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As the industry prepares to turn the page on another year marked by massive changes, ACA is asking the experts to predict the trends they think will disrupt 2017. First in the series was Stephan Argent of Argedia Group, with his forecast for agency search management, followed by 361 Degrees partner Veronica Holmes, identifying top digital trends for next year. Now, Brent Barootes, CEO, Partnership Group, reviews 2016 and provides his forecast for the Sponsorship Landscape.

The year 2016 was full of highs for Canada, though there were some dark spots. Canada put in an amazing performance at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics. Our teams and individuals succeeded both at the podium and off the field-of-play, as did the partner sponsors that took them there.

Of course, as there always is, there was scepticism about how the games would roll out, just as there was prior to Pan Am 2015 in Toronto. Like Toronto, Rio put on a great show, though there were a few glitches. The biggest incident was not around venues or volunteers but the disgraced U.S. Olympian swimmer who lied to cover his guilty tracks and blamed his “mugging” on local Brazilians. Ryan Lochte paid the price – his sponsors dropped him.

The FIFA scandal also continued, with many of the accused either confessing or being found guilty, and they too are “paying the price” of their sponsorship missteps. And Canada showed leadership within FIFA, as Concacaf’s congress elected Canadian Victor Montagliani as its new president.

At the other end of the scale in 2016, the historic Liberal Sponsorship Scandal had some semblance of closure, as ex-Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau was convicted of fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.

The oil-producing provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland) continued to struggle throughout 2016 in the sponsorship world, with more layoffs on the sponsorship-property side as well as on the sponsor’s side. Less funding means less staff. We witnessed too many short-sighted sponsorship properties, especially in the charitable sector, that either shuttered their sponsorship departments or significantly reduced staff. Thus, sponsors were not adequately serviced and moved on, allocating their budgets elsewhere. When the oil begins to flow again, I predict those organizations will be left in the cold.

Overall, there is a huge outlay of rights opportunities for the industry in 2017. It will be an amazing year for sponsorship and brands really need to move quickly to position themselves in what will be a much cluttered sponsorship marketplace. As Canada rolls into its 150th birthday, there will be a plethora of national, provincial, regional and local events and activities that will provide incredible exposure for sponsorship partners and deliver results for them. One example of incredible investment and strategy is CIBC’s partnership with the City of Ottawa, Parks Canada and many other local and regional birthday events as CIBC also celebrate its 150th. The Canada Games will be hosted in Winnipeg and are well on their way to sponsorship success. Many other programs, like Innovation 150, Participaction and others have their plans, events, programs and sponsors in place. But the door will remain open for many brands to get on that bandwagon and reach their targeted audience through sponsorship opportunities from January through December 2017.

What can we expect next year? And where should brands and properties look? We’ve identified four hot trends for the year ahead with the final one likely the most impactful in the long term.

1. Municipalities will continue to grow exponentially in this marketing channel. More and more municipalities, from Summerside, PEI to Vancouver, BC are all getting into the game. They see the revenue channel. They own the audiences that brands are trying to reach. They are becoming sophisticated and will soon compete with professional sports for sponsorship dollars.
2. 2017 will be a breakthrough year for digital and video becoming an important part of the future of sponsorship. Storytelling opportunities are exploding for brands in sponsorship. More and more are following the emotional storytelling examples set by P&G that have brought viewers to tears during the Olympics for three consecutive Games. It has taken the industry time to truly adapt and adopt digital and video integration for their sponsorship investments but we will see this growth come to fruition this year. We will also see (though more slowly and cautiously, unfortunately) the rights holders/properties engage with digital and video intensely.
3. As we predicted (correctly) last year, there will continue to be a growth in investment in sponsorship in Canada in 2017. With huge Canada 150 investments and a plethora of events, we expect the industry to exceed $1.8 billion in rights fees. Combined with activation in 2017, the industry will boast a record year of growth and investment, topping over $2.8 billion.
4. This last one is a shift that has already begun but will continue to grow in 2017 and, hopefully reach a saturation point within a few years. It is understanding that sponsorship has been dramatically changed by digital, social and VR. Sponsorship has traditionally been thought of as having two players,the rights holder and the sponsorship. But that is wrong. It is a triad or trinity. Successful sponsorships in 2017 and beyond will embrace the concept of the Trinity of Sponsorship which understands that a successful sponsorship includes the sponsor, the property / rights holder and the audience (fan, donor, participant, customer). Every sponsorship will need to provide an ROI to all three groups. The audiences today are demanding it. They too need to “win”. Those organizations that fail to embrace the Trinity of Sponsorship will ultimately follow the way of the T-Rex.

For 2017, may your brand and the brand’s family have health, happiness and of course prosperity, especially through your sponsorship marketing programs.

Brent Barootes has spent over 25 years in the sponsorship marketing industry, developing and delivering profitable sponsorship programs that result in returns on investment for properties, rights holders and sponsors. As President and CEO of the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists® he leads a dedicated team of professionals delivering measurable results for their clients.