Eco-Conscience Title Sponsorship for U.K. Sailing Team
Posted: 11/24/2009 9:05:15 AM by
Dan Kowitz | with 0 comments
Have you ever heard of a property donating an $8.3 million title sponsorship slot? Well you have now! Team Origin, a U.K. America’s Cup team founded by business man Keith Mills, is donating the title sponsorship of their team to Carbon Trust, an independent business set up by the U.K. government to affect positive change regarding low-carbon economies.
Team Origin is an eco-conscience team at heart but they also believe this to be a good financial decision. “This is a different way of marketing sport and a model that has a lot of promise going forward” said Tom Delay, CEO of Carbon Trust. According to Mr. Delay “The team has said it believes in being sustainable in terms of our environmental impact, and we are going to attract a number of sponsors who all want to be associated with that as a core value.”
Some may criticize this move as just a marketing ploy. However, its authenticity lies in the fact that the Carbon Trust will employ the same carbon-auditing standards used for major corporations on the team and all of its corporate sponsors. This is not always the case as sponsors have been known to slap logos on recycling bins and call themselves green. Mr. Mills said “This isn’t a marketing gimmick, it’s not greenwash, this has substance to it. And the challenge we’ve taken up is to win the America’s Cup and to win without compromising our environmental credentials.”
We here at IEG have written often this year about the changing face of sponsorship deal structures, forming true partnerships and having social responsibility as the backbone for achieving groundbreaking sponsorship. Team Origin and the Carbon Trust are a perfect example of the new face of sponsorship.
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Filed under: international, pro sports, selling, sports, cause marketing