This week saw the launch of Redtorch’s new monthly podcast series: #SportOnCreative.

With its tagline ‘great sports campaigns by the people who made them’, #SportOnCreative is the only series dedicated entirely to the creativity of sports campaigns aimed at those working in the industry.  

Each episode features an industry leader discussing their favourite campaign: how they made it, what worked and what didn’t, and what we can learn from their experience. 

Episode 1 features sponsorship legend Tim Crow – previously CEO of the international sports marketing agency Synergy and now working through his own consultancy. He reveals how a fleet of remote-control ‘Mini MINIs’ whizzed around Olympic regulations to steal the show at London 2012 and, in the process, created a new tool in the sports marketer’s playbook.  

Tim provides some fascinating lessons from his 3 decades in the business. Here are five things we learned: 

You need to be more creative than ever with the Olympics

“Because no logos are allowed and there is so much noise around the Olympics, you have to be exceptionally creative with your campaigns.” 

Bravery is essential 

“Really great successful campaigns require an element of bravery if you are going to cut through and generate headlines. It would have been very easy with the Mini MINIs to say, ‘this is too risky, let’s play it safe instead’. You can imagine there could have been some not so great headlines if they had broken down.” 

A good strategy is not just about what you’re going to do but what you’re not going to do

“If you have a good strategy in sports marketing then when opportunities come along you know whether they are the right fit or not. Because MINI is such a fun brand, when the opportunity came up with LOCOG we knew it was going to be right.” 

Team chemistry is key

“When you’ve got great chemistry between the client, the agency and the rights holder that plays a huge part in the success of a campaign.”

Sports marketing needs to be entertaining  

“I see a lot of sports marketing campaigns that are well-meant and have purpose but I think a big reason why people loved the mini MINIs was because it entertained them.”