In 2003, Dunn took over full stewardship of the agency, which has since grown to become one of the leading businesses of its kind in South Africa.

Media Update chatted to Dunn to find out how Playmakers became the company it is, and the state of the sponsorship industry today. 

Playmakers has been named the Discovery Sports Agency of Year for the last three years in a row, among other industry awards, and works with clients such as Absa, Barclays, Coca-Cola, KFC, and Adidas. What do you believe are the reasons for Playmakers continuing success in its field?

I have learnt that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and ultimately that has been a key driver to the business' success. I believe we have the best MD and head of strategy and research in our business. Put these people with some really great staff and this has helped breed a culture for success for all 52 full-time people who are part of our team. We believe the success of the business has been driven on the back of Playmakers been a marketing led company that believes in driving solutions on the back of consumer insights. 

What are the agency’s core functions and strengths?

Playmakers’ effective role in the industry is to help brands maximise the commercial opportunity around their sponsorships. That could include how the commercial agreement is structured to deliver greater value or how a brand uses sponsorship as a marketing platform to deliver on business objectives. We try attract staff to our business who have marketing ability first and not people who are interested in sport. We are firstly a sponsorship consultancy business, but we offer TV/media production, activation logistics and Social/PR to our clients within the sport and lifestyle sector.

What is the state of the sponsorship industry?

Like the rest of the economy things are changing in the sponsorship industry as brands start consolidating their sponsorship portfolios. This has already happened in the telecommunications industry and we will see other sectors following as well. We live in interesting times globally where the wealth gap between rich and poor is continually being put under the microscope. 

Even though sponsorships can deliver fantastic commercial returns for brands I believe that corporates will be under more pressure in South Africa to apply a social compass in the way they spend their marketing budgets. Sponsorship is often seen as a luxury from the outside eye and brands will be under significantly more pressure to really make a difference. The protests by students recently is a sign of things to come. Brands can seek good opportunities by listening to what consumers need.

On top of the social economic challenges globally the sports industry has been rocked by continual corruption scandals such as FIFA and more recently the IAAF. This is slowly wearing down the credibility of a marketing platform that can work for brands. Rights holders are not helping themselves and I believe future sponsors should play a bigger part in stamping out corruption within the sports industry globally. Corporates need to stand together and fight corruption and this includes the sports industry.

What will be the best sponsorship approach for brands?

Sponsorship will always be a fantastic platform to deliver on business and marketing objectives for brands that approach it in the right way. Doing fewer sponsorships better is the right approach for any brand. Have clear objectives, a clear consumer insight and the ability to leverage properly. The Carling Black Label Cup in South Africa is a brilliant example of this as it is effectively a one-off match between the two biggest soccer brands in the country, namely Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. The campaign is driven off a clear consumer insight and is effectively leveraged across multiple consumer touch points over a six month period.

What are some of the challenges for rights holders in attracting sponsorships?

Rights holders are in for some of the toughest times in their history as consumers are sucked into more alternative media platforms than ever. People have less time to do more things and rights holders need to listen more to what fans want. They need to attract more eyeballs within their environments. 

Content is king, fans will be engaged to events that create some emotional connection with them. Stadiums have some of the biggest challenges as they are traditionally a rugby or cricket stadium in South Africa. Cricket stadiums are profitable for 15 days a year if they are lucky. They need to move away from being a cricket environment to a stadium that can be filled with great content. Right holders need to move from being rule makers to rule breakers.

You can connect with Dunn on Twitter.