Opinion
Assertions
10/19/09: The just-announced deal to have the
American Society of Clinical Oncology’s
Cancer.net become title sponsor of
Skate America is a
significant development for a couple of reasons. To begin, the fact that a nonprofit professional membership organization is paying a
cash fee for a major televised event is
unprecedented. When I first heard about the deal, I speculated that perhaps
U.S. Figure Skating had granted title status free of charge to Cancer.net as a way of demonstrating its own social responsibility, as other rightsholders have in the past, although typically for events or properties smaller in scope. While we don’t know the specific amount paid, we estimated the property’s
last title sponsor–H.J. Heinz’s
Smart Ones brand, which named the event from ’01-’05–was paying $
1 million a year for the event, advertising and year-round official sponsor status of U.S. Figure Skating.
Although we
don’t expect an avalanche of sponsorship dollars to start flowing out of associations, this deal at least alerts properties to be aware of
changes in that world, especially within
health-related organizations and
medical societies, which is the second development highlighted by the Cancer.net sponsorship and one pointed out to me by IEG Sponsorship Consulting vice president
Diane Knoepke, a specialist in working with professional medical associations. Specifically, many of these groups are quickly
shedding what I would characterize as previously oft-deserved
reputations for being
stodgy bureaucracies short on innovation and long on preserving the status quo by 1) embarking on
patient-facing initiatives such as Cancer.net and
HealthyChildren.org–set to launch in December from the
American Academy of Pediatrics–which unleash their voluminous expertise and research on behalf of consumers in real need of trusted information and guidance, and 2) operating in a more
business-like fashion, which includes
embracing partnerships, whether as sponsor in ASCO’s case or as property (more on that below). While the subject of relationships between health care associations and pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment makers and other related industries may not be resolved,
proactive organizations are thoughtfully moving ahead with partnership plans that bring them
much-needed new revenue and
exposure for programs such as Cancer.net. One example from the
association-as-property side is the recently finalized agreement between the
American Academy of Family Physicians and
Coca-Cola, which has Coke paying a six-figure fee to support AAFP’s
FamilyDoctor.org, a health and wellness site for consumers.
Because
audience data is crucial to properties’ ability to sell and renew sponsorship, we’re always intrigued to see
creative ideas for obtaining such research. We recently heard from
Jeff Springut of
Springut Group, producer of many events in
Rochester, N.Y., on how he collected demographic info from attendees at this summer’s Party in the Park concert series and the Big Rib Bar-B-Que and Blues Fest. Using
low-cost online survey software purchased from
SurveyGizmo and six laptops supplied by Rochester-based computer retailer
PC Innovations, the property set up shop in sponsor
AirTran Airways’ tent, asking people to complete brief questionnaires in exchange for being
entered to win four round-trip tickets supplied by AirTran. The result:
825 completed surveys.
Jim Andrews