Need Sponsorship? Our top tips will show you how! part I 10th September, 2010

With the recent surge in corporate sponsorship in the UK, sponsorship proposals are coming in faster than ever. However, with so many new organisations and events trying their hand at sponsorship funding, not all of these sponsorship proposals are maximising the total funding available. This is due to the lack of specific knowledge in this area as sponsorship professionals can be hard to come by and are rarely located within an organisation. Most often sponsorship is championed by the Marketing Director who rarely has the time and resource to make the most of their sponsorship opportunities.
To save some time and money take note of Slingshot Sponsorship’s top tips for organisations requesting sponsorship:

Tip: Sponsorship isn’t about you!

Sponsorship happens because you can provide an audience, which helps sponsors reach their objectives. Sponsorship is not simply about someone helping you fund your opportunity or great idea. You need to look at sponsorship as a product you are selling. Most people do not like to pay for something and leave the store empty handed.

Tip: Sponsorship proposals should focus on benefits

Your sponsorship proposal should focus on the benefits you can help them realise. Although there are sponsorship programmes that are for corporate social responsibility, the majority are not, and even if they are, they still need to see ROI. Make sure to focus on these commercial benefits rather than the event itself in the sponsorship proposal.

Tip: Get the right fit

Prospects should be approached who share the same target audience and values. This will not only ensure that the prospect is marketing to their key audience, but also creates an associated brand experience.

Keep following our blog – part II is coming up next!

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.