Left of boom. It’s a term used by intelligence agencies referring to the timeline leading up to some kind of attack. The idea is that they want to be working left of boom – before it happens – to either stop the attack, or mitigate the effects. The sponsorship industry… Read More
This blog was originally written in January 2020, before COVID-19 brought recession down on the world. We’re now staring down another potential recession, stemming largely from dramatic, inflation-mitigation efforts put in place around the world. So, here’s an updated version of my recession-proofing advice for rightsholders. We’ve all seen the… Read More
Way back at the beginning of my career, I worked for an agency that leveraged mostly sports sponsorships for Fortune 500 companies. My company got hired, we created a plan – back then, largely centred on in-store and media promotions – and implemented it. What we didn’t do was coordinate… Read More
There are people in this industry who will tell you that sponsorship is all about relationships, and that building personal relationships with sponsors is the key to sales, renewals, and fruitful partnerships. While I’m not averse to developing friendships with sponsors, I’m not a fan of this take at all.… Read More
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