Business is now, more than ever before, a multi-national entity. As cultural barriers have been knocked down and the consolidation of business markets means that companies are active in a variety of different national markets, the ability to deliver across all fronts is vital. A year that comprised of a football World Cup, the Winter Olympics and the Commonwealth Games not to mention the annual calendar of pan-regional sporting events, 2006 witnessed a vast array of sponsorship marketing strategies that leveraged their associations across Europe.

We are looking to reward the best of these campaigns at the Sport Industry Awards 2007 in the Eurostar European Sport Sponsorship Award category. The ability of sport to deliver a pan-regional platform from which brands can build their businesses in all of the territories they operate in is unsurpassed. This award will recognize the best practitioners of such sponsorships that delivered real value for money for the brand concerned.

In 2006 the Eurostar European Sport Sponsorship Award was won by B&Q and Castorama for their link up with Ellen MacArthur. Their ground-breaking campaign simultaneously appealed to the UK and French market place and by the end of the campaign public awareness of Ellen was at 77% in the UK and 68% in France. The hugely successful dual-branding of Ellen’s boat – with B&Q on one side and its French operation Castorama on the other demonstrated the project’s ability to cross international boundaries. The sponsorship linked a top-class sportswoman with a “can-do attitude”, and two brands in two different countries.

For 2007 the Judging Panel are looking for a well executed sponsorship that infiltrated key territories in Europe; a campaign that has been adopted by individual countries, crossing boundaries in terms of languages and cultures. They will also look for evidence the sponsorship has synergy with the brand, a campaign that has delivered considerable return on investment with a budget that is proportional to delivering an effective sponsorship.

For information how to enter, please visit http://www.sportindustry.biz/ or contact the Awards office on 0207 240 7702. Entry deadline is Friday, 8th December.