Six Trends in Sports Sponsorship Management
Shared cloud-based data. Cloud-based integrated management systems are finally replacing spreadsheets, emails and one-off apps. Advanced sponsorship management tools deliver integrated, highly-customizable, enterprise-grade solutions built specifically to manage sports and entertainment sponsorships. These integrated systems improve collaboration and activation, enhance guest experiences and fuel faster, better decisions that save time and money, improve ROI and increase sponsor satisfaction and contract renewals.
Access to information anywhere, anytime and from any device. In today’s world, we expect 24-7 access to information in our personal and business lives, and we expect to access that information on any device, from laptops to tablets to smartphones. One of the most common complaints voiced by sponsorship managers is being unable to access current information, particularly when the executive upstairs expects an immediate answer to a question. The need for access to current data is one of the key reasons that spreadsheets are being replaced with more advanced management tools.
Sophisticated sponsorship-focused analytics. Increased industry trends toward big (and small) data and increased C-suite and Board-level interest in rising sponsorship commitments are fueling demands for better information that can better justify the expenditures. This is a hot area, and it’s likely to become warmer still. Many sponsors and even leading marketing agencies are struggling with how to select, measure and analyze the relevant factors. A variety of interesting startups and more established firms are offering specific analytics tools and services, often focused on video media analysis. As the industry moves toward better data—and better data analysis tools—the smart sponsors will move toward multi-factor analytics that enable them to create, test, weight and assess multiple measurement factors and select the ones that best fit their portfolio mix and their specific business needs. Interestingly, some sponsors are looking to their agencies for help with this, while others are using their agency’s assessment as only one of several measurement factors.
Asset activation and event management. With the increased emphasis on experiential activities, sponsors are realizing that activation and event costs and outcomes can make a significant difference in the returns from a sponsorship investment. Asset costs alone fail to tell the whole story. This recognition is driving increased interest in capturing costs and benefits and in using management tools that improve planning, reduce execution risk and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
Increased collaboration. Every sponsorship deal typically has three or four seats at the table, with the sponsor and its agency on one side and the property and maybe a third-party rights holder on the other side. For years, properties have focused on sponsorship sales and lived with activation obligations. Today, all the constituencies are recognizing that sports sponsorship is a team sport that requires shared access to real-time information and closer collaboration. As sponsors are demanding better evidence to support their sponsorship investments, properties are looking at sponsor-facing tools to demonstrate the value they bring to their sponsors every day, and not just at recap or renewal time.
More focus on data security. Companies are paying closer attention to the security management of proprietary contract data for their sponsorship deals and personally-identifiable information for their event guests. In the process, a few are recognizing that some of the greatest risks result from emails, email attachments and unencrypted spreadsheets that are contained on laptops and other mobile devices or printed out in hard copy form for executive travel. This recognition is increasing interest in the multi-layered protection offered by enterprise-grade cloud-based management tools.
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