Northern Trust CEO Sees Sports Sponsorships As Key To Company Recognition & Growth
Northern Trust CEO Michael O’Grady sat down with Bloomberg’s Vonnie Quinn this past August to discuss the company’s sponsorship of the Northern Trust Open.
In his interview, O’Grady could not emphasize enough what a terrific investment this sports sponsorship was for their company, by having the Northern Trust brand associated with all facets of the late-August golf tournament.
“We find golf and golf sponsorship to be a terrific investment for the company,” O’Grady said. “It provides us with a number of benefits. Certainly more brand awareness. The broadcast over the weekend will be broadcast to 200 countries, and hundreds of millions of people, as a result, will see our brand.
“[It’s] an excellent environment and excellent positioning for us to profitably grow the business.”
The tournament was broadcast to millions of households in over 200 countries. Additionally, Northern Trust used the tournament to entertain some of their top clients through unique corporate hospitality events.
It is difficult to name better strategies to get your brand recognized on a global stage. PGA Tour events are one of some of the most sought-after venues for sponsors. That is why brands like BMW, Sony, and Northern Trust pay top-dollar to be the lead sponsor because they know the brand recognition and exposure pays dividends.
Sports sponsorships wield an unparalleled ability to drive company growth. A company like Under Armour (which began in 1996) received a huge boost in brand awareness when their uniforms were used in football movies Any Given Sunday (1999) and The Replacements (2000). Years later, sports superstars like Jordan Spieth (3-time major golf champion), Tom Brady (5-time super bowl champion quarterback), and Steph Curry (2-time NBA Finals champion) represent the thriving brand.
Peter Murray, Under Armour’s vice-president of global sports marketing, told Telegraph that UA is primarily fixated on creating ‘game-changing technologies’ and producing new product innovations for their array of sponsorship partners.
The brand — which now closely rivals Nike and Adidas — saw their worldwide revenue increase by $3.96 billion in 2015.
Northern Trust and Under Armour and just two examples of the thousands of brands who have seen substantial growth through the power of sponsorship. And sponsorship isn’t just signage in arenas or patch on a player during a match. Sponsorships can consist of commercials, content, or social media posts.
As we move into a more-digital age, sponsorship opportunities will continue to grow. And with that, more brands can get in on the sponsorship action to reap the benefits of this unparalleled exposure.
That is why Instant Sponsor was created. Instant Sponsor is introducing a platform that will act as a conduit between sponsors and rights holders, and will allow them to buy and sell sponsorship inventory seamlessly, securely, and instantaneously.
Never before has there been a marketplace for these two parties to effectively match-up, negotiate, and transact all in one sitting.
Instant Sponsor’s platform will effectively democratize the sports sponsorship ecosystem by allowing brands of any size to connect and interact with the top teams and athletes in each respective sport who will deliver unparalleled exposure through sponsorship opportunities.
