In this industry, it is not uncommon to witness sponsorship portfolios growing organically, without a clear vision of which properties with which to align the brand. That approach might lead to exposing brands to unwanted risks. First and foremost, managers must know the amount of exposure of their portfolio, and the avenues to mitigate it. Risk can be multiple and varied.
It may seem obvious but in an ever more competitive market, properties are under mounting pressures to gain revenues from sponsorship, and the task gets even harder during sluggish economic times. As it is true for the consumer market, attracting new business is a much costlier endeavor than retaining existing partners. That is why your sponsors are your greatest assets. I am a firm believer in the concept of shared value. Properties and sponsors might not always agree, but they do have common goals that can create added value for both partners once reached.
Besides the revenue gained from a sponsorship deal, properties will also seek objectives of their own like visibility, ticket sales, brand image and networking opportunities, to name a few. Sponsors will sign a sponsorship deal for various reasons like visibility, awareness, affinity with the target audience, brand image, sales or to mobilize their employees, for example.
It is a well-documented fact that sponsorship activation is a prerequisite for a sponsor to achieve its communication goals. Properties will largely benefit from a sponsor’s activation program, in various ways. It will generate both visibility and awareness: a great way of catching the interest a potential sponsor. Depending on the property’s industry, such publicity will also help in selling tickets or generating increased traffic.
Fit between a sponsor and a property is a clear driver of sponsorship performance. In fact, the right fit will substantially improve brand awareness. This awareness is often needed to obtain a positive return on sponsorship investments and also to achieve more elaborate goals, like brand image transfer, affinity with a specific target market, better attitude toward the brand and a rise in purchase intents. High fit will increase a brand’s acceptance by the public, and its presence will be perceived as more altruistic.
