Why sponsors are playing the long game as live sport restarts
The cancellation of major sports competitions due to Covid-19 has forced brands to rethink their strategies. While some struggled to adjust, others saw possibilities for a different approach to storytelling.
The return of live sport this month has been widely hailed as a significant step towards normality after nearly three months of lockdown.
Certainly, having Premier League football back on TV from today will provide some much-needed distraction for fans. For sponsors and partners, the postponement of high-profile sporting competitions has been a huge challenge, one that could have financial ramifications stretching out over the coming months and years.
For an organisation like Visa, which has long-established ties to global sporting events such as the Olympics, Paralympics, various UEFA and FIFA tournaments and the NFL in the US, this summer was set to be one of its busiest yet.
Adrian Farina, Visa’s European head of marketing, admits to the huge frustration felt by his team when it became apparent that sport was going have to shut down for the foreseeable future. However, he was quick to see the potential for campaigns with a wider narrative.
