Tag: Sponsorship Sales Consultants

Need a Sponsorship Sales Consultant? Top 10 Things to Ask Yourself 21st February, 2011

The need for sponsorship sales consultants is apparent everywhere. On almost every LinkedIn Group, Twitter feed, and on numerous email requests I see people looking for someone who can sell their property rights. Considering money can be hard to come by, I understand the reasons why this is now one of the most sought after positions. However, there are things that you should consider and things you need to be aware of before you take someone on.

In this blog, I’ll explain the Top 10 Things You Should Ask Yourself before considering hiring a sponsorship sales agency or consultant. There are variations of sponsorship consultants – those that work on commission-only, those that work on tactical, those that work with sports personalities, and many more variations.

In this first blog of a series, we’ll start by looking at whether you even need one and if you do, can you support one?

Do you need a sponsorship sales consultant? If you have enough resource and staff with a good knowledge of both your property and an idea of what sponsorship can achieve, then you might not even need a sponsorship sales consultant. If you don’t have this, then…
Can you outsource sponsorship sales to another sales department? Sometimes this can be disastrous – most often when the media ad sales team tries to take this task on. However, sometimes all it needs is a bit of sponsorship sales training and the right sponsorship proposals for your media ad sales teams to hit the ground running.
Do you understand sponsorship strategy? If you are unsure about what sponsorship assets you own and how to package them, typically you will need more than just a sponsorship sales consultant, you will need a sponsorship agency to valuate rights, put together a strategy and do the research.
Do you know if your property rights can be sold? History is a great way to understand what rights you have and if there is a market for them. However, many rights owners are just starting to integrate these strategies and are unsure of whether it can be done. As such, you really should determine the evaluation of the rights first before you waste time and resource in outsourcing sales that haven’t been strategically developed in the first place. You should evaluate your sponsorship rights before even considering hiring a sponsorship sales consultant.
Is sponsorship an organisational goal? Sponsorship takes a lot of time and effort (even if sales are outsourced) within an organisation. If it is not an organisational goal, it will often get left behind and sales (whether done internally or externally) will not be successful. It takes a whole organisation to support this activity and the resource should not be underestimated. However saying that, sponsorship can help drive organisational change and innovation – we just suggest that everyone is behind the idea before you get started.
Are there politics within offering sponsorship? Sponsorship can sometimes be a tricky thing to integrate due to politics. Sponsorship sales consultants who are not involved with the strategy may not appreciate these constraints without having a more long-term approach to working with your rights.
Do you have senior staff and/or board members who will be against new sponsors coming on board? If this is the case, it will be difficult to get sponsors involved and those that do get involved with have difficulty activating their sponsorship and will not renew, making your sponsorship unsustainable.
Do you understand your objectives with integrating sponsorship? Sponsorship not only can become a new revenue stream, it can also reduce costs. This is a great avenue, especially for new property rights and needs to be considered when approaching brands. Understanding the objectives and all the benefits you can achieve through sponsorship is important before hiring consultants so you can measure performance against KPIs.
Do you have enough time? Sponsorship tends to be an afterthought when budgets haven’t been met. This creates a situation of distress sales and can often be detrimental to the rights owners. This needs to be communicated carefully and sales need to be strategically thought out.
Do you know who to go to? Putting out random messages on social networks is not the best way to find sponsorship sales consultants. You need recommendations from people who have worked with them or have done the research. As mentioned, it is quite easy to call yourself a sponsorship sales consultant because so many people are in need. However, you need to do due diligence to ensure your programme is not dependent on people who cannot do the job.

Further to Question 10, we’ve had so many properties looking for consultants so we’ve put together an industry roster of sponsorship sales consultants. If you every need advice, please email [email protected] with your brief, property rights, and location and we will try and pair you up with a consultant that is most relevant to what you are looking to achieve.

For any sponsorship sales consultants who want to be on our roster, please check out this blog in order to qualify.

Haymarket Consumer Media appoints Slingshot Sponsorship as exclusive sponsorship agency for What Car? Car of the Year Awards 10th January, 2011

Slingsho t Sponsorship, the thriving new sponsorship agency run by Jackie Fast, has recently been appointed as the exclusive sponsorship agency for the popular consumer publication What Car? along with the What Car? Car of the Year Awards published by Haymarket Consumer Media.

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards are the most prestigious awards programme that every manufacturer wants to win. Through a rigorous judging process, winning manufacturers of the What Car? Car of the Year Award can prove the highest standards in their class. With over 900 of the automotive industry leaders in attendance, the upcoming event held on January 13^th will be the highlight in the automotive industry’s social calendar.

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards has chosen to work with Slingshot Sponsorship as their exclusive sponsorship agency in order to implement a strategic and sustainable sponsorship programme across this event and publication. The key objective will be to develop a sponsorship programme that is both attractive to brands that are looking to reach the automotive industry as well as initiate sponsorship relationships to build brand awareness of What Car?

Andrew Golby, Publishing Director of What Car? comments, “We’re very pleased to be working with Slingshot Sponsorship. The What Car? Awards are recognised as the automotive equivalent of the Oscars, and our ambition is to take the event to even greater heights. Through strategic sponsorship, we hope to offer an effective marketing opportunity, and share the power of the What Car? brand that winning car makers already enjoy.”

Jackie Fast, Managing Director, Slingshot Sponsorship commented: “For rights owners looking to develop sponsorship programmes that have longevity and growth, strategy and brand engagement are vital. We are looking forward to applying our expertise with rights owners to help What Car? integrate their many assets into a coherent sponsorship opportunity that help fulfil engagement with brands.”

Slingshot Sponsorship will work with the What Car? to create and develop sponsorship opportunities leading up to their event in January 2012.

If you are interested in finding out more information on being involved with the What Car? Car of the Year Awards as a sponsor, please contact Jackie Fast, e: [email protected], t: 0207 420 8217

Do you want Slingshot Sponsorship to Recommend You? 20th December, 2010

We’ve noticed a significant increase in sponsorship opportunities recently, which follows our belief that sponsorship is going to be the way forward for marketing. We have noticed it becoming more integrated within the marketing mix at a request from clients as well as an increase in importance for organisations due to a combination of public funding cuts, the current economic climate, and the need for a proven return on investment.

With such an increase, we have been approached by so many sponsorship rights owners that we can’t keep up. Slingshot Sponsorship likes to help people, so rather than having to turn down these opportunities and leave them without options, we’d like to create a sponsorship roster so that if we can’t help them, we can find the right person or team who can!

Our comprehensive sponsorship referral roster will include both sponsorship agencies and consultants. We are approached by many different rights holders in every sector, so whether you specialise in sport sponsorship, health, art, music, or fashion please get in touch and let us know what you do best to see if you qualify.

Information requested:

For all interested sponsorship consultants and sponsorship agencies who are able to take on rights owners please send all the information requested below to [email protected] with the subject:

CV and history of sponsorship experience

Current/previous list of clients

Recommendations

Specialty

Region you work in

Contact information

Range of fees

Credential deck

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at: [email protected]

Top 10 Sponsorship Sales Tips 6th December, 2010

Sponsorship sales cannot be done by ad sales teams!

Great sponsorship sales people are hard to come by. Successful sponsorship sales people typically have a unique combination of skills including marketing, planning, communication and of course sales to be able to stay in the industry. We try to help uncover the secrets of success by outlining Slingshot Sponsorship’s Top 10 Sponsorship Sales tips:

Sell the benefit: in sponsorship, benefits vary depending on the sponsor company and rights owner. Sponsorship sales people are able to articulate this by taking one benefit and adjusting it to meet the needs of the prospect. For example, a VIP table at an event may be perfect for dining clients as well as equally perfect for incentivising staff. This leads on to the second tip…
Do your research: in order to sell the benefit, you need to understand the prospect’s objectives and how your sponsorship can meet those needs.
Speak in their language: although everyone in the sponsorship industry understands what activation is, the CEO of a telecommunications company who has never sponsored anything previously will not know what this means. By speaking in the same language, you are not only understanding the prospect, but also making it very easy for them to say yes.
Create tangible benefits: brand association is a word thrown around a lot. Of course this is one of the benefits of sponsorship; however, is incredibly difficult to justify. Great sponsorship sales people talk about prestige of association, but rarely lead with this.
Measurement: sponsorship sales people understand ROI and how to attribute sponsorship to it. Measurement is key and is always brought up in sponsorship sales conversations.
Mimic body language: by mirroring their body language (not in an obvious way!) you help make them feel at ease.
Listen: without listening, you won’t understand the brief or their objectives.
Provide solutions: sponsorship is a cost-effective marketing technique with added value. Explaining sponsorship as a marketing tool and comparing this against their other marketing platforms within their marketing mix is key.
Talk about their business: by understanding their business, you will be well on your way to helping their business.
Smile: people like to work with people that they like. This of course doesn’t always happen, but it goes a long way in deciding who to build a long term relationship with!

Sponsorship Measurement on Customer Behaviour is Key 13th November, 2010

For the majority of all sponsorship pitches, measurement is typically the last thing the sponsorship agency talks about when discussing sponsorship activation and rights purchase. It is of course within the pitch, but it is normally the last slide of the presentation and tends to include some very basic charts and graphs about how measurement will take place. Although sponsorship pitches used to work to perfection with beautiful images of the sponsors logo ‘zoomed’ in with great PowerPoint accuracy, this tends to only work when money and client spending is in excess, which no longer applies in our current economic climate. Results and ROI are now priority and many sponsorship agencies are struggling.

This is not to say that sponsorship does not bring fantastic results and ROI; however, is more a comment on the fact that sponsorship historically is built around building brand awareness, which can be difficult to measure. Results have also not always been the key reasons brands have sponsored in the past, typically looking for an affinity between the product and audience. This no longer is the case. In an era of increased accountability, rights owners and sponsorship agencies need to work together to create a consistent approach to measurement and ROI.

With the sponsorship industry priding itself on understanding audience and fans, it seems ironic that it is slow to recognise and respond to their sponsors’ needs for return on investment.

A measure on customer behaviour is key. For example, will the sponsorship bring in new customers and/or retain existing customers? If you can demonstrate a positive result for this, then you have achieved success.

– Mike Thompson, former Global Head of Sponsorship for E.ON

Some key tips for sponsorship measurement include:

Understand the brand objectives at the outset
Measure a baseline at the beginning
Identify focus groups that fit your sponsorship campaign profile
Measure sponsorship campaign and cost against a similar sole brand marketing campaign to prove the benefits synergy and engagement

Sponsorship is and can be hugely successful as a marketing platform, especially when it is attributed to return on investment. However, the sponsorship industry needs to work together in order to overcome the prejudice of corporate excess and prove results.

Sponsorship for Professional Associations 1st September, 2010

Sponsorship revenue for professional associations in the UK is a booming business.

With marketing budgets being scruitinised, value for membership in professional associations is fierce. Professional associations have had no other option, but to start thinking outside the box through mergers, partnerships, and shared expenses. However, one emerging trend is the value and integration of sponsorship departments being led internally or outsourced by specialist agencies.

As sponsorship takes on many different forms, it requires professional associations to think more about integration and relationships for their members rather than monetary expectations, which have been the ways of the past.

By maximising their current assets through sponsorship, professional associations have the ability to create value for their members, their bottom line, and prospective members who attend the events. In this type of relationship – sponsorship is exceedingly successful.

A great example is the Direct Marketing Association UK. With over 50 current sponsors, the DMA has been able to successful help its members get in front of a niche audience of marketing professionals. Some companies have also taken advantage of larger packages which encompass the sponsorship of the DMA’s entire activities in a specific sector.

One such company is consumer credit and business information specialist, Equifax, which provides a range of services to support companies marketing to consumers and businesses. Reflecting its influence and authority in the marketing data arena, Equifax has become the DMA’s Overall Data Sponsor which includes sponsorship of DataSeal, the DMA Awards, regional activity, and the Data Tracking Study.

Laura Marlow, Marketing Manager for Equifax Marketing Services, says that becoming the DMA’s overall data sponsor was the perfect way for promoting Equifax as The Heart of Data Intelligence:

“Marketers have faced some real challenges this year, making it more important than ever that they have access to properly targeted, good quality data. Our role as overall data sponsor of the DMA has put us in an excellent position to make marketers aware of the services we offer, enhancing our brand and reputation in this important sector. We look forward to continuing to work with the DMA and its members to maximise the full potential of marketing data to create the most impactful and cost-effective campaigns.”

Chris Combemale, the DMA’s executive director, states that sponsorship is crucial to the mission of the DMA:

“Through the additional revenue of sponsorship, we can expand the number of professional services we provide, as well the number of insight and networking events we offer. These activities are integral to our purpose of promoting the business interests of our members and driving the growth of the direct marketing industry. Of course, through pairing our sponsor partners with suitably themed platforms we ensure maximum relevance and mutual benefit to their target market.”

Sponsorship agencies have an integral part to play in helping professional associations harness this revenue and creating successful partnerships. By creating a sustainable revenue stream to supplement event and membership fees, sponsorship can help your organisation continue creating value for the industry.

Slingshot Sponsorship Signs New Client 27th August, 2010

Slingshot is happy to announce that they have been signed to manage the DPA & PPA Awards, held at De Vere in Brighton, 18 November 2010.

This innovative event brings together fantastic industry insight at the full-day conference in addition to the DPA Awards gala event in the evening. The DPA Awards salute innovation and achievement by leading companies, teams and individuals across the data and digital publishing sectors.

Attracting senior data and digital professionals, this is a fantastic event to be a part of. Slinghshot Sponsoship is working with both the DPA & PPA trade associations to fully leverage all available assets for sponsors. New this year, we have introduced a range of tailored sponsorship proposals in order to build brand awareness to this unique audience.

For more information, please visit the DPA Awards site here or get in touch with Slingshot Sponosrship on: 08455 335 053.

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!