Young revealed he is seeing rights holders becoming more creative and that brands need to push for this. He spoke as part of a panel session at the Campaign Future Fit conference in London this morning.
"I’m seeing green shoots with rights holders being more creative," Young explained. "The ones I enjoy working with is the ones that will sit down and co-trade with you rather than saying ‘here’s what you can buy from us, you’re one of eight categories, here’s the off-the-shelf stuff you can have just like everyone else’.
"I’m hearing less of that and maybe it’s that brands need to become more assertive and say what it is they want, buy what they want and don’t pick up all the things around it that they’ve got no interest in."
Also on the panel was Helena Jennison, marketing and communications director at Movember Foundation. She said that brands need to think about sport as a tool for the wider community for effectiveness in sports marketing. "If brands get that right and what the community wants then the value is returned," Jennison said.
Owen Hughes, head of global sponsorship at Nissan, added that there needs to be a "greater level" of understanding between all of the different stakeholders within the sports marketing eco-system. This would help them realise what they need to work together to get the best outcomes.
The panel was moderated by Nicky Kemp, trends editor at Campaign.
