KEY POINTS:
Has a client company recently taken you to England to see your favourite football team play, or have they used their link with the nation's rugby team to take you into their hallowed changing rooms?
New Zealand business is likely to see more of this kind of brand leveraging, says a leading innovator in the industry. It's happening already in Australia and bubbling away under the surface in New Zealand.
'Sponsorship is an under-utilised tool. People just look at sponsorship as a few signs around the ground, and taking a few of your clients down to have a beer. It should be one of the major parts of marketing thinking. Companies that do it well get a lot more brand equity and recognition than companies not doing it well,' says Mike Loftus, American International Assurance's new market retention manager.
Companies should be introducing a wide variety of stakeholders to their chosen sponsors and that way the word will spread far more effectively, says Loftus who has consulted for Fifa, Delta Airlines and Qantas previously.
In his new position, he is working to leverage the sponsorship relationship between AIG, the parent company of AIA, and Manchester United.
'AIA has access to Manchester United tickets, hospitality and merchandise, and we're putting programmes in place right now to take advantage of this international sponsorship.
There are going to be fantastic opportunities for our policy-holders and business partners this year and in the future,' Loftus says.
He is putting together a trip for eight, including Wynton Rufer, New Zealand's best known international football player, to Old Trafford to see Manchester United play for the last time before Christmas. The visit is likely to include watching a closed training session, and meeting the team afterwards.
'Working with Wynton Rufer will help us with the local relevance,' says Loftus.
'There's no one else who can offer the Manchester United experience that we can.'
Australia has seen the potential of leveraging sponsorship on a larger scale and many of its corporates are taking it up, but in New Zealand the idea is very new.
Qantas is one Australian corporate experimenting with new ideas to make the most of its sponsorship of the Wallabies.
The airline regularly takes 50 frequent flyers on 'changing room tours' at the Wallabies home matches in Australia. Escorted by former Wallaby captain John Eales, the groups are given replica Wallaby jumpers, are walked around the atmospheric changing room and treated to a rendition of the Australian anthem sung in the changing room before walking out on tothe field.
'Hopefully, the kids of these customers can have a positive experience too,' says Loftus. And meanwhile customers learn along the way about the sponsor company and hopefully come out with a generally positive feeling that they will pass on to family and friends.
Companies can also take advantage of their relationships with exciting cities. Loftus has plans to use AIG's strong Hong Kong links for spreading the message of AIA. The AIG Tower is one of the most dominant presences on the Hong Kong waterfront. The home of AIA's regional office, AIA will be using Hong Kong as an 'add-on' when organising corporate entertainment.
- Detours, HoS
