Latest Thinking from IEG

Big Shift: IEG Paper Explores New and Better Way to Think About Sponsorship

Looking across all of the brands that IEG would define as “leaders” in sponsorship—companies such as IBM, Gatorade, Aon, Xerox, GE and others—we see a major trend: an alignment of  sponsorships and partnerships with the larger goals of the business, to ensure they are driving growth and having an impact across the entire enterprise.

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Filed under: evaluation, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, trends, what is sponsorship, activation

Sponsorship Activation Meets Gamification

Combine geolocation, image recognition and augmented reality technologies with smartphone adoption—31 percent of mobile users have one, according to eMarketer—add in massive gaming participation (183 million Americans report playing a game for an hour per day, according to author Jane McGonigal), and it is no surprise that we are seeing more sponsors use games to activate their sponsorships.

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Filed under: digital media, new media, sponsored content, trends, activation

Digital Technology, Social Media and the End of Endorsements

Marketers involved in athlete and celebrity endorsements have always taken risks with their brands, associating them with human beings and all of their attendant frailties.

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Filed under: social media, endorsements

The Secret behind Jones Soda’s Phantom Sponsorship

I should start by saying I don’t actually know what really happened behind the scenes of the very interesting turn of events that unfolded last week regarding the NBA New Jersey Nets and the switch of the team’s official soft drink sponsorship from Jones Soda to Coca-Cola.

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Filed under: pro sports, soft drink, venues, beverage

The Seven Essential Functions of Successful Event Apps

My last post shared some great examples of festival and event apps that build audience engagement for both the properties and their sponsors. In reviewing the elements that allow apps to live up to their engagement potential, seven specific functions rise to the top:

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Filed under: events, festivals, international, new media, social media, digital media

Great App Ideas for Festivals, Live Events and Their Sponsors

It used to be you grabbed the festival calendar from your free weekly and circled what bands you wanted to see. Now, Web-based applications for smartphones and tablets let you plan, share and update schedules with military precision. Before committing to a stage, you can review a band’s videos, see how many “likes” they have on Facebook and check out which bands they are most similar to in your music library.

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Filed under: events, festivals, international, new media, social media, telecommunications, digital media

Adidas’ London 2012 Activation: The Not-so-fine (But Important) Print
In my last post, I praised the multi-dimensional activation program adidas has created around its London 2012 partnership, but mentioned that it’s a shame that there has to be so much legal language as part of the adiStars Web site.

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Filed under: contracts, digital media, London 2012, new media, olympics, social media, activation

Sponsorship Success Depends on Activation
Sponsorship can build brand equity, sales and shareholder value, but it is mostly the activation of sponsorship that does those things.

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Filed under: international, London 2012, olympics, activation

Why Leagues Should Not Regulate Team Sponsorships

English Premier League club Manchester City recently signed a 10-year deal—which includes title of the team’s stadium and shirt sponsorship—with Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national airline, for the princely sum of £300 million ($482 million), according to media reports.

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Filed under: international, naming rights, pro sports, valuation, backlash

Noteworthy Takeaways from the Sports Entertainment Summit

I attended the Sports Entertainment Summit produced by Variety and trade association Sports Video Group last week in Los Angeles and came away with the following nuggets:

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Filed under: entertainment, pro sports, social media, sports, endorsements