Why would a B2B tech brand strike up a sports sponsorship?

A couple of years ago, B2B tech brand Neat had a pair of customers in the sports space: The NBA’s LA Clippers and Red Bull Racing, the Formula 1 team that’s home to four-time World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen. Now, Neat, which makes video conferencing devices, is much more than one of their tech providers—it’s a sponsor of both teams.

B2B brands are becoming plentiful in certain sports, especially ones that offer VIP-level experiences to business decision-makers. Unlike consumer-facing brands, Neat didn’t get into the sports game to generate mass awareness and sales, but instead to expose the brand to specific audiences, VP of Marketing Priscilla Barolo said. When execs recognize the brand name, it can make or break a sale, she said, and once the deal is done, sports sponsorships can be integral to maintaining those relationships.

“It’s B2B marketing, but those are still people,” Barolo told Marketing Brew. “Brand exposure is important, and particularly if you can get to those audiences where there’s more decision-makers in key markets like Los Angeles, it’s a good idea.”

Exposed

Neat first signed on as the official video device of the Clippers last September, and followed up by announcing the Red Bull Racing partnership in November. The deals were inked about a year after Barolo, who previously worked in communications for Zoom, joined the company.

Barolo hadn’t been explicitly looking to tie up with basketball or F1 at the time, but the conversations started naturally over the course of doing business with the teams.

The sponsorships made sense in more ways than one: Red Bull Racing has an international fandom that matches Neat’s global customer base, as well as “once in a lifetime” race experiences, while Intuit Dome, the Clippers' home arena that shares ownership with the team, offered suite-level naming rights at its new, high-tech arena, representing a “shared ethos around…super advanced technology,” Barolo said.

“We knew from our experience, if the partnership is organic, if it’s a two-way street, if it’s multifaceted, that’s a lot more rewarding than going, ‘Okay, that team’s hot right now, slap a logo on them and go,’” Barolo said.

The sponsorships do involve Neat’s logo, though: It’s on the front of the Red Bull F1 cars and around the team’s garage, as well as throughout Intuit Dome, including on the court, tunnels, and the “Neat Suites.” That all is designed to contribute to in-person and broadcast brand exposure, according to Barolo.

During the brand’s first season with the Clippers, Neat was on TV about 1,000 times, and about 55,000 guests visited the Neat Suites, amounting to about $500,000 in equivalent advertising value, according to the company. Halfway through its first season as a Red Bull Racing sponsor, Neat has already seen about $6 million in equivalent ad value, Barolo said.

Box seats

The hospitality element—and any subsequent sales pipeline—can be harder to measure than branding assets, but Barolo said it’s equally important as part of the deals. Neat has a box of its own at Intuit Dome, where Neat’s sales leaders can bring guests, whether that’s potential new companies they’re looking to court, fellow tech partners, or long-term clients. Neat also has access to the F1 Paddock Club through its Red Bull Racing sponsorship, though tickets are more limited than in the Neat Suites, Barolo said.

Largely, the invites are sent based on the input of Neat’s sales team. “They’re closest to the clients, and they know where this is going to make a difference and where it’s not,” Barolo said.

Perhaps since the F1 Paddock Club is so exclusive, Barolo said invites to that experience so far seem to be paying off, with “universally positive feedback” from clients and sales stats from the first half of the F1 season pointing in the right direction.

“You can’t always see brand ROI right away, but you can see, ‘Okay, well, who did we bring there?’ And then, ‘Has this made any difference in the deals?’” she said. “We’re in high seven figures in terms of the [sales] pipeline associated with the hospitality just this past season so far. That’s what I want to see.”

Still, Barolo isn’t putting all of her eggs—or her budget—in one basket. The two sports sponsorships represent just about one-fifth of Neat’s overall marketing budget, she told us. While she’s open to adding more sports deals, she said, she declined to share details about any specific teams or leagues she might be interested in.

“I am a big believer in not going all in on any given marketing,” Barolo said. “I really think a full-funnel, diverse marketing mix is important.”