I’m asked all the time what separates truly amazing, best practice sponsors from the also-rans. And although the specific strategies and techniques could fill a book – specifically, The Corporate Sponsorship Toolkit – I’ve distilled the basic differences between great sponsors and also-rans down to nine. View 9 Secrets of… Read More
OMG, I get a lot of sponsorship spam. I bet I average a dozen or more spamsorship emails a day, and they all say virtually the same thing: Greetings! (No name, because that would mean they’d have to do some actual work.) We need money for blah-blah-blah (usually with a… Read More
A while back, I saw the following, excellent question on Twitter and was asked to put in my two-cent’s worth: What is the greatest sports marketing innovation of modern times? While most of the respondents addressed innovations in the sports themselves – the games, the coverage, the technology and analytics… Read More
A while back, I wrote a similar blog for corporate sponsors, giving them the hallmarks of each generation of sponsorship, how that is affecting their results, and what to do about it. Just like sponsors, a rightsholder’s generation can have a profound effect on how much sponsorship you raise and… Read More
Most sponsorship proposals are awful. They’re uncustomised and often arranged in levels; They’re self-centred, having absolutely nothing to do with the sponsor, their brand, target markets, or objectives; They don’t make a complete business case; And they’re structured so poorly that it’s actually difficult to make sense of them. If you’re guilty… Read More
I got an email a few weeks ago that was just heartbreaking. The subject line read simply, “The hardship”, and the email went on to detail how difficult it is to be a rightsholder. The exhaustion and disillusionment was palpable, and the saddest thing about it was that I know… Read More
A while back, I was advising a sponsor, and came upon this scenario… A large brand takes up naming rights sponsorship of a major event. Seemingly clueless to the basics of best practice sponsorship, they are under the impression that the sponsorship itself is going to deliver their results, when… Read More
The only thing worse than a search-and-replace, gold-silver-bronze sponsorship proposal is the “letter of request”. I don’t even like the name. Seriously, do people sending these things actually think they can “request” marketing money, and it’s just going to come their way? That there’s no rigour or strategy that goes… Read More
I get dozens of emails and social media approaches every week from people looking for sponsorship of their podcast, website, blog, business, television show, documentary, education, or whatever. My issue with this isn’t that they are contacting me – I’m happy to hear from any of you! – but that… Read More
I talk all the time about the kinds of benefits sponsors should want from an investment: Benefits that can be shared across the target market; benefits that bring you closer to your target markets, benefits that you can use to add value to your relationship with your target markets. There… Read More
Oh, how I hate those words. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that those three words can be among the most telling in sponsorship. You don’t see the great sponsors saying “Proud sponsor of”. They aren’t doing social posts or running ads in programs… Read More
I’ve had this question a few times lately. More often than not, it’s a brand manager who asks the question, after a senior executive has indicated interest in a major naming rights. That right there raises a red flag for me, as when the idea for a big naming rights… Read More