Middle Eastern Airlines Take Off

Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and is based in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi.. Etihad Airways signed a major new sponsorship deal with the Ferrari F1 team, the current Formula One world championship holders.  While Gulf Air and Qatar Airways are signing more and more sponsorships, Emirates stands out above all the others in using sponsorship. Emirates first became involved in sponsorship in 1987, only two years after the airline began operating. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates, sees sponsorship as vital in the airline’s marketing strategy: “We believe sponsorship is one of the best ways to integrate with our passengers. It allows us to share and support their interests and to build a personal relationship with them.”   The airline industry in general has chosen very much the most heavily sponsored sports worldwide such as soccer, but with a noticeable tilt to reaching the upscale demographics of rugby and golf.

Cruise Lines Use Sponsorship To Reach Younger Customers

The average age of a cruiser is 49 years old and the companies are targeting younger first time customers, who like airline passengers, rely less on travel agents and more online to sell tickets. One of them, MSC Cruises is a trackside sponsor at four rounds of F1 this year and also sponsor Bayern Munich and Alinghi, the holders of the America’s Cup. In the arts, an interesting exploitation is Cunard’s title sponsorship of the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards. This plays into the history of hosting famed entertainers, royalty, and society luminaries aboard its fleet of liners. With around 12 ships launching each year we expect see more sponsorship from cruise lines.  

Environmental Sponsorship is Becoming Mainstream

There has been a lot of speculation that the environment will be a big theme in sponsorship and we are now beginning to see more volume coming through. Examples so far in 2008 include Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largest rental car company in North America promoting carbon credits and alternatively powered vehicles

Sponsorship in Second Life

Online worlds such as Second Life where users can create an alter-ego or “avatar” is seeing growth. Second Life currently has seven million “residents” or registered users, with about 1.8 million who have logged on in the past two months. It is interesting to see how real worlds sponsor such as ING and the NBA enter these virtual worlds to fulfill the aims of their realm world sponsorship activity. The trick with such a world is to attract participants without being overly commercial, and there is a whole economy of clothes shops, teaching, design help, and other virtual goods trying to attract passing avatars. Recently the NBA opened an NBA Headquarters in Second Life that includes a merchandise store as well as venues and activities sponsored by three existing partners: Cisco Systems, Inc.; T-Mobile USA, Inc.; and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. Charities are also reportedly running virtual sponsored walks and other events inside Second Life..

Sponsors New Emphasis on Building Community Ties

There is much more focus on sponsorship as building a bridge to fans and giving something tangible to create a closer relationship. The Nationwide in the UK will make available 100% access to its ticket allocation to its customers for matches played by the home international sides. In addition, other benefits include the chance for customers to see their names appear on match programme advertisements, have their children lead out the national team for a match, attend team training sessions, meet the players and management and receive exclusive signed merchandise. Its sponsorship objectives can be summarised as increasing awareness, increasing brand preference and ultimately driving sales of its products and services.