Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Mila Marinović
After the success of the first B2B RUN race, which gathered more than a thousand runners in Zagreb last September, the race expands to four cities this year, and the host of the first race this year is Split. We spoke about the race as an important internal communications tool for companies, and about the sponsorship of such races, with Diana Vettuerelli, the initiator of the B2B RUN race, the first business race in Croatia.
Media Marketing: Are companies in Croatia interested in sponsoring events like B2B RUN?
Dijana Vetturelli: Companies are always looking for new and thought provoking sponsorship opportunities, but there is still a noticeable number of those who use sponsorships to achieve specific business goals. In fact since 2008, since we have been conducting annual surveys on the “state of sponsorship in Croatia”, 90% of companies still measure sponsorship success through media evaluation!
If, however, you take a look at the websites of the organizers of the race, you can see a large number of sponsors, on the basis of which it can be concluded that there is interest. However, if you analyze it further, you’ll see that the sponsorships are limited to the placing of banners on the websites and the branding of the race itself. If the company is a bit more “creative”, you can find a prize contest on social networks. The sponsorship rights on the side of the organizers of the race are not expensive, so the cost doesn’t hurt companies, and is often compensated for. In this context, I consciously use the term “cost”, because although sponsorship is an investment, in practice I see it still comes down to the preferences of the management, which takes it further away from its purpose of achieving business goals.
With that in mind, the interest in sponsoring the B2B RUN, which was not actively promoted when it was first organized last year, completely surprised me. We even had two situations in which multiple companies from the same sector expressed interest, companies which we knew would integrate the race into their communication activities both internally and externally.
Photo: Dijana Vetturelli
Media Marketing: What benefits can the sponsors achieve by sponsoring a race?
Dijana Vetturelli: There is no general answer to this question, because each company must define for itself what they want to achieve through the sponsorship. As I see it, internal communications has gained in importance in recent years, but is still in its infancy, because it comes down to internal newsletters, “Happy Hour” or “JourFix” events and the like, thus neglecting interdepartmental communication. Employees think and act in the areas of their departments and tasks (silos), which means that the basic conditions for encouraging the development of new ideas, creativity and ultimately innovation are not provided. Through the launch of interdepartmental communications based on common non-business topics, the silos are brought down and the exchange of ideas is encouraged. Another interest that is also increasingly present is the presentation of your company as a good employer which attracts new talent, and the third is networking. Indeed, there are very few events in Croatia with so many decision makers in one place, and in a completely relaxed atmosphere.
Media Marketing: Do companies that sponsor the race generally nurture the culture of sport within the company and among the employees?
Dijana Vetturelli: Here I can only speak of the partners in the B2B Race. Atlantic Group, for example, has its own racing community that even goes to international races. Croatian Telekom had 172 runners last year, and to my knowledge there will be many more this year, and their management will also actively participate. GRAWE has actively promoted running as a lifestyle, both internally and externally, for a year now. They are all aware that promoting healthy lifestyles and creating a team spirit are among the priorities for long-term employee satisfaction, and in this regard running has proved to be a great tool. And running is on an upward trend both worldwide and in Croatia.
Media Marketing: The race is first and foremost envisaged as a tool for internal communications. How successful has this tool proved to be in Croatia and do you have any information on how they do it elsewhere in the world?
Dijana Vetturelli: For decades now big international companies have nurtured the culture of healthy living. 15 years ago, when I worked at the headquarters of Robert Bosch in Germany, a healthy lifestyle was continuously promoted. Even back then my colleagues urged me to join the Bosch team and the preparations for the business race (and that was only one of many activities) – which seemed crazy and strange to me at the time. In the context of the working rhythm and regularly waking up in hotel rooms across Europe, somehow it became meaningful, and when we gathered for joint trainings, this was a non-business topic which allowed me to get closer to my colleagues from even the most exotic departments. But I saw the biggest benefit of such activities in the networking and the fact that there was no challenge that I couldn’t tackle with the help of these colleagues.
Bosch in this regard is not an exception, but the rule, at least in the leading multinationals and blue chip companies.
Media Marketing: What are the global trends? Are such business races organized in other European and world cities as well?
Dijana Vetturelli: As I mentioned, my first encounter with this kind of activity was 15-odd years ago, and to the best of my knowledge business races have been a common practice throughout the world for several decades now. For example, JPMorgan Chase has organized such races around the world for over four decades. The number of participants continues to grow, and in Frankfurt more than 70,000 employees participated in the race. We know of a number of other initiatives, which grow each year. But it’s interesting that the largest business races were started by the companies themselves, and not by the racing community or race organizers, as you would expect. Because of this it’s easier to follow and set an example to colleagues from other companies.