This weekend. I competed alongside 16,000 other participants in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race aboard Volvo Team For Life, a TP52 racing yacht helmed by British Olympic medallist Shirley Robertson. Volvo Cars UK are a partner of the race, and the involvement is an important part of a larger commitment to British sailing.

The best sponsorship campaigns are those which are activated through long term commitment. This means building a portfolio of activities that are complimentary and in a world of social networking, build links between brands, ambassadors and the target audience.

Volvo Cars UK have supported British Sailing for a long time and the programme has touchpoints with the whole of the sport, from grass-roots beginners through to elite Olympic athletes. The Round the Island Race is important to the overall campaign because of its inclusiveness. Professional racing teams make up a fraction of the participants in the event, however at the end of the race, the shared experience brings the community together.

This sense of community extends to the companies and brands that support the event and the sport. While Volvo Team For Life ambassadors like Shirley Robertson, Ben Ainslie and Paul Goodison are seasoned media campaigners, there is a sense that they are truly grateful for Volvo’s support – it’s not just a contractual arrangement, but a partnership that works for everyone.

Like title sponsor JP Morgan Asset Management, Volvo Cars UK has big-picture positioning reasoning for being involved with sailing. Duncan Forrester, Head of Public Relations, Events & Sponsorship says:

“We believe sailing’s inherent use of natural resources fits perfectly with Volvo’s environmental values. At Volvo we believe our commitment to the environment does not mean compromising on state of the art technology, comfort or style. Our DRIVe range is leading the way in creating cars which will have zero impact on the environment reflecting our aim to be the car of choice for the sailing community. Our environmental credentials have gone a long way in helping us achieve this.”

But positioning is only part of the story. The Round the Island experience is an unforgettable hospitality platform. Many of the automotive and motorsport journalists aboard had never been on a boat before, let alone a purpose built racing yacht. Waking someone up at 3am in the morning, putting them aboard a boat with an Olympic gold medallist and making them get involved as the spinnaker is hoisted on the start-line jostling for position with 1700 other boats is not something that can be replicated by inviting them to a tent at a race-track.

In the past, this might be the end of it. A great weekend and perhaps a better feeling about the brand that may or may not translate into more sales, but like many automotive brands, Volvo are embracing a more conversational, relationship based marketing approach. The Volvo Team for Life Facebook page is part of a strategy that hopes to develop deeper, more long term relationships between the brand and customers, which must ultimately lead to greater loyalty and long term customer value.

The J P Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race is perhaps the most important sailing event in the UK. Certainly the strapline – ‘Britain’s Favourite Yacht Race’ can be justified based on the huge numbers of competitors who take part each year. In 2010, over 16,000 people were on the water in yachts ranging from over 100 ft to 3 person dinghies, but 1 competitor drew more attention than others.

On Friday, the day before the race, we sat down with Roger Thompson, Head of JP Morgan Asset Management in the UK to talk about the company’s title sponsorship of the event and return on investment. Since that interview, the race has received a lot more coverage than it otherwise might have and the debate about the impact of that coverage will go on for a while yet. The old adage of ‘all publicity is good publicity’ probably holds true, as many of the media outlets that focused on the participation of BP CEO Tony Hayward would not have otherwise run any story at all.

Like many firms that sponsor sailing, JP Morgan are not too concerned about mass-market coverage. The company began its partnership with the Island Sailing Club 6 years ago and until that time the Round the Island Race had never been sponsored before. Sailing fits with the JP Morgan brand – associations of teamwork, a clean image and of course an overlap between participants and the audience that the company wants to reach.

Although Thompson is from Gosport and is a self-confessed sailing fan, he says that the sponsorship opportunity was brought to him by his marketing department and the investment makes sense despite his personal interest in the sport. He’s convinced that the company gets a return on investment from the partnership, but admits that it’s hard to measure.

As well as the JP Morgan Asset Management logo being stuck to the bow of over 1700 yachts in the Solent, and other visual display benefits of title sponsorship, the event allows the company to engage in internal and external relationship building. In 2010, 28 matched Beneteau 40.7 yachts were entered by the company creating a race within a race for employees, partners and clients. Spaces on the boats were tied to internal charity initiatives for the company’s official charity the Ellen McArthur Trust.

The charity angle also drives much of the publicity surrounding the event, with sailing celebrities and other ambassadors taking part throughout the weekend. In 2010, the race had four official charities – Breast Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, Ellen McArthur Trust and Prostate UK. JP Morgan hope to raise £1 Million by 2012 which is something that will not go unnoticed by those who matter and contributes to the long term value of the company’s support of the race.

As well as the Round the Island Race, JP Morgan also sponsor British Olympic champion Ben Ainslie. Ainslie competed on Saturday as an ambassador not just for JP Morgan, but also the Princes Trust alongside Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry. The company has backed grass-roots sailing, the Winter Series and also supported an extreme 40 campaign, but sailing is not the only sport where JP Morgan are using sponsorship as a promotional tool.

The J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series was recently announced –  a new Friday evening summer 7s series, to take place in July and August and be broadcast live and exclusively on ESPN. The innovative tournament, which will involve all 12 Premiership Rugby clubs, is designed to attract a new audience to the game and create a thrilling new opportunity for existing rugby fans to watch their favourite clubs play during the summer.

Thompson said at the launch of that campaign in early June:

“The Premiership Rugby Sevens is a hugely exciting development for rugby in the UK. We’re delighted to be at the forefront of innovation in sport with Premiership Rugby. It’s intelligent, fast and furious – a tremendous game to watch. We intend to do all we can to open up rugby sevens to as wide an audience as possible. We are delighted that ESPN will attract an even broader audience to J.P. Morgan Asset Management. As the structure of our industry changes it is vital that we continue to adapt our strategy and find new ways to engage with our customers.”

TV is also part of the Round the Island Race. After the opportunistic stories have died down, the brand will be able to promote the stories that matter most to them from the Round the Island Race in two 30 minute documentaries to be shown on Channel 4 later in the year.

More Videos…

Photo by Mark Lloyd

There is probably not a lot of point using GPS for a game of football. The stadium is a confined space and there are a limited number of players on the pitch. Coverage of mass participation sports is quite a different matter – take the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race for example.

An estimated 1700 or so boats compete in this event every year. With an average crew size of 5, that’s around 8,000 competitors, making the race one of the UK’s biggest participatory events. There are not two teams in this race, but 1700, so how do you manage to cater for the spectators who are following one boat or another?

The Island Sailing Club and title sponsor J.P. Morgan Asset Management have announced that they will be introducing live GPS tracking for all boats taking part in the 2010 Round the Island Race on Saturday 19th June. Many GPS enabled phones have the ability to provide real-time tracking to the internet via downloadable applications. Several boats competing in the 2009 race set up their own live feeds but in 2010, the Round the Island project will attempt to collect all the boat tracking feeds into a single place, viewable on the internet.

Competitors with compatible equipment will be able to download a small piece of software that will allow their mobile phone or laptop to become a real-time GPS tracking device. The device’s position will be periodically transmitted to the official Race website, where a simple, easy-to-use race viewer will allow visitors to monitor the progress of individual boats throughout the race.

The tracking solution has been developed by the Race Technology Partner, Next Generation Results and funded by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. It will be one of the largest GPS event tracking initiatives ever undertaken with mobile phone technology.

The cost of GPS tracking has tumbled in recent years. Once only available to the most well-funded teams, now anyone can provide live tracking information live to the internet with readily available mobile phone handsets. Unlimited mobile data plans have also helped reduce the cost of tracking via this method, though it relies on having a mobile phone signal.

The challenge for race organisers will be getting all the signals into one place and providing the information in a way that spectators online can find the boat they are looking for. Website spectators will be able to search and select up to 10 boats that they want to follow at any one time through the Race Viewer. Boats will be searchable via their name and class. Each boat tracked will show its elapsed time from the race start and current GPS co-ordinates.

The competitors also benefit from this tracking technology as they will be able to replay their race and compare their performance with their rivals to see where they got it right – or wrong!

The technology has application for many sports including Rally, Mountain Biking, Triathlon etc. It’s a great example of how sailing is at the cutting edge of media technology and live sport content delivery.

More details of supported equipment and how to register for the service will be available on the race website at http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk

TOE IN THE WATER is a non-profit organisation which uses sailing as a vehicle to re-inspire injured servicemen and women, many of whom have been wounded in active service in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who are currently being treated at Headley Court, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

The aim of the initiative is simple; to provide injured servicemen and women with a challenging, demanding environment in which they can compete on an equal footing with their peers. Yacht racing provides one of the few arenas in which people with traumatic injuries can compete against and alongside able-bodied people. It is ideal, not least because there is a wide range of different roles onboard, providing different physical and mental challenges.

TOE IN THE WATER recieved worldwide attention when Steve White received much needed backing for his Vendee Globe campaign in return for promoting the charity.

Chairman, Major General Mike von Bertele OBE has launched the charity’s 2010 racing programme. Racing in 2010 will build on the success of the first two years of operation, during which more than fifty profoundly and traumatically injured service personnel were inspired through competitive sailing.

TOE IN THE WATER will be entering eight events in 2010. The programme comprises the RORC Easter Regatta, the J80 National Championships, the J-Cup, the JP Morgan Round the Island Race, Sailing for Heroes Regatta, Cowes Week, the Jersey Regatta and the J80 Autumn Championships.

The 2009 Season saw TOE IN THE WATER ambassadors Brian Thompson and Dee Caffari join the Toe crews at Cowes Week and the Dartmouth Regatta. Caffari said after Dartmouth:

“Sailing with the TOE IN THE WATER crew was a unique experience for me and one I hope I will repeat in the future. These guys will give everything to be at the front of the fleet. It was true competitive racing at its best.”

Multiple world record holder Brian Thompson, who has been involved with the initiative since the outset, said:

“Every time I have gone out with TOE IN THE WATER I have been blown away by their talent and aptitude for sailing and their super positive attitude. The TOE IN THE WATER team is dynamic, energetic and making its mark on sailing regattas all over the UK. The charity has brought fun and competition to both the injured servicemen and women, and the volunteers who love to be involved. I am looking forward to racing with them again in 2010.”

Lloyd Hamilton is the Director of Racing said:

“From a sailing perspective it has cemented the fact that it really is a sport for anyone from the novice to the expert to enjoy. It also instils a firm belief in team work and the importance of it. Everyone who has served in the forces will understand that at some point in a military career you will rely upon your comrades alongside you. This initiative and the results our teams achieve show just how important this factor is.”

TOE IN THE WATER is holding a selection weekend to recruit experienced able-bodied racers to its Core Crew. Volunteers are asked to commit to two events in the upcoming season and are invited to ‘try out’ for a place by attending the weekend (6-7 March 2010). Anyone interested in getting involved in the Core Crew or in fundraising for TOE IN THE WATER should contact info@toeinthewater.org.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management also announced their continued sponsorship of Ben Ainslie, Britain’s most successful Olympic sailor of all time. The company has been Ben’s title sponsor since 2007 and backed his gold medal campaign at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Despite the sponsorship giving the event an impractically long name (try and fit J.P Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race 2010 into a tweet with space left over), the renewed sponsorships are good news for UK sailing. With many of the country’s top competitors and the traditional cornerstone of yacht racing, Cowes Week, looking for commercial support, it’s great to see deals being done.

Jasper Berens, Head of UK Sales, J.P. Morgan Asset Management said:

“J.P. Morgan Asset Management thought it was exactly the right time to extend both sponsorships. We are now entering our sixth year sponsoring the Round the Island Race and have committed to sponsoring the event for a further 3 years, It’s been a very tough economic climate not just for banks and asset managers but for everyone, however over the last 5 years it has become clear to us that the Round the Island race sponsorship works incredibly well for J.P. Morgan Asset Management both in a brand and in a corporate hospitality perspective – we looked very closely at the sponsorship and the exact right thing for us to do was continue the sponsorship. One of the key aspects for us is the is the charitable fundraising, more than £350,000 has been raised over the last three years and we hope the total can reach £500,000 in 2010.”

Ben Ainslie is one of the most recognised sailors in the world and therefore a great ambassador for a brand like J.P. Morgan Asset Management. For a sailor, sponsorship gives the ability to concentrate on sailing rather than wondering how to fund being a ‘pro’. Those with secure deals are able to train harder and prepare better, increasing the chances of winning on the water. The Triple Olympic gold and silver medallist said:

“The J.P. Morgan Asset Management sponsorship enables me to go about my Olympic campaign in the right manner to be successful. For example I can now start working full time with my coach David Howlett enabling me to test technical equipment and hopefully have my sailing program in place well in advance of the qualifying events for London 2012., having David’s support is very important as my other sailing commitments will take up much of my time this year.”

Ainslie also understands that the key to successful sponsorships is giving back to the brand and organisation. Many sailors still have a mindset that corporate partners will write a cheque and not expect anything more than to see their decal on the side of the boat or sewn into a crew-shirt. Despite sponsor responsibilities taking time away from sailing, they are fundamental to creating long lasting commercial relationships. Ben continues:

“The other important part of the J.P. Morgan Asset Management partnership is the support I have received from their internal staff, since Beijing I have been involved with a number of staff and client activities, it was great how they make me feel part of the brand. I now look forward to celebrate continued success together”

Online Entries for this year’s J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race will be open from Thursday 21st January. The Notice of Race and Entry Form go live on the updated Race website at http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk

There are still challenges though. If a Tweet is only 140 characters long, how do you keep the sponsors happy when the full title of the event is the ‘J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race’ ?

Still, at least the new Press Officer for the event; Peta Stuart-Hunt, is open to the possibilities afforded by new technology. Unlike some PR people in yachting who still cling to the idea that “if it doesn’t get coverage in a newspaper – it doesn’t happen”, Peta uses Twitter, Facebook and blogs to augment the traditional media channels.

The Island Sailing Club (ISC) has announced that Peta Stuart-Hunt will be its Press Officer for the 2010 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race. Peta previously served as Cowes Week’s Press Officer between 2001-2008 and also heads up PR Works, a specialist marine leisure communications consultancy.

Peta has already started working with the ISC and is liaising with its close-knit family of sponsors and their agencies to ensure the continuing success and promotion of this much loved event in 2010 when, once again, the title sponsor is J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Speaking on behalf of the ISC, the Club Secretary, Lea Bennett, said:

“We are delighted that Peta has taken on this important role and we look forward to establishing a long and fruitful relationship with her.”

In turn, Peta commented:

“This is a superb opportunity to do more of what I love doing and at the same time I’m fortunate to be involved, yet again, with one of the world’s premier sailing events, the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.”

Follow Peta on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/prpeta

The 2009 race was not the most exciting ever. Even the relatively light and racey extreme 40 catamarans spent much of the race sitting with both hulls in the water. It was clear early on that no records were going to be broken. Last year, F1 ace Lewis Hamilton ‘crashed’ on the start line and Leopard smashed the record. There were breakages and people overboard and the extreme 40′s were at the very limit of the conditions they were designed for. This year, many of the photographs taken are of pro-sailors eating crisps waiting for wind. But with over 15,000 competitors on the water, there must be a story somewhere! London’s Sunday papers didn’t agree.

This weekend was busy for UK sports fans. As well as the British Lions playing South Africa, Jenson Button was driving in front of a home crowd in the British Grand Prix. There was horse racing at Ascot and Wimbledon starts today. Add a little bit of cricket and the compulsory off season football gossip and that doesn’t leave much room in the sports pages for a ‘local’ sailing race. We scanned the papers yesterday and couldn’t find anything. Not even a pretty picture of spinakers and the needles.

So there was not a lot of mainstream coverage of the race, but does that matter? Title sponsor JP Morgan Asset Management are probably not using the race to promote to the mass market. As well as the VIP dinner and entertainment for guests, the company gets to activate their brand with flags and signage around the Cowes Yacht Haven, exposure in printed materials and over 1700 boat owners have to put a big blue sticker on the bows of their boat. It’s a niche audience that are well defined and it would be fair to say that if you are lucky enough to own a large sailboat, you might have other assets that need to be managed. To that end, the race is likely to achieve JP Morgan’s objectives.

The normally exciting x40 not so spectacular. Photo by dmfreedom

But is there a trick being missed by others? Let me reiterate that I think that the organisers of the race do a fantastic job at managinng the logistics of the event. It is not a small undertaking to divert the Red Funnel ferries, make sure that competitors have recieved instructions, provide updates of positions and record results. It is a long day that starts early in the morning, and in years where there is no wind, continues late into the night. Most of this effort is focussed on the competitors – and they are what make the race, but on Saturday I was wearing my visitor hat and I have to report that the experience was lacking.

On Sunday, the Volvo Ocean Race ran an in-port race in Stockholm. While there were only 7 boats competing, it was estimated that over 3000 spectator boats lined the course. On Boxing Day in Sydney, thousands of people line the cliffs of the Harbour and follow the start of the Sydney to Hobart Race in anything that floats. Most of these people aren’t really into sailing, but it doesn’t stop them from having pride in the event that is taking place. Is it fair to compare the Round the Island Race to these events? The nature of the race and the local tides force organisers to start proceedings when most people are still sound asleep. Next year’s race will start at 5:30am. The start then is never going to draw huge crowds, but the finish could. Some people take up vantage points at the Needles or Ventnor, but there is no sense of buzz!

Given the resources, it is completely understandable why the Round the Island Race devotes most of its efforts to the competitors. Some more thought though needs to be given to the fan experience. Red Funnel are listed as one of the sponsors of the race, but as I sped towards Cowes on Saturday, 30 minutes before the race start, the announcement over the PA of the Red Jet explained the lifejacket procedure and went on to flog hot drinks. No mention was made of the Round the Island Race.

Walking along the seafront near the start line, the number of times I heard “there must be something on today” was incredible. I can understand someone who is into F1 living in London not knowing that the Round the Island Race is on, but how can someone be in Cowes on the morning of the race and not know?

As a competitor, the Round the Island Race is a great day, no matter what sized boat you are on. Most of the brands out racing on Saturday would have acheived their aims, either entertaining guests or raising money for charity, or building their teams. The weather provided an opportunity for big spinakers with supporters logos to be visable to thousands. The country of Oman showed that their idea for using sailing to promote their sailing heritage and tourism is well founded, winning line honours and grabbing large chunks of the media attention. The race delivers. Perhaps it doesn’t matter that the Sunday papers don’t care.

The parallels with the marathon don’t stop there. Traffic is stopped, multiple start lines are arranged and while this is a chance for the ‘celebrities’ to come out -sailing and otherwise, the race is a fantastic show of the strength of sailing as a competitive activity. Entries are down by about 100 on last year which is only 5%, but the PR people will be fighting hard to make their boat the one out of 1779 that stands out.

Last year’s PR race was won by Hugo Boss. Skipper Alex Thomson was joined by Ben Ainslie and F1 start Lewis Hamilton to take all the Sunday headlines. This year, the multihulls seem to be best placed to attract the most attention, although by the time most spectators wake up, they may be already finished.

Amongst the big names are Francis Joyon sailing his record breaking 100 ft trimaran IDEC. Several eXtreme 40s will be attempting the race, though the forecast is not for as much wind as last year, sailing one of these boats around the back of the Isle of Wight was not exactly what they were designed for. Ben Ainslie will be back, dropping the Troia Portugal Match Cup round of the World Match Racing Tour to join Mike Sanderson on the TEAMORIGIN cat. The two Oman Sail eXtreme 40s will be sailing as well as the man who invented the class Herbert Derksen.

Part of the allure of the X40 is that is can be competed in events outside of the iShares Cup. Given the huge number of competitors that will be on the water on Saturday, having a branded 40 foot boat flying a hull at marginal expense is a pretty good way to add value to your sponsorship campaign. No doubt the Open 60s that will be competing in the race have similar goals, as the race provides the perfect opportunity to let VIP guests and media come along for the ride.

But while ICAP, IDEC, JP Morgan, Artemis and others battle it out at the front, the real star of the show is sailing. 3558+ sails filling the solent (2 per boat) is a sight that is absolutely inspiring. If the wind is blowing right and they get their colorful spinakers up it is even more of a spectacle. Add to that the benefit on the local economy and you have an event that rivals any other sport on almost any measure. But will it make the news?

“I have invested considerable time, money and effort to bring together an outstanding America’s Cup team. We are all disappointed that we cannot compete in the 33 rd America’s Cup and most of the challenging teams have now had to reduce levels of operations until certainty resumes. That said, I am absolutely committed to competing in, and winning, the America’s Cup, and look forward to moving forward again when the timetable for the 34 th Cup is announced.”

Mike Sanderson, Team Director, added

” We have been preparing, planning and training for over two years now for an event that continues to elude us. It has been a frustrating time but we must use this delay smartly, sensibly and economically. In a nutshell, there is no event for us to enter right now so it makes absolute sense, especially in today’s economic climate, to conserve our resources and wait until normality resumes.”

Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman showed over the weekend that he has what it takes to compete in a monohull match-racing format winning Match Race Germany on the World Match Racing Tour. He gave his views on this latest status,

” The decision to race a Deed of Gift Match between Alinghi and BMW Oracle for the 33 rd America’s Cup is disappointing for me and the rest of TEAMORIGIN. However, we shall use the time wisely and continue to hone our skills on the World Match Racing circuit. The team we have pulled together has enormous potential and as soon as details are confirmed for a multi-challenger 34 th America’s Cup, we will drive forward again with the same ambition – to win the America’s Cup for Great Britain.”

Part of Sir Keith’s investment in TEAMORIGIN is an Extreme 40 catamaran. While the boat is not competing in the iShares Cup in 2009, it will take part in the JP Morgan Round the Island Race in June.

The TEAMORIGIN Extreme 40ime will be skippered by Ben Ainslie with Team Director Mike Sanderson as tactician, George Skuodas in pit and Matt Cornwell in bow position. Ben will also be representing JP Morgan Asset Management as the title sponsor of this race and also his personal sponsor for his Olympic campaign and they will be accompanied by a media and sponsor guest for the race journey.