Sponsorship News: January 2023 Edition

Here are the sponsorship stories making headlines. 

World Juniors shines across North America

Canada claims back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship and the US takes Bronze in what looked like a low-scoring football game ending 8-7 in overtime. We took a look at the drivers of engagement for the tournament after last year’s summer edition following a postponement due to COVID in 2022.

🥉 Performance drives results. The US’s performance was a motivating factor to consume more of the tournament for almost 1 in 2 Americans.

🏒 Leveling the playing field. This year’s tournament showcased a more balanced field with greater parity and lots of thrilling overtimes, shootouts, and upsets. More than 1 in 5 North Americans watched more of the World Juniors due to greater parity between the teams. 

📺 Star power in Canada. If you haven’t heard of him yet, the Canadian phenom Connor Bedard drove significant viewership with 1 in 5 North Americans claiming they watched more due to his record-breaking performance alone. Every GM in the NHL is holding their breath for the draft lottery.

Inaugural United Cup makes its debut 

In case you didn’t already know, the United Cup is an international tennis tournament that features mixed-gender teams. The tournament was held in Australia between December 29 - January 8, in the lead-up to the Australian Open. 

🎾 A grand slam among tennis fans. Among Americans who engage with Tennis, over 1 in 3 are already aware of the United Cup tournament that made its debut ahead of the first Slam – Australian Open – of the season.

🏟 Mixed teams draw a crowd. One of the most unique elements of the United Cup is that they’re mixed-gender teams representing their countries. According to consumers, this new format is one of the largest motivators to engage with the tournament, with 48% of consumers agreeing that it drove interest.

Bell Let’s Talk Day gets a Makeover

Mental Health Research and Support as a causal territory is the #2 ranked charitable space based on its potential to drive significant brand preference gains for brands involved (ranks #7 in the US).

Bell initiated Bell Let’s Talk Day 13 years ago and has made massive strides over the years, destigmatizing mental health, and generating $139MM+ in donations to mental health organizations.

Did you see fewer messages flooding your social feeds? That could be because Bell changed the popular campaign format, which aims to start conversations and raise awareness for mental health in Canada.

📱Previously, Bell has donated 5 cents for every message shared using the hashtag #BellLetsTalk to mental health research causes.

💰Things were a little different this year, as the telecom announced they'd instead be donating a lump sum of $10MM – that’s an increase of roughly $1.8MM vs. the 2022 campaign.

💭We polled Canadians to find out if they were aware of the changes and whether the new format impacted their perceptions of Bell. As it turns out, Bell Let's Talk has record-high awareness among Canadians (87%)!

♥️Among those aware, 61% knew it happened on Wednesday, January 25. Among them, 58% knew about the format change, which generally made Canadians feel more favorable about Bell.

Golden Globes Reboots after Boycott

The Golden Globes made its comeback after last year’s boycott and controversy around the Hollywood Foreign Press Association being called out for questionable practices and a lack of diversity. The Globes viewership rating slid 26% versus its 2021 edition, but we were interested to find out what drove consumers to re-engage with the controversial award show.

⭐️ The stars show out. Whether it was Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, or hit shows like Abbott Elementary and The White Lotus, 37% of consumers played back that the nominees were the greatest driver for reengaging with the award show. 

🤔 Sentiment is shifting (sort of). 1 in 5 Americans agreed they were OK to tune in after last year’s boycott.

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