SEAT and Shakira have signed a collaboration agreement which sees the sporty Spanish car manufacturer become main sponsor of the international pop star’s forthcoming European tour.

The agreement will link the young, sporty image of the SEAT brand to the musical talent of Shakira, currently enjoying great success with her latest album, She Wolf.

The Colombian-born singer (who sang at President Obama's inauguration ceremony - see right) will thus become an ambassador for SEAT throughout her European tour.

David Abrutyn, Senior Vice President, Global Managing Director, IMG Consulting, said: "IMG Consulting is extremely proud to be working with one of Britain’s most iconic and respected brands".

British Airways global sponsorship manager, Luisa Fernandez, highlighted the reasons for the appointment: "British Airways is committed to creating a lasting legacy through the BA Great Britons Program. With their extensive experience, we are thrilled to be working with IMG Consulting.

"We are delighted to welcome IMG Consulting on board. Their wealth of sponsorship experience along with their global network and creative ideas will help take our sponsorship projects to the next level", she added.

Andrew Cullis, Marketing Director of Hyundai, explained the background to the partnership: "Hyundai is now in its tenth year of FIFA sponsorship globally and so it is a natural progression for Hyundai UK to help bring the excitement of the beautiful game to fans across Britain by sponsoring live TV coverage."

Caroline Hipperson, Marketing Director Lucozade Sport, emphasised the benefits for the Lucozade brand. "As the official sports drink of the England team", she said, "our objective is to fuel the players to World Cup success in 2010. Being part of ITV’s coverage provides us with an exciting opportunity to reinforce our unique relationship with the England team and the difference we can make to players when they need an edge on the pitch".

The deal was negotiated by ITV Commercial. Team Hyundai ZenithOptimedia acted for Hyundai and Mediacom London for GSK’s Lucozade Sport.

The sponsorship creative for both partners will be handled by M&C Saatchi.

Gord Ray, Wallpaper* publishing director, put the agreement in context: "Wallpaper's Design Awards get bigger and better every year and the celebratory issue of the magazine is always eagerly anticipated. Having HTC on board, with its commitment to design and innovation, is a great synergy and testament to the influence our Design Awards have on the world design stage".

The Wallpaper* Design Awards in association with HTC are now entering their sixth year. They celebrate and congratulate the year's highest design achievers in a broad range of categories from extraordinary architecture and brilliant product design to the most life enhancing item.

The Wallpaper* Design Awards issue goes on sale on 14th January, 2010. Details of the Awards event will be announced in due course.

"We both share a passion for precision technology, and we measure life in Formula 1 by the stopwatch, so the long and prosperous relationship we’ve enjoyed with TAG Heuer feels entirely natural".

TAG Heuer president and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin added: "It’s a matter of considerable pride to all of us at TAG Heuer that we can not only look back on a fantastically successful 25-year relationship, but that we can continue to share our vision together long into the future.

"In many ways, TAG Heuer has become synonymous with Formula 1 and, in particular, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Many of our ambassadors – Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton – have become some of Formula 1’s greatest champions, and our timepieces will long continue to celebrate the accuracy, the precision and even the history of this great sport".

2008 Formula 1 world champion and TAG Heuer ambassador, Lewis Hamilton, added: "My long and ongoing relationship with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team means that I’ve really grown up with the TAG Heuer brand. To be able to sit in the very car driven by one of the team’s greatest champions, Alain Prost, is a great honour; it was incredible to get to drive such a piece of history, and to experience a little taste of Formula 1’s, McLaren’s and TAG Heuer’s glorious past.

"[The] event really showcased the perfectionism and dedication that TAG Heuer has always shown the team, and it was an honour to be invited. Finally, it’s great news that TAG Heuer has chosen to revive another classic watch with a motorsport connection: the Silverstone. It’s a fantastic watch".

"Nestlé Pure Life is perfect for all the family and offers a great value choice for mums trying to encourage their family to adopt a healthier approach to food and drink. It is available at an everyday good value in bulk packs of 10 x 33cl. and/or 12 x 50cl."

To celebrate its first year as sponsor, Nestlé Pure Life will have its own running team, with a total of fifty colleagues from a range of Nestlé businesses across the globe. Running experts Full Potential will be coaching the team to ensure they each achieve their personal best.

David Bedford, Virgin London Marathon Race Director, commented: "We want the race to be a successful family friendly race, so it's great to have Nestlé Pure Life on board encouraging families to be active and adopting a healthier lifestyle together".

LOCOG disagrees with this suggestion. LOCOG has raised nearly £600 million in domestic sponsorship in the last two and a half years, and on Friday announced its 25th sponsor of London 2012.

The over-riding message from several of the distinguished speakers at the conference, including rights holders, major sponsors, agencies, accountants and lawyers, was the need in the current climate to deliver measurable returns on sponsorship investments. Indeed one major global sponsor revealed that as little as 25% of the measurable value of their sponsorship programmes now comes through what used to be considered sponsorship’s main asset – media exposure and brand awareness.

As if to reinforce the results of the survey, there was a call for "sponsorship" to be reclassified and even renamed to more accurately reflect the marketing role which sponsorship is now so effectively delivering for thousands of companies and brands. American sponsorship industry guru, Lesa Ukman, issued a stark warning to the sponsorship industry across Europe when she revealed that in the US, any of the financial services companies that received financial help from the government were no longer allowed to undertake sponsorship programmes.

The European Sponsorship Association’s Chairman, Karen Earl, was quick to pick up on Ukman’s comments, sayng: "What we heard about the American market and the new restrictions imposed on the financial institutions is extremely worrying and shows that there is still a massive lack of understanding of the potential of sponsorship as a marketing discipline.

"It is still seen by many as having philanthropic connotations and at a corporate level providing opportunities for excess and waste. The sponsorship industry is now worth in excess of 8 billion Euros across Europe and for the leading companies and brands it is an absolutely vital component of their overall marketing plans".

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