What’s a good plate with nothing on it?

9 Inch Axiom – Sponsorship Activation

‘For every dollar you spend to acquire the sponsorship, you should spend two to activate it’

Sponsorship has been getting torched recently.  The banks are getting the brunt of it as chronicled by Terry Lefton and Tripp Mickle in their SBJ article entitled ‘Beaten Up Banks’.  A great piece, the article details the current climate and underscores the need for the industry to rise up in defense of sponsorship. 

Sports sponsorship is a tremendous tool.   It is highly effective and measurable.  It allows a brand to connect with consumers at their point of passion.  It breaks through the clutter and when done properly it can drive brand awareness and loyalty.  It is a vital part of an effective integrated marketing strategy.

[Stepping off the Soap Box]  This post is about the part of sponsorship beyond contractual fulfillment and more commonly known as sponsorship activation. 

As a general rule of thumb for maximizing ROI, brands should spend at least two dollars to activate for every dollar to acquire rights.  The sponsorship fee is only the foundation on which you build your integrated platforms.  The leading brands are the ones that truly leverage advertising, pr, retail, promotional, online and experiential as part of the sponsorship.   

My biggest fear with this current backlash is that brands will make drastic cuts to activation dollars.  Not investing to support sponsorships creates a double whammy:

1. It drives down ROI for the sponsor
2. It hurts the league, team, event or individual which is sponsored

My old boss had a saying about vacation.  He was fond of saying that vacation days were like aspirin . . . they only work if you take them.  I believe that thinking can be applied to today’s marketplace.   Sponsorship only works if you activate against it.  After all . . . what’s a good plate with nothing on it?

Today’s Lagniappe – A movie reco and some etymology

Movie reco – The title of my post comes from the 1994 cult classic CLERKS.  One of the characters is relaying a quote from his grandmother.  The quote is towards the end of the clip:

Etymology of Sponsor - the word derives from the Latin sponsor (pl. sponsores), word meaning guarantor.  A guarantor is one who 1) guarantees an obligation and  2) has a legal duty to fulfill it.  

[It will be interesting to see if this meaning gets turned on its head in the coming months and years with brands such as CITI, GM, RBS and Wells Fargo]

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