10 Commandments of (Sponsorship) Sales

Key Learnings is a regular weekly posting that covers insights and stories from thought-leaders within the sponsorship industry. This key learning comes from Jim Loria who has over 30 years of sports management experience and for the past 10 years as served as President of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede. THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF SALES! Know thy Self (team). Know thy Guest (customer's business...

Hedging the Economy with Category Selection?

This weekend, we got a note that Phoenix International Raceway had secured title sponsorship for the Nationwide race in November from a company called Able Body Labor (ablebody.net). Who? Able Body is a leader in the temp staffing arena employing more than 125,000 workers each year while providing comprehensive staffing solutions for thousands of customers across many industries including con...

Will Anti-Smoking Bill Snuff Out Tobacco Sponsorships?

HR 1256, more commonly referred to as the "anti-smoking" bill, last week passed both the house and the senate and is set to go before the President, at which time he has said he intends to sign it. The bill aims to curb teenage smoking addiction by expanding warning labels, increased FDA regulation and severely limiting the possible venues for marketing tobacco-related products. One line th...

Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits

A cause is often the cornerstone of many sports and entertainment sponsorship platforms. Very excited today to add Joe Waters to our list of "Key Learnings" experts. Joe is the Director of Cause Marketing for Boston Medical Center, an avid blogger at Selfishgiving.com and a rabid Boston Red Sox fan. Even though his entry did not win last Friday's caption contest, he has agreed to lend us his i...

When Official and Authentic Don't Mix

Kevin Mclean's art of conversation blog brings up a great question surrounding a recent outdoor Evian ad (seen to the right) supporting their 2009 Wimbledon sponsorship. Does "official" sponsorship equate to "authenticity?" The answer is no. You can most certainly be official, but not authentic (and conversely ambush marketers can appear more authentic than official sponsors themselves). Of...

Poll: Sponsorship Appeal and Olympic Host City Selection

In today's Chicago Tribune, Philip Hersh discusses the impact of one of Chicago's key "selling points" -- that the 2016 bid city has the most commercial (read: sponsorship and TV) appeal. Tomorrow, Chicago 2016 along with the three other cities will make their pitch to the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland. On the issue of commercial appeal, IOC marketing director yesterday had this to offer: "I’m...

Conan O'Brien has Fun with Naming Rights

Take a break from the proposals. This came across via Diane Knoepke at IEG, who hinted that like all good satire, this may be based in a shred of truth. This should draw a laugh on your way out the door.

Sponsor Post

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High Schools: the New Frontier for Sponsorship?

Remember those branded plastic footballs they used to fire into the stands at the local high school when you were growing up? That was one of my first brushes with corporate sponsorship back in the day. Apparently a lot has changed in Texas since the late '90's. Dan Dunkin of the Philadelphia Intelligencer reports that some Texas high schools are securing $1 million+ naming rights deals a...

Sponsorship Marketing's Top 10

We need to get some dialogue going on what we think is important in our business, as a community of professionals. We’ve got properties, agencies of properties, corporate brand sponsors, agencies of sponsors. We’ve got consultants that serve both sides, reporters, service providers, industry associations, and academics. We’ve got major professional sports properties and very local small ones...