ROI, ROO, ROS...RO-Real Biz Outcomes

Whatever acronym you use these days, the mandate is in: sponsorships must be able to be measured in and translated to real business outcomes. Today (via MediaPost) Larry Albus introduces us to the IEG special sauce, "Return on Sponsorship," which should be recommended reading for any sponsorship professional. In his words, "Buyers of sports and other sponsorships must -- and can -- assess the...

Sponsorship Justification - TARP Style

Sponsor recall studies are nothing new. Sponsor recall studies with TARP-infused financial services companies are. Who wants to see the results of this sponsor recall study, which the Mets organization circulated to fans earlier today? Me too.

Piggybacking, Partnering & Pass-Throughs

Last week, the NY Times looked at the practice of NASCAR sponsors going beyond the track to form lucrative business partnerships with fellow NASCAR sponsors. NASCAR has even formed a business-to-business council to help prospect such partnerships. Yesterday, we wrote about a great example of partners working together cross-promotionally, as Prince a Wimbledon official partner and licensee,...

Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits: Prospecting Circles

A cause is often the cornerstone of many sports and entertainment sponsorship platforms. Today's "key learning" comes from Joe Waters, who is the Director of Cause Marketing for Boston Medical Center, an avid blogger at Selfishgiving.com and a rabid Boston Red Sox fan. In addition to winning last Friday's caption contest, he has agreed to lend us his insights on cause marketing, which is more ...

How Man-U Courted AON

When the deal was announced on June 3rd, many were surprised to hear that little-known Chicago-based insurer, AON, had agreed to pay $130 million for some of the most coveted real estate in sports, Manchester United's jersey. The Atlantic this month has a fascinating look at how the Man-U and AON deal went down. Man-U execs hoped it could raise the profile of AON, which had offices throughout...

Is Wimbledon Leaving Sponsor Money on the Table?

We all know that at some point the law of diminishing returns applies to sponsorship. Now you can mitigate it to a certain extent with clever activation and added experiential value, but with each new sponsor you always risk diluting the piece of consumer mindshare that your existing sponsors receive. By limiting sponsorship is it possible to enhance the value of (and your pot. revenue from) s...

Sponsorship Communications 101

Today SBJ/SBD reports that golf agents are seeing "cautious optimism" that corporate skepticism towards golf sponsorships has waned. The New York Times didn't sound too optimistic last week when they reported a tepid appetite for the U.S. Open's $230k tents. Turns out they might both be right. Darren Rovell sat down with crisis management consultant Gene Grabowski, who offers a slightly dif...

5 Books for Sponsorship Sellers

Amazon.com Widgets Ice to the Eskimos In just three years as president of the hopeless New Jersey Nets, Spoelstra upped the sponsorship level from $400,000 to $7 million and increased ticket sales by 300 percent. What everyone else had seen as a lost cause, Spoelstra saw as an outstanding opportunity to reawaken a tired product to achieve unprecedented profitability. As sponsorship sellers,...

Five (or Six) Brands that Won at Wimbledon

For the second year in a row, the AELTC wrapped up Wimbledon with an epic Men's final this time to the tune of a 16-14 fifth set. There was no shortage of storylines this year with Fed gunning for 15, an all-williams women's final and Britain's best hope since that of his clothing sponsor's namesake, Fred Perry. As we say goodbye to another year of Wimbledon and look toward the hardcourts, her...

Passion Planes, Part III

The plane paparazzi has had an amazing two weeks. First bloggers uncovered the Oakland Raiders' branded Air Asia plane in an Oakland hanger and then last weekend plane spotters spoiled Air Canada's Olympic surprise. Between these two and the Real Salt Lake/Jet Blue carrier, the PR folks would have you believe that you haven't "arrived" unless at least one member of your fleet is activating ......