THE RESEARCH
SPONSORSHIP can achieve something intangible that advertising cannot - CREDIBILITY. Credibility can be used to influence consumer/business behaviour.
More than 70% of the general public said that once they had found a brand they like, they tended to stick with that brand (sms research)
The real affect of sponsorship can be seen once significant levels of awareness have been achieved and the market feels familiar with the sponsor's brand.
Why Sponsorship?
Over 50 sponsorships indicate there is a balance of propensity to buy of +6%. (sms research)
43% of people believe they notice if an event is sponsored. Males and those on higher income are most aware of sponsors.
14% of people say they feel more inclined to purchase from a sponsor, this rises to 22% with 22-24 year-olds. (sms research)
Why Football?
If the sponsorship objective is to create an association and awareness with a property, then sponsoring a high profile Football Club is the most likely choice.
More than 40% of adults in the UK watch and prefer football.
Football has the highest proportion of male viewers aged 16-44*.
Football viewers are 150% more likely to use/purchase from sponsors*.
49 of the top 50 Sky Sports audiences are football broadcasts*.
* Information provided by TNS Research Data
Why Plymouth Argyle FC?
Football viewers in the South West of the UK have a 50% propensity to buy from sponsors. (TNS Research Data)
Huge catchment area of Devon and Cornwall.
Passionate fans (GREEN ARMY).
Unique environmental angles of being 'GREEN'.
Financially sound football club, in a great position to make final step up to the Premier League after seven years of progression.
Top of the Deloitte and Touche rankings for 2008 in The Championship (based on financial stability).
Committed, professional staff keen to make relationships work.
Media Valuation - Research
Extensive research has been carried out with the following data sources:
TNS - Taylor Nelson Sofres
SMS - Sport Marketing Surveys
FA Premier League
Football League
Plymouth Argyle Internal
To gain a greater understanding of our brand profile and positioning.
To gain a better understanding of our supporters' behaviour and interests.
The Coca-Cola Championship is the fourth largest competition in Europe, after German Bundesliga, FA Premier League and La Liga in Spain.
75 Championship matches of the 2008-09 season will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and BBC.
An average of more than 348,000 viewers for every live Championship game.
An increase of more than 2% year on year of Sky viewers watching live Championship games.
The Championship - Sunday morning highlights programme (Average 567,000 viewers throughout the 2007-08 season).
ITV1 Soccer Night (regional) - (Average 708,000 viewers throughout the season).
The Coca Cola Championship receives excellent coverage and media attention.
Unique Position
Largest city in Devon & Cornwall.
Nearest Championship football club is over 100 miles away (Bristol City FC).
Huge catchment: Plymouth is located on the Devon & Cornwall border with 20% of the club's support coming from Cornwall.
The stadium boasts a catchment of 1.8m people within 90 minutes drive of Home Park.
Database of Supporters
There are 64,000 individual supporters on our current database.
85% are adults; 71% male.
Season-Ticket holders for season 2008-09 currently total 7,500. Members total more than 8,000.
In the majority of cases we have one contact per household, presenting an opportunity to capture data on other members of households - partners and children.
The club has recently invested in upgrading to Venue View CRM/database system.
From a corporate customer perspective, we hold a database of approximately 1,000 companies, with 400 being particularly active.
Background on Supporters*
* Based on Football League research survey carried out between Sep 2007 and Jan 2008.
Families dominate the supporter base, with the Experian Mosiac Group 'Happy Families' at the core of our league profile.
Aspiration, stability and technology characterize the League Support base.
The traditional concept of young, lower class supporters attending matches is a misnomer.
Argyle also have a higher than average number of retired and elderly fans.
Family Focus
Argyle are proud to be one of the clubs awarded the new Football League Family Excellence Award.
The Award is presented in recognition of the truly outstanding experience in providing for young fans and families at Home Park.
The creation of The Herald Family Section in the 2007-08 season, with a dedicated family/child experience, and family tickets priced accordingly.
Face-Painting, Competitions, Meet the Mascot, Photo opportunities, join the 'Guard of Honour'
Media Coverage
Football in the UK offers unrivalled media value.
Commercial partnerships have been formed with national and local media groups including Sky Sports, BBC, ITV, the Plymouth Herald, Western Morning News, Plymouth Sound and Pirate FM.
Since 1998-99, cumulative match viewing averages have increased by 42%.
The average viewing figure during the 2006-07 season for Championship matches was 492,519 (FL figures, television data)
The Championship (highlights) on ITV attracted an average of 621,923 during the 2006-07 season.
Four matches were shown live Sky games during the 2007-08 Season - two home and two away.
New improved overseas TV Agreement starts 2009-10 - extending coverage worldwide.
Media Partners
The Herald daily newspaper, part of South West Media Group (who have just agreed a three year deal to sponsor the Family seating area).
BBC Radio Devon - who provide full match coverage of every game.
Plymouth Sound & Pirate FM (Pirate covers Cornwall).
Match-day Evolution
Nearly 2 million supporters have attended Home Park in the past six years.
Average attendance rose from 8,980 in 2002-03 season to more than 13,000 in 2007/08 season.
Creation of the Herald Family Stand dedicated for families.
Season-ticket holders have increased by more than 375% since the 2000-01 season.
Development of half-time competitions and entertainment.
"Dads and Lads" learning in the Pilgrim Study Support Centre.
"Matchday Magic" with the Community Team - training, lunch, stadium tour and match ticket.
Visibility and branding opportunities have increased at Home Park.
Branding now appears on the following areas:
On-pitch centre circle
Stadium interior and exterior
Reception area
Match-day Programme
Vomitories
Corporate areas
Pitch surround boards
Concourse areas
Crowd facing pitch boards
Team-sheet
Argyle TV - 50 sets displaying footage & ads
Match-day tickets and season-tickets
TV & Press interview boards
Website Evolution
Constantly giving fans up-to-date news on the club 24/7, with the facility to order matchday tickets and merchandise online.
5.5 million page views from August 2007 to May 2008.
More than 300,000 unique users.
Advertising opportunities:
Overall website sponsor
Website splash page
Banner/tower ads
Commercial section features and links.
E-marketing Evolution
New for 2008-09
E-newsletter: a new channel of communication with our fans and corporate partners.
Broadcast Evolution
Argyle World an FLi Website - full management of site for news updates, press releases, sponsorship and advertising control.
Sports TV - more than 50 screens around the ground (including the corporate areas), ability to promote key sponsors on the system.
Innovation / technology - we have carried out bluetooth messaging tests this season. Free messages are transmitted from "Bluetooth hotspots"around the stadium - with no charge to fans who elect to receive the messages (club and sponsor messages).
Stadium Evolution
In 2002 Home Park was developed on three sides of the ground (focused improvement for the real fans).
Solid foundations and good local and international support.
Plans to develop the Mayflower Stand to provide state-of-the-art conferencing and banqueting facilities for corporate clients.
England Schoolboy International held at Home Park England v Scotland U18 on March 24, 2006.
Staged first pop concerts in summer 2007:
Elton John, followed by George Michael.
Retail Evolution
Superstores located at Home Park and in the City Centre, Drake Circus, which has a footfall of 300,000 per week since opening in July 2007.
Online shop at www.argylesuperstore.co.uk with Mail Order facility.
105,000 items sold with Guinsters in the past 5 years.
Youth Development
FA Youth Cup Quarter Finalists season 2007-08.
Champions of Football League Youth Alliance South West Conference 2007-08.
13 Youth players graduated to 2007-08 senior Professional squad.
Two Argyle Youth players winning England Youth international honours, season 2007-08.
Dan Gosling transferred for more than £1 million to Everton in January 2008.
Community Evolution
A unique opportunity to become involved with the future and development of both Plymouth Argyle Football Club and the local community.
Sponsors will benefit from a new relationship and demonstrate a commitment to corporate and social responsibility.
Benefits include media exposure - both locally and nationally - through the sponsorship of the Football in the Community scheme and the linked association with Argyle.
The activities of the Community scheme benefit more than 30,000 children every year in the region covering both Devon and Cornwall.
This number continues to grow, as does the geographic area in which the team operates. The scheme is in the process of gaining charitable status and is a key area of development of the football club, as it seeks to position itself at the heart of the community.
Supporting the national campaign against racism and other initiatives such as anti-bullying, stop smoking, healthy eating and promoting a sensible approach to alcohol.
Education & Development Programme for 16-18 year olds.
"Kickz" - aimed at reducing crime & anti-social behaviour.
Activities undertaken by FITC include:
Holiday Soccer Schools.
Coaching Centres.
After-school clubs.
Social inclusion - coaching for the disabled and those with mental health difficulties.
Adult education support.
Partnerships with Police and Fire Services.
Community Courses
Key Themes:
Education
Inclusion
Development
Enjoyment
All courses are age and football specific, with the emphasis firmly on fun and enjoyment - regardless of ability.
The Pilgrim Centre
Playing for Success Centre - focused on study support, was established in 2005. A three-way partnership with Plymouth City Council and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
It is a purpose-built suite, equipped with state-of-the-art information and communication technology at Home Park.
The Centre has benefited over 1,000 children aged 7-14 and uses football as a motivation tool to focus on numeracy, literacy and ICT, as part of PFS provision.
50 schools (12 Secondary and 35 Primary plus 3 Special Schools and Plymouth College) have benefited, along with Prince's Trust and Senior Green Surfers.
"Dads & Lads" - Match-day learning support.
The Pilgrim Centre has recently been running an initiative called Playing with Words. Aimed at encouraging children between the ages of 7-13 to read more, in and out the classroom.
A partnership between:
Football League
Football Foundation
The National Literacy Trust
Professional Footballers' Association
Puffin Books
Department for Education and Skills
Football in the Disabled Community
Founded in 2002 to deliver disabled football as a social, cultural and community enterprise in a secure, caring and positive environment.
Key goals:
INCLUSION COMMUNICATION SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE FRIENDSHIP
Pan Disabled (Deaf, Blind, Amputies, Cerebral Palsy and those with Learning Difficulties) are catered for through specialized coaching in schools, colleges and the local community from juniors through to senior level.
Seniors have six teams playing regularly and there is a Youth team plus a Ladies team. Juniors play friendly matches. All equates to over 120 disabled footballers playing the game aged from 6 - 56. Skill levels range from Novice through Intermediary to Advanced.
For the last four years the seniors have reached the National Finals and became 2008 National Champions for the Premiership and Runners-up in The Championship.
Disabled football courses are available through Argyle's Soccer in the Community Team with Disabled Centres of excellence established at County Level.
Three senior disabled players have trialed for England.
Plymouth Argyle Ladies
Plymouth Argyle Ladies are the biggest women's football club in the south-west.
Cup Double winners 2007-08 - League & County. Runners-up in South West Combination.
League's highest scorer, with a record breaking result in which the team beat Southampton 16-0.
Honours - International call-ups for three players
A full-time Centre of Excellence from under 10s to under 16s with UEFA qualified coaches.
The Ladies' Team aim is to get into the Premiership within the next 5 years.
Future Plans
Stadium Development: Increasing capacity to 21,000 with the option to further develop in the future to approximately 30,000.
More live concerts.
Closer links with local Plymouth/Devon /Cornish communities and media.
Enhanced CRM and database development for improved communication with fans and corporate partners.
