What an experience!
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of education and professional development. I feel like a PGA golfer on tour (but without the money). It all culminated two days ago with the Canadian Sponsorship Forum and the Montreal Grand Prix. What an amazing experiential event. Though I did not attend this conference several of our Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™ team and clients joined in the festivities. They had an amazing time, as all do at Canada’s national annual traveling sponsorship conference. But there was more than that.
I had the unique experience of speaking at the Marketing Association of Credit Unions annual conference. And yes, sponsorship is on their radar. We know that many credit unions are active in sponsorship, but as several told me, few can measure results. Traditional agencies, they told me, cannot help them other than doing creative and delivering media buys. They needed to know how to measure their investment against results and ensure their members are not only getting value, but also ROI. The session I delivered was on measuring ROI for sponsors and brands. Yes, sponsors need more than just a good feeling to consider a sponsorship successful and there are ways to measure success.
After that, I was delighted to speak at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Halifax. It was an outstanding event. With over 2300 registered delegates, this was a bustling conference. And it was timely too. As municipalities struggle with balancing budgets and trying to find alternate revenue channels, I delivered a session on Municipalities and Corporate Sponsorship. It, too, was well received and presented to a packed break-out session. Yes, municipalities are now truly in the game and accessing the expertise and tools for success through the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™ and other firms.
From Halifax, I flew to Saint John, New Brunswick to deliver a full session on integrating PR and sponsorship, and how the two are so interlinked that is it critical to communicate between silos. This session was for the national conference of the Canadian Public Relations Society. This amazing few days showed me that, in addition to sponsorship industry specialists like those at the Canadian Sponsorship Forum, delegates from Credit Unions or Municipalities and PR agencies or departments all have a need and desire to better understand sponsorship. Sponsorship integrates with PR, media, communications, marketing, IR and GR. The feedback was tremendous and open-minded. Unlike typical ad agency “attitude” expressing that “we can do sponsorship for our clients…we will build them a glossy package and have them send it out,” the PR folks I interacted with “got it.” They understood that sponsorship is not a stand-alone silo, but rather an integrated part of their overall plan. They went away with the understanding that there are specialists who can assist them and their clients or organizations with sponsorships. They clearly understood that together we can deliver results, versus thinking that they are the only source for solution.
Finally, I made a trip to Ottawa. Imagine Canada hosted an amazing forum in Montebello for charities and their corporate partners. It was two full days of learning and understanding different positions and points of view in the world of partnerships. The knowledge and scope of participation was truly fantastic. My session on engaging brands and charities into sponsorships and delivering ROI for both parties was fun and interactive. The feedback on the reality of today’s sponsorship world was an eye opener for some charities, but most understood that this is the “new world” and failing to “play the game” will only result in less money from sponsors and brands. The brands and sponsors that spoke and interacted agreed. The world has changed since 2007 and, in the “new game,” transparency, value for invested dollar and ROI are all terms that are more than doublespeak…they are the world of today.
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