Latest Thinking from IEG

Proof Of The Value Of Sponsorship To Coca-Cola

Yesterday’s earnings call with analysts to discuss The Coca-Cola Co.’s fourth-quarter 2009 results demonstrates the importance of the company’s global sponsorship platforms. (A transcript of the call can be found here.)

Within the first few minutes of the call, Coke chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent discussed the most important initiatives underway for 2010, with the Vancouver Games and FIFA World Cup claiming center stage:

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Filed under: beverage, international, olympics, soft drink, sponsorship ROI, activation

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Gears Up College Basketball Promotion; Latin Music Sponsorship

Looking for a point of differentiation in an increasingly cluttered category, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, inc. is ramping up promotional activity in the first quarter of ’10 for at least two of its brands.

For Sunkist, DPS will leverage partnerships with the Big 10 Conference, Big East Conference, Pac-10 and other college sports conferences with a national promotion featuring college athletic personality Dick Vitale.

For 7-Up, DPS plans to build on the brand’s seven-month-old Sevenisima Hispanic marketing campaign with a sponsorship of a major Latin music property. The Sevenisima campaign was designed to play up 7-Up’s healthier refreshment positioning by celebrating “flavorful moments experienced through a natural, real lifestyle.” The campaign featured a sweeps this past summer that dangled family vacations, shopping sprees and other prizes.

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Filed under: music, pro sports, soft drink, spending, sports, activation

The First Sponsorship?

Of course we will never truly be able to identify the first corporate sponsorship—it was likely hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago and while IEG’s deal database is good, it ain’t that good.

However, my good friend Michael Aisner—whose own role in sponsorship history goes back decades—sent the following in an email from his visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum last week:

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Filed under: soft drink, beverage

Valuing On-Site Interactive/Highly-Integrated Opportunities Can be Tricky – Part Three of a Three-Part Series

As mentioned in parts one and two of the series, of all of the categories of tangible benefits (both measured and non-measured) that I come across, valuing “can’t buy” hospitality, unique access opportunities or interactive/highly-integrated benefits are some of the hardest tangible benefits to value. Of course, these also happen to be some of the most valuable pieces of a sponsorship package.

The third part of the series concentrates on on-site interactive or highly-integrated opportunities. Many of the principles for valuing VIP hospitality and unique access opportunities apply to interactive/highly-integrated opportunities. Keep in mind, there isn’t always a clear delineation between categories; the line can be a little blurry.

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Filed under: associations, automotive, beer, cause marketing, destination/tourism, events, government/municipal, nonprofit, pro sports, soft drink, sports, valuation, arts

Valuing Unique Access Opportunities Can be Tricky – Part Two of a Three-Part Series

As mentioned in part one of the series, of all of the categories of tangible benefits (both measured and non-measured) that I come across, valuing “can’t buy” hospitality, unique access opportunities or interactive/highly integrated benefits are some of the hardest tangible benefits to value. Of course, these also happen to be some of the most valuable pieces of a sponsorship package.

The second part of the series concentrates on unique access opportunities. Many of the principles for valuing VIP hospitality apply to unique access opportunities. Keep in mind, there isn’t always a clear delineation between categories; the line can be a little blurry.

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Filed under: associations, automotive, beer, cause marketing, destination/tourism, events, government/municipal, music, nonprofit, pro sports, soft drink, sports, valuation, arts

Valuing “Can’t Buy” Hospitality Can be Tricky – Part One of a Three-Part Series

Of all of the categories of tangible benefits (both measured and non-measured) that I come across, valuing “can’t buy” hospitality, unique access opportunities or interactive/highly integrated benefits are some of the hardest tangible benefits to value. Of course, these also happen to be some of the most valuable pieces of a sponsorship package.

Initially, I wanted to address all of these types of benefits in one blog but I quickly realized that there is too much information to cover, so I am going to do a three-part series and the first part will concentrate on VIP or “can’t buy” hospitality. Even for my blogs, this one is a little long, but I think that if you can stick with it, there is some really valuable information here (maybe too much).

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Filed under: associations, automotive, beer, cause marketing, destination/tourism, events, government/municipal, music, nonprofit, pro sports, soft drink, sports, valuation, arts

Fun with Category Exclusivity

Category Exclusivity is defined by IEG as: the right of a sponsor to be the only company within its product or service category associated with the sponsored property.

So what does category exclusivity look like in practice?

In a “best case” scenario, a sponsor would have category exclusivity that extends throughout a property. For example, a naming rights sponsor for a venue would have category exclusivity that covers all sponsor benefits, extends to any third-party event sponsors, teams, venue tenants, vendors, and any broadcast or on-site advertisers. On the other end of the spectrum would be zero category exclusivity, meaning the property could have multiple sponsors within the same category.

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Filed under: associations, contracts, events, nonprofit, soft drink, ambush marketing

The Problem with Target Audience Definitions; Sponsorship is the Solution

A typical consumer target audience for an advertising or marketing campaign usually looks something like this: women, ages 25-54, with a household income $50,000+. The target geography is defined (e.g., national, top 20 DMA’s) and maybe there is something about household size, presence of children or stated ethnicity. For good measure, a target audience may also include some other sort of purchasing behavior, usage behavior, or other ownership criteria, such as “consumes soft drinks five times a week” or is a “heavy-user” of soft drinks.

As marketers we try to create a picture of our target audience by creating a lifestyle analysis or by developing some sort of “day in the life” exercise. I remember a particular time when I presented a media “day in the life/lifestyle” scenario to a client, only to have him protest the inclusion of the band U2 in the audience profile. He was certain that his target audience didn’t listen to U2. Besides the fact that U2 is super, super popular rock band, the scenario was meant to be directional, and honestly we didn’t have any really firm data to dispute or confirm the conclusion.

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Filed under: arts, nonprofit, research, soft drink, sports, activation

How Soon Until The Soft Drink Ban?

“I believe soda is the next tobacco.” That’s a quote in today’s Chicago Tribune from Barry Popkin, director of the University of North Carolina’s Interdisciplinary Obesity Center. (You can read the article here.)

That opinion is apparently taking hold with politicians, as Congress is considering a federal tax on sugared beverages. Similar taxes have been proposed for cities and states, as well.

The knock on soda and its kin is summed up in an article in the April 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, which stated that sugar-sweetened beverages “may be the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic.”

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Filed under: soft drink

What Will Pepsi’s Plans Mean for Local Sponsorships?

PepsiCo’s takeover bid for its two largest bottlers could have significant ramifications for sponsorship.

If the company is successful in acquiring Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, it would bring more than $100 million in sponsorship spending by those two companies into the corporate fold. Those deals range from pro sports team ties to grassroots community events.

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Filed under: selling, soft drink, local