Author: Slingshot Team


Sponsorship Sales: Selling the Benefit 25th August, 2010

I recently saw a sponsorship tweet tip that said, “Think about how you can benefit the sponsors business, before you make an approach.”  My immediate reaction to this tweet was that it was absolutely ridiculous (sorry tweeter!) – OF COURSE the sponsorship proposal should be about how the opportunity should benefit the sponsor’s business; it would be ridiculous to think otherwise.  If you did think otherwise, you’d just be asking for money, free money at that.  And no one wants to give away free money.

However, upon further consideration, this tip may not be as ridiculous as it immediately seemed.  Slingshot Sponsorship helps brands and rights owners create sponsorship proposals for their assets and it is true that we stress this in every training session – the proposal needs to highlight the benefit not the event, platform, inspiration, etc.  The more specific the tailored benefit, the more likely that you will get your prospects attention.

The first stage in this process is to understand your prospect’s brand and really understand what drives their business. Thankfully, we live in a world where this information is at our fingertips, so there is no excuse for poor sponsorship proposals.  If you have the time, we’d also recommend that you meet with your prospect or at least speak with them over the phone so you can get a real understanding about what their marketing objectives are. 

One of the benefits of using sponsorship as a marketing platform to build brand relationships is that it can be incredibly flexible and tailored.  Sponsorship can be used across all media channels and all media sectors.  For this reason, you should be able to create an engaging campaign tailored to your prospect.  Benefits will arise from these tailored sponsorship proposals and will be the only way to successfully sell sponsorship.

Make sure to keep following our blog as we will be putting out tips on writing sponsorship proposals throughout the year!


Collaboration – it’s everywhere 10th August, 2010

 

A new wave of marketing seems to be emerging everywhere.  Collaboration, synergy, sponsorship, integration, partnership, engagement, and branded content are terms heard on a daily basis.  You could even argue that the UK government is joining this shift in marketing by uniting two different parties to reach one goal – although that might be a little bit harder to argue.

It seems obvious that this shift has been made so apparent because of the recession – brands and marketing teams are now forced to find new ways of obtaining the same results with half the budget and half the resource.  Partnerships have proven to be the perfect solution.   By partnering with engagement at the core, brands are able to achieve more than what they could have achieved alone.

The most interesting thing about this shift is not the shift itself, but the outcome, which will ensure this shift will continue well after we are in recovery.  An outcome which has seen a more engaged audience, more innovative marketing campaigns, and strategic partnerships across all sectors and channels.

This outcome has been so influential that ITV now have a Content Partnerships department, independent films are signing sponsorship agencies to generate funding, and multi-national agencies are starting specialised sponsorship divisions to grab some of the market share.  Professional associations, product launches, independent films, and band tours are now realising how beneficial these types of sponsorships are.  Sponsorship funding is a multi-billion pound industry in the UK and everyone wants to get a piece of that pie.

But the best part about shifting sponsorship insight into the mainstream is the value – done well, these partnerships add value to all parties involved.  The rights owner receives additional sponsorship funding, the sponsor receives a receptive targeted audience, and the audience receives added value through more engagement with the event.  In a win-win-win situation, I anticipate sponsorship and collaboration in all forms to continue to grow well into the future.


Sponsorship in the Push/Pull Dynamic 9th August, 2010

Upon opening the many newspapers London provides, you will undoubtedly find at least one article announcing the loss of sponsorship funding endangering a sports team.  This has created an impression that the sponsorship industry has been dealt a severe blow by the Credit Crunch.  However, while many of these multi-million pound sponsorship deals are indeed drying up, there is a surging interest in B2B sponsorship.  New partnerships are announced daily integrating brands that are not natural competitors, but nonetheless share the same target audience. Thomas Cook has just signed up to sponsor Kiss FM’s Saturday night ‘Kissalicious’ show, their very first media spend on their Club 18-30 brand in four years.  The Co-operative is the new sponsor of the next installment of the High School Musical franchise, their second deal with a Disney-owned series.  The reason for the surge in new sponsorship deals is partly due to the marketing shift in the industry – the push/pull dynamic.

Traditional push media such as TV, billboard, radio, and newspaper/magazine spreads are identified as a one way communication between the brand to the consumer.  In the past these have proven effective alone.  However, at a time when people are constantly marketed to through an increasing number of channels, this is falling onto deaf ears.  Although push marketing is still a factor in spending decisions, it is now becoming increasingly crucial to engage your audience.  Consumer engagement is the pull.  Pull marketing is interactive, identified as a two-way communication between the brand and the consumer.  This is being made increasingly more effective and successful by the digital era, which has introduced internet marketing, social media, RSS, blogs, forums, etc.  This push/pull dynamic is easily created with a sponsorship programme as it incorporates the best of both marketing methods.

Push Marketing

Sponsorship ensures that the push marketing you do use has an impact.  Aligning a brand with something about which the target audience feels passionate can serve to create goodwill.   It is an age old fact that people tend to favour others who like the same things as they do; this dynamic is no less true when it comes to forming a relationship between brand and audience.  Through sponsorship the target audience can be ‘primed’ to be receptive to the brand.

 Pull Marketing

In addition to making sure your push marketing is effective, sponsorship will  inevitably create pull marketing through tangible ‘touchpoints’ for the consumer to come into contact with and interact with a brand.  However, without consumers wanting to engage with your brand, your marketing regardless of the platform will remain a one-way communication. The receptivity gained through the initial sponsorship makes pull marketing not only possible, but also simple.

Once engaged, the conversations and activities are facilitated through the valuable tools and concepts online.  New social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn allow you to engage with each of your consumers on a platform that they are comfortable with – assuming your target audience wants to be communicated to by you in this way.  The combinations of digital marketing platforms are endless and work exceptionally well within a sponsorship programme as your customers are already ‘primed’ to engage with your brand.

Although sponsorship is not the only way to facilitate this push/pull dynamic, it is certainly one of the easiest which is why we are seeing a surge in these partnerships.  If you are relying too much on push media and not achieving the results you are after, it may be time to consider sponsorship as a way to help incorporate this push/pull dynamic with your brand.

 

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