Team Sky: How do you measure sponsorship success when you control the amount of exposure?
For British cycling fans (myself included) the launch of Team SKY has been exciting…. after months of waiting to see how the team would take shape the News Corp media machine has swung into action to give fans an incredible amount of media coverage from the team in its first few weeks.
Sky are clearly breaking new ground with their approach to running a professional cycling team from their team bus to their heavy handed approach to rider recruitment. However, one of the most significant changes Sky brings to the peloton is in how they control their own sponsor activation.
In the old model of cycle team sponsorship, a team secures sponsors and then works hard to give those sponsors the best return through a variety of activation programs and coverage in the press. The key thing here is that race results equal press coverage, so the more a team wins, the more press coverage and ROI for the sponsors.
Sky, by the nature of their business has turned this model on its head. They are both title sponsor and major media conglomerate and as a result they can control the amount of coverage the team gets. Admittedly focused around News Corps channels, the amount of media coverage of the team in its first few months has been impressive. Moreover, I think the hype generated by Sky’s own coverage has rubbed off on other media outlets who are also devoting substantial column inches to the new team.
This does raise the question of how you measure the success of Team Sky’s sponsorship? Clearly the old model of media coverage equating to return for the sponsor goes out of the window. Looking a little deeper into Team Sky’s motivations shows their sights are set higher than just success in bike races aiming for their brand to be as recognisable as Man Utd.
Whilst I applaud their ambition here, in particular their efforts in promoting cycling to a wider audience in the UK, I’m still slightly skeptical as to whether cycling is really the right vehicle for them to promote their brand to such heights. The danger for Brailsford and co is if the team fails to deliver on these lofty brand ambitions. No doubt they will deliver on the road with results, but with the pressure on to really raise the brand amongst the UK public; will Murdoch stick with it in the long run? For the time being though it looks like the most important metric for success; BSkyB revenue and subscriber numbers in the UK are heading in the right direction.
