Latest Thinking from IEG

Why Aren’t Corporate Sponsors Optimizing Search Terms?

Official corporate sponsors of the 2008 and 2010 Olympics failed to optimize social media opportunities by ignoring search engine optimization. Now the official corporate sponsors of the 2010 FIFA World Cup—including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates and Hyundai/Kia—are missing the boat.

All are failing to link their activation to online search terms such as “soccer world cup” and “world cup 2010.” There is a huge volume of traffic surrounding these terms and sponsors have the rights to use them. So why aren’t they optimizing? Why isn’t FIFA advising them to do so?

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Filed under: ambush marketing, beverage, cause marketing, digital media, endorsements, international, music, olympics, social media, soft drink, sports, activation

You Don’t Have to Like It to Understand It: Komen Responds to KFC Deal Criticism

In my last post, I asked three questions:

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Filed under: guidelines, non-traditional categories, restaurant, cause marketing

Authenticity in Sponsorship: Does Keeping it Real Need A Reality Check?

This past Saturday night, my husband bet me 15 bucks to ask Anthony Bourdain whether his Chase Sapphire product integration deal cost him his soul.

He needn't have made that bet. Tony launched into it within the first five minutes of his storytime/stand-up/Q+A concert Saturday night at The Chicago Theatre. (For those who don’t know his work, Anthony Bourdain is the chef/author/badboy foodie/world traveler who has a great show on Travel Channel called No Reservations emphasizes finding the authentic experience of a place.)

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Filed under: branded content, cause marketing, digital media, entertainment, new media, non-traditional categories, product placement, backlash

Selling Sponsorship is Different from Fundraising! (And Why That is Total Bunk.)

I had always thought of fundraising and selling sponsorship as dramatically different disciplines. Even when my title included the word “Development” at one point in my career, and even when I ran a small annual giving campaign for an association, I never considered myself a fundraiser. Instead, I “sold sponsorship and marketing relationships,” and I “marketed a [pin] campaign.” I never “asked;” I “sold.” It wasn’t a judgment on either profession; I just put myself in one bucket and stayed there. And I had a lot of company in seeing the nonprofit world as a bucketed, black-and-white place when it comes to corporate relationships.

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Filed under: associations, cause marketing, hospitals and healthcare, how to get sponsorship, museums/zoos/aquariums, nonprofit, selling, servicing, strategic philanthropy, arts

This Little Partnership Went to Market. . .and Became a Really Big Deal

Chris Mann wrote a post earlier this week, directed at sponsoring brands, on how to make nonprofit partnerships successful for all parties. He asked what some of us thought via Twitter, and in commenting on his post, I realized there was more to share than a comment.

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Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, sponsorship ROI, activation

IEG 2010: Key Takeaways for Nonprofit Partnerships

The evolution of cause marketing, CSR and the entire spectrum of nonprofit partnerships has been an enormous topic of conversation at IEG 2010: Unbound. From the pre-conference session with panelists from Allstate and Children’s Miracle Network to sessions presented by Green Mountain Coffee and Susan G. Komen, there have been some very clear common themes.  Success in nonprofit partnerships for brands and properties alike can be defined based on the following elements:

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Filed under: cause marketing, IEG 2010, IEG conference, nonprofit, branded content

IEG 2010: SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

Reading the title of this post, did you just have a little monster truck rally moment? With all the serious political drama unfolding in DC tonight (reaching a fever pitch as I write this up), nothing subtle seems to do this day justice.

IEG’s 27th Annual Sponsorship Conference had an energetic day as well, opening with a pre-conference seminar entitled “Good for Business: Nonprofit Partnerships that Build Social and Financial Value.”

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Filed under: how to get sponsorship, IEG 2010, IEG conference, nonprofit, sponsorship ROI, cause marketing

How Social Media Is Profoundly Impacting Sponsorship

I will be conducting a workshop at IEG’s Unbound conference on how sponsors and rightsholders are effectively using social media to engage and connect with fans. And on April 15, I will be in London for a similar session with Burson Marsteller on the topic.

In preparing for those discussions, I have come across a great many examples that demonstrate the depth and breadth of these extensions. Here are a few:

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Filed under: cause marketing, digital media, new media, trends, activation

Why Motorsports Teams Should “Trade Paint” With Art Museums

Hallelujah and thank you, Bill Taylor. I read his great Harvard Business Review blog post yesterday on idea-swapping outside the immediate field (or sector or industry) we work in. If there’s any Kool-Aid you are open to drinking today, let this be it.

While I suggest you read the full post—he has good anecdotes about companies employing the strategy—his last paragraph sums up his point.

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Filed under: associations, cause marketing, entertainment, how to get sponsorship, motorsports, non-traditional categories, sports, arts

A Company’s Sponsorship Budget Should be “a” Factor Not “the” Factor When Choosing a Property

Among the numerous considerations a sponsor must wade through to determine which properties to sponsor, cost is usually at the top of the list. Unfortunately, focusing too much on cost can sometimes lead a sponsor down the wrong path or create unnecessary boundaries, ruling out properties that might otherwise be appropriate.

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Filed under: arts, associations, cause marketing, events, local, sports, activation