Every week, my various inboxes overflow with questions from around the world, and the two things I’m asked most are whether I will sell sponsorship on their behalf (broker), and whether I can recommend a sponsorship broker. For the record, the answers are: No, I’m not a sponsorship broker; and… Read More
COVID had a big impact on the sponsorship industry. The negative impacts were readily apparent, but there were also a lot of positive impacts, with sponsors becoming simultaneously more strategic, more efficient, and more resourceful. But even as sponsor sophistication has grown, many sponsors are still hanging onto some old… Read More
A few days ago, I wrote a similar blog for corporate sponsors, listing the sponsorship strategies that have emanated from, and been reinforced by, operating in a pandemic. In this blog, I address the rightsholder side of post-pandemic strategies. I know that the pandemic has been devastating to rightsholders around… Read More
I know, I know… COVID isn’t over. But what we are seeing is what public health experts are calling a shift into the “new normal”, and with it, a shift toward normalcy for our industry. And while variants and outbreaks may continue to periodically impact us, it appears that the… Read More
After four months of lockdown, I was finally back in the boxing gym yesterday and wow, am I sore today. Actually, it’s not the muscles I use for punching that are sore, it’s the back muscles I use for recoiling after a punch and getting ready for the next one.… Read More
Matthew Delmore was sentenced in US Federal Court today, 29 October 2021, for his role as the leader and primary beneficiary of a sponsorship broker scam. Two companies run by Delmore, Alpha Sponsorship Consulting and Prestige Sponsorship, aggressively targeted charities and events across the United States. According to court documents,… Read More
I’ve been getting this question often, of late. The good news is that most of the sponsors that ask have moved on from visibility-based metrics as their primary sponsorship measurement strategy, and are now measuring against overall marketing objectives, using a broad range of metrics. The bad news is that,… Read More
A little while back, I wrote a blog about the role of a corporate sponsorship manager, which should be a much broader role than it’s usually specced. But sponsors are by no means alone in defining sponsorship roles too narrowly. When we look at the other side of the equation… Read More
“Cristiano Ronaldo snub wipes billions off Coca-Cola’s market value.” That was the 16 June headline in The Guardian. But they were hardly alone, with one after another major media outlet breathlessly decrying the supposed power of one superstar athlete to damage a global brand with a momentary gesture. The problem… Read More
You’re the Chief Marketing Officer of a large multinational, or a Group Marketing Manager. Whatever your title, you’re a senior executive looking at millions of dollars being invested in corporate sponsorship across your company, and you know there are problems. Some of the decisions appear to lack rigour. Some brands… Read More
In many ways, the Global Financial Crisis of 07-08 was one of the best things that ever happened to the sponsorship industry. As the level of sponsor accountability rose at an astronomic rate, the level of sophistication required rose right along with it. For many companies, it also saw the… Read More
That was the question I had to address at a conference a while back. My opinion? Of course sponsors can help teams sell tickets. Great sponsors are not only adding value to the fan experience, but they’re engendering advocacy for that experience, and bringing that fan experience to their own… Read More