In this op-ed, Stephanie Perez-Israel, Regional Marketing Lead APJ at monday.com, argues that B2B sponsorship has become overly focused on scale at the expense of substance. Using the company’s partnership with the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team, she explains why the real value lies in alignment, execution and utility, and why brands that embed themselves in performance environments, rather than simply chasing reach, are better positioned to cut through and build lasting credibility.
Corporate sponsorship has become increasingly formulaic.
Brands gravitate towards the biggest codes, the safest audiences, and the most predictable broadcast numbers.
The logic is simple in that more eyeballs equals more value. But in B2B, that equation rarely holds. Awareness without alignment is just noise, and noise is abundant.
When monday.com became the global work management partner of the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team, co-owned by Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, we were aware that sailing would not deliver the largest audience in the country. But that wasn’t the objective. The objective was alignment with a performance environment that reflects how modern organisations actually operate or aspire to operate. In an increasingly cluttered sponsorship scene, standing out often requires choosing a lane others overlook. For us, that meant prioritising resonance over raw reach.
Execution is the real differentiator
SailGP is built on a compelling premise; there are identical boats, identical specifications, and identical constraints. The differentiator is not equipment, but execution. Precision, coordination, and split-second decision-making determine outcomes.
That mirrors the reality of business in 2026. Most organisations have access to similar technology, similar AI capabilities, and are fighting on tighter budgets. Competitive advantage increasingly comes down to operational clarity. How effectively do teams coordinate? How quickly can they adapt? How visible is the path from strategy to execution?
Work management, at its core, is about reducing friction between intent and delivery. Watching a SailGP crew operate at speed, where every movement is choreographed and every role is understood, reinforces the importance of clarity under pressure. That is not a superficial brand parallel; it’s really a structural one.
Sponsorship should create utility, not just visibility
One of the challenges in sponsorship is the temptation to treat it solely as a branding exercise. Logo placement, hospitality, and content amplification are important components, but, in isolation, are not sufficient. If a partnership does not create tangible value for both sides, it risks becoming cosmetic.
monday.com’s involvement with the BONDS Flying Roos extends beyond brand placement. The team uses our platform to manage training schedules, crew logistics, and race-day workflows. In a sport where boats can exceed 100 km/h and margins are razor-thin, operational clarity is essential. That environment provides a real-world demonstration of how structured workflows and shared visibility support high performance.
For us, that utility matters. It ensures the partnership is grounded in substance rather than symbolism. It also enables more credible storytelling with customers and partners, because the product is embedded in performance, not simply associated with it.
Challenger brands benefit from challenger platforms
Established sports codes offer scale and tradition, but they also come with saturation. Emerging or challenger leagues often provide greater scope for integration and co-creation. SailGP, while global in ambition and profile, is still building its legacy. That creates room for brands to play a more meaningful role.
For monday.com, that flexibility is valuable. It allows us to connect product, brand, and experience in a cohesive way. At the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix, our focus is not only on hosting customers and partners, but on demonstrating how elite teams structure their operations. The event becomes a live case study in coordination and execution.
There is also a cultural fit.
Challenger brands tend to prioritise agility, experimentation, and performance. Aligning with a property that shares those traits reinforces a consistent narrative across markets.
Rethinking what ROI looks like
Sponsorship ROI is often framed in short-term metrics, i.e. impressions, engagement rates, and attributed pipeline. Those indicators have a place, and we measure them.
However, the more enduring value of a partnership often lies in brand association and credibility.
Being part of a high-performance environment can strengthen brand perception in subtle yet meaningful ways. It influences how prospects perceive capability. It provides sales teams with a narrative that extends beyond product features. It fosters internal engagement by connecting employees to a broader performance story.
In B2B categories that are crowded and increasingly commoditised, these signals accumulate over time. They help shape consideration and preference, even if they are not immediately visible in quarterly dashboards.
Choosing alignment over scale
The decision to partner with The BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team was not about rejecting scale altogether, but about recognising that scale alone is insufficient. In a market saturated with sponsorship noise, differentiation often comes from thoughtful alignment.
SailGP’s emphasis on marginal gains, precision, and coordinated execution reflects how we believe modern teams should operate. The identical-boat format underscores a broader business truth: when access to tools is equal, performance depends on how effectively they are used.
As the BONDS Flying Roos took to Sydney Harbour, the spectacle was undeniable. Yet the more interesting story lies beneath the surface, in the systems, workflows, and communication structures that enable performance at speed.
For monday.com, that is the essence of the partnership. Not simply visibility, but validation.
Not just presence, but proof.
