Increasing Activation-to-Spend Ratio Will Drive More Focus on Sponsorship Event Management
The latest IEG/ESP Properties Sponsorship Decision-Makers Survey reports that survey respondents are spending $2.20 on activating sponsorships for every $1.00 spent on rights fees—the highest ratio since 2007. Although social media is the leading channel for leveraging sponsorships, on-site interaction is close behind. More sponsors are also using B2B entertainment to activate their sponsorship investment.
All this is likely to lead to more emphasis on managing sponsorship events, particularly in sports and entertainment where activation costs can be even higher than average and guests—especially VIP customers—expect exceptional event experiences. The issue is not merely cost, but value, and the question is what sponsors and their agencies are doing to manage, optimize and rate the experiences that drive that value.
The trends we are seeing at Playoff Technologies include the following:
More attention to event planning, particularly the specific activities offered to different groups of guests and the tools used to track tasks, tickets and guests to reduce the risk of errors.
Web-based ticket request systems, where employees and customers can request tickets, the requests can be reviewed and approved and the guests can be added to the event and specific activities and tracked, on an integrated cloud-based system.
Improved messaging to guests before, during and after the event, including welcome messages and videos and emailed itineraries that can be customized down to the individual guest level and updated instantly as schedules change.
iPad check-in or self-check-in tools that record attendance on a real-time basis, highlight substitutions, confirm or collect guest information, alert hosts to guest arrivals and provide special messages to guests.
Post-event surveys that assess guest experiences and satisfaction, with results tied to single and multi-event analytics and tracked across multiple events and properties.
Attendance reports that chart attendance mix (such as line of business, customers versus employees, no-shows and substituted guests) and demonstrate how tickets are actually being used.
Event analytics that rank and compare events using survey results and custom rating factors that are important to the sponsor’s business.
Valuation tools that transfer event attendance data to proprietary sponsor systems that track customer business levels against attendance at sponsorship events.
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