Johan Cruyff Institute organized the I Sport Sponsorship Conference

Johan Cruyff Institute organized the I Sport Sponsorship Conference at the Olympic and Sports Museum Joan Antoni Samaranch with the participation of companies and institutions of the sports world

Students and former students of the different academic programs enjoyed a day of debate between expert professionals of sport sponsorship and marketing led by our sponsorship professor, Cinto Ajram. Topics such as “The sponsorship of Running. How brands activate and interact with runners” with Asics, Gaudium Sports, Fundación Trinidad Alfonso and EDP; “Football from the clubs´ point of view” with RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona, Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona and CF Reus Deportiu. “The brand affiliation with football” was debated by Damm, Caixabank and Beko. And Dentsu, Octagon, YouFirstSports, WWP and Up to you shared their point of view on “Agencies: How do they help activate brands?”.

“These types of conferences are amazing and very useful, especially for them because it is a way to get in touch with real cases and real experiences; these are things that happened to us as a brand and which can be used to compare with other brands in the same sector “, stated Albert López, Merchandising Running South Europe at Asics about the Conference.  María Bañeres, Sponsorship Project Leader at Beko commented: “I think it is very beneficial for students to have the opportunity to listen to current professionals that can explain real cases and situations in the field. I think this initiative is a great idea because one thing is what you can learn in the classroom, theory and the alike, but the day to day reality is sometimes very different from what can be explained through theory.

David Serrahima, General Manager at Octagon remarked: “I believe that it benefits both. For us speakers it is a day of reflection, meeting good friends and sharing experiences with the new generations, and for the new generations an opportunity to ask and understand a bit sport sponsorship, where it is and where it´s going”.

On the other hand, students and alumni valued the debate generated by the brands very positively. Marion Anti, student of the Postgraduate Diploma in Sport Marketing: “It is very fortunate for us because in class we learn the whole theoretical part, but life is practical; they teach us this practical part, how they see sponsorship from each angle, as we have had people who organize events, who sponsor football clubs, etc.”

Manu Campás, alumnus of the Master in Sport Management: “It’s a good way to see how the industry works, to learn about other types of activations, different ways of working from which you can take new ideas. These are days worth investing in because you have direct contact with professionals in the field.”