- Visa, Heineken and McDonald’s end sponsorships after three decades
- Sponsors’ objectives and expectations change over time
- Aligning expectations throughout partnerships is essential for securing renewals
Visa stopped sponsoring the NFL after 30 years.
Heineken announced the end of its three-decade partnership with the Champions League.
McDonald’s will also leave the FIFA World Cup after 32 years.
What happened?
Visa argued that rising rights fees for major sports properties required tougher decisions. The brand decided to increase its focus on clubs and individual athletes.
American Express took over the NFL’s payment card category in a deal valued at USD 910 million over seven years.
Heineken announced that it will prioritise platforms where the return is proportional to the investment, such as F1 and Premier Padel.
Its replacement, AB InBev, through brands such as Stella Artois, is expected to spend around USD 232 million per season.
In McDonald’s case, despite the huge effort behind its biggest-ever World Cup campaign, business results fell short of expectations.
30 years of partnership don’t justify the next contract.
There are many factors that influence a renewal: rights fees, company objectives, changes in strategy, market regulations and commercial returns.
Visa, Heineken and McDonald’s are brands known for their large Marketing budgets and their ability to execute major campaigns.
We don’t know all the factors behind these decisions.
But these cases reinforce something important: we need to keep a close eye on sponsors’ expectations, because they change.
Over 30 years, objectives, strategies, resources and people change.
Years ago, I was involved in renewing an important sponsor.
The sponsorship director argued that the ROI was only USD 0.72 for every dollar invested.
I was worried about the risk of losing the contract. I didn’t understand the situation.
We were delivering more than the contract required, had a close relationship and were proactive in activating the partnership around major moments.
I started looking into it and realised that the sponsor’s Marketing priorities were focused on other projects. Its main campaigns had different focuses.
Despite our daily efforts, the brand barely communicated the sponsorship.
The problem was the expectations of each side. He believed we were responsible for the activation.
The sponsor expected results but wasn’t dedicating the necessary resources to activate the partnership.
We talked, aligned expectations and successfully redesigned the activation strategy.
Sometimes, it’s possible to turn things around. Other times, you need to understand that there isn’t a match. That’s why it’s essential to understand and keep track of sponsors’ expectations, even for the NFL, UEFA and FIFA.
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