Clear your mind. Get ready to toss out with the garbage all that you have traditionally been taught about sponsorship. Huge paradigm change. This is more than the death of the gold, silver, and bronze stock packaging which died two decades ago (but that some poor marketers still use). The change we are talking about here and now is how we truly think about sponsorship marketing—how we operate as a property, brand, or agency.

The Trinity of Sponsorship is not just a thought process; it is a trend that has been delivered because of our “on-demand” audiences. It was triggered by a need to be included. It has been led to date by the sport marketing side of our sector and it will affect us all. The Trinity of Sponsorship dispels the ancient myth and practice that sponsorship is a relationship and experience between the sponsor/brand/buyer and the property/seller/rights holder. It has been that way for tens of decades. Today though, it is different. The equally important, and thanks to technology, more vocal and visible group in that equation is the audiences themselves.  The triumvirate, or Trinity of Sponsorship, is based on the sponsor, the property, and the audience all benefitting from every sponsorship deal. When all three “win,” the sponsorship program delivers results exponentially. When only one or two parts of the Trinity of Sponsorship are satisfied, maximum ROI is not achieved.

Too often, we build (as a property) a sponsorship program that will garner us maximum revenue as an organization. We build it to ensure the sponsors receive the maximum potential for ROI based on their investment in the sponsorship program. Sure, we think about the audience, but not to the extent that we will need to in the future. Why? Because now, the audience has a say through social and digital media, through ticket sales (or not), and through public opinion. But we must be cautious. We need to know that the audience members who are talking to us and telling us what they want are the majority and not the loud and high-profile minority. Listening to the wrong message could result in chaos.

The audience is different for all sectors and can even differ within a property. Take, for example, a sport organization. The audience, or primary audience, is the fans. They want access to athletes; they want to “armchair quarterback”; they want stats in real time. The sponsor and the property must deliver this, and when they do it together, all parts of the Trinity of Sponsorship win. For the municipality, it can be different audiences depending on the property/facility—the pool, the rink, the soccer field, the council chambers, and the cultural or performing arts centre. For the charity or non-profit, it is the donor, but also the event attendee or the user of services. For concerts and festivals, it is the consumers, the attendees, and they want engagement, entertainment, and fun. They want it again in real time. They want wayfinding at the event, access to celebrities, and access to sponsor and exhibitor content. We truly now live in an “on demand” society. Although the audience didn’t demand all this initially, technology has led the way, and provided the access and availability to push the consumer to demand these needs and wants from the property and sponsors.

So to be truly successful going forward, we need to change our thought process. We need to engage in a three-way (not two-way) sponsorship program. Our failure to leave out the audiences, our failure to engage them and provide what they want will make investments in sponsorship a failure. The Trinity of Sponsorship is the key to long-term success in this new world. The sooner you adopt it, the easier your life will be!

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