Six Ways Properties Can Demonstrate Value to Their Sponsors
Stand Out from the Competition. In a world of growing concerns about declining attendance and viewership and increasing alternatives for sponsorship dollars, standing out from the competition has never been more important. Sponsors expect more innovative opportunities and greater, better documented value. They also expect more focus on activation, fulfillment and guest experiences. If your property doesn’t do a better job of holding the hands of your key sponsors, someone else will.
Communicate Value Throughout the Season. Quarterly and annual recaps are no longer enough to keep sponsors engaged and assure renewals. The best properties are providing 24-7 online evidence of the value they bring to their sponsors throughout the season and beyond. Value-adds, hosted events and brand placement should constantly be communicated. Cloud-based sponsor-facing tools are leading the way.
Enhance the Event Experience. Properties see events across a wide range of sponsors. To ensure that sponsors get the return they expect on the dollars being invested in tickets and events, properties need to share event planning tools and best practices with their sponsors. Arming sponsors with tools that enable them to build and send real-time event agendas to attendees’ mobile devices as well as send instant notifications to attendees before, during and after events will increase their overall guest experience.
Deliver Better Data and Analytics Tools. As the industry moves toward better data—and better data analysis tools—sponsors are expecting properties to give them the data they need to support their multi-factor analytics of their sponsorship costs and benefits. Flexibility and creative solutions are both important here, as many sponsors and agencies are still striving to understand what they need to measure and why.
Assure Activation Success. Regardless of cause, a botched asset activation or a bad event experience for a single VIP guest can determine the outcome of a contract renewal or opt out. When things go wrong, the collateral damage is high, no matter who may be responsible. Properties need to take—and demonstrate—more collaborative interest in helping their sponsors achieve activation success and maximum value from their investment.
Improve Collaboration. In a team sport like sponsorship management, collaboration can make huge difference in how the parties feel about the relationship. Frequent collaboration about activation status, creative specs, tasks, asset fulfillments and event results not only enhances success but also fosters a strong sense of partnership. Having integrated sponsorship management tools that can be shared by properties, sponsors and agencies is critical. One of the best cloud-based resources is Sponsor Locker, created by Playoff Technologies.
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