Selling Sponsorship:Best Practice Techniques

Presented by Catherine Hawkins

2nd October 2014

Sponsorship Sales - Best Practice Techniques

AUDIENCE

Strategy

Assets

Defining Sponsorship

“Sponsorship is a business relationship between a provider of funds, resources or services & an individual, event or organisation which offers in return rights and association that may be used for commercial advantage in return for the sponsorship investment.”

”A cash and/or in kind fee paid to a property in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.”

“Any commercial agreement by which a sponsor, for the mutual benefit of the sponsor & the sponsored party, contractually provide financing or other support in order to establish an association between the sponsor’s image, brand or products & a sponsorship property in return for rights to promote this association and/or for the granting of certain agreed direct or indirect benefits.”

Changing Times

Bastien Schupp, Vice President, Marketing, Nissan Europe speaking about the brand’s sponsorship of the Champions League and the reason’s behind it:

“not many people have a bad opinion [of Nissan], but most are quite indifferent”.

“If you ask people ‘Do you know Nissan?’ 98 per cent will tell you yes, but when you ask them more specifically about the brand or what it stands for they struggle,” he said. “By using the Champions League’s massive platform we can explain what innovation and excitement mean as part of the Nissan brand.”

Changing Times

“In a little less than 20 years, the focus of sponsorship has shifted from the valuation of brand exposure (e.g. jerseys, boards, etc) to the sponsor’s brand activation by focusing attention on the organisation’s relationship with the people interested in the event”

(Alain Ferrand, Luiggino Torrigiani, Andreu Camps I Povill – ‘The Routledge Handbook of Sports Sponsorship’ 2007)

1. Audience

Audience (+ audience knowledge) + engaging assets + a clear strategy = sponsorship success

1. Audience: The lynchpin on sponsorship• The essence of sponsorship lies in the quality of audience the sponsor can

reach through the association • Before embarking on the sponsorship journey the seller needs to undertake

the following review to understand whether they are fit for purpose and how unique/premium/desirable their sponsorship opportunity may be to a third party business :Audience checklist:

• The number of people you represent/reach through your activity• The frequency with which you engage with them• Demographic information about them (gender, buying power, budgetary

periods, spending history, location, size of company etc.)• An assessment of their desirability to a third party (can they be reached

through other competitor activities, conferences, events)• How they will respond/do respond to sponsor engagement• The volume of your audience that you have clean & up to date data on • Evidence of what your audience think of you as an organisation

1. Audience – Key Considerations & Checklist

• If you sell them, you need to be confident you can deliver them!• Is your audience responsive? Will they be open to dialogue with your partner?• Can you administer them? • Can you endorse your partner? You are the lynchpin of the

relationship.• How will you manage the flow of communication?• Can you sell them?• Are you committed to the partnership & will your organisation commit to

leveraging your audience?• What do you know about your audience – can you find out more?• The more that you know, the more you will be able to charge

2. Strategy

• Having an effective strategy breeds confidence; not just internally but externally to potential sponsors

• An effective strategy is economical in time & resource – it focuses the efforts of the business development team

• An agreed strategy – signed off by all key stakeholder’s within the business typically ensures that the negotiation period is less fraught as key decisions have already been made in less emotionally taxing environment

• A cohesive strategy and model allows the seller to derive maximum commercial return from their sponsorship portfolio and avoids inventory pitfalls

• A strategy agreed across the business addresses the need for servicing personnel who will manage the sponsors needs; this can be budgeted for.

2. Developing a sponsorship strategy

• Understand your sponsorship context– A summary of the organisation, its trading environment, its

competitors, its current status within its market– A summary of its current marketing objectives– A summary of its sponsorship history (if any)– A summary of any changes to the marketing direction of the

organisation or trends which might impact on the search for a sponsor • Brand image

– A detailed description of the organisation’s brand image & brand values

– The culture & values of the organisation• Mission statement

– The organisation’s mission statement – sponsorship partners must support the basic principles of the mission statement

• Sponsorship objectives– These will define what the Rights Holder needs sponsorship to achieve

& why– Describe the benefits to be offered & the expected financial return

2. Developing a sponsorship strategy

• Target audience– Define the audience that associates with the event/opportunity

• Demographics/Psychographics• Global, national, regional, local

– Define how you reach them• Key messages to be communicated via sponsorship activity

– What should sponsorship say about the organisation• Identify the target sponsor

– Outline the most likely or favoured business sectors or specific companies based on compatibility with the target audience, the brand image & the overall objectives (i.e. ‘good fit’) & the ability & will to activate the sponsorship effectively

• Impact on existing sponsorship portfolio– Identify the impact of new activity on any existing sponsorship

partnerships

2. Developing a sponsorship strategy

• Outline sales plan and procedures – A description of the proposed plan & procedures to sell the sponsorship

• Timetable– Outline key dates and time parameters

• Financial analysis– Provide a full cost schedule including sponsorship revenue projections &

event costs & identify how commercial revenue would be spent• Human resources

– Identify the resources required to service the activity• Evaluation

– Outline the evaluation procedures that can be employed to measure performance

• Identify key stakeholders / approval process– Identify all key internal personnel who will need to approve the strategy &

timings• Dependencies

– Outline any areas which are crucial to securing sponsorship & may still need resolution

3. Assets – The Tangible & The Intangible

• Most organisations have an expansive list of ‘assets’ • Start by thinking as widely as possible about your organisation & what it has

in its toolkit – even if you are already managing sponsors, there may be hidden assets not yet exploited, or new projects you could create

• One size doesn’t fit all !• More isn’t always more if it doesn’t fulfil a need• Think about cost-effective ways in which you can add value – what have you

got within your organisation that is unique & desirable & more important, easy to exploit?

• Think for your partner – they don’t know you as well as you know you – do the thinking for them!

• Keep innovating!

Engagement

Brand

Commercial

3. Tangible Assets

Government lobbying, NGO/Industry positioning, Investor influence, Change management, Employee motivation, Community relations, Corporate citizenship, B2B relationships, Co-sponsor alliancesReputation management, Potential employees

Awareness, Association, Perception, Favourability, Relevance, Consideration, Trial, Loyalty, Bonding, Advocacy

Sampling, Showcasing, Sales increase, Market share growth, Promotions platform, Database building, Loyalty programme enhancement Supply chain incentives, Spoiling tactics, Innovation catalyst, Direct sales opportunities, Advertising alternative, Licence to operate, New market penetration, Employee skills, Development, Marketing platform

3. Assets – Know your Intangible Benefits

Intangible benefits are the qualitative benefits of a sponsorship programme- the quintessential aspects that define the activity as sponsorship that are hard to value:

• Category exclusivity• Image Transfer & the positive effect resulting from an association with the

characteristics of the property in question • Ownership• Clean, uncluttered environment• Length of term• Status & Preference • Official designation• Sharing of values• Sponsorship premium• Originality, uniqueness, newsworthiness• Audience profile• Audience dwell time• Value of association

3. Assets – Know your Intangible Benefits

• Every sponsorship seller should be able to articulate the best 10 intangible aspects of their sponsorship opportunity

• Understanding these, and being able to articulate them provides the seller with their USP

• Tangible assets can always be created – Intangible assets are the key indicator of ‘fit’ and help to establish whether buyer and seller have shared values

• Intangible assets associated with the sponsorship typically have tremendous value, but are surprisingly hard to value and vary sponsor to sponsor

GOOD

Not reliant on high rights fees

Is based on audience & sponsor needs

Is at the centre of the sponsor’s marketing mix & integrated internally

Is leveraged actively and with originality – shows innovation & flair

Has shared objectives and initiatives

BAD

Is bought ‘off the shelf’

Sits outside of the marketing mix and is isolated

Is just about awareness and not the more sophisticated aspects of sponsorship

Does not add to the audiences experience of the brand

Is lost in a sea of other sponsors

One idea does not work for everyone. The sponsorship must fit the sponsors objectives

Rules of thumb: Good versus bad sponsorship