Are we too scared to learn? 3rd October, 2016

I recently spoke at the Social Travel Summit in Inverness, which was a completely new experience – I’m used to speaking at sponsorship conferences.  I arrived in the middle of a session where they had split industry (Trivago, VisitBritain, etc) and travel bloggers into breakout rooms before lunch.  So as not to disturb, I peeked my head into the bloggers session to find a packed room.  As I crept down the hall to peek into the industry room, expecting to see only a handful of people, I was surprised to see that industry actually filled up a bigger room than the bloggers!

I was shocked.  In all of my experience and with all discussions about sponsorship events, brands avoid conferences like the plague and rights holders only attend to hit up the brands that are speaking.  I assumed this would be the same.  It turns out that it is (bloggers definitely are hitting up the industry for work), but after querying a couple of people in industry, it turns out that they don’t mind and “really understand the need for bloggers to help them build authenticity and create a genuine conversation with their customers”.

I have always been a big fan of events – not least for the after parties, but it makes me question whether the sponsorship industry’s gut reaction to avoid being bombarded is hindering our potential.  Rather than creating special events that brands feel comfortable in, we should be creating compelling content in an environment that encourages and nurtures partnerships.

And don’t we all believe in a partnership at the end of the day?


Slingshot Sponsorship launch 2016 Workshop Series at world-renowned Shoreditch House 18th January, 2016

Following on from her successful workshops at Shoreditch House last year, Jackie Fast, Founder and MD of Slingshot Sponsorship today announces a series of six more workshops to take place at the illustrious member’s club for 2016.

“We had a great response to our sponsorship series last year at Shoreditch House and I’m very pleased to be able to offer more seminars in these delightful surroundings,” says Jackie.

“Our seminars are open to any rights holders who want to gain the knowledge to secure sponsors, identify their best assets to build into a sponsorship proposal and ensure their proposal is valued at the right level. We work with many companies now who didn’t initially think of themselves as a rights holder! Now they’ve realised they can open up this new revenue stream and bring in partners with expertise they didn’t previously possess, hugely benefiting their bottom line.”

Seminars which are offered to club members begin in February and run until June, the dates and titles of each seminar are below.
The final seminar gives you the opportunity to pitch your sponsorship opportunity to a panel of experts who will offer advice and feedback. The best pitch of the session will win a full day’s consultancy with Slingshot Sponsorship, worth £5k, so sign up today!

For more detail on each of the seminars offered and to register please visit:
http://www.sohohouse.com/house-seven

February 16th – The future of sponsorship
March 7th – Sponsorship assets
April 5th – Sponsorship valuation
May 3rd – Perfecting your sponsorship proposal
June 7th – Negotiating your sponsorship
June 14th – Open pitch session: Pitch to win


Sponsorship Sales Basic Series – Part Two: The Three As to Building a Package 17th August, 2015

 

We have been running a monthly Sponsorship Sessions event at our Head Office since December and some of the challenges and hurdles that are being faced by quite diverse companies we have been helping seem to be the same.  Therefore, I have decided to create a Sponsorship Sales Series for the beginner.  If you are an expert, this blog is not for you – you might be more interested in reading this.

 

Benefits are key to any partnership as they provide the rights and capability for any brand to activate.  Essentially they are the rights of usage.  It seems simple enough; however, surprisingly many people don’t truly understand what a sponsorship benefit actually is and how it differs from the use of that asset.

Audience:  Your audience is what a sponsor is interested in reaching.  Your audience is not a sponsorship benefit and shouldn’t be included in a contract. The sponsorship benefit is what enables a sponsor to reach your audience.

Asset:  An asset is the benefit you are providing a sponsor and is included in a contract.  This forms part of a rights holder’s deliverables during the term of the agreement.

Activation:  Activation is the activity a sponsors chooses to utilise with the asset(s) they have purchased.  Typically the more creative, engaged and insightful – the more the activation will resonate with the audience, which is key to driving ROI for all parties.  Activation developed alongside the rights holder typically engages audiences better due to the fact that the rights holder understands their audience better than the sponsor.

For example, in a sponsorship agreement with the benefit of social media for the sponsor the breakdown is as follows:

  • Audience = the rights holder’s Twitter network
  • Asset = 5 Tweets
  • Activation = running a Twitter competition giving away 5 prizes to the first person who responds to a Tweet

Far too often, rights holder bulk up their sponsorship package by creating a lot of benefits that is really one asset communicated in different ways.  Although this may make the rights holder feel like they are offering a great deal more, it doesn’t add any value to the prospective sponsor.  Additionally, because rights holders feel like they are giving so much away, then tend to overvalue what is on the table because they themselves are confused about the benefits and the activation of those benefits.

By truly understanding what your assets are, you will start being able to clearly identify what packages and the value of those packages will be – rather than over inflating your proposition.


Understanding Sponsorship’s Evolution Will Help You Capitalise 28th July, 2015

Sponsorship is not a new concept.  It originally dates back to 776 BC to the first Olympic Games held in Greece with wealthy citizens and local governments providing financial support to build awareness of their cities.  Sponsorship continued in this way until 1984, when the Los Angeles Olympics redefined sponsorship to the world by selling the Olympic symbols to brands.  With 43 major sponsors stepping forward, the Olympic Games made a profit of $225million and a new wave of sponsorship profitability ensued based on logo and brand recall.

Since then, sponsorship has undergone many shifts with partnerships becoming less about the logo and more about engagement.  Without engagement, brand sponsorship fails to resonate with consumers who are constantly bombarded with messages in our digital revolution.

The three key shifts of evolution with sponsorship:

1.  Sponsorship should be used by every organisation

When sponsorship is used with both creative and commercial objectives at the core, opportunities for this type of partnership benefit all organisations – no matter how big or small you are.  Small businesses particularly benefit for sponsorship as the impact on maximising commercial revenue tends to be greater.  However, the one challenge for small businesses undertaking or integrating sponsorship is not understanding their value beyond a logo.  When identifying the partnership USP is so vital, it is crucial to understand what assets they have and are prepared to offer for their partners.

2.  Sponsorship should not be seen as a monitory transaction in exchange for a logo

By uncovering your business assets correctly, you will be able to show potential sponsors what you can provide allowing you to approach sponsors by creating a business proposition rather than just awareness. Furthermore, looking at sponsorship benefits outside of logos can create partnerships with organisations you may not have approached before.

3.  Sponsorship provides brands personality

Sponsorship gives life to a brand providing brand character and differentiating it from its competitors. By partnering with sponsors who share the same values as your brand you will expose your brand to a broader audience and leave a lasting impression with that audience.

David Verklin, CEO of Carat USA once said, “Sponsorship shows respect to a viewer by not taking advantage of something that they involuntary give up – their time and attention.”

Sponsorship continues to evolve and by keeping ahead of these shifting concepts ensures you will continue to add value to your sponsors and continue to secure sponsorship funding for your organisation.  However, much of the information you can gather online is not as practically implementable or easily understood as it may seem.

By getting expert advice in this area, you can ensure you are not wasting time by trial and error.  As such, Slingshot Sponsorship has recently launched a monthly sponsorship training event which provides organisations with the tools to approach sponsorship from a forward-thinking and creative standpoint. If you would like to become part of the evolution of sponsorship attend a Sessions at our Slingshot’s London head office. One of our senior consultants will provide you with all the tools necessary to capitalise on your commercial potential.

To find out more about our sponsorship sessions please click here or call the Slingshot Head Office:  +44 (0) 20 226 5052.


Slingshot Sponsorship’s MD Jackie Fast Goes Down Under 16th July, 2015

Slingshot Sponsorship’s MD Jackie Fast will be presenting a two day training course in Sydney, Australia on October 27th and 28th with Marcus Evans. This is a unique chance to hear from one of the industry’s leading experts on how to successfully secure sponsorship in today’s landscape.

With the increase of digital and technology, this has created a seismic shift in the way consumers engage in the world around them – and this has a significant impact on brands and how brands utilise sponsorship to engage with their target audiences.  Slingshot have successfully been a driving force within this new framework of sponsorship and this two day course will show you why traditional sponsorship practices no longer work in today’s industry.

Key takeaways from the event will include:

  • Understanding the new rules of sponsorship
  • Incorporating social media and digital technology to enhance sponsorship activity
  • Learning how sponsorship can grow your business, not just your commercial bottomline
  • Elaborating the market trends on sponsorship sectors including sport, arts, music, conferences and CSR
  • Maximising your true potential

Jackie Fast commented, “I am extremely thrilled to be coming to Australia to present our agency’s framework for sustainable sponsorship for both rights holders and brands.  With an office in Singapore, we can help provide further support our attendees in the long term so I am thrilled to be able to come down and start engaging with the Australian sponsorship industry.”

For more information or to book your place please click here. 


Slingshot Sponsorship Launch Full Day Training Events in London 12th January, 2015

Slingshot Sponsorship is delighted to announce that they have expanded their popular Slingshot Sponsorship Bootcamp training to also now provide full day, in-depth Sponsorship Sessions held each month in London.  The sole aim of the Sponsorship Sessions will be to provide teams the necessary tools to increase their commercial capacity within sponsorship for their event, charity, start-up, association, sports team, or online network.

Most organisations fail to reach their full sponsorship potential due to common pitfalls.  By working in a small team, industry expert Jackie Fast (MD of Slingshot Sponsorship) will create a tailored training programme for each attendee in order to help pinpoint challenges and create strategies and tools to overcome them.

Jackie Fast commented: “Unfortunately, typical sponsorship training and education often fails to address the different challenges organisations face when tackling sponsorship.  To be successful, one needs to really question these variables in order to recommend the right sponsorship strategy.  The Sponsorship Sessions allow us to do this by working in very small groups with a format that encompasses absolutely everything teams need to learn to truly develop commercially.  The success we have had with our training programme has even shocked me – having helped raise £1.27m additional sponsorship revenue for our attendees in the last three years alone.  Having kept our Bootcamp under wraps previously, I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing this training scheme out to the masses!”

The Sponsorship Sessions combine the need for high level training at the cost of attending a sponsorship conference (£219/ticket) – ensuring that attendees walk away with a clear direction on how to build the right sponsorship programme for their own organisation.

Previous Slingshot Sponsorship Bootcamp attendee Charlene Asamoah, Corporate Fundraising Manager from Parkinson’s UK commented: “It was absolutely amazing bringing Slingshot Sponsorship to Parkinson’s UK and I truly believe it was one of the best things I have done whilst working here.  Our entire team have changed dramatically and it’s all for the better!”

The next Slingshot Sponsorship Session will take place on Thursday 22nd January.  More information on the agenda and booking can be found here.  Or please contact Slingshot directly at [email protected]

To read some testimonials from previous Slingshot Sponsorship Bootcamp attendees click here.

Slingshot Offers Sponsorship Boot Camp! 9th May, 2011

We are approached almost every day with fantastic ideas that need funding to get off the ground.  However, not all projects require or have the investment available for the full sponsorship agency services that we offer – which include sponsorship valuation, brand media asset creation, sponsorship sales, and account management. 

To help meet the need, we’ve come up with a great solution! 

We are now offering bespoke full day consultancy sessions in the form of Boot Camp – a quick, intense day that will leave you both exhausted and exhilerated.  During the session, we will thoroughly uncover your opportunity and  provide insight in order to develop your media assets into viable sponsorship platforms which attract brands.  We will provide practical advice from how to structure your sponsorship proposal all the way down to what kind of copy to include to explain your benefits.  You will leave our office with a sponsorship strategy as well as great sales tips on how to sell it. 

The best part is that it is completely tailored to your event, publication and/or brand – therefore, whether you have been doing sponsorship for years, but have had trouble recently securing sponsors or if you are a completely sponsorship beginner, we can make sure you walk away with a sponsorship strategy that works for you.

If you are interested in finding out more information, make sure to get in touch with our sponsorship team today [email protected]