Let’s face it. Sponsorship is about marketing and return on investment. Selling properties need to sell assets for enough money (based on the fair market value of those assets) to make a living. They need to sell sponsorships to brands to cover the costs of their overall organizations and make a profit. (Yes, make a profit, even if they are a charity or non-profit. In those cases, it just means the “profit” is re-invested in the mission, be it finding a cure for cancer, setting up another afterschool program, keeping taxes lower or fees level.)
On the other side of the table, sponsors need to get reasonable ROI on their investments or they should not be spending the money. When we invest in a sponsorship, we look for specific outcomes such as leads and conversion of a percentage of those leads to closed business for a certain amount of revenue within a certain timeframe.
Our sponsorship investments also have a measurement factor around our team members. Can that sponsorship provide professional development opportunities for some of our team members? Can it provide a social experience for them so they feel more engaged in being part of the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™? Did they come away with learning (determined by their reporting back) or enjoy the experience (“That was amazing, I would love to do that again” or “Yeah, it was good, thanks”).
We know by such measurements whether to invest again and what the outcomes are. And yes, when we enter into a sponsorship agreement, we are clear with our properties about the goals and it is fantastic. They work with us to achieve those goals. (The few that have not worked with us on our goals and instead dropped the ball are no longer a property we sponsor, even if they reach our target audience.) This is why they are called partnerships!
Recently, I read an article about Randy Cohen, founder and president of TicketCity in the USA., an online ticket broker. He took a big risk and titled a post-season college football game. How did he measure success?
He did not measure success simply by immediate sales. Part of the measurement was brand awareness. He looked to find out if more people were aware of TicketCity after the game than before, and if they knew what TicketCity offered – resale of sports and entertainment tickets. He measured brand awareness prior and post. The numbers were up for those associated and attending, as well as those not interacting but reached through traditional marketing with his brand being front and centre. They also found from an internal survey that their employees were ecstatic and enjoyed being part of the sponsorship. Guess what? This builds employee morale. Happy employees don’t leave for other jobs. Lower turnover means higher profits. I say… do the math!
They did do some substantial immediate sales numbers and, since January, they have seen excellent growth that can be tracked back to the title naming rights of the bowl.
Measuring success means you need to know what you are trying to achieve. Fail to set those dynamics in place and you cannot measure success.
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