This blog was originally written in January 2020, before COVID-19 brought recession down on the world. Since then, the economy has been vascillating wildly between almost certain recession and tentative recovery. Recent events, however, have rendered the outlook gloomier, hence this updated version of this blog. We’ve all seen the… Read More
The sponsorship industry is staring down the possibility of serious economic crisis. Many economists are predicting a global recession, while some countries are already struggling. The cost of almost everything is rising dramatically, so even if economic indicators aren’t flashing red for recession yet, there is a lot of belt-tightening… Read More
Like most people, I’ve been working with AI across a lot of functions. I’m working out effective ways to use AI with sponsorship, and figuring out what doesn’t work… yet. With this blog, though, I’ve gone a different direction. I created a comprehensive prompt, and with a bit of trial… Read More
I’ve created many dozens of blogs, white papers, tutorials, and more all about how to do best practice sponsorship, as well as the functional benefits of doing sponsorship well – more revenue, easier renewals, more engaged sponsors. This blog is not about that. Instead, I want to acknowledge how difficult,… Read More
When I talk to rightsholders about adding value to their sponsors – AKA sponsorship servicing – some rightsholders have no idea what I’m talking about, thinking that their only job after a sponsorship is sold is to deliver the contracted benefits. Sorry, it’s just not that simple. Servicing is a… Read More
Over the years, I’ve had so many people ask whether it’s better to have a diversified or focused (non-diversified) sponsorship portfolio that I figured I should address it head-on. The short answer is that it depends on a lot of factors, including objectives, target markets, human and other resources, and… Read More
After a very long writing and publishing process, my brand new book is finally out and available to sponsorship professionals worldwide – woooo!! Primarily aimed at sponsors, The Corporate Sponsorship Toolkit 2nd Edition, is an over 70% rewrite of its predecessor, and it’s also significantly bigger than the original –… Read More
I’ve written blog after blog after article after book about the collaborative nature of sponsorship; how it requires both broad buy-in and a commitment to leverage from a range of stakeholders; and that brand managers are generally the ones who approve sponsorship spend. So, if sponsorship decisions and leverage are… Read More
Sponsorship lies are ubiquitous in our industry. It’s a temptation to call them “white lies” because they’re usually not intentionally deceptive. But calling something a “white lie” also implies that no one is getting hurt, when you most certainly are. Sponsorship lies come in many forms. But whether you’re not… Read More
I’ve spent a bit of time over the past few years covering the traits you want and don’t want in sponsorship managers, but as important as it is to have the right people in the job, it’s even more important to have the right organisational approach to sponsorship. Below, I’ve… Read More
This is a pretty common question in my inbox, with many rightsholders telling me that they’ve left “literally dozens” of voicemails or had been following up on a proposal for months. Clearly, it’s time to address this subject, as so many people appear to be getting it wrong. First off,… Read More
Lots of sponsors hire sponsorship consultants or agencies, and I’d hazard a guess that most of them go pretty well. But if you’ve been in this industry for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve seen – or at least heard about – at least a few consulting disasters. Maybe the… Read More