Background
As iShares sponsorship consultant we are responsible for activating, managing and facilitating their sponsorship of the Extreme 40 Sailing Series. The following case study outlines how the sponsorship has been developed in line with their business objectives. The success of the programme has been industry recognised with the campaign receiving the Business to Business European Sponsorship Award and also being shortlisted for the category of Best Sponsorship of a Sport Event or Competition Sports Industry Award.

Objectives / Brief

• Borrow the attributes of the Extreme 40 Sailing Series to enhance their brand
• Engage clients in an unrivalled entertainment programme delivering tangible benefits to their business
• Deliver high media interest and visibility in their 5 target countries across Europe

Media & Brand communications:

• Programming: six-part TV series produced, aired in 23 countries across 27 channels reaching 229.9 million homes.
• TV News Distribution: worldwide coverage plus national and regional news coverage at each venue.
• London Media Launch: iShares Cup skippers, celebrities (including Sir Matthew Pinsent and Dame Ellen MacArthur) and media raced onboard the iShares Extreme 40
• Media Days: country specific media were invited to sail onboard the Extreme 40s during practice racing

Other PR Leverage activity:

• Canary Wharf & Amsterdam World Trade Centre Consumer Promotions: iShares Extreme 40 was positioned in London and Amsterdam’s financial districts with consumer promotions
• iShares Staff Sail Days: 64 staff were given the opportunity to sail onboard the iShares Extreme 40 with Olympian skipper Hugh Styles and his crew

Results / Evaluation
Client engagement was measured in three key areas:

• Feedback around the quality of the event (brand perceptions)
• Improved relationships / future use of iShares
• Business intelligence

This unrivalled experience provided the clients with the ‘ride of their lives’ and contributed heavily to the extraordinary client feedback.

Media and brand awareness

• Total Media Value: €5,150,557
• Six Part Series: €1,599,790
• TV News: 10h 26min of coverage in five key
  territories value, €1,907,478
• Print Media: 441 articles, value €1,232,158
• Internet: 580 articles in five key territories, value € 411,131
• Media value ROI: 1:3.48

Internal Promotion

• Strong internal feedback demonstrated increased staff awareness of core sponsorship values with 634 people actively engaging across the business