSBC, commented: "The Open Championship is, without a doubt, one of the world's most important golf tournaments and HSBC is very honoured to become a Patron. Golf sponsorship continues to be an important investment tool for us to grow and sustain our business and brand. This new partnership is an exciting opportunity to take our current activity with professional and grassroots golf in both established and emerging markets to a new level".

2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen was equally upbeat: "Winning The Open, particularly at St Andrews, is the pinnacle of any golfer's career. I could not have got there without the great support I've received from within the game and I hope this announcement will lead to further opportunities for The R&A to do even more to help the game to grow around the world".

The R&A is the governing body of world golf outside the US, with affiliated national governing bodies in 126 countries around the world. In 2010, 200,000 spectators attended The Open Championship and over 3,000 hours of television coverage were broadcast to 193 countries worldwide.

This is the largest work Ai has made using porcelain, one of China's most prized exports, with which he has previously created imitation fruit, clothes and vases. Although they look identical from a distance, every seed is different, and far from being industrially produced, 'readymade' or found objects, they have each been intricately handcrafted by skilled artisans.

Tate Media has launched a unique opportunity to communicate one-to-one with the renowned artist. Combining online and video technologies with the rise of social media and the popularity of contemporary art, the project enables visitors to the exhibition to engage in a global dialogue about the work.

International Rugby Board President Bernard Lapasset said: "These are very exciting times for our sport and this deal will benefit rugby at all levels. The appointment of a market leader in the banking industry as title sponsor of the IRB Sevens World Series further enhances Rugby Sevens' prominent stature as an Olympic sport with significant prestige and attraction within the global marketplace.

"HSBC is an internationally renowned brand and a true champion of the development of rugby around the world. HSBC has a massively successful history of working with its partners to develop the game on and off the field through the HSBC Rugby Festivals and sponsorship of the Asian 5 Nations.

"We look forward to working in close collaboration with HSBC to further the promotion of the game in new and existing rugby markets as we count down to Sevens' Olympic Games debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, an event that will herald the beginning of another exciting chapter in the Rugby Sevens success story".

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship, HSBC Holdings, said: "HSBC has a long standing heritage in rugby, and is excited about investing in such a thriving area of the game. The addition of the HSBC Sevens World Series to HSBC's current international rugby portfolio will allow the bank to further engage with its customers and staff around the world.

"Through our continued investment in the grassroots level of the game, which will be expanded to include Rugby Sevens, HSBC will be at the forefront of encouraging even more people to watch and play the sport".

Rugby Sevens continues to go from strength to strength. For a fifth consecutive year a record global audience switched on to Sevens in 2010. Television broadcast coverage of the eight-tournament 2009/10 Sevens World Series reached 141 countries across six continents, with thirty-four broadcasters showing action from the most competitive series to date, won by Samoa for the first time in the Series' eleven-year history. The series also attracted record attendance figures, with over 500,000 fans enjoying the event festival atmosphere.

2010/2011 HSBC Sevens World Series

Dubai – December 3rd-4th, 2010
South Africa - December 10th-11th, 2010
New Zealand - February 4th-5th, 2011
USA - February 12th-13th, 2011
Hong Kong - March 25th-27th, 2011
Australia - April 2nd-3rd, 2011
England - May 21st-22nd, 2011
Scotland - May 28th-29th, 2011

* The 2011 Hong Kong Sevens will not feature HSBC branding in year one of the HSBC Sevens World Series due to the existing event title contract with another sponsor in the banking sector. Hong Kong will remain within the overall Series points structure in 2010/11.

As far as customers are concerned, says the company, those with 3D TVs can enjoy the commercial in 3D over the coming weeks, while those without 3D TVs will enjoy a 3D-like experience thanks to advanced cinematic effects used to bring the advert to life.

Commenting on the new advertising campaign and Sky Movies sponsorship, Andrew Denham, Marketing Director, said: "Panasonic's significant media investment both above and below the line will clearly position Panasonic as the number one brand for 3D as the home market for 3D becomes established.

"Working with our key retailers, we have designed an integrated 360 degree campaign to drive awareness and footfall into stores in the critical run up to Christmas period".

Last year, attendance at the spectacular week-long event surpassed 250,000 – making it the highest attended indoor tennis event ever. The tournament is the climax of the men's professional tennis season and gives tennis fans the opportunity to see the top eight singles players and the top eight doubles teams battle it out for the coveted last title of the year. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have already qualified for the event.

Visitors to the tournament can also brush up on their own tennis skills by visiting the Highland Spring Hot Shots Tour which will be part of the new Fan Zone at The O2. Developed in association with the LTA, the interactive tennis feature will help budding players of all ages improve coordination and racquet skills with a range of fun and educational tennis games, claims the company.

As Highland Spring is a long-term supporter of British tennis, the sponsorship would seem to be a natural fit for the exclusive beverage sponsor to Andy (above left), Jamie and Judy Murray and the official water supplier to the Lawn Tennis Association.