Sponsorship deals are an important source of recurring revenue
IN A soft advertising market, programme sponsorship is an important source of recurring revenue for television and radio stations. But advertisers are looking for more discounts, bonus airtime and digital activity than ever before.
RTÉ has had mixed fortunes recently. On television, O2 signed up as broadcast sponsor for RTÉ television's Rugby World Cup coverage. Insurance company Quinn has renewed its sponsorship of the Late Late Show, while Rubex will sponsor RTÉ One's new sports quiz, Put 'Em Under Pressure.
On radio, Tesco has renewed its sponsorship of Marian Finucane’s weekend programmes for another two years; Kia Motors will be sponsoring traffic and travel on Radio 1 and 2fm from October; and ESB Electric Ireland has committed to another six months of weather bulletins on Radio 1, 2fm and Lyric fm.
But RTÉ failed to secure a sponsor for MasterChef Ireland, one of the flagship programmes in the RTÉ Two autumn schedule.
Agency insiders says the series was initially pitched to potential sponsors with a €1 million price tag. Besides the TV stings, also on offer was radio, print, social media and online exposure for the sponsoring brand.
By the end of the summer, RTÉ’s asking price had dropped dramatically, but still nobody would bite. RTÉ commercial director Geraldine O’Leary says she came close to inking a deal with two brands. “One deal fell through for internal reasons while the other didn’t get international approval,” she says. “We went out with a big price tag but it was the largest integrated sponsorship we had ever devised.”
Aidan Greene, managing director of ad agency MediaVest, says RTÉ overestimated the maturity of Ireland’s sponsorship market. “The pitch was just overly ambitious because it wasn’t just title sponsorship,” he says.
“There was cross-platform sponsorship with part product integration. It was just a step too far and too risky right now for advertisers. RTÉ needed a rock-solid client with a rock-solid budget and those people just don’t exist anymore.”
TV3's biggest sponsor is pizza company Domino's, sponsor of X Factor, I'm a Celebrity, Dancing on Iceand Red or Black. But the station parted company with its weather sponsor, Avonmore, some months ago and the weather bulletins were sponsor-free until last week, when Meteor was announced as Avonmore's replacement. According to TV3 commercial director Pat Kiely: "When the Avonmore deal ended, we went without a sponsor for a couple of months to ensure we got the right deal. Typically with sponsors if they have been with you for a couple of years they try to wear you down on price."
In two other TV3 deals, Kellogg's Special K is sponsoring showbiz programme Xposé, while the Irish Daily Mailhas come on board to sponsor TV3's coverage of Shamrock Rovers matches in the Europa League.
On Today FM, Irish Life has replaced sister company Permanent TSB as sponsor of the Last Wordwith a one-year agreement worth north of €200,000. To support the partnership, the life assurer has ordered 600 Irish Life/ Last Wordbranded mugs.
Elsewhere, Renault and Persil are keeping faith with Ian Dempsey and Ray D’Arcy respectively, while Betfair has signed on as sponsor of Today FM’s Saturday afternoon Premier League coverage. These days sponsors want digital engagement to complement their spend, so Today FM has developed a branded iPhone app that levers off the football coverage.
At Newstalk, chief executive Frank Cronin has secured sponsorship from Aer Lingus for the station’s breakfast show, while Bord Gáis is sponsoring much of its business programming. UK bank Nationwide has also renewed its title sponsorship of George Hook’s drivetime show.
Scott Williams, chief executive of Dublin music station Q102, concurs: “There seems to be a feeling among media buyers at the moment that the integrated package is better than regular advertising.”
Furniture retailer Ikea is sponsoring Q102's evening Love Zoneprogramme this autumn and, to give Ikea more value, the station has created a Facebook page for the show. "Listeners choose from a list of songs on Facebook and then the song gets played on the radio," says Williams. "I understand that the biggest growth market for Facebook is women aged 35 to 45 and that's the core audience for that show."
In another deal, eMobile has signed up to sponsor the station’s text service.
One factor possibly holding back even more sponsorship is a stipulation from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland that calls to action (eg where the consumer is invited to call a number or visit a website) are not allowed in sponsorship stings.
Williams says this rule was relaxed in the UK recently and he and fellow members of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland are calling for more flexibility in Ireland too.
siobhan@businessplus.ie
