Q&A: Myak Homberger, Marketing Director, Ezylet.co.uk - September 2007  

This month, S&T's Jo Adams talks to Myak Homberger (pictured centre right), Marketing Director at online lettings company Ezylet.co.uk about its sponsorship of the London Irish rugby team.....

Please describe what Ezylet does and outline your role and responsibilities at the company

“An innovative new website, dedicated entirely to lettings, Ezylet.co.uk is focused on enabling landlords and landladies to maximise profits. It offers an extremely economical advertising platform and then introduces potential tenants to landlords, free of charge. Operating across the UK, the Ezylet.co.uk website also strives to provide ongoing support to buy-to-let property owners and tenants alike by offering professional advice and services in partnership with a large number of independent organisations. The website is set up to directly introduce potential tenants to property owners, therefore removing the cost of using expensive third parties which often eats into the profitability of operating in the rented accommodation market. My specific role is that of Marketing Director, which makes me responsible for raising the profile and the brand of the Ezylet.co.uk name and image as well as managing the marketing team overall.”

Why did Ezylet decide to sponsor London Irish (i.e. what are your key objectives)?

“Ezylet.co.uk was looking for a platform to help generate brand awareness quickly; and sporting events seem to be the right way to go. The team values matched our brand values; strong, successful, powerful; but we also believed that this relationship had the potential to run and run which was important to us. We didn’t want something that would have a short shelf life and the London Irish history, as well as its future plans, interested us. Having an element of ‘flexibility’ in the package was also appealing to us; as a new entrant into the market we needed to be sure that we would see a good return on our marketing investment but that we could also grow with the club over future seasons. The London Irish were more than happy to be flexible in this matter, which we appreciated. The positioning of the club was also just right. With supporters situated across the UK, it meant we could reach a wider audience than that of a local rugby club.”

Why are rugby fans in particular of interest to Ezylet?

“The team, and family, values associated with rugby is really what caught our attention in the first instance, but the personalities of the ‘supporters’ were of course also of interest. Rugby is about the coming together of two opposing teams for a competitive match, enjoyed by associated supporters – but overall, the most over riding personality trait is that both parties enjoy coming together to enjoy the camaraderie and get the most out of the occasions. Ezylet.co.uk wants to promote that feeling across landlords and tenants – making the meetings pleasurable, not painful!”

How long is the sponsorship agreement for and what are the commitments from both parties?

“Ezylet.co.uk has entered in to an agreement to become the ‘Official Sleeve and Shorts Sponsor’ for the London Irish rugby club (player pictured right courtesy of Getty Images Sport/Julian Finney) during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons. The sponsorship agreement ensures the Ezylet.co.uk logo will be on the new London Irish home and away playing jerseys and shorts for the forthcoming season but it also enables the two organisations to build a wider working relationship as other opportunities arise; such as joint competitions, corporate events or promoting important charitable occasions that are taking place in the more immediate communities.”

How closely will Ezylet be working with London Irish on developing the sponsorship?

“Both parties are keen to make sure the sponsorship programme works and so meet regularly to discuss progress and brainstorm new ways to further raise both brands. Ezylet.co.uk is aware that the London Irish has a number of other sponsors that also have an active interest in the club so would like to develop more of a combined approach towards the sponsorship if possible – bringing all the individual companies together to promote the best interests of the club in order to get the maximum results – on and off the pitch.”

How will you be leveraging/activating the sponsorship?

“We are already using logos on our materials, and have been making the most of the tickets that we have available to us for each match to host relationship building events for key industry contacts, investors, customers and staff which have been very gratefully received. Going forward, we’ll be entering competition opportunities together as well as supporting each other with marketing activities overall. Ezylet also plans to extend its sponsorship to cover specific London Irish matches – which will be branded as Ezylet – and occasions, such as the annual awards evening. On a more business driven note, there is a lot of benefit to our business in getting to know the professional backgrounds to the players; some of which are lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and of course landlords. By getting down to this level of detail with them we can then further develop our offerings as a business to keep improving the level of the guidance, support and information that we offer users of the Ezylet.co.uk website.”

Are you using the sponsorship for motivating/incentivising Ezylet staff in addition to promoting your brand?

“Absolutely. Keeping staff motivated is key for us. The Ezylet.co.uk team is small, but has the potential to grow quickly and it’s important to us that the team we have in place continue to feel that they are a core part of the business. So, they are invited to join us at matches, attend ‘meet the team’ days and take part in any additional promotional activities that the London Irish Rugby team arranges. A good example of this was the recent Open Day at the Madjeski Stadium; during which we had a full team turn out I believe… There is also an immeasurable amount of value in the Eyzlet team watching how a successful sports team operates – in training, on the pitch and as part of the end of game evaluation. There will be a lot for us to learn as business by watching the way the players come together as a team to overcome obstacles and ultimately achieve the objective of emerging as winners.”

How will you be measuring the return on your sponsorship (i.e. research methods)?

“Some is unquantifiable, like the feel good factor of being associated with a winning team and for the impact is has on staff morale, but of course we need to make fact-driven assessments on value for money so we have implemented a number of ways to track what we’re seeing. Examples of this include monitoring the footfall through the stadium during a season, and then against particular games for more unique branding opportunities as well as assessing the numbers of chances to see the Ezylet branding during the experience of the game. There are additional advantages, such as the live coverage of some matches (so viewing figures), as well as the more obvious methods of tracking ‘click through’ from the London Irish website.”

Are there any other sports you are considering/have considered for sponsorship?

“We are always open to new opportunities, but of course need to go through a very careful and considered selection process. We believe that making sure you can commit to being an active part of a sponsorship agreement is important if you want to get true value from it – and there are only so many hours in a day. Ezylet.co.uk is already a proud sponsor of Aldershot Town Football Club [Editor’s Note: in the Blue Square Premier along with the mighty Exeter City FC] – which has had a cracking start to its season. Our next consideration will be in the world of Superbikes!!”

What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients for a successful sponsorship?

“Being active in the sponsorship is critical, but discussing and understanding expectations from both sides is also important. It’s not just about handing over a cheque, and using a logo. Building relationships on both sides can make all the difference to whether it’s a success or a failure and we certainly plan to keep playing an active role in this agreement, and any others, in order to make it the biggest mutual success that it can be. A true ‘team’ approach.”

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