S P O N SO R S H I P Concentrated capability

ize counts for everything in the marginsqueezed world of sponsorship. And it’s critical mass that has driven the merger of four of SA’s specialist sponsorship agencies: Matchworld, RE Experience Architects, Openfield Cape Town and Trinergy. Led by wellknown practitioner Franco Barocas, the new entity, operating in Johannesburg and Cape Town, will trade as Openfield. Clients include Vodacom, SABMiller, Nedbank and Distell.

Says Barocas: “There are only two financial models that work. Either start and stay small or go large. Anything in between turns into a series of compromises which leads to either failure to deliver or financial problems.”

Barocas says financial sustainability in the sponsorship management industry is about increasing revenue volume and distributing it with the same fixed overhead. “It’s the only formula that can meet the requirement of excellent delivery to clients and withstand pressure on margins and the limitations of not being able to manage conflicting clients.”

The SA sponsorship industry is valued at R8,1bn/year. Barocas won’t say what the deal was worth, except that it was complex and 12 months in the making. Openfield will undoubtedly bring new muscle to the sponsorship arena but the challenge of demonstrating return on investment to brands remains. Jeremy Maggs