18
Sponsorship
July 2016
How to maximise the
sponsorship opportunity
Expert views on sponsorship from Slingshot and CIM
How can associations maximise
sponsorship opportunities in an
increasingly fragmented landscape?
The thorny topic provoked much debate
at the Association Events Forum during
International Confex earlier this year.
Jackie Fast, managing director at Slingshot
and a member of the European Sponsorship
Association, argues that sponsorship is often
a challenge for association event organisers.
She says: “Targets are constantly increased,
but the value of logo badging lanyards is
actually decreasing – meaning that securing
sponsorship is significantly harder than it
was five years ago.
“By not taking into consideration that the
value of traditional sponsorship assets such
as logos has shifted, you will fail to truly
build partnerships that last as you won’t be
creating value for your sponsors, which is the
fundamental point of any partnership.”
If you can’t sell a logo though, Fast asks,
what else can you sell?
Content: content is becoming more
valuable to organisations as they aim to
differentiate and cut through the clutter as
the competition gets fiercer and the world
gets smaller. By providing unique and
exclusive content to your sponsors, they
will be able to utilise these assets to drive a
greater return on investment – one that can
be measured and tracked.
Resource: the fact that you are already
undertaking the time, cost and resource to
run a successful event is a great opportunity
CN-06-16-AEM.indd 18
for brands to partner with those who
don’t have the extra resource to support
what they’d hope to be their own events
programme. However, if you are going to
consider partnering your event to support
a brand’s event activities you need to be
actively collaborating. A brand sponsor won’t
just want to brand the podium if it is part of
their own event series, they will want to be
curating the speaker line-up with you.
Fast says: “Sponsorship is all about value,
so rather than adding benefit lists that
incorporate where their logo can be placed –
start understanding how you can help them
grow their business.”
At the Chartered Institute of Marketing
(CIM) the importance of sponsorship to
events is taken very seriously.
A spokeswoman for CIM says that
whether the association is looking to gain
exposure, build goodwill for longer term
partnerships, or connect with a specific
audience, sponsorship can have real benefits
for all parties involved. It can also add
value to consumers, as long as it is properly
targeted and leveraged with the audience
in mind. Well thought out sponsorship can
go a long way towards adding depth to an
overall brand experience, and can have a very
positive impact on the consumer’s attitude
and loyalty towards an event or company.
In order to maintain balance between
servicing the audience and pleasing the
sponsor, CIM offers four key points:
• Sponsorship can deliver great results, but
can be challenging to select, negotiate,
manage and evaluate effectively – this
means planning and interrogating the
options is key.
• Organisers should consider their audience
and their interests, alongside the culture
and ethos of the event to ensure these are
aligned with their sponsors’ own audience
and culture. It’s pointless when brands force
their way in front of an audience that is not
going to be interested in their proposition.
This will only take away from any event and
have an unwanted, negative impact.
• For the same reason, it’s important for
organisers to consider carefully their
objectives for the event before selecting
sponsors to ensure these are in line, too. A
mutual partnership with shared objectives
is far more meaningful to the entire brand
experience.
• Finally, the creation of a significant
experience for participants is central to any
successful sponsorship. One way organisers
can do this effectively is to encourage
sponsors to add something of value, which
goes beyond simply positioning a logo
on marketing materials. For example, a
product, experience or resource. In turn,
event sponsors will reap the benefits from
attendees who later associate their positive
experience with their brand.
27/06/2016 12:12