Sponsors of major sports events are being offered the services of a new public relations consultancy that will specialise in generating prominent brand coverage across all media.
Sports Impact is a significant joint venture between two marketing men with more than 30 years of experience in the sports industry.
John Taylor, of sponsorship agency John Taylor International, and John Collard, formerly with Collard Grosvenor International which he formed in 1988, have joined forces to set up the new company based at the JTI offices in Wimbledon Village, south-west London. Collard, a founder director of consumer PR agency Paragon Communications (now Golin Harris), is Managing Director of the new company.
The focus of the new business will be towards leading sponsors of major sporting events, rights holders, governing bodies and brands seeking a higher profile in the sports world.
‘The depth of our expertise in sport and the sports media means that we are uniquely qualified to provide both sound strategic advice as well as top quality tactical implementation,’ said Collard. ‘Our client base will range across soccer, cricket, tennis, golf, rugby and sailing and we will offer services in international markets in addition to the primary UK sector,’ he added.
Clients included in the new group portfolio include npower, sponsors of the England cricket Test series; AXA, sponsors of the FA Cup; tennis, golf and team sports brand Wilson Sporting Goods; top ski brand Atomic; plus the Lawn Tennis Association, for whom both sponsorship and PR support are provided.
Commenting on the new set up, John Taylor said: ‘How long can advertising and consumer PR agencies get away with telling sponsors they understand sponsorship marketing and sports PR? Now we can provide a multi-disciplined approach to sponsorship exploitation that delivers better branded coverage and forms part of a sponsor’s integrated marketing communications programme.’
Other JTI clients include the Arrows Formula One Team, United Racecourses, London Wasps and the International Cricket Sixes in Hong Kong. Past experience has also covered Euro ’96 soccer with BT Cellnet, Littlewoods sponsorship of the FA Cup and League Cup, Sun Microsystems with the Whitbread Race, McLaren F1 Team and Manchester United; Steinlager with the All Blacks; Amstel’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League; and Skandia Life Cowes Week.
The enlarged group, which was established in 1984, has associate offices in Sydney, Auckland, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Milan and Dublin.
For further information, please contact John Collard on 020 8879 5794