“Can you name any of the sponsors of this event?” If that question is never asked again, our industry would be better for it. It’s nothing but a leading memory test that has nothing to do with the changes in perceptions, behaviours, and alignment that a sponsor needs to see.… Read More
My latest white paper is all about how sponsorship broke the ground that Disruptive Marketing is now claiming, and how we’re going to stay at the forefront by bringing more meaning to the equation than any other marketing media possibly can. It’s full of big trends, bigger ideas, and keys to finding… Read More
With the huge, new focus on developing giant data sets – for analytics, for micro-targeting – some sponsors have lost their way on sponsorship, shifting the focus from people and passion to data acquisition. I can see the appeal. When data drives so much about marketing, more data is better,… Read More
I recently wrote a blog on The New Swear Words of Sponsorship for rightsholders. But rightsholders aren’t alone in this sponsorship swear-word caper. I’ve been in a lot of meetings and training with sponsors, with sponsor swear words fully on display – words that are totally counterproductive to getting good… Read More
Years ago – like, seriously, twenty-five years ago – I did a presentation at a major conference where I called “exposure” and “awareness” the two swear words of sponsorship. After that, I used it in a few workshops and some writing, but somehow the concept stuck. Even now, I still… Read More
I have lost count of the number of sponsorship proposals that feature – even open with – a non-profit’s mission statement. These are the same proposals that usually follow up the mission statement with fifteen pages of why you’re so worthy of sponsorship. I’m really sorry to have to break… Read More
Most sponsorship proposals are total crap. They are all about the rightsholder, not taking the sponsor’s needs or markets into consideration at all. They are totally uncustomised – making full use of the search-and-replace function (hated by sponsors everywhere) – which is inexcusable, given the technology at hand to give… Read More
Back when I started in this business, sponsor servicing was almost non-existent. Properties (usually) delivered the benefits, then the next time a sponsor would hear from them was when the renewal request came through. Then, there was a long period when sponsor servicing was primarily about kissing the arse of… Read More
Over the years, I’ve been involved in several lively discussions about the value of online sponsorship submission forms. The response has been divided, to say the least. The advocates cite two main reasons: It allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of properties. It is a faster way of vetting sponsorships than… Read More
This is a question I’ve had with increasing frequency the past few years from (usually) larger rightsholders. Most of them have been breaking up the roles, and they’re wondering if it’s in their best interest to keep doing it. And the answer is… sort of. Selling sponsorship is different than… Read More
Sponsors around the world are becoming preoccupied with data acquisition – to the point where it is a primary goal of many sponsorship strategies. This is a big mistake. I’m not saying data acquisition is a bad thing – far from it. Adding to, and rounding out, your databases is… Read More
You’ve got a sponsor interested in your property. You must have done a few things right, and congratulations for that. Unfortunately, “interested” does not equal “contract”, and the path from one to the other can be anything but a straight line. It’s pretty typical that there is a bit of… Read More