Latest Thinking from IEG

Louis Vuitton Connects The Dots By Leveraging Artist Collaboration
The partnership between Louis Vuitton and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama shows that the arts are every bit as exploitable as sport. It just takes creativity.

More >

Filed under: arts, digital media, fashion, international, museums/zoos/aquariums, retail, activation

Italian Cultural Partnerships Bear Watching
As oil is the Middle East’s natural resource, culture is Italy’s. The country is home to more UNESCO World Heritage sites, museums and archeological sites than any other in the world.

More >

Filed under: backlash, cause marketing, destination/tourism, fashion, government/municipal, international, museums/zoos/aquariums, arts

Sponsorship Takeaways from the AFP Int’l Conference on Fundraising
I had the pleasure of moderating a sponsorship panel discussion at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 49th International Conference on Fundraising in Vancouver earlier this month.

More >

Filed under: cause marketing, how to get sponsorship, local, nonprofit, selling, venues, arts

Sponsorship and Return on Innovation
Speakers at IEG’s 2012 Sponsorship Conference are bringing unprecedented levels of innovation to the sponsorship space.

More >

Filed under: arts, events, festivals, IEG conference, non-traditional categories, activation

Sponsorship Insights from Leading European Practitioners
I keynoted the European Sponsorship Assn.’s Future Sponsorship conference in Amsterdam last week. Some takeaways from other presentations:

More >

Filed under: arts, international, olympics, activation

Black Mark for BlackBerry: What RIM Did Wrong In Venezuela Sponsorship Snafu
I never suspected the trove of classified government communications trickling out through WikiLeaks would contain a sponsorship story, but a recently released February 2010 cable from the U.S. embassy in Caracas, Venezuela tells a tale with valuable lessons for sponsors.

More >

Filed under: backlash, Canada, contracts, international, media sponsorship, negotiating, telecommunications, arts

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.

More >

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

Coca-Cola Steps Up, Then Steps Into Hot Water

Those familiar with African-American step-dancing likely know its importance among traditionally African-African fraternities and sororities. Stepshows can offer rousing competition, but they mainly serve to bring people together and highlight the organizations’ shared values and goals. So putting on a step competition would seem like a slam dunk for a company interested in connecting with an audience of young, educated and influential African-American men and women.

More >

Filed under: backlash, soft drink, arts

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.

More >

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.

More >

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