Fresh Insights from IEG

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

Will Other Online Companies Follow in the Sponsorship Footsteps of AOL and GoDaddy.com?

An AOL press release from earlier this week about AOL’s sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week spurred a thought. I wanted to better understand what online companies such as AOL, Google and YouTube are sponsoring and why online companies aren’t more active in sponsorship.

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Filed under: nonprofit, research, sports, NASCAR

The Role of Sponsorship in Business-to-Business Marketing

Early in my career my focus was on business-to-business marketing, specifically technology B-to-B marketing. What I learned from my experience is that business-to-business marketing is REALLY challenging. B-to-B marketers’ challenges include issues with both the message and the medium and those issues are often compounded by limited marketing budgets.

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Filed under: research, events

Ziploc's Latest Brand Integration in The Biggest Loser is a Big Loser – Success is in the Details

There are several reasons why Ziploc's latest brand integration in The Biggest Loser was a bust. Somehow the :45 brand integration managed to leave me confused and conveyed nothing of value about a product that is actually useful. I have to wonder if anyone watched the integration before it aired. I actually debated whether the feature should be considered branded entertainment, product placement or brand integration. Technically, it is integrated in to the show, but it just feels like a bad infomercial. Beyond the less than stellar actual integration, it appears Ziploc needs to step-up its activation around The Biggest Loser to make it pay off.

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Filed under: branded entertainment, activation

Leading with Activation

A property’s typical, linear approach to developing a sponsorship program is to gather assets, allocate those assets, create packages at various levels, solicit sponsors that seem to fit with the property and then hopefully sign a few sponsors at each level. Ultimately, the package may be slightly tweaked to offer benefits that are a better fit for the sponsor, but overall, it is still a pretty standard package. The activation of the sponsorship is left to the sponsor, possibly with some assistance from the property. There isn’t really anything wrong with this process, it makes sense, it follows a well-worn path and it has often proved successful. It makes allocating assets easier, it is easier to price and manage, and initially it is a lot easier and quicker to take to market.

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Filed under: selling, activation

Big Leaps, Big Returns: Watchmaker Hublot’s Approach To Sponsorship
I was in Switzerland last week meeting with Jean-Claude Biver about his keynote at Leap, IEG’s 2012 Sponsorship Conference next month.

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Filed under: cause marketing, endorsements, IEG conference, international, motorsports, sports, activation

Komen Controversy's Lessons For Sponsors
Having enjoyed many years of a productive partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the organization’s corporate partners are no doubt feeling blindsided by this week’s firestorm over SGK’s decision to no longer provide funding to Planned Parenthood.

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Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, social media, backlash

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

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

Paterno’s Legacy And The Big Question For Sports And Sports Marketers
My family and I moved to the suburbs of Pittsburgh when I was nine and Joe Paterno was already many years into becoming a football and Pennsylvania legend.

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Filed under: college sports, pro sports, sports, backlash

Despite Many Questions, Tebow Is A Prime Sponsorship Candidate
It may seem odd that I wrote the headline to this post during the third quarter of Saturday’s night playoff game, at the exact moment Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was getting sacked with his team down 42-7 to Tom Brady and the Patriots.

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Filed under: pro sports, endorsements

Procter & Gamble Understands The Value Of Cause Marketing Better Than Anyone
Jerry Welsh introduced the term cause related marketing—a strategy he created while EVP of worldwide marketing at American Express—at the second annual IEG Sponsorship Conference in 1985.

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Filed under: IEG conference, trends, cause marketing

Will Short-term And Shared Deals Be The Death Of Sponsorship?
In the beginning, stadium naming rights agreements were largely 20-year commitments, with a few 10-year exceptions. The bulk of NASCAR team sponsorships were for a full season, and marketers signed on to sponsor every stop of a concert tour.

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Filed under: what is sponsorship, sponsorship measurement

Measuring TV Exposure Does Not Capture Sponsorship ROI
There is much more to measuring the ROI of a sponsorship than accounting for the value of brand exposure during TV broadcasts, yet I continue to hear stories of sponsors that put nearly all of their measurement emphasis on that

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Filed under: sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, international

Heineken’s Smart Approach To Sponsorship Activation
While in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, I dropped in on Hans Erik Tuijt, global manager of activation for Heineken and a speaker at IEG’s 2012 sponsorship conference.

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Filed under: beer, branded content, digital media, events, festivals, IEG conference, international, music, new media, research, sponsored content, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, activation

What Does Pujols Deal Mean For L.A. Angels’ Sponsorship Revenue?
While Angels fans start planning World Series celebrations and Cardinals fans assess their club’s fortunes in the wake of Albert Pujols’ departing St. Louis for Anaheim, others are looking at the impact the slugger’s arrival will have on his new team’s bottom line.

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Filed under: pro sports, selling, endorsements