1. “I’d ridden RAB 8 times, and the idea grew from there”
babble
Sport it backs: Cycling
Number of official participants in England: 7.61 million (Statista)
Interviewee: CEO Matt Parker
Hi Matt. You’ve been involved in Ride Across Britain [RAB] for many years, but this year the event rebranded as ‘Babble Ride Across Britain’ as you became the title sponsor. Why was a nine-day cycling event a good fit for Babble?
The origin of our sponsorship was never a brand thing. It started with my passion for sharing the experience. I’ve ridden LEJoG (Land’s End to John O’Groats) with RAB eight times and the idea grew from there. It is delivering brand benefits but there needs to be more than just the event to get value from it. The bigger picture is that we get to raise a lot of money for charity which is a hugely important thing for us, and in 2024 our target is to raise £250K for the MND charity My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. We also take colleagues, friends, family, partners, and customers along and it is a fantastic springboard for other brand-awareness activities.
To what extent is this alliance about brand awareness for Babble, and do you feel it’s worth it from this perspective alone?
The Babble Ride Across Britain isn’t a televised event, and whilst taking over from Deloitte has massively raised our brand profile, we quickly realised that we’d have to do more to make it a successful brand activity. That’s why we’re launching a brand campaign called ‘Fit to Lead’ #fittolead in February with UK-wide events and an extensive PR campaign. It captures the ideas of charitable endurance events, physical, ethical and mental fitness, but applies it more broadly to leadership. That way we can extend its appeal beyond cyclists. It’s the combination of the event itself and these activities that deliver the value.
That said, we are also launching the virtual Ride Across Britain on the virtual cycling platform Rouvy next week, where cyclists up and down the country will be riding in Babble-branded jerseys. Which increases the reach even further.
The Babble Ride Across Britain isn’t a televised event, and whilst taking over from Deloitte has massively raised our brand profile, we quickly realised that we’d have to do more to make it a successful brand activity
You also sponsor Newcastle Falcons and a couple of different football clubs. Is there a benefit to supporting several different sports and clubs, as opposed to having just one marquee relationship?
A lot of our current sponsorships are inherited through acquisitions. Priority number one on these is keeping the local presence and we use this local branding around community-level sports organisations to be front of mind in local communities. It’s where our customers are – and often why the company we acquired was chosen in the first place.
Having one national marquee relationship could compromise the local nature of these relationships and that’s not something we are interested in. Different sponsorships deliver different benefits – some are good for brand, others for charity and community engagement. We don’t have a one-size-fits-all model.
I can see us adding to our sponsorship portfolio with one or two higher-profile sponsorships but not at the cost of removing what we already have. We are currently exploring women’s sports sponsorships as we feel it’s a key missing element.
Which of the sports you sponsor offers the best opportunity for corporate hospitality benefits? Do you ever take clients, for instance?
Our sports sponsorships are not key to this, partly because of the nature of the sponsorships we maintain. However, we do encourage our local teams to take local customers to local events whenever they can.
We are lucky that partners are keen for us to use their sporting sponsorships to entertain customers and prospects. That will be a key focus for us in 2024.
In terms of specific sports, cricket has always worked for us, partly because no one has to give up an evening for a day at a Test Match. We also remain pretty attached to golf- playing rather than watching. We combine this with charitable activities every year and the Babble Golf Day in 2024 will take us beyond £100k in monies raised for fantastic causes including Shooting Stars Chase, Alder Hey Children’s hospital, The Buffalo Foundation & Sport Parkinsons. We are focused on business and IT leaders giving up their time and money to make a difference.
What advice would you have for other firms in the IT industry weighing up signing a sponsorship deal in the realm of sport, and which sport to choose?
Choose the sport that both you and your customers enjoy and you’ll get the most out of the deal. Don’t be lured by the high-profile expensive opportunities – unless that reflects your customer base. It’s worth remembering that you may be better off with a balance of local grassroots-style sponsorships and a smaller number of ‘Tier 2’ opportunities. Our experience is that the smaller clubs across all sports are hungry for income, and they will work a lot harder to make it work for you. The events can be more fun, the experience is more real, your money goes further, and you’ll stay closer to the communities that matter.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
