The 2012 annual Leaders in Sponsorship conference, taking place on 10th and 11th October 2012, launched this week with a cutting-edge agenda, new “Brands-Only” forum and expanded programme.

The exclusive, invite-only event is now in its 4th year and has a track-record for bringing together the very top names in sponsorship to discuss global best practice across a range of topics, including activation, negotiation and measurement. In recent years the guest speakers have included: Adam Silver, Deputy Commissioner, NBA; Des Johnson, Global Brand Director, Castrol; Mark Waller, Chief Marketing Officer, NFL; Tara Looney, Brand Director, American Express and Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Emirates.

Standard Chartered hands Liverpool FC shirt sponsorship spot to Seeing is Believing

Standard Chartered swaps Liverpool FC shirt sponsorship logo at tonight’s Chelsea match to raise awareness for avoidable blindness initiative

In a rare move, Standard Chartered, the main sponsor of Liverpool FC, will replace its logo on the team’s home shirts with the logo of Seeing is Believing, its global charitable initiative aimed at tackling avoidable blindness.

Seeing is Believing will gain international exposure as Liverpool FC wear the limited edition shirts when they play Chelsea, in their final home game of the English Premier League season.

Guess what. The stars are finally aligning. MIPTV 2012 recognised a tipping point and a potential new world order... or perhaps that is a new media order.

The subject of course is Branded Entertainment -­‐ discussed by so many, undefined by most, dismissed by skeptics, resisted by most programmers and traditional TV networks. This article will take you through our take-­‐outs and learnings from the 2012 market, touching on global best practices, current trends and shifts in the marketplace, and how we believe they will start to impact the Australian marketplace.

Firstly, we saw three major indicators that a shift in the market is gathering speed.

Big Macs, fries and milkshakes will be part of McDonald's exclusively branded menu at the Olympics and the fast-food giant will soon be opening its largest franchise in the world, a two-story cathedral-like restaurant that seats 1,500 customers, at London's Olympic Park.

With global and domestic epidemics and major social issues being raised throughout the lead up the worlds biggest event [London Olympics 2012], how will sponsors, critics and consumers respond and react.

Like the Olympics themselves, the global matters affecting society come to the forefront, where the world biggest companies, biggest influencers come together on stage to promote their key messages and battle each other, as well as the media to ensure there best market position.