A Simple Test For Your Sponsorship Ideas

If you know me, even through my writing or attending a workshop or collaborating on a project, you know that I encourage (sometimes even provoke) people to think big. Corporate sponsorship is one of those marketing vehicles where thinking big is easy and the best way to go. The problem is most people don't. Here's a simple tool to help you test your ideas for bigness. Considering this si...

I Could Never Sell Sponsorship... Or Could I?

People ask me all the time why I’m still selling sponsorship. Then they follow-up with a “wow, I could never do what you do”. I ask myself the same question all the time. Then I remember that I love to build creative marketing solutions for brands that can be leveraged across multiple stakeholders and activated through all other forms of media. Oh, and working in sports and entertainment for a ...

An Olympic Sized Sponsorship Suggestion

Yes, you are the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and yes, you wield a large amount of power. You hold this power because you’re favored and embraced by billions of people on the planet. You exist, in part, because corporations provide you with funds, through sponsorship dollars – and you allow those companies to activate their relationship with the Olympics and protect their rights to do...

How Big Blue Puts Big Data To Work For Tennis Fans

Think you know tennis? Maybe, but probably not as well as the U.S. Open's Official Information Technology provider. IBM's SlamTracker Keys to the Match application crunches more data than you can imagine by instantly crawling 41 million data points and eight years of Grand Slam matches to apply predictive analysis to the game of tennis. Feast on this tennis fans...

Survivor: Sports Marketing Intern Survival Guide

Thinking about an internship in sports marketing or reminiscing about your experience from the past – and how it was different back then? Well, times have definitely changed and I can’t think of another industry that has hundreds clamouring for a chance to work in sports marketing (and it’s not just students who are applying these days). In fact, it’s harder than ever to get a great internsh...

Sponsorship Levels: Love 'em or Leave 'em?

Research by IEG over the years shows us that about a decade ago, corporations that work with nonprofit organizations began asking for “benefits” in exchange for their “gifts.” This request effectively conflated philanthropy with the marketing medium known as corporate sponsorship and continues to confuse both nonprofit and corporate leaders. Nonprofit development officers, on whose shoulders i...

Apples and Oranges: Sponsorship vs. Traditional Media

I was inspired to write this blog post based on a recent call with an agency. The genesis of the conversation involved the comparison of a fully integrated sponsorship opportunity with a traditional media buy. It went something like this “when we compared the opportunity with a media buy, it wasn’t even close…” I won’t get into detail, but if you’re looking for a certain CPM or GRP, I think it...

The Most Activated Event in Sports History?

Hype is nothing new to boxing press conferences, but really... the most activated event of all time? That's what Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe had to say about sponsorship for this weekend's Mayweather-Canelo blockbuster in the pre-fight presser... "When it comes to sponsor activation, this is the most activated event in the history of the sport. Corona, AT&T, O’Reilly Auto P...

5 Tips For Finding The Right Sponsorship Advisor

In the last month, I've gotten calls from several individuals or organizations who've gotten bad advice. They've also received disappointing reality checks from me. One call was from an organization that rapidly needs to change its business model. The advice they got, complete with financial projections, was to create gold, silver, and bronze sponsorship levels.Lots of stress when I shared why...

The Great Debate: Does Sponsorship Need A Name Change?

“Are you calling about a sponsorship?” “Um, no, I’m calling about a corporate partnership… I mean strategic alliance. Sorry, it’s actually an associative marketing opportunity”. “Isn’t that the same thing?” This has been an ongoing debate in our industry for as long as I can remember. I made a reference to this in one of my recent posts "You Know you work in Sponsorship When" (check it ou...