Inmarsat  has  been  awarded  the  ESA  European  Sponsorship  Award  for  its  Exclusive Global Partnership with the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). The presentation was made at the European Sponsorship Association’s annual congress in Lisbon, where the global satellite communications provider was the winner from seven finalists,  all  of  which  had  won  national  sponsorship  awards  in  2004.   

London-based Inmarsat reached the final following its three award sweep at the Hollis Awards in London in March of this year.    Since    2002,    Inmarsat    has    introduced    ground-breaking    improvements    to    the communication networks within WRC, helping to make it one of the most technologically- advanced and data-rich sports in the world.     Inmarsat’s  partnership  with  the  FIA  WRC  was  deemed  by  the  European  Sponsorship Association’s   Vice   Chairman,   Helen   Day,   to   be:   “…An   excellent   case   study   of demonstrating  how  a  sponsorship  can  fit  both  the  sponsor’s  objectives  and  the  sport’s needs…“    Day  continued:  ”The  partnership  has  been  superbly   integrated  with  the marketing mix.  There was a very high standard of competition but Inmarsat’s sponsorship came out on top.” Luisa d’Aprano, Inmarsat’s Sponsorship Manager commented: 

“We are thrilled to receive this  award.    Our  aim  was  to  demonstrate  Inmarsat’s  technological  leadership  on  global scale.    This  prize  recognises  that  we  managed  to  achieve  this  through  the  medium  of sponsorship using the WRC as our strategic partner.” Simon Long, Managing Director of ISC, the media and commercial rights holder of WRC, commented, “This prestigious award is a tremendous tribute to Inmarsat's original faith in seeing  the  potential  of  WRC  as  their  core  communications  platform.   We  have  been successful  in  demonstrating  Inmarsat's  technology  in  action  all  year  round,  across  the globe.  This is a partnership which has been fundamental in overcoming the technology  and  communications  challenges  that  the WRC  and  our  media  and  commercial  partners encounter. The key factor to us is that this has been a true partnership between sponsor and right's holder.”

The ESA European Sponsorship Award was set up four years ago to recognise quality and encourage good practise in sponsorship across Europe.