What Newsagents & Hairdressers Have To Do With Sponsorship Sales

I love the Newsagent – the whole Slingshot Sponsorship office pops around to the one on Upper Street at least twice a day. Mr Ozza owns the shop, we love him – and I especially love that he sells my favourite Fizzy Blue Bottle sweets at the counter, a real delicacy around these parts. However, whenever I pop in I tend to buy the same thing – water, Diet Coke, sweets. The orders rarely chan...

Just Add Super Glue: Sponsorship Activations That Stick

There have been moments throughout my career when I’ve questioned whether or not sponsorship works – do people really notice, care or remember the sponsors – days, months or years later? I notice all the time, but then again, I spend more time watching the sponsors then the game, itself. Think back to the most memorable moments in your life – the memories that are vivid and put a smile on ...

Arts Sponsorship Growing, But Lagging Other Sponsorship Genres

Per sponsorship consultancy, IEG, sponsorship spending on symphony orchestras, performing arts venues and other arts organizations is expected to total $920 million in 2013, up 3.3 percent from 2012. With the exception of fairs and festivals, the year-over-year growth falls behind most other property genres such as associations and membership organizations (4 percent); causes (4.8 percent); ...

A Simple Test For Your Sponsorship Ideas

If you know me, even through my writing or attending a workshop or collaborating on a project, you know that I encourage (sometimes even provoke) people to think big. Corporate sponsorship is one of those marketing vehicles where thinking big is easy and the best way to go. The problem is most people don't. Here's a simple tool to help you test your ideas for bigness. Considering...

I Could Never Sell Sponsorship... Or Could I?

People ask me all the time why I’m still selling sponsorship. Then they follow-up with a “wow, I could never do what you do”. I ask myself the same question all the time. Then I remember that I love to build creative marketing solutions for brands that can be leveraged across multiple stakeholders and activated through all other forms of media. Oh, and working in sports and entertainment for a ...

An Olympic Sized Sponsorship Suggestion

Yes, you are the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and yes, you wield a large amount of power. You hold this power because you’re favored and embraced by billions of people on the planet. You exist, in part, because corporations provide you with funds, through sponsorship dollars – and you allow those companies to activate their relationship with the Olympics and protect their rights to do...

How Big Blue Puts Big Data To Work For Tennis Fans

Think you know tennis? Maybe, but probably not as well as the U.S. Open's Official Information Technology provider. IBM's SlamTracker Keys to the Match application crunches more data than you can imagine by instantly crawling 41 million data points and eight years of Grand Slam matches to apply predictive analysis to the game of tennis. Feast on this tennis fans...

Survivor: Sports Marketing Intern Survival Guide

Thinking about an internship in sports marketing or reminiscing about your experience from the past – and how it was different back then? Well, times have definitely changed and I can’t think of another industry that has hundreds clamouring for a chance to work in sports marketing (and it’s not just students who are applying these days). In fact, it’s harder than ever to get a great internsh...

Sponsorship Levels: Love 'em or Leave 'em?

Research by IEG over the years shows us that about a decade ago, corporations that work with nonprofit organizations began asking for “benefits” in exchange for their “gifts.” This request effectively conflated philanthropy with the marketing medium known as corporate sponsorship and continues to confuse both nonprofit and corporate leaders. Nonprofit development officers, on whose shoulders...

Apples and Oranges: Sponsorship vs. Traditional Media

I was inspired to write this blog post based on a recent call with an agency. The genesis of the conversation involved the comparison of a fully integrated sponsorship opportunity with a traditional media buy. It went something like this “when we compared the opportunity with a media buy, it wasn’t even close…” I won’t get into detail, but if you’re looking for a certain CPM or GRP, I think it...