One of the most eagerly awaited sessions was on Sponsorship Prohibition, looking in particular at a threat in the future to alcohol and gaming sponsorship activity across Europe. Marjolijn Vencken, Public Affairs Advisor at Heineken, described recent threats to a ban on alcohol sponsorship as an opportunity rather than a threat and outlined some of the ways in which the brand was repositioning its marketing around a responsible drinking message.
Indeed, the recurring theme throughout the two-day conference was of the ability to use expansive and creative sponsorship programmes to proactively address major issues rather than use more traditional defensive advertising.
ESA delivered an update on its evaluation programme which is working towards an evaluation model for sponsors, specifically focusing on all the benefits that sponsorship programmes deliver apart from the more obvious branding and exposure benefits.
