Latest Thinking from IEG

Corporate Sponsorship and Its Role in Saving Education

A spelling bee in Livingston County, Ill. was recently cancelled because the local paper, The Pantagraph announced it was not able to sponsor the event this year.

That seems to beg a much larger question: Why are so many school districts across the country not able to fund programs, particularly in arts, music and in this case a spelling bee?

More >

Filed under: local, music, sports, arts

Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies and Sponsoring NASCAR?

Although yet to officially begin, the 2010 NASCAR season has seen a flurry of sponsorship activity.

Perhaps the most interesting deal came last week when U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat, announced his one-race primary sponsorship of JD Motorsports’ No. 01 entry in this Saturday’s Nationwide Series opening race at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

More >

Filed under: sports, non-traditional categories

The Line Between Ambush and Smart Marketing: Part I, the Winter Olympics

Among sponsorship pros—particularly properties—the thought of ambush marketing inspires a lot of dirty looks.

So things might get downright ugly over the next few weeks with the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics taking the world stage. Promotions featuring tickets to the “American football championship” and ads with generic winter athletes abound; it must be a veritable IP law Super—actually, let’s just say it’s a big deal.

More >

Filed under: contracts, endorsements, olympics, sports, ambush marketing

Behind The Numbers: Sponsorship’s Spending Decline

We recently released IEG’s 25th annual sponsorship spending review and forecast, delivering the historic, if unwelcome, news that sponsorship spending by North American companies declined in ’09. If you haven’t had a chance to read the report and see the specific numbers, click here.

The fact that less was spent on sponsorship last year does not come as a huge shock to properties who have had to work much harder to close deals at fair market value, nor to sponsors who have been directed to make budget cuts. As we reported on new deals and success stories in IEG Sponsorship Report last year—success defined mostly by the oft-repeated phrase “flat is the new up”—we also heard many tales that could not be published about discounting and sponsors who were going back and revisiting existing agreements intent on decreasing their commitments.

More >

Filed under: associations, cause marketing, entertainment, events, festivals, IEG, spending, sports, trends, arts

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.

More >

Filed under: green, sports, venues, activation

Sponsorship and Association Governance: Just Say No

When working with associations, we universally recommend against offering sponsorship of governance activities, like board meetings.

An association risks its credibility—with its members and external stakeholders—when sponsors get too close to an organization’s decision-making. Similarly, the sponsor can take a hit if its involvement is perceived as an attempted bribe.

More >

Filed under: backlash, international, sports, associations

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.

More >

Filed under: cause marketing, sports, 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.

More >

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

The Last Word on Tiger and Sponsorship (Wishful Thinking)

Thought I would share my appearance on the syndicated business news program First Business yesterday, discussing—what else—Tiger Woods and the impact of his troubles on the companies who have partnered with him and endorsements in general.

More >

Filed under: sports, endorsements

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.

More >

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