Leading with Activation
Posted: 2/5/2010 8:56:27 AM by
Carrie Urban Kapraun | with 2 comments
A property’s typical, linear approach to developing a corporate sponsorship program is to gather assets, allocate those assets, create packages at various levels, solicit corporate 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.
I think that part of the belief here is that a sponsor knows what is best for its brand and knows the best ways to leverage a partnership. Sometimes this is the case, especially when working with a company that is very active in corporate sponsorship, but a lot of times, the sponsor doesn’t really know how to best activate and what is most appropriate. What worked for a sponsor with one property may not work with another property, even if the properties are similar. Additionally, I would argue that even if a sponsor has a pretty good activation platform, a good leveraging idea from a property will not be lost on a sponsor.
A different process to developing sponsorships that I think has merit is what I am calling “Leading with Activation”. It isn’t really a new idea, just one that is under utilized. This approach starts with a specific activation platform for a particular sponsor. A package is then built around the activation platform and includes assets that will help a sponsor fully leverage the program. Sometimes the activation program is something that is developed by a property and is unique to that property and sometimes it is an activation program that a sponsor has already done and the property is then tailoring the program and its offering to best fit both the sponsor and the property.
In some ways, it is sort of a backwards way of looking at a partnership. It is almost a tactics-first process. It starts with what is unfortunately often an afterthought (activation). I do agree that it is sort of a tactical method, but the tactics should be built with a sponsor’s objectives and strategies in mind. This progression is definitely more time consuming in the beginning, it can be more difficult to price and it can be more difficult to manage initially. This requires a property to be more selective in the sponsors it solicits. A property also needs to understand or be willing to learn a sponsor’s business. Additionally, a property is taking on some of the activation responsibility that is often left to a sponsor. The upside of this format is that a good activation platform idea can be a differentiator for a property and a strong selling point. The potential downside is that it is time consuming and can be a total bust if the program was built on the wrong assumptions. The worst case scenario is that the sponsor may take the idea and use it with another property. Also, it is important to provide top sponsors with the best activation platforms, or there is the potential for a lower level sponsor with a good activation program to overshadow top sponsors.
One of the best examples of leading with activation that I can think of is the White Sox’s partnership with 7-Eleven (although 7-Eleven dropped in 2009). While in discussion with 7-Eleven, Ryan Gribble, then the team's manager of corporate partnerships, developed the idea of starting night games at 7:11. According to press releases, 7-Eleven signed-on two hours after the White Sox presented the idea. Starting games at 7:11 gave 7-Eleven a great platform to promote and activate around. The White Sox then provided benefits that fit with the start time, such as presenting sponsorship of the first pitch.
Coming up with a brilliant activation platform for a sponsor isn’t necessarily easy, but it probably isn’t as hard as you might think. Has anyone successfully signed-on a partner by presenting a partnership built around a specific activation program?
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Filed under: selling, activation