Olympic Sponsors Provide Terrific Insights For Key Trends in Sponsorship

Like most people, I’ve been spending a lot of time glued to the TV watching the 2010 Winter Games, living vicariously through these tremendous athletes.  However, as someone in the business of connecting sponsors to properties, I’ve also been paying a lot attention to how companies are leveraging their involvement with this global property.

At first glance, many of you might say “what does a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal have to do with me”, but if you look at the trends closely, these Games provide real insight into what makes sponsorship so successful as a marketing medium. Here are some of my findings from this year’s global spectacle that everyone can take a lesson from:

Finding the Right Fit Between the Company’s Core Business and the Property

Finding a link between a company’s core business and the property and communicating that link is critical. Some examples include:

• Visa – “the only card accepted at the Olympics”
• Hudson Bay – official supplier of Canadian Team Olympic apparel
• Rona – helping to build the Olympics – “Made in Canada”
• Bell – phone access in over 200 countries around the world
• Samsung – follow the Olympics on your Samsung mobile

Bringing the Brand to Life

These are great examples of companies that are leveraging their sponsorship to demonstrate their brand’s attributes in a real way:

• Chevrolet – Official vehicle of the 2010 Games, used to transport athletes from venue to venue;
• Loblaw – President’s Choice’s Blue Menu used to provide athletes with the nutrition they need to compete
• Panasonic – Experience OLympics highlights in HD 3D images at David Lam Park in Vancouver

Audience Engagement

The companies have done a great job at engaging audiences and creating exciting experiences around their brands:

• Chevrolet – Contest to Win 17 Cars in 17 Days
• RBC – Sponsor of the Olympic / Paralympic Torch Relay with over 12,000 torchbearers in 1,000 communities from coast to coast
• Samsung Canada – Win one of 2010 prizes

Associating Brands with Athletes and Causes

These companies are using innovative techniques to fund Canadian athletes and the global movement to get children involved in sports

• Wrigley’s – Donation made to Canadian athletes for every package of chewing gum purchased
• Petro Canada – Purchase commemorative glasses with almost 50% of proceeds donated Olympic and Paralympic athletes
• Cold FX – for every Canadian medal, Cold FX will donate $1,000 to Right to Play, an international charity championed by 350 athletes from 40 countries

Unique Positioning

These companies are enjoying unique positioning at the 2010 Winter Games:

• McDonald’s sponsorship of The Difference Makers featuring Rick Hansen
• Visa – “the only card accepted at the Olympics”
• Canadian Tire – Sponsor of the Hockey Report

The lesson to be learned from all of this is that effective sponsorship marketing doesn’t need to be expensive; it just needs to make sense from a branding perspective and leveraged in an innovative way to communicate product or brand attributes. So, take some of these ideas and apply them to your own environment and you’ll be on the leading edge of the sponsorship marketing industry.

Go Canada Go!

Later,

BC

MARCOM 2010 is a “Must Attend” for Marketing Professionals

For anyone who’s involved in sponsorship or partnership development, marketing plays a critical role in the success of any of these initiatives.  Without an understanding of who your customers are and the the value of your brand, how can you possibly articulate a “value proposition” to potential sponsors or partners?

Whether you are a “newbie” or a seasoned veteran, MARCOM, June 9-11, 2010 at the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau is Canada’s only national education event geared exclusively to the unique needs of  the public and not-for-profit sectors. Now in its 12th year, MARCOM covers a wide range of topics from research and branding to integrated marketing communications and the latest trends in social media. The real bonus is that you get to hear what your peers from across the country are doing.

I’m pleased to be presenting two sessions at this year’s forum:

June 9 – Essential Selling Skills Boot Camp – this new one-day intensive workshop is designed for anyone that wants to learn and practice proven techniques for implementing a successful sponsorship or corporate sales program. It will provide practical strategies and tools to help you sell smarter and increase your “win” rate.

June 10 - The Anatomy of a Successful Partnership Initiative – This session will examine the essential steps to implementing successful corporate partnership initiatives in a government setting with a particular focus on getting internal buy-in for these initiatives.

I think the late Peter Drucker summed it up nicely when he said “the job of marketing is to make selling unnecessary”. Having done both extensively in my career, I’m convinced that when the two are integrated, success is usually not far behind.

For more information on MARCOM and to take advantage of the very attractive Early Bird pricing, visit www.marcom.ca

Later,

BC

Everything Starts with a Good Marketing Plan

In our work with a lot of government organizations, professional associations and non-profits, the first step in planning is often the one where many organizations have the most difficulty – and that is defining the strategic direction for whatever initiative they are working on. In government organizations, politics tends to supersede any notion of proper planning for the sake of “looking like we are doing something about the issue”. In the not-for-profit sector, it’s usually the board of directors who put pressure on staff to immediately solve a revenue challenge, increase membership or enhance marketplace visibility.

Earlier in my career, I used to be one of those who said; “what’s with all this high-level thinking and objectives naval-gazing – let’s just get something done”. Fortunately, I learned early enough that the problem with this approach is that you usually end up doing nothing because your efforts are not focused. If you ever have had one of those days where you are running around like a chicken without a head, you know what I’m talking about.

Marketing offers an incredibly disciplined approach to strategic planning. The very nature of the marketing discipline forces you to think about key issues such as:

• Who you are;
• What you do;
• Why is it important;
• Who it’s important to;
• Where you are;
• Where you want to be; and,
• How you will know when you’ve arrived.

Effective marketing planning sets a blueprint for action. It establishes parameters and provides a clear focus for your efforts. It defines your value proposition. And it leads to better results. And as you can see from the above, the questions you need to answer to get started are not overly complicated (although articulating the answers usually takes a lot of work).

So, whether you are a government organization promoting a service, an association looking to expand its membership and find new sponsors or a non-profit working on affecting social change, a clear sense of who you are, your value to the marketplace and where you want to go over the long-term will set the stage for everything else you do.

Over the coming weeks, I will be examining how a marketing approach can help you achieve tangible results for your efforts and why we need to overcome the urge to jump into the water (tactics) before first assessing why we want to jump in the first place (strategy) and what’s below the surface. In the meantime, here’s a quick test you can take to see if you have what it takes to be a marketing-driven organization.

You Know You Are A Marketing Driven Organization When…

□      You do not use terms like “general public” when referring to your target audience

□      “Plan” is more than a four letter word

□      All marketing activities are coordinated and integrated into an overall plan

□      You focus on results and NOT process and politics

□      Your organization takes “risks”, although ensuring they are “reasoned risks“

□      You do not keep doing the same things every year  i.e. programs, services, products

□      Marketing campaigns consistently meet their goals and objectives.

□      You take action when results are not achieved.

□      You have a clear understanding of the needs of your target group(s)

□      You have a dedicated marketing budget

□      Your organization’s brand has value

□       Reinventing the wheel is not standard operating procedure

□       Your organization is focused on “outcomes”  not “outputs”

□       Evidence-based decision making is in your organization’s vocabulary.

□       Strategic Alliances/partnerships are a key component of your marketing activities

□       Your marketing objectives are SMART (Specific Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Limited)

□       Your organization does not use the web as a warehouse to store information

□       You value training in areas like marketing and communications

□       Performance measurement is something that your organization does regularly

□       You are up to date with the latest trends, technologies in the area of marketing and communications

□       Branding is more than a visual identifier

□       You are open to change

□       You see the need to understand your “competition”

□       You use all the elements of the marketing mix (4 p’s) and not just use promotion

□       Your believe that the ultimate objective for marketing is not creating awareness but behaviour change

If You Scored:

20 – 25: You have the tools, processes and culture in place to be successful and sustainable

15 – 19: You are on the right path, but need to examine those areas where you are weak

10 – 14: You are most likely struggling and need to take a hard look at priorities and processes

6 – 9: You are on the borderline of existence as an organization

Creating Partnerships to Attract National Brands

Most smaller organizations are challenged in attracting the “big name” companies for sponsorships. Most of these properties just don’t carry enough weight with the national brands who are typically more interested in leveraging opportunities that will give them visibility and a point of differentiation at a national level. However, there are ways to get noticed by these companies and one of them is by combining the assets of several smaller properties to create an opportunity for companies to market their products to a larger geographical area over a sustained period of time.

There are a number of reasons why this makes sense; the first and most important is that companies will probably like you better.  Most companies receive large numbers of proposals, many times for modest amounts of money. These “one-offs” are very resource intensive (actually a nuisance) to administer and generally, don’t hold a lot of value from a marketing perspective. Many times, support is provided more of a goodwill gesture than a genuine commitment to your event or activity.

By combining a number of properties with similar audiences throughout a broader geographic area, you are moving from being a smaller, tactical player to a strategic marketing partner. Rather than a series of one-offs, you are able to offer a strategic corporate partnership that provides regional, provincial or even national coverage over a sustained period of time. Think about it – if you were a corporate marketing or sales executive, what would appeal to you more; a series of one-time, short duration events or an opportunity to “own” an entire market over a defined period?

This concept of consolidating audiences can be applied to almost any environment; in particular, for organizations that are “audience challenged”. Examples include a cause-related organization working with all of its regional offices or other external organizations with similar or complementary missions to create a provincial or national sponsorship program, a series of smaller fairs combining resources to provide a sponsor with broader geographical coverage or events with homogeneous audiences (i.e. craft shows, jazz festivals, sports competitions) leveraging the power of their collective audiences.

One of the more common hurdles we see from organizations that are considering this approach is how to share revenues from these joint sponsorships. In our experience, the easiest and most practical way is to split rights fees based on agreed-upon attendance figures. That way, the organization with the most to give back to a sponsor in terms of audience exposure and deliverables, is the most logical one to receive the greatest amount of revenue.

In the new world of strategic sponsorship marketing, you need to show how a national company’s investment is going to provide them with a dominant market position over a sustained period of time. By thinking outside of the box, leveraging the resources of several partners and being more strategic in your approach, you’ll find yourself getting through doors that were not possible in the past.

Later,

BC

“Activation” – the key to any successful sponsorship marketing program

This past spring we conducted research on about 150 sponsorship properties from around the world to identify the types of benefits that are offered to sponsors in different environments and to no great surprise, there is little earth-shattering innovation as far as the range and nature of benefits offered.  However, one thing that became very clear is that an  activation plan that connects the brand in a meaningful way with the property or “audience experience” is essential for effective sponsorship marketing.

A properly planned and executed Activation Strategy can transform everyday benefits (i.e. visibility elements) into a dynamic cooperative marketing program. Here are some examples from Canada and around the world:

• Whitby, Ontario – Scotiabank’s Naming Rights of Iroquois Park is supported by a Free Skate Day on Family Day and sponsorship of the Backyard Rink Program for children under 7.

• UK – National Trust – Cadbury Trebor Bassett helped deliver over 200 Easter Egg Trails at NT park properties this Easter. The activities focused on encouraging ‘family togetherness’ and bringing a little magic back to the Easter occasion. The Trails were advertised on over 20 million Cadbury Easter eggs as well as through a dedicated website – www.eastereggtrail.com – where participants could search to find their nearest participating property. All children received a Cadbury ‘Egghead’ Easter Egg on completion of the trail and at some of the larger properties, Cadbury provided extra fun and games including space hoppers, egg and spoon races and face painters.

• SickKids Hospital = Costco Wholesale is a strong supporter of SickKids through the Children’s Miracle Network. Costco has inspired their staff to encourage customers and vendors to give in support of their Miracle Campaign – a program that runs throughout the month of May. They have executed one of the most successful “paper icon campaigns”. Costco customers are invited to purchase a CMN paper balloon that they sign and staff display prominently in the warehouse – ultimately making a donation to SickKids.

• South African National Park – Hi-Tee sponsors the footwear for the Hoerikwaggo Guides. Each graduate receives one pair of boots and one pair of shoes and the guides acknowledge the performance of the gear in their tours.

• US National Parks Services – National Trust = Olympus is the sole sponsor of the “Share the Experience” Photo Contest. The contest encourages people to experience the nation’s parks and federal recreation lands and take only photos, leaving the parks’ majestic beauty untouched for future generations to enjoy. Olympus is also supporting the National Park Service’s “Air Web Camera” initiative, which tracks and analyzes air quality at 16 national park locations. Images are captured every 15 minutes throughout each and every day at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Great Smokey Mountains, and the Washington and Lincoln Memorials in Washington D.C.

• New South Wales – Foundation for Parks and Wildlife – Dymocks has the naming rights to Golden Paw Award, an annual children’s drawing competition and rewards all entries with a donation to the foundation.

• Vancouver 2010 – Canadian citizens could apply to RBC or Coca-Cola to be part of the Olympic Torch Relay and carry the Olympic flame throughout Canada as part of the 106-day, 45,000 km Torch Relay leading up to Vancouver 2010.

The bottom line is that sponsorship activation can be as simple or complex as you want as long as it demonstrates brand relevance and/or provides value to the intentded audience.  Therefore, if you want to create more compelling sponsorship packages and ensure that sponsors reveive maximum return on objectives for their investment, you should ensure that every proposal includes a strong activation element that goes beyond visibility benefits to active engagement.

Later,

BC

We need to get more innovative with the “Gold, Silver, Bronze” thing

Anyone who’s attended one of my workshops or conference lectures will know that I’m not a big fan of the Gold, Silver, Bronze (or Platinum, Titanium, etc.) method of selling sponsorships. The first reason is that they are totally over-used. The second reason is that they generally imply “cookie-cutter” benefits that really don’t excite sponsors. The third reason is that company needs are constantly evolving (i.e. new product launch, PR disaster, new competitor in the market) and these generic packages usually don’t do anything to address their needs.

While there’s nothing wrong with showing levels of sponsorship investment in an event or multi-sponsor initiative, I prefer using the levels as a means of recognizing sponsors as a value-added benefit for their combined investment with an organization. For example, if a sponsor invests in an event sponsorship opportunity, purchases exhibit space and buys advertising in a year-round publication, they should be recognized as a gold, silver or bronze partner based on their total spend with your organization and receive additional benefits based on their level of spend. From your side, do you really care how they spend their money, as long as they spend it with you?  I talk about this concept in my workshops where I demonstrate how you can set this type of program up and the types of “value-added” benefits you can offer for the different levels.

Getting back to the gold, silver, bronze thing; if you are going to use these hierarchal method of recognizing sponsors, the least you should do is create levels that fit with your brand. The Gold. Silver, Bronze things in my view, works well with sporting competitions, but not with other organizations. With a little imagination, your sponsorship levels can reflect what you are all about as an organization or industry. As a shining example, I recently came across some sponsorship materials for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and they had “Prime, AAA and AA” Partner levels that supported their brand. I immediately understood the levels and applaud them for their creativity in this area.

So, the next time you’re building levels of sponsorship recognition, I challenge you to see if you can come up with something that everyone in your industry understands and reflects your organization’s brand. If you’ve seen any other great examples, please comment on this post.

Later,

BC

Note to public sector organizations: Companies aren’t lined up to give you their money.

All too often, government departments or agencies ask us to find them corporate dollars to support a specific initiative. Usually, we respond with the question “why do you think a company should invest in this initiative”? And too often, there is not a response that inspires confidence.  The predominant thinking that companies have “pots of money” to throw at government campaigns could not be further from the truth, especially in today’s tight economy where a company’s bottom line is the main focus.

If government organizations are looking to for companies to invest in their marketing, communications or program / service delivery initiatives, they have to be prepared to give something back in the way of meaningful value. And unfortunately, in today’s economic environment, value is not measured by the “soft” benefits that usually accompany a government value proposition.

I recently read an article where Canada’s top media sales executives were discussing the current state of the marketing and advertising industry. The message was clear – to get dollars from a company today, you have to understand their business and offer something that they perceive as real value. That usually means offering creative solutions that help them break through the advertising “clutter”, helping them connect in an authentic way with their customers and helping to drive sales.

So, what’s a government organization to do that’s looking for financial support from a corporation for a particular initiative? Here are some initial points to ponder:

You need to manage expectations – Everyone in the organization especially senior management, has to realize is that companies are not lined up to finance government programs; they think they provide enough support through taxes and other employment obligations. Simply stated, you will have to earn your opportunity to receive financial support. Before making bold predictions on the money that can be raised, it will be critical to conduct an unbiased assessment to determine if you have an opportunity that companies would be willing to pay for and if you have the internal culture in place to recruit and retain these types of partners.

If you want to be in the game, you need to play by the rules – Companies need to see real value before investing scarce resources. It’s important to note that most major companies can receive up to 100 proposals a week and so yours needs to present a real value proposition that positions the opportunity above all of the others. This goes beyond offering recognition on a “Contributor” page on a web site (which by the way, no one looks at).

Start with companies with the right “fit” – This is half the battle. If you start with companies that want to reach the same audiences as yours, you have a legitimate reason for talking to them. Agreement on common audience can at least get you through to the next level of engagement;

Look for creative solutions to their marketing challenges – We managed to raise $4 million dollars for one program working within the federal government guidelines (limitations) on corporate partnerships by approaching companies that had the most to win through the initiative and offering creative solutions to their marketing challenges. The first and most important step was to listen before proposing.

As an entry point, focus on in-kind partnering arrangements – Companies (just like government organizations) are skeptical and need to have a positive experience before taking the plunge. Negotiating in-kind value is a great “low risk” way of collaborating as an initial starting point. Often, once companies see the value of the partnering arrangement, they are more willing to invest financially in a government program or initiative.

The bottom line – if you are not prepared to offer something of real value in return for financial assistance, brace yourself for minimal results. You are likely better off to focus on other areas such as in-kind marketing where you will have a greater chance for success.

Later,

BC

Why the Right Sponsor “Fit” is so Important

Do you want to increase your chances of a prospect calling you back or your success rate with potential sponsors? Try focusing on the fit. Too often, we see organizations approaching the same companies over and over, with no compelling reason why they are even approaching these companies. This half-hearted approach will get you what you deserve – a half-hearted response (if one at all).

It’s important to remember that a company will only be responsive to you if they have a good reason to listen to your pitch. That means demonstrating to them that there is a distinct reason why you are approaching them in the first place.

There are a few ways to identify prospects with the right “fit”. They include:

Audience – Is your audience their audience? This is the most fundamental of all fit criteria and the easiest method of getting to the next level of discussion with a prospect, because it establishes an initial common ground from which to base discussions.

Time of Year – The fit criteria is useful if you have a specific activity that reaches their audience at a specific time of the year such as promoting financial planning services in the fall, retail stores or products during the Christmas buying season, targeting purchasing officers around budget time, etc.

Nature of the Property – This fit criteria is based on your property’s ability to address a specific issue that is of interest to certain companies. An example of this is if you have a property that is focused on an environmental issue, you will want to seek out companies that want to be seen as contributing in a positive way to that particular initiative.

Company Need of “Pain” – While this ultimately needs to be addressed in every sponsorship proposal, if you can identify a specific “pain” that your sponsorship can address (i.e. a company suffering an image problem), you can make the connection between their challenge and your opportunity.

While there are several other fit considerations, the bottom line is that you want to research companies that can truly benefit from your sponsorship property and approach them with a specific reason why they should listen to you. If they agree with your assessment, you are 75% on your way to moving to a more advanced level of discussion.

Later,

BC

Announcing CMG’s Fall Line-up of Workshops

I’m pleased to announce my Fall line-up of workshops – all aimed at maximizing results through  Sponsorships and other forms of Corporate Partnerships.

Now in our 5th year, these workshops are unique from any others in the Canadian marketplace in so much that they focus on a step-by-step process (how to do it) rather than the usual “show and tell” that doesn’t really tell you how to apply lessons learned to your own environment.  Every workshop includes a Workbook that participants use to develop their own Action Plan that they can implement once they return to the office.

A central theme at all workshops this Fall will be how the changing dynamics of marketing are impacting our strategic approach towards sponsorships and partnerships. Core topics will include how we adapt our programs in a tight economy and the shift to using sponsorship activation strategies to deliver value to the customer.  We’ll also introduce new ways to determine the value of web-based visibility benefits.

Our Fall Line-up includes:

• Designing and Selling Your Sponsorship Program – A two-day workshop ideal for anyone that wants to take a professional, structured approach towards implementing a successful sponsorship program.
• Advanced Sponsorship Planning - Designed for professionals with a minimum of 3 years experience, this workshop focuses on more advanced concepts of sponsorship marketing.
• Revenue Generation Boot Camp – This workshop is ideal for member-based organizations that want to maximize revenues from various corporate streams such Sponsorships, Affiliate Programs, Web and Print Advertising and provides a strategic approach towards overall revenue development.
• Taking a Strategic Approach to Corporate Engagement as an Integral Part of Your Marketing Communications- Designed for public sector professionals that want to leverage corporate partnerships as a means of reaching and influencing audiences.

Seating is limited for each workshop to allow for maximum face time with participants. Every workshop includes a 30-minute follow-up consultation where you can receive feedback on your specific challenges. For full information on each of the above workshops, please visit CMG Canada.

I look forward to seeing you this Fall!

Later,

BC

3 Big Lessons Learned from MARCOM 2009

OK, I’m a little late with this post…but for those of you who were not able to attend MARCOM in June, you missed a stellar line-up of speakers – the best I can remember from my 7 years involvement with this annual conference focused on marketing in the government and not-for-profit sectors. Here are a few key messages that came out of the two-day conference that should be immediately applied to any marketing environment which of course, serves as the basis for any effective sponsorship or partnership program:

Strategy comes before Tactics – A common theme from almost every speaker was that marketing is about being strategic in everything we do. All too often, people want to get right to tactics (i.e. advertising, social media, media relations, exhibits/events, etc.) before first defining what they want to achieve. If you don’t know what your objectives are, how can you possibly know what tactics are most suited to achieving your goals? This not only applies to your own marketing programs, but also when you approach potential sponsors or other partners. You want to approach potential partners with a clear idea of what you want from the collaborative arrangement and need to understand what they want to achieve (and how they will measure success) through a partnering arrangement with your organization.

Social Media is changing the face of marketing – We heard from numerous speakers about the impact that a properly executed social media program can have from a marketing or fundraising perspective. With the shift from one-way communication to customer (audience) engagement, social media has the potential to harness audiences like no other medium.  It’s becoming more and more obvious that social media is rapidly changing the marketing landscape, but it was also made perfectly clear that your need a strategy to execute an effective social media marketing campaign. It’s not enough to just “be out there”, you need to integrate your social media activities with your other marketing tactics so that a consistent brand is presented to the marketplace.

We need to do A better job at demonstrating the impact of our marketing efforts – For marketing to get the respect and senior-level buy-in (and financial resources) it deserves, we have move away from showing the “number of brochures distributed” to demonstrating how the marketing program has had a direct impact on achieving the organization’s business objectives. Once again, it comes down to understanding the organization’s goals and developing marketing strategies that show how our efforts are moving audiences along the decision-making chain to action, reinforcing our brand or positioning, leading to increased take-up on our services, generating new revenue, etc.

Mark the dates June 10-11 in your calendar now for MARCOM 2010 which will be held at the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec.  I guarantee that you won’t be dissappointed with the incredible content that is delivered at this annual conference.

Later,

BC