2010, The Year Ahead

By Shaun Whatling, published in Sports Business November 09

2010.

So what does the year ahead look like for sponsorship? Very interesting indeed.

How else would it be possible to feel from the perspective of a year which has seen Carling end one of the longest-standing brand relationships in UK sport - only to be replaced by a record-breaking £80m deal with Standard Chartered?

A year ushered in by perhaps the most explicitly negative publicity for sponsorship since the mainstream press started using the word.

A year which has seen the entry of three new teams into F1, which, combined with the virtual rout of the financial and automotive sectors, and a new breed of investors into the sport, has given unexpected teeth to the Resource Restriction Agreement.

A year which has seen all the major agency networks realising that 'experiential + digital + TVC' is a powerful combination (even if they still don't dare call it sponsorship); that branded content is capable of sustaining a brand narrative and consumer relationships over time (even if they still don't dare call it sponsorship); and broadening their agency offering to embrace entertainment, fashion, community, and even the 3rd sector (even if...).

A year in which Corporate Responsibility has found an unexpected ally in sport (and the credit crunch) to help it transcend the marketing community's narrow perspective on cause-related marketing.

And a year in which the IOC has finally, perhaps, achieved its defining moment - ignoring, for a second time, America's increasingly strident invitation, and taking a gigantic step towards the fulfilment of its Olympic vision.

A year which, for me, has seen more fundamental shifts in the foundations of the industry of sport and sponsorship than any year I can remember - for the better; shifts which reflect a changing world order, at the macro-economic, but also - in developed markets - at the level of the individual.

2010. Two years to 2012. A very interesting year indeed.

Can't wait.