Some sponsorship news from the IMOCA 60 Class. While many competitors from the last Vendee Globe are still shopping for backers,  Dominique Wavre has announced that Swiss Private Bank, Mirabaud, will sponsor his Barcelona World Race 2010, Transat Jacques Vabre 2011 and Vendée Globe 2012 campaigns.

Dominique Wavre has participated in seven round-the-world races. In the Vendée Globe, he placed fifth in 2001 and fourth in 2004, before winning a splendid third place at the Barcelona World Race 2007-08 with his co-skipper Michèle Paret.

Antonio Palma, Partner and CEO of Mirabaud, explained the reasons for the partnership by saying:

“Our partnership with Dominique Wavre is in line with our continuous support for sailing, but opens up new horizons for us. In recent years, we have supported numerous projects that all shared the same quest for excellence and high technical prowess. Our entry into the 60-foot IMOCA class will enable us to reach a new public and to strengthen our attachment to this sport. We are delighted to be sharing these moments of intense emotion with Dominique and his team. ”

Mirabaud is teaming up with Dominique Wavre for a long-term, international programme founded on a common set of sporting, technological and human values. We were captivated by Dominique’s determination and expertise. His rational, calculated approach appealed to us, as well as the highly technical nature of his project. We decided to commit ourselves to the multi-year venture because it embodies numerous values that are dear to us : enterprising spirit, competition, striving for excellence, and technology. ”

The Open 60 Mirabaud allows us to enter a new phase and broaden our horizons.  The Mirabaud Group has grown constantly in recent years, and as we have expanded, we have opened subsidiaries around the world…including in Spain, where the Barcelona World Race will start on 31 December of this year! It was only logical that our sporting ambitions should expand in kind, with the symbolic aim of going around the world.

The partnership between Mirabaud and Dominique Wavre will enable Venture Finanzas, Mirabaud’s new subsidiary in Spain, to communicate actively in this market. The Spanish financial company will begin operating under the Mirabaud brand by mid year, and will be directly associated with the Barcelona World Race via The Mirabaud racing yacht. ”

Mirabaud has participated in sailing competitions since 2005 as the main partner of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, the world’s largest freshwater regatta. It also sponsors Thomas Jundt’s hydrofoil sailboat, the Mirabaud LX, one of the most innovative prototypes of the decade. Mirabaud is moreover the main partner for the Surprise category on Lake Geneva ( the Mirabaud trophy ) and supported the UK women’s Yngling racing team, gold medal winners at the Beijing Olympic games.

Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret will be at the start line in Barcelona on 31 December for this double-handed, round-the-world regatta with no stops. It will be a 3-month race of the highest level, and a thrilling human adventure – not only for the crew onboard the Mirabaud, but for the supporters, friends and partners of this ambitious project as well.

Photo : Jean-Guy Python / Mirabaud: From left to right: Andor Serra, Dominique Wavre, Michèle Paret, Antonio Palma.

Perhaps it doesn’t come as a big surprise then, that Fonica has renewed its relationship with Vendee Globe Winner Michel Desjoyeaux. The company has been involved with the sponsorship of sailing for 10 years and likes the returns it gets. The new deal with Desjoyeaux will run through to 2014 and cover both monohull and multihull projects.

Yves Gevin, CEO of the Foncia Group said:

‘Due to sailing and the extraordinary talents and professionalism of Michel we have succeeded. We will continue this way so that the French know us better and also know of our ambitions and the services we can offer them. The cost of sponsorship compared to the other opportunities, is extremely reasonable in terms of its outlay. The victory of Foncia in the Vendee Globe demonstrates this and the impact of the sponsorship project in relation to the equivalent purchase of advertising space was 10 to 15 times the initial investment.”

The new programme reinforces the below-the-line support strategy orchestrated around sailing sponsorship with Michel Desjoyeaux as a brand ambassador for Foncia.

Yves Gevin continues:

‘With Michel, we’ve taken a step further in communicating Foncia to the public, and we can say that today about 1 French in 2 know of Foncia , just 2 years ago it was 1 in 4. A second milestone was reached last summer by communicating more about our business in our TV commercials. Like all companies involved in this sport, we will seek an image, values that stick to the reality of our profession … Sailing embodies the values of authenticity, sincerity, perseverance, courage, teamwork, rigor. All very powerful messages that we send to our employees and we want to develop that mindset towards our customers. Therefore Foncia persists in this process alongside Michel who gave us an exceptional year 2009 with a series of stunning victories. And how do we go further? By embarking on ambitious new projects and being innovative’

The next four years will be devoted to the launch of two innovative and ambitious projects:

1. The construction of a new 60-foot Imoca to participate in the Route du Rhum and the Barcelona World Race
2. Entering the 2011 Multi One Design 70 circuit (trimaran-design 70 feet).

http://www.teamfoncia.com

1. A brand that understands the value of sponsorship in the first place.
2. An understanding of which type of sailing platform will deliver return on investment and objectives.

Over the last year, economics have sorted out the companies who include sponsorship as part of a well thought out, integrated marketing strategy and those who were doing it because someone told them it was a good idea and they enjoyed the hospitality. While sponsorship was seen by some as a way of justifying executive perks and subsequently withdrawn when it ‘didn’t look good’, other brands who really understand their audiences and objectives have stuck with their relationships and a few have even extended them.

In recent years, Hugo Boss has been one of the most recognisable and innovative sponsors in sailing. Alex Thomson’s distinctive black open 60 showed how 300 square metres of sail area could become a massive racing / floating billboard with its groundbreaking boat branding.

In 2009, Hugo Boss and Alex Thomson have continued to innovate and get the most value out of their platform. The boat has been strategically positioned at major sporting events including the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, attracting extra television exposure and several photo stunts have been picked up by media around the world.

Alex Thomson is the only UK Open 60 sailor that started the Transat Jacques Vabre yesterday with a fully funded campagin to take him through the next Vendee Globe. Dee Caffari’s relationship with Aviva has come to an end, Sam Davies is skippering Artemis for this race only and is looking for a reported €9 Million for a four year campaign. Ecover will not continue their backing of Mike Golding and even BT’s relationship with OC Group is ending. While there is natural churn of sponsors after each Vendee Globe cycle, questions have been asked about the value of the IMOCA 60 class.

The news that Hugo Boss have renewed their relationship with Alex Thomson should be good news for other sailors in the class. The endorsement of such a savvy sponsor should help others make a case for backing.

Till Pohlmann Head of Sports Sponsorship for Hugo Boss said:,

“We are delighted to retain our title sponsorship of Alex and his team. HUGO BOSS has seen the IMOCA class deliver substantial media interest, which makes it very
appealing to us. We will continue to develop close relationships between our markets and the sponsorship and to explore the programme further. We are lucky to work globally with an ambassador like Alex.”

The seven year partnership stands as one of the longest within the IMOCA class and the teams says it has exceeded expectations in terms of media return for HUGO BOSS.

Alex said:

“I am delighted HUGO BOSS are retaining title sponsorship of the project, it has been a great partnership and I know there is still so much we can do. I will announce a full programme of events for the team soon. A brand like HUGO BOSS brings a new level of glamour to the sport, it is exciting to work with such an innovative and distinctive company. I am proud to have a reliable and successful partner onboard especially in tough times like these where sponsorship of such a scale is difficult to find. I would like to thank HUGO BOSS for their continued support and I am looking forward to exciting years ahead.”

The new deal means that Alex Thomson is able to commit to the next Barcelona World Race and the next Vendee Globe. In the meantime, as well as the current TJV, Hugo Boss will focus on creative cross promotion ideas, which have in the past seen a huge return.

Hugo Boss will also continue to leverage their other sponsorships. The brand has achieved huge exposure from cross-over promotions involving Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and international golfer Oliver Wilson.

Here are some excerpts from the article…

In the beginning, we looked at a range of different sports sponsorship but finally eliminated these in favour of sailing. We felt that this sport uniquely had the right attributes to complement our own company identity and product branding and were convinced that many of our target audience such as CFOs, Finance Directors and other senior managers would share an affinity with sailing.

Many often feel that sponsorship is a bit of a luxury and is one of the first things to go when marketing budgets are squeezed. For bluQube though it has been a completely different story, one that many other organisations could learn from.

Like many companies we operate in a highly competitive marketplace often against rivals that sell similar solutions but may have far larger marketing budgets. Like other forms of PR, sponsorship can help level the playing field as well as promote you as different from the rest of the pack.

As a result of sponsorship bluQube has gone from an unknown brand to becoming a key player in the accounting software world. But how has this happened? The mistake that many organisations make regarding sponsorship is that they sign a deal, part with the funding, then sit back and wait for something to happen. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that and the size of the return will be proportional to the effort and conviction you put into the project.

What Dreams are made of

The advantage of sailing sponsorship is that it gives you the opportunity to present an on-going human interest commentary often tied into events within the sailing calendar. Amongst other races such as the FastNet, the OSTAR was Katie’s biggest challenge and attracted the most interest, not only from the media but also amongst our existing customers and prospects. What was even better though was that Katie, aged 22, also managed to set a record for being the youngest ever female competitor to finish the race. This is the kind of press you can only dream of and translated into pages of coverage in national (The Sunday Times), business (Management Today) and lifestyle (Womens Fitness) press. In parallel we ran a series of communications with existing and potential customers which kept them updated with Katie’s progress. We even created our own bluQube blog which was hugely popular.

Get the balance right

My advice to others contemplating sponsorship is that you need to consider how it fits into your overall plan.
If it’s just stuck out on a limb and has no part in all your other marketing messages and campaigns then you could waste a big part of your investment because not enough people know about your sponsorship and it may jar with the rest of your branding.

500% return

From our own experience I can confidently say that the return so far from our investment has been as much as 500%, which is staggering when you look at typical ROI from other types of marketing expenditure such as advertising.

What can sailing sponsorship deliver

• Unique hospitality and networking events for existing and prospective customers (e.g. Sailing days etc.)
• Beating the gatekeeper – information on sailing can break down the usual barriers of getting in front of decision makers
• Differentiation, credibility and the ability to compete against larger competitors in the marketplace
• Motivation for own staff and understanding/reinforcement of key brand values
• On-going market research
• Lead generation through PR linked to sponsorship
• Visibility of your brand on a national & global stage e.g. bluQube has had branding within the last 12 months in Vendee Globe, Cowes Week, London & Southampton boat shows, FastNet race & The Silicon Cup
• Empathy with target audience due to own interest in sailing giving opportunity to reach prospects in a ‘soft’ way
• Full boat branding & opportunity for merchandising e.g. clothing, mugs etc.

www.bluQube.co.uk

Since the end of the most recent Vendee Globe, the huge expense of Open 60 programs has started to bite. Even though they represent the pinnacle of offshore sailing, the backers of these campaigns are subject to the same sponsorship constraints as everyone else, and several have indicated that the sums might not add up.

So far, Ecover and Team Gitana have stepped away from Open 60 programs, focussing on the iShares Cup in 2009. Aviva, long time backers of Dee Caffari, seem to have switched to handing out wedges of cash to Hollywood stars rather than the double world record holder, backed up by a ‘tweet’ from Dee this week that said:

Sailing everyday for the rest of the week and I am very happy about that. It seems my sailing days are numbered.

Even long term sailing evangelist Andrew Pindar is taking a step back from the Open 60. Yesterday it was announced that the radical Juan Kouyoumdjian designed Open 60 yacht Team Pindar is up for sale.

Whilst the sale means a step away from the Open 60 class, the team continues to progress its ‘Sail Bahrain’ plans in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Andrew Pindar said:

“There is a definite interest and excitement in developing a comprehensive sailing programme in Bahrain. As an island nation, they are blessed with fantastic natural sailing conditions, however it’s not going to happen overnight. We have made extensive contacts in the region with people who share the ‘Sail Bahrain’ vision.”

Sam Davies, who provided sponsor Roxy with probably the best ROI of all competitors in the last Vendee Globe has signed on with Artemis Ocean Racing, who with the  OC Group’s backing are comitted to the class. As a result of Sam’s step up, her old boat is also up for sale.

The Open 60 is a fantastic platform for any sponsor, but as new build costs start pushing £10 million, there may be an opportunity for boats like the Class 40 to grab a bigger share of voice and sponsorship money.

As the cycle goes around and the next Vendee Globe approaches, no doubt the teams and sponsors will shake out to provide another compelling race and in the mean-time, the Artemis Challenge during Cowes Week will give buyers and sellers of these amazing boats a chance to see them in action.

Steve White, whose campaign for the next edition of the race prompted the article said:

The amount of money stated a sponsor would, over a duration of over three and a half years, get two round the world races, four trans Atlantic races, two Fastnets, four lots of Cowes Week, not to mention many days per year of corporate hospitality and team building on the boat; motivational speaking, a tour of a sponsor’s key sites much as Group Bel are doing, plus the opportunity to have a go at some record attempts (as Aviva have just done). The project also makes an excellent foundation for internal motivational schemes. The list is endless, and even with my maths I’m sure it adds up to a greater return than 90 days exposure during one race… our aim is to provide a sponsor with a significant return before we even cross the start line of the 2012 Vendée Globe, which we will do.

Other comments included:

It is a shame that in an article such as yours you could not have encouraged yacht sponsorship instead of decrying it.

We are passionate advocates of the sport and its ability to deliver returns. We have written over 600 articles and published white papers evangelising the opportunities that yacht racing can provide brands on and off the water. The fact is that sailing, like many sports, sometimes fails to look over the fence to understand what the competition is offering. And there is competition. Not just from other sports, but from other sailing properties.

Even if we were to assume that “unimaginative golf or football shirt sponsorships” were not available to brands and they only had the sport of sailing to choose from, we could argue that there might be better value elsewhere in the sport. We could also argue that the ROI for an Open 60 campaign is higher with a lower budget!

However, our final paragraph of the initial article is more useful

There are companies out for whom sponsoring a Vendee Globe entrant to the tune of £10 million makes a lot of sense. They are probably French or have big French connections. As always, whether or not a sponsorship makes sense comes down to the marketing goals of the sponsor.

It doesn’t matter what the sport is. Sponsorship is about delivering marketing goals for a brand. If the suite of activities offered by a new Open 60 build and accompanying program delivers the marketing goals, including budget goals and ROI requirements then both parties benefit.

For our part, we will continue to promote yacht sponsorship to a wider audience, but sometimes we will also ask hard questions. The resulting debate should move everyone forwards.

We believe that there are some great bargains out there and some great opportunities for sponsors who want to make a splash to really grab hold of a segment and own it the way Audi have done in Australia or with the Med Cup or iShares and their eXtreme 40 events.

We also think that sometimes there is a tendency for those in sailing not to look over the fence at other sports and realise just how much a company can get for £10 million.

Elaine Bunting, writing on YBW.COM has reported that UK sailor Steve White, who pulled together a shoestring budget for his amazing recent Vendee Globe campaign is looking for £10 million for the next one.

He’s not the only one. Any sailor looking to build a new boat for the next Vendee will be looking at raising a similar amount.

On the plus side, the money creates an asset, which as long as it makes it around and back in one piece has some residual value. There is also obvious media value, though this is limited mainly to France and handful of other sailing countries.

Sponsorship people are very good at creating a case that in isolation looks like a good deal, it’s only when a marketing director puts that deal next to one from a MotoGP team or Tennis or Golf, or even football, that £10 million for 90 days of racing seems like a big wedge of cash.

In a recent poll by Sports Pro Magazine ranking the top 200 sports properties, the Vendee Globe didn’t make it. In many of the sports that did make it, £10 million would go a long way.

We’re in Sweden this week for the Match Cup as part of the World Match Racing Tour. It’s not the Vendee Globe, but if you spent £10 million you would get a lot of return. In fact, you could spend that money not on a boat build, but on marketing, media and activation and deliver incredible results. More than that, you would deliver in 10 countries including emerging markets.

In offshore sailing, there is nothing like the Vendee Globe. It delivers on many levels and immense media value is generated. But as Steve White and Sam Davies showed in the last version, the biggest budget doesn’t always mean the biggest return.

There are companies out for whom sponsoring a Vendee Globe entrant to the tune of £10 million makes a lot of sense. They are probably French or have big French connections. As always, whether or not a sponsorship makes sense comes down to the marketing goals of the sponsor.

A huge podium was built for the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe skippers for the official prize-giving ceremony of the sixth race. The official site reports that no fewer than 120,000 people turned up for the show, that was entirely free and packed with emotion.

For skippers looking for sponsors for the next race, the date of the start of the next Vendée Globe will be the 21st October 2012. Although 29 skippers have declared an interest in starting the seventh edition of the race, British sailors may find it tough to find budget in an Olympic year.

The new Akena Vérandas is due to be relaunched in mid-June to line up for the start of the SNSM Trophy on 21st June. The other races during this season will be raced double-handed: the Fastnet in August and the Transat Jacques Vabre in November. Arnaud will take part in these events with Vincent Riou, who will offer him the benefit of his rich experience and allow a perfect handover of the boat, which he largely thought up and which he has raced a lot.

Arnaud Boissières:

‘Taking over PRB means a lot. Not only because she is a boat from the last generation, but because she was imagined by Vincent Riou and belonged to some very important sponsors in the Vendée Globe. All of these things together mean that this is an exciting challenge. I am not frightened of her power, as I need to progress in order to continue. It will take a while to get used to her, but Vincent will be there, so it should go smoothly. I will try my best to sail her well and to be as competitive as possible. We’ll see what happens starting with the Transat Jacques Vabre alongside Vincent.’

Vincent Riou, co-skipper with Arnaud Boissières in the Transat Jacques Vabre:

‘It’s a pleasure to continue to sail on my old boat, as I spent a lot of time on her and I would like to finish on a good note. A 60-foot monohull is designed and built for a sailor and the best way of passing that on is by accompanying the new skipper to explain how things work. I’m pleased for Arnaud. He’s a great guy and very friendly and has clearly shown that he is motivated. It’s nice to sail with him and if I can bring him anything, so much the better.’

More French Sailing News on YachtSponsorhip.com