How Top Brands Are Transforming Sponsorship

In a world where protests against greed are breaking out all over, where post-recession consumers are replacing mindless consumption with mindful purchasing, and where the power of shared media is in the hands of a public impatient with marketing, sponsorship is being transformed.

Meaning replaces screaming. Brands that mean more make more. Procter & Gamble put moms at the center of its Olympic partnership, increasing favorability of its brands by 10 percentage points and driving more than $100 million in incremental sales.

Trialogues replace dialogues. Give great content to fans and they will spread the word for you. Google search results for Coca-Cola/FIFA World Cup returned nearly nine pages of consumer-generated content for every one page of brand-originated content.

Creating replaces dictating. There is a cause-and-effect relationship between financial performance and innovation. Intel brings The Creators Project, a vast collection of artists, designers, musicians and filmmakers to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to re-imagine the festival experience for the next generation.

Good replaces should. Infusing good into brand stories is not a responsibility but an opportunity. Hublot, which is changing the sports sponsorship playbook, and Timberland, which taps the pull of social advocacy by backing movements rather than campaigns, show values now count as much as value.

Tough times and hard questions demand radical shifts in how we think and how we work. Sponsorship’s new role is being spearheaded by CEOs and CMOs. They recognize that any need for brand beacons is exceeded by the need to team with partners and stakeholders to create a better future together—to change not just the conversation, but the world.

The 2012 IEG Conference brings these path-breakers together. The diversity of their portfolios reflects the diversity of their businesses. But what they all have in common is moving beyond marketing to enhancing lives, while building brands, loyalty, share and premiums…even in turbulent times.