Up close and personal: Sleeve partnerships in football as a success factor
There are almost 24 million football fans in Germany - a huge audience to reach with a sleeve partnership.
A strong presence at a football club not only opens up new target groups for brands, but is also an opportunity for medium and long-term sales and revenue growth. Using sport as a platform, companies can build and expand their brand awareness nationally and, in some cases, internationally through emotionalisation.
Mara Kottke
Published on January 10th, 2023
In this Insight:
When you think of premium partnerships with a football club, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the sponsort on the front of the shirt. However, since the 2017/2018 Bundesliga season, there has been another way for companies to secure a place on the shirt - sleeve sponsorship. Placing a logo on the left sleeve of the jersey is a great way to get involved in sports sponsorship. The “little sister” of shirt sponsoring not only offers professional clubs additional financial opportunities, but is also a great way for mid-sized companies to be associated with a club and its fans.
What can sleeve sponsorship achieve?
Depending on the objective, sleeve sponsorship can be complemented by other sponsorship activities, such as perimeter advertising or the promotion of a club’s young talent. The integration of a brand into club through various channels leads to a much stronger perception and advertising impact. In particular, presence on the shirt expresses closeness, solidary and a special status with the fans.
In addition to main sponsorship on the chest of the jersey, only sleeve sponsorship offers a particularly strong extension in the classic media. The sleeve sponsor’s logo appears on every photo and video of a club’s shirt. This form of sponsorship also emphasises the closeness to the athlete.
Best Case: Popp Feinkost x HSV
Popp Feinkost and Hamburger SV show how well a sleeve partnership can work. From the 2017/2018 Bundesliga season until 2023/2024, the food manufacturer was featured on the left sleeve of the team's jersey. Despite relegation to the second division in 2018, brand awareness, sales and turnover all increased. While general brand awareness of Popp Feinkost among football fans is just under 41 per cent, 67 per cent of HSV fans are familiar with the food manufacturer. 43 per cent of Hamburger SV fans by Popp products, showing that the partnership with HSV strengthens the regional preference for the delicatessen salads. The proportion of repeat buyers is also significantly higher among HSV fans than among football fans as a whole.
The Hamburger SV and Popp Feinkost: a perfect match. The regionally anchored partnership is a complete success for all sides and is therefore one of SPORTFIVE's success stories, in which the recipe for success was examined in more detail.
Best Case: Hyundai x Hertha BSC
Another best case is the collaboration between Hyundai and Hertha BSC. The South Korean car manufacturer wanted to further expand its reach in Europe in 2018 and focused on sports sponsorship. The aim was to make the brand more visible through its presence on the shirt sleeve, thereby increasing brand awareness among a broad target group. The partnership was extended with a number of other logo presences, including LED boards, cam carpets and campaigns around the Olympiastadion Berlin. Hyundai spent four seasons on the shirt sleeve of the club - and achieved numerous successes. Brand awareness and popularity grew steadily.
Lower barriers to entry
Sleeve partnerships are a successful marketing tool not only for international corporations, but also for medium-sized companies. The barriers to entry are lower than for a “big” shirt sponsorship, which makes it easier to enter the world of sports sponsorship. Success comes quickly - the best prospects for companies that want to take the plunge into sponsorship!
Sponsorship is the financial support for a sporting event, organisation or athlete by an outside body, for the mutual benefit of both parties. At the professional level this tends to be by companies, to raise the profile of their brand by associating it with the athlete.
The company aims to generate brand awareness and customer recognition, whilst the event, organisation or athlete receives a boost in funding.
A popular example is a brand logo printed on a team shirt. Visibility is guaranteed, even more so in the modern world with social media and online highlights.
In the land of media and marketing rights today, there is no cookie-cut solution for brands, and a simple logo placement will not provide the sufficient return on investment (ROI) for sponsorship, nor does it give their target audience the “why?” - the reason to spend their money and engage with the product.
Companies investing in sports sponsorship need to look at the bigger picture to engage with fans and not rely on just one piece of inventory.
Partnership marketing is an important part of the sports industry. It involves collaboration between a sports team, league, or event and a brand or company. This collaboration can take many forms, such as sponsorship, product placement, or joint promotions. The goal of partnership marketing is to benefit both parties by increasing exposure, revenue, and brand recognition.
By partnering with a sports team or league, a brand can reach a large audience of fans who are passionate about their sport. This can lead to increased brand recognition and customer loyalty, as well as increased sales of particular products. Additionally, by offering special promotions or experiences, teams and brands can create a more memorable and enjoyable experience for fans.
When selecting the right type of partnership, teams and brands should consider factors such as brand values, fan demographics, and the overall image of the sport, to ensure it remains authentic whilst still connecting with the target audience.
Sports athlete sponsorships are those where individual athletes are sponsored by a brand. They may wear branded apparel whilst competing or during commercial appearances and press conferences, or they might appear in advertisements or other promotional materials for the brand. The brand will either offer a set fee to them, or pay for their kit, equipment or travel in return.
Sports organisation sponsorships involve entities like a team or league being sponsored by a brand. Like with individual athletes, they will either receive a fee from the brand, or payment for things like kits, equipment or ground maintenance.
In return, a team may display the company’s logos around its stadium, for example, while a league might include the sponsor in its name.
Sports event sponsorships are where sports events — like an international or regional tournament — are sponsored by a brand. This type of partnership can involve things like the event either changing its title to incorporate the brand’s name, or using the brand’s logo on official products. The event organisers will either receive a set fee or have expenditures like venue hire, hospitality, catering, publicity, programmes and officials’ costs covered.
Sports sponsorship lets brands create emotional content and become an integral part of fans’ daily lives. Every year, over 58 billion euros* are invested in sports sponsorship around the world as a way of reaching and acquiring customers through fan engagement.
€58bn* global volume in sports sponsorship in 2018
Image objectives
Brands that are active in sports sponsorship are more likeable, more relevant and better trusted among fans. We call this the “emotional uplift”. Not only were we able to demonstrate this effect in a qualitative market research study, but we have also quantified it.
Awareness objectives
Whether among top target groups or the population at large, boosting brand awareness is a traditional strength of sponsorship. In an age of fragmented media consumption, it is becoming an increasingly frequent unique selling point in sport.
B2C customer retention
Sports sponsorship shortens distances and turns customers into lasting brand fans through promotions like money-can’t-buy experiences, loyalty incentives, exclusive benefits, prize draws, bonus programmes or sensation marketing.
Maintaining B2B contact
Professional infrastructure, special occasions and memorable experiences: the fervour surrounding sport makes for the perfect hosting platform for forging new business relationships and strengthening existing ones.
Tapping new target groups
Sponsorship can overcome dialogue obstacles and enables organisations to reach their target groups before and even after purchases are made, provided the platform has maximum target group overlap.
6. Sales and revenue objectives
Sponsorship affects revenue, be it via direct sales, branding at the point of sale, the expansion of sales networks, or one of the many new activation formats for sales promotion in sport.
Corporate social responsibility
Nutrition, health, youth empowerment and sustainability (to name a few): professional sport provides companies with a platform that impacts a range of economic sectors and can lead to authentic ways of implementing CSR measures.
Employer branding
Sponsorship is becoming an increasingly important tool in the so-called war for talent. It is used for recruiting new employees or retaining existing employees who have been with the company for a long time.
Enhanced Fan Experience: Improve the overall fan experience by offering exclusive content, access, or promotions through the partnership.
Innovation and Technology: Showcase technological advancements or innovations through sports partnerships, positioning the brand as forward-thinking and cutting-edge.
