Sponsorship Masters: Brand leaders debate what really drives sponsorship value
What happens when you put 50 experienced sponsors in a room? The conversation quickly moves beyond theory and into what really drives sponsorship value.
That was exactly the case at Sponsorship Masters in London on 11th June, where more than 50 brand and marketing leaders gathered to debate the strategies that break through an increasingly crowded landscape and turn investment into impact.
Over the course of a day of workshops, debates, and candid discussions, several common themes and challenges emerged.
Attention is becoming harder to earn
Luke Souchard, Head of Sponsorship at BT, EE and Plusnet, and Sally Moore, Global Head of Sponsorship at Sage, joined Jo Redfern to discussed how brands can respond to increasingly fragmented audiences.
Two approaches emerged. The first is to invest in major cultural moments, such as the World Cup or, in BT's case, the upcoming UEFA EURO 2028, that capture national attention and create shared experiences. The second is the always-on approach, exemplified by Sage's long-term EFL partnership, which provides consistent engagement throughout the year.
The discussion also highlighted how media consumption has changed. What was once considered youth behaviour is now mainstream behaviour. Multi-screen viewing, platform switching and fragmented attention are no longer exceptions; they are the norm not only for young audiences but for us all. For sponsors, understanding how audiences consume content is just as important as understanding who those audiences are.
Creativity is the biggest differentiator
If attention is harder to earn, creativity is increasingly becoming the deciding factor.
Chris Gregg of Callaway Golf and Steve Martin of MSQ explored how to implement creativity in sponsorship today and why some campaigns cut through while others disappear into the noise.
The conclusion was that brands cutting through weren't talking about products. They were building brands.
The most effective sponsorship activations create emotional connections, tell compelling stories and give audiences a reason to care. Creativity remains one of the few advantages that cannot simply be bought through larger rights fees or bigger budgets.
The best partnerships are built over years, not months
Steve Hicks, Marketing Director at Kia and Claire Gatcum of Royal London explored how long-term partnerships create compounding value.
Their message was simple: the strongest partnerships are built on trust, planning and patience. Over time, brands and rights holders develop a deeper understanding of each other's objectives, allowing them to activate more effectively and generate greater returns than short-term deals typically allow.
Rights don't guarantee reach
Adam Raincock of The Space Between challenged delegates to think beyond the audiences reached through acquired sponsorship rights. He argued that most sponsors focus heavily on the fans they reach directly through a partnership while overlooking the much larger audience beyond it. In Adam's view, sponsorship rights typically provide access to only 23% of the total fanbase, creating what The Space Between agency calls The Sponsorship Gap.
A frustration shared by several attendees was a lack of activation budget. Even when reducing sponsorship spend, the resulting budget savings rarely translate into increased activation budgets. More often, the money simply disappears back into the wider business. The result is that many sponsorship teams find themselves trying to achieve more impact with insufficient activation support.
Before measuring success, agree what success looks like
Paul Pednault, CEO of Sponsorium, led an insightful session on return on objectives and the importance of building internal consensus before a sponsorship begins.
His argument was simple but powerful: Most organisations spend too much time trying to justify sponsorship investment at the end of a partnership and not enough time agreeing on what success should look like at the beginning.
Pednault advocated for a return-on-objectives approach built around weighted objectives agreed internally before the sponsorship begins.
As he explained after the event:
"Tons of money could be saved if you could get internal consensus, including from top management, on weighted sponsorship objectives right from the start. In other words, are we all in agreement as to why we spend money on sponsorship activities in the first place? Simple rule: develop weighted brand objectives, get internal consensus, and report with confidence.”
Whether the objective is brand awareness, sales support, customer engagement, community impact, or something else entirely, success becomes much easier to measure when there is an upfront agreement on what sponsorship is actually expected to achieve.
The heavyweights
The day concluded with a candid Ask Me Anything session featuring Investec CMO Tim Burnell and Roger Duthie, who led Emirates' global sponsorship portfolio for more than a decade. Drawing on decades of experience, the pair answered questions from delegates on everything from sponsorship strategy and measurement to stakeholder management and activation advice.
Join us in October
Our next Sponsorship Masters event is a half-day session exploring how leading brands align purpose-led sponsorships with commercial objectives.
We'll examine how organisations create partnerships that deliver meaningful benefits for communities and society while engaging audiences, strengthening brands and driving measurable business impact.
Register here: https://www.thesponsor.com/events/
