Latest Thinking from IEG

Sponsorship and the White House Crashers

An interesting item coming out of the White House party crasher story is the couple’s foray into sponsorship in connection with a charity polo event. As this article from The Washington Post points out, the couple staged an international polo match which ended up with dissatisfied attendees, unpaid vendors and charities getting far less than what might have been expected.

I’ll let you read the article, but a couple thoughts that came to mind from the situation

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Filed under: cause marketing, contracts, events, nonprofit, backlash

Five Tips From the First-Time-Event Finish Line

In step with IEG’s projection that North American companies will increase their spending on marathons and running events by 2.5 percent in 2009 (to an estimated $86.1 million), I had the pleasure of participating in an inaugural half marathon event on November 22nd.

The first-time event—the Women’s Running magazine Women’s Half Marathon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society—was held in St. Petersburg, Florida. While I was first and foremost there as a charity runner, I had plenty of time on and off the course to check out the sponsorship activity. While my running resume is by no means prolific (especially compared to IEG’s resident ultramarathoner Shan Riggs), I have participated in enough races of varying distances, sizes and sponsor profiles to know the drill.

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Filed under: cause marketing, events, local, marathon, activation

Eco-Conscience Title Sponsorship for U.K. Sailing Team

Have you ever heard of a property donating an $8.3 million title sponsorship slot? Well you have now! Team Origin, a U.K. America’s Cup team founded by business man Keith Mills, is donating the title sponsorship of their team to Carbon Trust, an independent business set up by the U.K. government to affect positive change regarding low-carbon economies.

Team Origin is an eco-conscience team at heart but they also believe this to be a good financial decision. “This is a different way of marketing sport and a model that has a lot of promise going forward” said Tom Delay, CEO of Carbon Trust. According to Mr. Delay “The team has said it believes in being sustainable in terms of our environmental impact, and we are going to attract a number of sponsors who all want to be associated with that as a core value.”

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Filed under: international, pro sports, selling, sports, cause marketing

Should Health Cause Marketers Get Involved in Health Care Debates?

Earlier this week a government-funded task force released new guidelines regarding mammography in the diagnosis and prevention of breast cancer. The announcement seemed to stir up everyone connected to the issue of breast cancer: the general public, the healthcare community and—most relevant for you—breast cancer causes.

While the causes came out with their respective positions on the guidelines, I didn’t see anything from the companies who just a couple weeks ago were falling all over each other to promote their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That said, I don’t know that I would want a department store or shoe company telling people how to handle major health decisions without a lot of due diligence to support their views.

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Filed under: cause marketing, legislation, backlash

Extreme Makeover: Sponsorship Edition (Episode #2)

See Episode 1 for information about this blog series.

Motel 6’s Great Teddy Bear Roundup

Before: This week, Accor North America’s Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands launched the second annual Great Teddy Bear Roundup. This program asks people to donate new teddy bears at Motel 6/Studio 6 drop-off locations. The locations then deliver the teddy bears to local law enforcement, fire stations and hospitals that use the teddy bears “to comfort children experiencing stressful or traumatic situations.” The 2008 campaign yielded 10,000 teddy bear donations across the country. This year, the local police or fire department in the community where the most donations are made will also receive $6,000. Read the Motel 6 press release here.

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Filed under: cause marketing, destination/tourism, government/municipal, hospitals and healthcare, local, nonprofit, strategic philanthropy, activation

The Power of Live And Takeaways From ANA Annual Conference

Live events still are flourishing, despite the economy.

The Metropolitan Opera released its individual ticket sales figures for the ’09-‘10 season after its opening night: $2.5 million, up $500,000 from last year. Meanwhile, Seattle Opera has sold out its season.

Norm Langill’s fantastic Teatro ZinZanni, which just had its 10th anniversary in Seattle, fed and entertained one million people in the last 12 months. Anyone in the business of promoting or sponsoring entertainment and live events needs to experience Teatro ZinZanni, a dinner theater experience that combines circus, comedy and cabaret. With permanent locations in Seattle and San Francisco, its jaw-dropping tent holds 200 people.

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Filed under: entertainment, events, IEG conference, strategic philanthropy, trends, cause marketing

Smart Sponsorship; Questionable Activation

Received a press release yesterday from Pheasants Forever, a nonprofit conservation and hunting-oriented organization, announcing that Miller High Life will again be the official beer of the group, extending a longtime relationship.

MillerCoors will overlay the sponsorship with an on- and off-premise promotion that raises funds for PF. The Miller High Life Rooster Promotion allows adult consumers to purchase paper roosters for either $1 or $5, with “net funds raised” going to local PF chapters to fund wildlife habitat projects.

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Filed under: backlash, beer, beverage, cause marketing, nonprofit, activation

ReMIND Campaign is a Sign of Tweets to Come

In case you haven’t seen it, the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) has launched ReMIND.org, an initiative to spur consumer action in support of U.S. troops. While the Foundation provides support to members of the military, veterans and military families, the ReMIND initiative turns to the public with an awareness and fundraising goal.

ReMIND has two big things going on right now:

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Filed under: agency, cause marketing, digital media, in-kind, new media, non-traditional categories, activation

Signage as a Sponsorship Benefit (It isn’t as Boring as you Might Think)

Signage as a sponsorship benefit is often written off. When you compare signage to sponsorship benefits like VIP hospitality, mailing lists and sampling, it doesn’t seem as relevant or meaningful. Also, if you consider the per impression or per person value of signage, it is often on the lower end of the value range (although those impressions can add up). Additionally, signage has gotten a bad rap because, at times, it has been overused, poorly placed or is just not very creative. Plus, signage is hard to leverage and is considered “old school”. A sponsor or property rarely receives recognition around a great sign. However, as much as we would like to think otherwise, a lot of sponsorship packages started as primarily on-site signage or other visibility elements. I definitely don’t think that is what we should go back to, but I would like to make a case for signage as a sponsorship benefit. Signage has evolved a lot, the definition of it has changed, and if done strategically can be a great benefit as part of a sponsorship package.

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

Consumers and Corporations Continue to Emphatically Support Cause Marketing and Social Purpose

The subject of cause marketing has been a hot topic of late, and it is only getting hotter. According to results recently released from the 2009 Global Edelman goodpurpose Study, 71 percent of global respondents think brands spend too much on advertising and marketing and should put more into good causes. Two-thirds of respondents would switch brands if another brand of similar quality supported a good cause. Those are eye- opening statistics that continue to trend in an upward direction.

Regardless of corporate activity, we as consumers seem to be making significant changes in life decisions. Eighty-three percent of respondents to the Edelman survey were willing to change consumption habits if it could help make the world a better place to live. Also, 70 percent of respondents would prefer an eco-friendly house to a big house. These kinds of statistics should have a significant impact on how companies spend their sponsorship dollars moving forward. 

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Filed under: cause marketing