The Difference is Sponsorability
Posted: 6/8/2009 5:53:27 PM by
Diane Knoepke | with 0 comments
While Bud Light is banking on its “drinkability” to sell beer, it seems that many properties are trading on their sponsorability (a word I’m pretty sure we IEGers made up, along with “ambushability”) to sell sponsorships.
Considerable chatter around IEG this past week has centered on this question: How do organizations, venues and events make sure they’re in a sponsor’s line of sight when the sponsor starts looking?
We put salability of packages, strength of proposals and sales cycles aside for a minute and talked about the steps that come before the sale, where 26% of sponsorship deals are initiated by sponsors and their agencies (according to IEG’s 2008 property survey).
While there were mentions of luck and good karma, here are a few tactics we’ve heard a number of properties used to up their sponsorability:
- Market the property as a property. We see a great number of properties—hospitals and shopping malls come to mind—that have great marketers on staff, yet some of their B2C marketing efforts make them less sponsorable. For example, if a hospital’s marketing campaign centers on a traditional promotional sponsorship of local events and teams, other sponsors will see the hospital more as a competitor for consumers’ attention rather than a business-building opportunity. Properties must work on their brands as properties in tandem with other messages.
- Play Six Degrees of Sponsorability. Borrow the networks of board members and other business relationships. If a property is connected with sponsors’ connections, it is more likely to get the sponsor’s attention.
- Snuggle up to agencies. At least 45% of sponsors use agencies to help leverage/support their sponsorship programs, so properties should get in front of the agencies that serve the type of sponsors they want to reach.
We’re on a quest for more ideas to share – please don’t hesitate to weigh in if you have examples. If nothing else, sharing helps your karma. . .
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Filed under: hospitals and healthcare, how to get sponsorship, IEG, packaging, selling, agency