Archive for the ‘Sponsorship’ Category

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Crossroads

Monday, February 15th, 2010
“A lot of people think I’m cocky, and I think cocky can be cute. Being arrogant is totally different. I’ve learned that now. If cocky is when, before someone throws you a pitch, you think you’re gonna hit it, then yeah, I’m cocky. Arrogance is talking about it in the dugout all day.” – John Mayer

Mayer should heed his own advice. Because “talking about it in the dugout” is exactly what has caused the singer his latest media crisis; an explosive tell all interview courtesy of Playboy magazine. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/1011527/myer-apologises-breaks-down-on-stage
Mayer’s interview is filled with explosive quotes for the tabloids but the real question is why on earth was Mayer in talks with Playboy in the first place?
Everyone knows Mayer has a history of kiss and tell. Sitting down with Playboy magazine was always going to lead to trouble.
Ok I get it. Mayer has an album to promote. His record agency appoint a PR firm (external or internal) to put the bait out – John is available to talk about his new album, who’s interested? Playboy put their hand up. The rest is history.
When a PR company go all out in the pursuit of publicity they go for quantity not necessarily quality. You see, PR agencies are judged by how many times a logo appears or a word is mentioned. It’s hard to knock back media requests when publicity alone is the goal.
This can lead to some dangerous traps for celebrities. It gives certain media access to your client, media you otherwise would never consider.
It’s difficult to avoid such PR plans by sponsors, so you’ve got to rely on solid media training for your client.
If was preparing John Mayer for an interview with Playboy I would have said “Now John, the magazine is likely to bring up A, B, C. Ideally they want you to talk about X, Y, Z. What I want you to do is stick with 1, 2, 3. If you can’t do that, then I’ll kick your ass. Got it?”
You can’t always hide from sections of the media, one day you’ll come face to face so it’s best to be prepared.

“A lot of people think I’m cocky, and I think cocky can be cute. Being arrogant is totally different. I’ve learned that now. If cocky is when, before someone throws you a pitch, you think you’re gonna hit it, then yeah, I’m cocky. Arrogance is talking about it in the dugout all day.” – John Mayer

Mayer should heed his own advice. Because “talking about it in the dugout” is exactly what has caused the singer his latest media crisis; an explosive tell all interview courtesy of Playboy magazine.

Mayer’s interview is filled with explosive quotes for the tabloids but the real question is why on earth was Mayer in talks with Playboy in the first place?

Everyone knows Mayer has a history of kiss and tell. Sitting down with Playboy magazine was always going to lead to trouble.

Ok I get it. Mayer has an album to promote. His record agency appoint a PR firm (external or internal) to put the bait out – John is available to talk about his new album, who’s interested? Playboy put their hand up. The rest is history.

When a PR company go all out in the pursuit of publicity they go for quantity not necessarily quality. You see, PR agencies are judged by how many times a logo appears or a word is mentioned. It’s hard to knock back media requests when publicity alone is the goal.

As a manager, this can lead to some dangerous traps for your celebrity clients. It gives certain people or publications access to your client, media you would otherwise never consider.

It’s difficult to avoid these situations, so you’ve got to rely on solid media training for your client.

If was preparing John Mayer for an interview with Playboy I would have said “Now John, the magazine is likely to bring up A, B, C. I don’t want you talking about A, B, C. I want you to stick with X, Y, Z. If you can’t do that, then I’ll kick your ass. Got it?”

You can’t always hide from sections of the media, one day you’ll come face to face so it’s best to be prepared.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

Will Tiger Woods Lose Any Sponsors Over This Latest Incident?

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

There has been a lot of talk about whether Tiger Woods will lose any sponsors over his bizarre accident.

At the moment he won’t. And nor should he. Right now, these rumours about his personal life are just that, rumours only until proven otherwise.

In any case, its not always easy for a sponsor to walk away from a contract. They have to execute an escape clause which usually involves the athlete bringing the sponsor into disrepute.

So what are the common escape clauses in personal endorsements? Here are the major ones.

  • Being charged or convicted of a crime.
  • A positive test to drugs.
  • Breaking the laws of the sporting body (in this case the PGA).
  • Engaging in conduct that is obscene, indecent, immoral or unprofessional.
  • Doing anything that restricts the ability of the brand to promote the athlete or diminishes the commercial benefits provided to the sponsor.
  • Becoming of unsound mind therefore unable to fulfil sponsorship duties.
  • Not maintaining your elitist position in your sport eg. losing your PGA Tour card.

There are a myriad of others clauses but these are the most common in any contract.

If you know anything about legal contracts, the aim of the game is to make things so black and white in writing that there can be no dispute about a breach.

Tiger would have a strong case against any sponsor who wanted to pull the plug over this news story. There are simply too many grey areas for a sponsor to successfully argue a breach.

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Posted in Media, Sponsorship, Strategy, Uncategorized, golf | 4 Comments »

Spring Carnival Time

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

It’s Spring Carnival time. And that means the race that stops the nation. Emirates Melbourne Cup day.

I love the glitz and the glamour of racing especially at this time of year. The industry is a buzz. The money, the fashion, the colour, the horses, the celebrities, the blue chip sponsors, the parties and the rollercoaster of emotions.

What racing has is a great product that is unlike any other sporting event in Australia. It’s like a cross between a football match, a music concert and cocktail party. The opportunity for sponsors is extraordinary. Not only does the event have great brand attributes (which attracts the likes of Emirates and Myer) but the demographic is wide ranging and the event itself offers a number of touch points in an entertaining atmosphere.

Successful brands often talk about using the five sensors to appeal to consumers. The more the better. And racing touches all of them.

The sound of the betting ring, the horses roaring down the straight, the race caller.
The sight of the mounting yard, the colours, the fashion.
The assorted smells of perfume and cologne
The taste of a cold beer, or a sparking wine
The feeling of that winning tab ticket in your hand

Punters walk away (some stumble) from the races knowing they have just experienced an event like no other. And that’s why sponsors clamour aboard each year. They want to be part of that experience, an experience that is unique, an experience that you can’t get anywhere else.

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Posted in Sponsorship, Uncategorized | No Comments »

One Golden Rule of Publicity

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

When you’re hot – STRIKE.

Athletes and celebrities have a very short time span in the scheme of things to maximise their earning potential.

In a world that moves at a staggering pace, keeping up with sport, music, fashion and entertainment news and trends becomes a game of move on or get left behind.

Consumers are very quick to latch onto something and they’ll doit with tremendous vigor (think Harry Potter and Twilight or any big sports star).

But just as consumers are quick to latch on, they’ll move on. This means when you’re in the spotlight, work it, work it, work it!!!

You would be surprised that some talent don’t get this concept. I’ve had athletes compete at Olympics and Commonwealth Games overseas, their name and image strewn across every newspaper back here in Australia. At this point in time, the best thing they can do is get their butt on a plane and come home.

If they can do that, then I can leverage their name which is already in lights. TV, radio and print will line up for me.

However, what do most athletes do? They decide they deserve a break after years of training and book a holiday directly after their major competition. Bad idea. They just missed a golden opportunity.

I totally understand the need for a break and I’ve experienced first hand how draining major events are for athletes. After competing, they just want to let their hair down, do nothing and switch off. I get this.

But if you’re an athlete that is serious about promoting your brand to attract sponsors then you’ve got to maximise this valuable window of opportunity.

Compete at Olympics, fly home for a week of media, then go holiday. It’s that simple.

It’s no good coming home a month later when news are no longer interested and everyone else has moved on.

This applies to anyone who is experiencing a flush of publicity. Milk it. Be available. Work hard. You can always rest later when you’re not so hot.

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Posted in Communication, Media, Olympics, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

No

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

If I had a dollar for every time I said “no” I would be a billionaire. I think any sports manager can relate to this.

Athletes receive a staggering number of requests and the reality is only 5-10% of those get actioned.

If you look at an athlete’s day to day priorities you would find that 80% of their time is dedicated to training and competition (that 80% also includes getting sufficient rest, massage, physio and maintaining a healthy diet). The remaining 20% is dedicated to off field duties with their club which includes sponsor and media commitments. It also includes keeping personal sponsors happy and finding time for family and other personal commitments.

So you can begin to understand why managers are reluctant to stack additional opportunities on an athlete. Our duty is to make life as seamless as possible. Our first priority is selling the client to the marketplace, servicing current sponsors, managing the media requests and looking after the athlete’s dedicated charity if they have one. Anything outside these areas is dealt with brutally.

Athletes don’t hear about three quarters of the requests they receive. That’s why they employ managers. To filter requests and only bring to the table opportunities that are commercially viable or that make sense with respect to their diary and other commitments.

So when an athlete manager turns down your request. It’s not personal. It’s just business.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

Make Your Sponsorship Proposal Stand Out

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

What is one major difference between the two sponsorship proposals below.

- AFL pitching to Company X

- Individual athlete manager pitching to Company X

The answer: One has extensive market research about their product, the other does not.

When the AFL, NRL or FFA pitches for sponsorship, they have qualitative and quantitative market research to present. This includes demographics about their key customers and what their brand represents in the marketplace among others things. Most importantly, they have the data to back it up.

Athlete managers on the other hand don’t have any solid market research to present. They can guesswork the brand values of their athlete but they don’t have the kind of data that makes a proposal compelling.

Sponsors are very strategic in their approach. They know their brand inside and out. They know exactly who their target market is. They know demographics. They know exactly what their brand represents to their customers. They know the buying behaviour and what influences their target market. They know what kind of marketing and advertising works and why. And they expect you to have similar level of understanding about the product you’re selling.

Athlete managers never include this kind of data in their proposals. So the managers that do will stand head and shoulders above everyone else.

Now market research doesn’t need to be peace and war and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Most sports will give you this information for free. So if you manage a rugby union player, you could ask the ARU for some market research. (Tell them you’re doing a uni assignment or you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities).

This will give you some hard data about your athlete’s target market which you can present to potential sponsors. They’ll be shocked but delighted and it may just get your proposal over the line.

3835bwc

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Posted in AFL, Communication, Football, Sponsorship, Strategy, advertising | No Comments »

Sponsorship Step by Step

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A sponsorship deal rarely happens overnight.

Depending on the deal, the process from start to finish can take anywhere up to 18 months!

Here is a snapshot of what goes down.

1. Athlete manager draws up a list of brands to target.

2. Manager cold calls the key person or decision maker from each brand. Attempts to establish a relationship and screen for sponsorship opportunities in relation to current budget and direction of the brand. This typically produces one of three responses.

A) Yes, please send your proposal and we’ll have a look at it.
B) Budget or other sponsorships prevent us doing business right now, but we are happy to consider down the track / next financial year.
C) No, we are not interested now or in the future.

The cold call saves a manager wasting valuable time on a proposal that never had a fighting chance. Alternatively it can strengthen a manager’s follow up email or proposal. Either way it produces a result.

3. Next step is the proposal and just like a job resume, this is painstakingly targeted to the specific brand. Research and due diligence is critical as you only get one shot at the proposal.

4. The waiting game. Once a proposal is submitted, an athlete manager must have patience. The bigger the brand, the longer the decision. Financial budgets, KPI reviews, office politics, legal’s, you name it, anything can drag out the process.

5. Negotiation. Assuming they are interested, this stage includes face to face meetings, phone calls and back and forth emails. This can take weeks or even months. At some stage a contract will be drawn up, either by the brand or the athlete manager. Now legals are involved and that means more to-ing and fro-ing!!!

6. Exchange contracts. It aint over until both parties sign the contracts – never assume a deal is done until this happens.

Steps 1, 2, 3 can be achieved in good time. Whereas steps 4, 5, 6 can take a lot longer.

I hope this gives athletes a good understanding of the steps involved in the sponsorship process and why some deals take forever.

stairs

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Posted in Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

Emotions Are Strong

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Rarely does a brand make a commercial decision to sponsor an athlete or event without an emotional trigger.

Have you ever heard of a company sponsoring a golf event purely because the CEO is a passionate golfer? It happens.

Some sponsorships don’t make 100% commercial sense, yet they exist. And they exist because the sponsorship manager or CEO has an emotional tie-in with the sponsorship property. This emotional tie-in has the ability to overpower reason and logic.

When you’re pitching sponsorship, it needs to make sense but making sense alone isn’t enough for a company to sign the dotted line. You need to evoke emotion. You want the company to invest both passion and dollars.

Putting things aside like branding, try to think about the emotional reasons why a company would want to partner with you. Pride, zest, enthrallment, discovery, courage, respect, fun, compassion, inspiration, confidence etc. And then tie these in with the property you’re selling.

And remember you’re typically selling your pitch to one key decision maker. So make it personal-able. Even if that one person has to get approval from above, you need to hook them first so they’ll fight for your pitch internally. And you do that by appealing to their emotions.

0511-0703-0519-1152_excited_businesswoman_throwing_paperwork_in_the_air_clipart_image

Posted in Sponsorship, Strategy, golf | No Comments »

Don’t Believe the Hype

Friday, September 18th, 2009

“I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game ‘featuring you’, while singing your own song in a new commercial, ‘starring you’, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not ‘sleep’ until that happens.”

Warning for athletes: Be wary of managers who promise you the world.

You know I’m talking about, pie in the sky stuff. Watch out for the words ‘million dollars’, ‘own line of products’, ‘international success’ etc etc.

The dog eat dog world of sports management thrives on managers who over promise and under deliver. Managers do this to get the signature, plain and simple. And athletes fall for it every time.

Sit an athlete down in front of six managers and 9/10 will choose the forex-trader-with-dollar-eyes1manager who blows the most smoke up their butt. That manager knows they won’t achieve anywhere near what they promise but they know a signature means some income for themselves and this is usually enough to justify them lying their asses off.

It’s not uncommon for athletes to change managers, it happens a lot. What usually drives an athlete to make the switch is a myriad of riches in the form of false promises. When those riches don’t transpire, they move and so it goes.

Athletes, look for a manager with so much confidence and self belief that they don’t need to exaggerate your earning capacity. Measure them by their track record with similar athletes of your standing (sport, gender, personality, results etc). Don’t focus on what they say about results, instead listen to the processes of how they are going to get those results. Don’t believe the hype.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

House-zat!

Friday, September 11th, 2009

On 16 March, 2009 I blogged about E- Sponsorship.

Harvey Norman, Ford, VB, Toyota and Coca Cola are all big sponsors of Australian sport, but what about online businesses such as Carsales.com, Ebay, RealEstate.Com, Stayz.com and CareerOne, why aren’t they big sponsors of Australian sport?

In the blog I suggested more sports industry people should pitch for sponsorship to these online companies (who I predicted would thrive during the recent economic downturn compared to traditional companies).

So it was with great delight to read today, that RealEstate.com have signed camadamgilchrist_narrowweb__300x52901Australian sporting heroes, cricketer Adam Gilchrist and surfer Layne Beachley as ambassadors. You can read more about the campaign here.

I’m not surprised these athletes have been chosen for the campaign. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, don’t be afraid to invest in athletes nearing the end of their careers. It takes years to build a credible brand and that credibility doesn’t disappear overnight.

Who says I don’t give you good advice once in a while :)

Posted in Cricket, Sponsorship, Strategy, Surfing, advertising | No Comments »

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