Latest Thinking from IEG

Part Two: How can I Maximize the Value of my Sponsorship Opportunities?

Per my blog last week, I stated that one of the most common questions that I hear is: “How can I maximize the value of my sponsorship opportunities?”

As I said, this can be a daunting question for a property because there are numerous potential answers and generally there isn’t one “right” answer. There are both short-term solutions, such as adding overlooked tangible benefits to a package, or enhancing existing benefits and long-term solutions, such as increasing awareness of an organization. As always, the answer is unique to each property. Last week’s blog discussed some higher-level thinking around adding value. For this blog, the focus is on tangible benefits.

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Filed under: activation

Eight More Things from Dallas and PCMA 2010

We had a great four days at the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting this week. The event’s host city, Dallas, repeated its catchy “One More Thing” theme throughout the event. With my thanks to Dallas for a great job as host, here are eight more observations from PCMA—I promise at least seven of them have real-life applications, and I’ll let you decide about #8.

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Filed under: associations, events, how to get sponsorship, medical societies, new media, sponsorship measurement, activation

Twins-Pentair Partnership Shows Possibilities for Green Deals

Over the last year, the greening of sponsorship has continued to gain momentum, spawning new and compelling opportunities for properties to create platforms and for sponsors to activate.

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Filed under: green, sports, venues, activation

Sponsorship Overload

My cooking philosophy is that more ingredients are better. I don't get the concept of simple cooking. If the recipe calls for five ingredients, I use ten. If the recipe includes onions, I also add shallots and garlic because those are ingredients that I like. I combine three recipes into one. I think if the recipe only takes 15 minutes to prepare, how good can it be? Of course, you can never have too much of a good thing, like cheese, right?

However, it doesn't always work out that more complex is better. If you add too many ingredients you can be overwhelmed with flavors or sometimes you are just adding ingredients that don't necessarily make the recipe better, just more complicated, time consuming and expensive. For example, good steaks or really fresh vegetables don't need a lot of extra flavors, they are best when prepared simply – maybe a little salt, pepper or a squirt of lemon. Some of the best recipes are simple, but have one unique ingredient that really makes an impression. You have to wonder if adding too many ingredients is an attempt to cover up something? Or, is it possible that the recipe wasn't that good to begin with.

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Filed under: cause marketing, sports, activation

Love It Or Hate It, Prilosec’s New Promo Is Smart

As the guardian of all things sponsorship for nearly three full decades, those of us at IEG tend to be very protective of the medium, including the use of the term “sponsorship,” which we defined for the marketing industry in the early ’80s.

Promotions and publicity stunts that purport to be sponsorships or that play with the concept without there being an actual relationship between a marketer and a property—Coke’s “Official Soft Drink of Summer” theme of years ago comes to mind—are met around here with reactions ranging from whatcha-gonna-do shrugs to shouts of “blasphemy”—the latter usually from my office.

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Filed under: what is sponsorship, activation

Garnier: Activation with Lots of Potential

You may have seen Joe’s recent blog about the partnership between Best Buy and Children’s of Minnesota. The partnership includes some pretty unique and well-suited activation. Inspired by that partnership, I set out to find some additional examples of good activation programs.

Garnier, a division of L’Oreal, caught my attention because of its activation around its sponsorship of Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. As a major sponsor of Bonnaroo, Garnier Fructis hosted the Rock Your Style Bonnaroo Salon. The salon offered hair washing, hair styling, free samples, karaoke and giveaways. The full-scale salon allowed concertgoers of the multi-day festival an opportunity to freshen up – a much needed amenity after several days of camping and apparently limited shower facilities.

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Filed under: entertainment, events, music, activation

The Twelve Days of Sponsorship

(Obviously sung to the Twelve Days of Christmas)

On the first day of sponsorship, my partner requested of me:
An activation strategy.

On the second day of sponsorship, my partner requested of me:
Two extra booths,
And an activation strategy.

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Filed under: evaluation, activation

New Player in Wireless Space Provides Regional Sponsor Target

Tapping into sponsorship’s potential, Clearwire Wireless is sponsoring in regional markets to promote its new WiMax wireless broadband.

This month the company sponsors both the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon powered by Zappos.com and the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas on behalf of Clear, its WiMax service.

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Filed under: digital media, telecommunications, trends, activation

Home Theater 3D Technology – Sponsorship Activity and Activation

Get ready for 3D technology at home. Based on some announcements over the past twelve months, we will be seeing a lot of 3D technology in 2010 and beyond. Sony announced that it will launch 3D TVs in 2010. LG claims it will sell 400,000 3D TVs in 2010 and 3.4 million in 2011. Panasonic is also going to roll out 3D-ready plasma TVs and 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc players in 2010. Furthermore, the Blu-ray Disc Association just announced that it reached an agreement on the standard that allows for 1080 viewing of 3D movies on a home TV.

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Filed under: entertainment, events, olympics, pro sports, sports, activation

Add This Sponsorship Resolution to Your List: Measure Everything

Is a new-year’s-resolution post a tad predictable? Yep, and I’m embracing it, as you should embrace the idea of embedding predictability into your world in 2010. 

Put measurement (and results-driven action) at the top of your 2010 To (Really) Do List and you will have a more prosperous new year and a more bankable future.

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Filed under: evaluation, spending, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, activation