Recently, Stuart Snowden, Managing Director of IPSEM Squared, was featured in the European Sponsorship Association’s Member Spotlight. The full interview covers our approach to sponsorship performance, the structural challenges facing the ecosystem and our view on where the industry is heading.
If you work in sponsorship - as a sponsor, agency or rights holder - the piece goes into specific detail on measurement, rights verification, AI and shared performance frameworks. Here are the themes at the heart of it.
Sponsorship is no longer judged purely on visibility or creative excellence. It is now expected to deliver commercial return, social value, measurable impact and internal accountability - all at the same
That shift requires more than creativity. It requires structure, process and disciplined information management. Most organisations in the ecosystem are still running on operating models that were built for a different era.
Our approach at IPSEM Squared is grounded in our three BPI pillars: Processes, People and Information flows. We deliberately use information rather than data - data is figures, information is insight.
The industry has debated measurement for years. Stuart’s view is direct: this is not a measurement problem. It is a measurement prioritisation problem.
The tools to count impressions, calculate reach and produce exposure reports are well-established. The processes to verify what was actually delivered are not:
That is a Processes, People and Information flows problem. In most cases, no one is systematically addressing it.
The ESA’s 2026 Sponsorship Trends place AI at number one. Our position is grounded: AI is a capability, not a strategy. It amplifies existing processes and information. If those processes are strong, AI enhances performance. If they are not, it accelerates inconsistency. Technology should be developed in alignment with the right foundations, not drive them.
The structural weakness in most sponsorship reporting is that the party responsible for delivery is also the party reporting on it. Agreed performance frameworks which should be built at the outset, not retrospectively, change that dynamic. They shift conversations from defensive reporting to genuine partnership and make performance management scalable and repeatable.
Read the full ESA Member Spotlight with Stuart Snowden here.
To understand how we put these principles into practice, you can find more about our Business Performance Improvement service here or, get in touch.