On July 20, the annual FEX (Football Experience eXchange) event took place in Odessa.

Representatives of the sports industry, brands, Ukrainian and European agencies gathered at the event in order to discuss the latest trends in the partnership between football organizations and brands and to clear up the questions:

• What do these partners expect from such cooperation?
• How can the advantages and benefits of the partnership be determined?
• How can the information on the partnership be used in order to engage fans etc.?

40 participants from different countries attended the event, including 5 speakers from Switzerland, England, Israel and Ukraine.

Foreign speakers performed in English, so simultaneous interpretation was provided.

At the end of the seminar, a draw of tickets for the Ukrainian Super Cup 2018 match was held.

Event program

Topic 1: What are today’s key drivers in football sponsorship and what can a club do to maximize its value from sponsorship.

• Lars Bretscher, VP Sponsorship Sales and Licensing, CAA11 (Switzerland)

CAA is a leading sports and entertainment agency that operates in such areas as cinema, television, music, video games, theater and digital content, and also provides a number of strategic marketing and consulting services to corporate clients. The agency represents more than 1000 of the world's best athletes in football, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis and golf, and works in the area of broadcasting rights, corporate marketing activities, licensing and sponsorship in sport. It has a special unit for CAA Eleven - the exclusive agency working in the field of UEFA national football matches.

Topic 2: Experience of the foreign club in building relations with sponsors.

• Jon Don-Carolis, Head of Sponsorship Sales, Fulham FC

Fulham is an English football club, and an English Premier League participant. Founded in 1879, the club is the oldest football club based in London. For 25 seasons the club played in the elite division. Fulham cooperate with such brands as Konami, Audi, Carlsberg.

Topic 3: Digital backdrops Wally

• Ives Sibony, Founder and CMO, Wally Interactive

Wally Interactive is the company that created the first and unique Wally “interactive backdrop”, that allows to create direct sponsorship with the target market through video content, as well as directed interactive messages.

Topic 4: Fill your stadium with fans to the max.

• Roman Poriadchenko, Director, Esport.in.ua

Esport.in.ua is the Ukrainian ticket operator, that carries out the implementation of tickets not only for sports but also for cultural events. It has exclusive contracts with such sports arenas as NSC Olympiyskiy, Arena Lviv, Valery Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium. This is the Official Ticket Partner of the Ukrainian Premier League.

Topic 5: Engaging the next generation through social media.

• Richard Johnson, Head of Sport, Social Chain

Social Chain is a leading global marketing agency that operates through social networks. They conduct advertising and promotion by attracting direct traffic through social networks. Social Chain have offices in Manchester, London, New York and Berlin. "The best agency in the field of social networks 2016" award. The company do business with such brands such as New Balance, Apple Music, DreamWorks, Amazon, FIFA, BBC, Universal.