Gold Coast Commonwealth Games sponsors briefed but search for more continues
Sponsors of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have been warned to remember the event will be the largest to be held in Australia for the next decade and sponsors must focus on getting the most out of their partnerships.
Eighteen months out from the Commonwealth Games organisers have brought together sponsors to explain how they can use the Games in the their marketing.
Commonwealth Games organisers have moved early to make sure that sponsors have the right tools to leverage the Games.
The Commonwealth Games has a dozen commercial partners on board, including Jupiters Gold Coast, Griffith University and TAFE Queensland, but general manager of commercial, Cameron Murray, said the search for supporters continues.
“It’s another milestone moment for us on the journey, having the family together for the first time to look different aspects of what information we need to provide them but also to refocus everyone on what this event actually offers and what those relationships can deliver now and at Games time”, Murray told Mumbrella.
“In any of these big events you have members of the sponsor family who have, in some cases, been very active in that environment before, others are new to activation and sponsorship within a large multi-sport environment.
Murray: “We have got a long way to go as far as achieving the targets that we want”
“I think for us a lot of it was resetting and making sure that everyone understood what they’ve committed to is the biggest event this country is going to see in the next decade.”
Murray said that the early meeting was aimed at communicating the scale of the event.
The sponsors’ briefing came just weeks after the finish of the Rio Games. “Obviously, until recently, Rio was the big game in town. That moment has passed and now what we are seeing is a new focus on us because we are the next big thing,” he said.
The briefing also aimed to set a framework for sponsors to begin to build strategies around.
“(We were) talking more broadly around all of those opportunities that exist and it’s not just about sticking a sign on a fence,” he said.
“Whether it’s B2B, about the opportunities that exist within community engagement through the Queen’s Baton relay or opportunities within the volunteers program, (the briefing was) to restate and have everybody start to focus on what those opportunities are.”
Murray said many of the sponsors remained in planning mode as to how they intended to leverage their sponsorships.
“Obviously the objectives of Jupiters through Star Entertainment are significantly different to what Griffith University is looking for.”
Beattie: “There is a lot of confidence in the sponsorship market off the back of Rio”
Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games chairman, Peter Beattie, said the commercial program was already ahead of schedule.
“Our commercial program is tracking ahead of where both Melbourne 2006 and Glasgow 2014 were at a similar time and there is a lot of confidence in the sponsorship market off the back of Rio,” Beattie said.
Murray said that the hunt for sponsors was seeing interest from brands that had been involved with previous Games.
“A lot of the individuals that we’ve been talking with that are part of these big businesses were sort of there when Melbourne (2006) and Sydney (2000 Olympics) were held so they get big events in Australia,” he said.
“Look, we have got a long way to go. We have got good levels of interest off the back of Rio and we are responding to those now that we are the main game, but I think we have got a long way to go as far as achieving the targets that we want to achieve as far as numbers go.”
