blogs for sponsorship seekers Archives - Power Sponsorship

The Rightsholders’ Guide to Sponsorship in a Pandemic

Back in January 2020 – three months ago, but feels like a year – I wrote “Recession-Proofing Your Sponsorship Program: A Rightsholder’s Guide“. I wrote it because we were overdue for a recession, some indicators were starting to look shaky, and predictions were that we could be in recession by the end of 2020. But holy crap, people… this virus is something else entirely. We are surely going to suffer a serious economic downturn, and my recession advice still holds. But right now, rightsholders need to get through a pandemic that has seen most events and seasons cancelled – or at least postponed indefinitely. And that last word is the kicker: “Indefinitely”. While we’re doing […] Read More

Recession-Proofing Your Sponsorship Program: A Rightsholder’s Guide

We’ve all seen the news reports about the increase in recession warning signs. Economies are slowing down. Some countries and business sectors are already in, or on the brink of, recession. At best, global economic indicators are mixed. It’s also been ten years since the end of the Global Financial Crisis (AKA, the Great Recession). This, in and of itself, concerns some economists, as historically, this makes us “due” for a recession. And with ample coverage in both financial and main media about the potential for a recession in the near term, it’s clear that experts are on alert. Maybe all of this is wrong, and we’ll sail through another few years with a reasonably […] Read More

Sponsorship Leverage vs Activation: The Difference and Why It Matters

I recently wrote a blog about the longstanding issue around whether to call what we do “sponsorship” or “partnership”. So you know, the correct answer is “sponsorship”. This issue got me onto thinking more broadly about terminology in our business, and how some of it isn’t doing us any favours. Springing immediately to mind was leverage vs activation. Ten years ago, the terms were basically interchangeable, referring to the activities a sponsor undertakes around a sponsorship, to turn that opportunity into the results they need against objectives. Fast forward, and the meaning of “activation” has, for many organisations, morphed into something completely different. This isn’t the case with all organisations, but I’ve had one after […] Read More

Sponsorship vs Partnership: Will This Argument Ever End?

Air New Zealand recently posted an amazing video, featuring their staff welcoming the All Blacks home from the Rugby World Cup with a haka. It was spine-tingling, and I shared it on LinkedIn myself, as an example of the passion and authenticity that Air NZ brings to all of their sponsorships. One of the commenters on the post chastised me, because they said that Air New Zealand would surely look at this as a partnership, not a sponsorship. I could only think one thing: Here we go again. So with that, here’s the case for “sponsorship”, why I’m not shifting on that term, and why I don’t think you or our industry should, either. Evolution […] Read More

5 Ways Rightsholders Need to Get Over Themselves

You’re great. No, really… you, your organisation, your properties, are all wonderful. I wish I could meet you all, and I could happily go to events and sports and museums every day of my life. But, here’s the thing… When it comes to sponsorship, you really need to get over yourselves. I’m sorry to have to burst your bubble, but sponsorship isn’t about you, and sponsors aren’t sponsoring you because they care. Sure, you can have a great relationship with them, and your contacts can be fans, but that’s not why they’re sponsoring you, and if you think it is, it’s hurting your bottom line. So I’m going to make it crystal clear how you […] Read More

How to Spot a Sponsorship Broker Scam (and One Broker You Should Avoid)

Really good sponsorship brokers are rare. They have extensive connections, strong skills, and a good work ethic. They’ll represent your property well, deal with you professionally, and will be worth every penny they cost. Unfortunately, unscrupulous broker scams appear to be on the rise, and it’s causing immense damage to the organisations that fall for their wiles. You think the broker has contacted you because they believe you could raise more sponsorship than you currently have, and they can use their connections, skills, and reputation to secure it and take a cut. But that’s not the business model most scammers actually have. No, scam brokers make big promises, but they don’t secure any sponsorship. They […] Read More

You’ve Got the Big Sponsor, Here’s How Not to Screw It Up

The sponsorship industry is rife with advice on how to sell sponsorship. A quick search of the web will net you literally thousands of articles telling you which sponsors to target, how to contact the right people, how to develop offers, how to write proposals, on and on and on. Hell, my own blog is full of that kind of advice. Some of the sponsorship sales advice you’ll find on the web is fantastic, while some is… uhh… let’s just say the opposite of fantastic. But whatever the quality, there’s absolutely no question that there’s a lot of it. All this, while an equally important component of successful sponsorship is largely overlooked: How not to […] Read More

Does Sponsorship Affect Share Price?

A few years back, I read an article entitled, “The Impact of Sponsorship on Share Price Brand Value”. The main assertion is that companies that sponsor have better performing share prices than companies that don’t. While that was the first time I’d seen anyone make that contention in any serious way, I continue to hear it from conference speakers, and in articles and blogs, to this day. On one hand, I can believe that there is a correlation. On the other, I think implying causation could be a long bow to draw. Sponsorship, and in particular modern, strategic sponsorship, is a powerful marketing tool. Is the correlation in share price performance simply because better, more […] Read More

The First Sponsor Meeting (and How Not to Make an Idiot of Yourself)

The first meeting with a sponsor is both the most important, and the easiest to screw up. Sponsors know what they want to hear, they know the red flags, and if you get it wrong, you could foul a potential deal, and not even know why. This is a complete rewrite of a very popular blog I first wrote years ago, updating it to reflect the most modern take on sponsorship. It outlines the requirements and pitfalls that every rightsholder needs to know, , in order to make it through this very tricky phase of a sponsorship sale. Know the real goal You’re selling sponsorship, so you’d think the goal of your first meeting with […] Read More

Four Other Reasons You Might Need a Sponsorship Consultant

The normal role of a sponsorship consultant is to offer expert strategic advice, generally based on a reasonably long history of doing good work for good clients. That’s certainly what I do most of the time. There are, however, other reasons you may want a sponsorship consultant – reasons that are a bit outside the norm, but every bit as strategic. I thought I might run through a few very useful – but somewhat different – ways to use a sponsorship consultant. Objectivity Companies can often be insular places, and sometimes, you just need an outside viewpoint. A good example of this is when doing a sponsorship audit. Without objectivity, your portfolio audit may concentrate […] Read More