Aberdeen Standard Investments when the financial world embraces skiing

Standard Life Aberdeen plc is one of the world’s largest investment companies, created in 2017 from the merger of Standard Life plc and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. Operating under the brand Aberdeen Standard Investments, the investment arm manages £557.1bn, €629.9bn, $735.5bn of assets, making it the largest active manager in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.

But what drives a global finance giant to link up with the world of skiing? We asked him directly to Jill Maxwell Global Head of Sponsorship Marketing at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

By reading the website of Aberdeen, it is possible to notice that your company is focused on sponsoring international level events. On which basis is this choice made?

"Our corporate sponsorships form a key part of our marketing strategy and they help us to position ourselves as a truly global brand to a large portion of our target audience in key territories. They also allow us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors in what is becoming quite a crowded marketplace. As a business we have clients in 80 countries which are supported by 46 different offices so it’s important that our sponsorships give reach them."

Where does the passion of Aberdeen for winter sports come from?

"We know that a large proportion of our intended target audience ski and take part in other winter sports in and around the ski resorts where we partner with ski schools. Post merger our primary sponsorship objective is global brand building and so by positioning our brand in front of our key demographic in high traffic ski resorts across Europe we are ticking multiple boxes. We like that fact that ski schools are comprised of a number of instructors working together as one team, and this aligns well with the company’s focus on teamwork and operating as one to achieve the best results possible. We also draw parallels with them being experts in their field and having an excellent knowledge of the local landscape, aligned to our teams in local markets around the world. There are many parallels between winter sports and business and that helps us tell our story, for example we have recently filmed a brand advert focusing on the many paths you might take to achieve the desired outcome."

The international ski school of Bormio is one of the youngest of your sponsorship program. Thanks to the partnership with NeveItalia, the International Ski School has a huge visibility on the national territory; thanks to the international events happening in Bormio together with the Olympic atmosphere it seems a very important investment for the future. How does the research phase of the best-sponsored schools happen? Does the experience related to the financial investments help you also in the sportive field?

"When undertaking the research around ski schools across Europe, we looked at each territory we wanted to target and opened up a dialogue with the ski schools we thought would offer the maximum exposure, including the size and international nature of the resorts and the number of instructors. We also take into account the available branding positions on the ski instructors jackets as well as in and around their respective resorts. Some schools have existing sponsors and this precludes them from offering us a prime branding site on the jacket or in / around the ski school.

We brief all of our ski school Heads at the beginning of each season, giving them an updated overview of our business and our most current AUM info. We also arm each instructor with a small information card which lists key facts about our business so that if asked, instructors can offer some high level info about Aberdeen Standard Investments. Through our partnership with Bormio the Ski School and instructors act as very important ambassadors for Aberdeen Standard Investments and to do that in an area which has a great history of events is a great association for our brand."