Before I go into the details of the extended partnership – until 2027 – between the BMW Group and the DP World Tour, it’s worth a look at the state of the global sports sponsorship.
Brand sponsorships in sporting events are considered the 3rd most trusted advertising channel (Source: Nielsen). This is an important discovery since many brands are struggling to gain trust and credibility from empowered consumers.
There is a great agreement that sponsorship has a positive impact on the brands involved. The 2022 State of Sponsorship by SponsorPulse found
- Sponsorship improves brand perception + awareness + purchase conversion;
- Consumers’ benefits from sponsorship: increasing my consideration of purchasing + increasing my understanding of what the brand stands for (see purpose-driven brands) + increasing my feeling toward the brand.
Sports – among them golf – sponsorship will be more effective when we will utilize OTT. One of the biggest sports marketing trends in 2022 was OTT content. I am sure you use one of these leading OTT content providers: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTubeTV, etc.
In 2021 Q2, we watched 9 billion hours of streaming content worldwide. The PGA Tour is already using YouTube TV to reach and engage more people.
DP World Tour and other major golf tournaments (at least) have to find more and more new forms of content delivery to keep their sponsorship offers attractive.
Golf can learn a lot from NBA and soccer leagues to be as creative & innovative as they are.
The 2022 State of Sponsorship by SponsorPulse considers the TOP 3 challenges for brands:
- Demonstrating the value of sponsorship vs other marketing spends;
- Measuring attribution and impact;
- Understanding and valuing assets.
To demonstrate the value of sponsorship is not a mission impossible if you have the right measurement tools & KPIs (e.g. viewership & ratings, 3rd party measurement tools, social media and related metrics, etc.).
Among the digital content types video can deliver probably the highest ROI. It can help a lot brands like BMW to reach the desired level of brand awareness and campaign reach.
A joint study of Meta & Publicis Group found
- Videos are one of the most popular forms of content among consumers of all age groups.
- Video has the highest engagement rate of all content types.
- TV is considered the most influential video touch point.
At the same time, I miss such great golfers like Tiger Woods, who was able to attract – in his peak time – so many viewers and fans to golf tournaments and to golf in general.
BMW Group & DP World Tour partnership – at least until 2027
The collaboration between the BMW Group and the DP World Tour, which has been in existence for more than three decades, is to be extended by a further five years. This is one of the longest, most successful partnerships in international professional golf.
BMW will remain “Official Partner” and “Official Car” of the DP World Tour, promoter of the BMW International Open at the BMW Group headquarters in Munich, and title partner of the “Flagship Event” of the DP World Tour, the BMW PGA Championship, at tour HQ at the Wentworth Club near London, until the end of the 2027 season.
On the LPGA Tour, the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea is a superb event in Asia –and one of the most prestigious ladies’ tournaments outside the USA. At the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, BMW will be involved as “Worldwide Partner”.
In the amateur field, the BMW Golf Cup inspires more than 100,000 ambitious golfers around the world each year, making it the biggest international tournament series for amateur golfers.
