practical events management lecture seven: event sponsorship and branding
TRANSCRIPT
Practical Events
ManagementLecture Seven: Event
Sponsorship and Branding
Defining Sponsorship
“In it’s simplest terms, sponsorship is the purchase of exploitable rights and
marketing benefits that arise from direct involvement with a personality/player,
special events, programme, club or agency”
(Bowdin et al, 2006:228)
Why Sponsorship?
Sponsorship is a form of integrated marketing communication
Growth in popularity of events Ability to tap into niche markets
Sponsorship is concerned with the creation of market awareness
Local markets National markets International markets
Suitability of Sponsorship
Don’t assume that sponsorship is an appropriate source of income!
Gerald and Sinclair (2003) identify a number of questions that you should ask before seeking sponsorship as a revenue stream:
Does the event have sufficient rights or benefits that can be offered to sponsors?
Are the event’s stakeholders likely to approve of commercial sponsorship?
Are there some companies that are not suitable as sponsors?
Does the event have the resources to market and manage sponsorship?
Benefits of Sponsorship
Companies:
Customer goodwill Increase sales Increase brand
awareness Brand-lifestyle link Niche market Client entertainment Demonstration of product
capabilities Creation of
merchandising opportunities
Government agencies:
Economic Enhancing community Increasing social
interaction Sharing ideas Developing
community infrastructure
Winning popular support
Mutual Benefits of Sponsorship
Event Financial investment
In kind services
Marketing and media expertise
Event brand enhancement
Product and service offers for event goers
Business Increased brand
awareness
Brand image enhancement
Product trial/service exposure
Sales or hospitality opportunities
Market interactivity
Matching a Grant of Rights
Rights Holder identifies which rights they hold of interest and shared objectives to potential sponsors with shared values & markets
Research the potential commercial value of those rights to a prospective sponsor
Identify where (e.g.) media partnerships would also enhance these rights
Forge these (partner) relationships to up-weight their rights packages
Then identify how their overall rights could be appropriated into the most profitable (and most effectively ‘activated’) sponsorships..
These are drafted as the backbone to any sponsorship and represent the Grant of Rights which a Rights Holder is willing to sell or offer to a sponsor or partner in return for support of some kind (contra advertising, financial support, positioning support, broadcast support etc)
Identifying, Seeking, Researching and Securing Sponsorship
Some rights may be media focused, some CSR, some activation/experiential, some very high entry value, some low value.
A Rights Holder (and their agents) will review all rights, assets and benefits and ‘bundle’ them into the most effective, beneficial and profitable packages to support their needs/event/talent/artist
Examples of Sponsorships: Naming: Title, Headline, Founding Partner Sponsor: Endorsements, Unique IP Activation
Estates Branding: Partnerships, contra, advertising
Pitching Sponsorship
The Rights Holder (or Brand Owner) draft a proposal highlighting the potential SCOPE of a sponsored partnership and a Grant of Rights is presented
This is best presented within a bespoke pitch direct to the Brand Owner or Rights Holder to demonstrate why this proposed partnership has been identified as being mutually beneficial and sustainable
If the receiving party shows interest, a meeting will follow to negotiate the grant of rights (protection rights, rights extensions, rights restrictions, clause caveats, exclusivities etc)
From these negotiations, the Rights Holder (or their nominated agent) will then draft a Sponsorship Contract which is usually reviewed at the end of each sponsorship cycle/term and either renegotiated or exited
The Sponsorship Approach
A sponsorship proposal should address the following questions: What is the organisation being asked to sponsor? What will the organisation receive for its
sponsorship? What is it going to cost?
It should include: An overview of the event The sponsorship package on offer and associated cost The proposed duration of the contract Strategic fit between the proposal and the business
Maximising Event Sponsorship
360° activation of Rights and media for maximum brand exposure, placement and penetration before, during and after the festival, ultimately increasing market share, penetration and positioning for Tennent’s through groundbreaking activation
Positioning Tennent’s at the heart of the event and of the overall consumer experience through optimisation of the brand’s contractual sponsorship rights
Drive and inspire real emotional connections between the consumer/audience and the Tennent’s brand both at the event and through all media output
Why? Because consumers naturally feel passionately about the festival, but the association with Tennent’s needs constant and reinforcement year on year through highly creative and engaging brand activation
Creating powerful brand experiences through music to form an emotional bond between unique collective experiences (which “only Tennent’s can” deliver) such as…
Maximising Event Sponsorship
T in the Park Logo Re-brand (2008) – Consumer engagement primarily identifiable through media usage (from launch through to promotions), BBC broadcast/TV footage including stage scrims and through Tennent’s Lager extensive onsite branding programHospitality Dressing – Extend brand identity and personality into back of house hospitality area, a modern take on the traditional pub theme
Be Chilled – Product activity in campsite. Implementation of onsite structure and provision of product for an exclusive pre-order service allowing campers to order cans of chilled lager online before the event and collect them at their convenience throughout their stay on the campsite, offering a superior product experience
The Collective – A bespoke area of the campsite for exclusive group competition winners inc. tents, communal area and daily Tennent’s Lager product drop
T Break – the real backbone of Tennent’s music portfolio; grassroots artist support and promotion through this wholly owned 9 month annual activation campaign
Helicopter Rides – for key media, editors, sponsor VIPs, political figures and consumer competition winners, providing another “only Tennent’s can” experience of T in the Park
Podcasts – amplifying Tennent’s exclusive contractual rights and access privileges to provide consumers with broadcast narratives of “life backstage” at T in the Park and “the T Break journey” for artists playing at the T Break stag
T in the Park PR & Media Campaign – achieving record number of front pages, 650% ROI on £20m+ AVE campaign, extensive BBC TV network broadcast and R1/NME partnership amplification
Sponsorship Management
To ensure positive and enduring relations:
Have one contact person Understand the sponsor Motivate your staff about the sponsorship Use of celebrities associated with the event Acknowledge sponsorship at every point Sponsorship launch Media monitoring Undersell and over deliver
Monitoring and Evaluating
Evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership and how the sponsor and event have contributed to it
Measure the success of marketing objectives set by the sponsor with regards to the consumer