Posts Tagged ‘Sponsorship’

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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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Are Coaches Marketable Enough to Sponsor?

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Someone asked me this the other day and I must admit, I think they are. In fact, I’m surprised there aren’t more coaches with personal sponsors.

Think about it. Along with star players, coaches are often the face and voice of a club or organisation. They have a considerable media profile and represent values such as winning, integrity, discipline, respect, hard work and leadership.

Through years of media experience, they are also well groomed for interviews and appearances and have the nous to promote key messages of a sponsor.

On top of that, 99% are clean skins. So sponsors can sleep easy at night.

If you need another reason why coaches can be a good sponsorship proposition then look no further than budget. They come much cheaper than players.

Before I leave you with this thought, anyone remember Guus Hiddink? The man who took Australia to the last FIFA World Cup?

I’m pretty sure he was an adopted Australian by the end of the World Cup. Everyone loved him. He even had his own chant. I dare say that if Guus had stuck around for another World Cup campaign his face would be on a breakfast cereal. I’m not sure I can say the same for Pim Verbeek, I really like the guy but it would take a unique brand to benefit from his name, image and likeness.

Coaches are already very popular for speaking gigs and are accessible to club sponsors for networking and appearances. But it’s not often an outside sponsor will come knocking for a coach. Maybe its time they did?

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Servicing Sponsorship is 2-Way

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

1) Athlete manager pitches for sponsorship.

2) Sponsor signs a contract with exclusive benefits and rights.

3) Athlete manager sits back and waits for sponsor to leverage the relationship.

4) Sponsor lacks ideas and becomes frustrated with the availability / restrictions around the sponsorship.

5) The athlete manager continues a re-active communication style with the sponsor. No to this request. Yes to this.

6) The only time the athlete manager initiates contact with the sponsor is when the athlete needs product or a payment is due.

7) Contract expires. Sponsor walks away. Athlete is dumbfounded. “But I did everything they asked of me”?

The problem with the above scenario is the lack of communication between the athlete manager and the sponsor. Or more specifically the lack of initiative by the athlete manager.

Traditionally, it’s not the job of athlete managers to come up with leveraging ideas. But that’s not an excuse to sit on your hands.

Athlete managers should be calling sponsors and giving them updates on the athlete’s diary, availability and event scheduling. They should be telling them about current promotions with other sponsors. They should notify the sponsor of any public appearances or media the athlete is doing etc.

This type of communication engages the sponsor and leaves them no excuse not to activate the sponsorship.

It will also differentiate you from the other athlete managers that sponsor deals with.

You’ve given them plenty of opportunity to find ROI.  And at the end of the contract, the sponsor has little excuse to walk away.

After all, we all know that it’s much cheaper to retain sponsor’s than find new ones.

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Deadwood

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Before the global credit crunch, you had a lot of companies with multiple sponsorships and big budgets to leverage these sponsorships.

Budgets have since tightened and that means every single sponsorship has been heavily scrutinised.

A lot of sponsors have grouped their sponsorships into two distinct categories:

1) Weather the storm – these sponsorships have long term potential and are important to the overall brand strategy. Leveraging budgets have been scaled back but there is still plenty of activity happening around the sponsorship.

2) Deadwood – these sponsorships are not being leveraged. ‘Leverage’ money is instead going to the category above. The sponsor has decided to cut their losses and wait for the contract to expire.

Have a think about your current sponsors. Are they still leveraging the relationship with you (be it on a smaller scale), or are they surprisingly quiet?

If their too quiet, be worried

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I See, Hear and Feel You!

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Everyone structures their experience of the world through the five senses — seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling.

The most powerful senses are visual, auditory and kinesthetic (touch).

Although we use all senses, most people have a strong bias for one only. You can often tell this by the language we use.

“I see what you mean.” (visual). “That sounds great”. (auditory). “I’ve got a good feeling about this”. (kinesthetic).

You’re going to be a lot more successful if you’re a brand that appeals to all senses, as opposed to the brand that concentrates on one or two only.

When you see that distinctive purple colour, you think of Cadbury chocolate. When you hear this bass guitar, you think of Seinfeld. And what about your iphone? The shape of it in your hands, the feel of it, the sound of it when you click through the menu – this is a kinesthetic brand.

It’s easy for brands to appeal to one or two senses but appealing to all the senses can be extremely difficult. This is another reason why sponsorship exists. Sponsorship can hijack or borrow a sensory asset of an athlete or sporting event.

This is why you’ll find banking and financial companies (very little kinesthetic appeal) sponsoring the naming rights to some of Australia’s best sporting venues. This gives the ANZ’s or Telstra’s an emotive element to their brand.

Athletes are not alone when it comes to reaching consumers using the senses. The more an athlete can use the better. A good example is tennis player Leyton Hewitt.

VISUAL – baseball cap back to front.
AUDITORY – “C’mon!!”
KINESTHETIC – openly display’s his emotions, and plays on the patriotism factor – a strong kinesthetic influencer.

If you’re an athlete, figure out how you can use all senses to appeal to more fans and sponsors. If you’re a brand, look at which sense you’re ignoring and figure out how you can fill the gap through sport sponsorship.

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Negotiation, A Skill You Need

Friday, April 24th, 2009

As a sports manager, negotiation is a critical skill set you need to master. From a sponsorship perspective let’s go through the process.

1. It’s always easier to negotiate with someone you have a great relationship with. People think a negotiation is a one off event. The fact is negotiation is ongoing from the first time you meet a sponsor to the time you wish to renew. If you can, develop the relationship long before you have to sit down and talk turkey.

2. Get clear on what you need and what they need. Put all the pieces on the table to discover what the differences are – is it money, is territory, is it benefits? And is the gap between these differences big or small? Continually focus on the final outcome you want, don’t get caught up in petty differences.

3. Find out WHY they need what they need. Eg. A sponsor might need to stay within a certain budget. Your job is to find out why! Is it because they need to use additional funds on leveraging the relationship, is it because the athlete’s availability for appearances is limited, is it because the ROI is hard to measure and justify to their CEO? Focus on meeting these underlying needs rather than arguing about the stated need (in this case price).

4. Choose your style. What kind of people are you dealing with? How do they do business? Does your style need to be very cooperative or very competitive? People react to both styles very differently. Find this out and use flexibility in your approach.

5. Decide the best climate for your negotiation. This involves Time, Place and Mood. Can this negotiation be discussed in a café over a coffee? Or does it require boardroom chest beating at HQ? Most negotiations take place over weeks and months. There will be multiple venues, different times and moods to each discussion. You need to identify what climate you need to create to get the best result.

6. Tactics & Counter Tactics. There are a million out there on how to solve and settle your negotiation. They are all designed to aid the points above. I suggest you read the below books. In my opinion they are the best.

Getting to Yes -  Roger Fisher
Getting Past No – William Ury
Getting Together – Roger Fisher & Scott Brown

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Surf’s Up for Sony

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

Sony Australia has just announced a strategic partnership with surf company Billabong which also includes surfer Joel Parkinson as a Sony Brand ambassador.

The deal will entail sponsorship of events, product demonstrations, store appearances, content development, retail integration, co-branding opportunities and promotional campaigns.

Surfing is a million dollar industry in Australia (retail and tourism) but it lacks the media and free to air coverage afforded to other sports. This means half the people in the street wouldn’t know who Joel Parkinson is. On the surface is seems like a strange sponsorship but let me help you understand why Sony made this play.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Surfing is more than just a sport, it’s a lifestyle”? Well it’s true and this is the sports greatest asset. The Billabong’s and Quiksilver’s of the world not only appeal to hard core surfers, but they attract other demographics because of the ‘lifestyle’ element. Just like rock stars, surfers have long been powerful influencers of everything from fashion, hairstyles, cars and accessories.

The fastest way to make a product cool is to give it to a cool group of influencers. Essentially this is what Sony is doing with this sponsorship. Not only does the ‘lifestyle’ element of surfing fit perfectly with Sony’s brand essence and its products but this sponsorship will give the brand touch feel access to an extremely passionate group of influencers.

I’m just amazed there aren’t more blue chip brands involved in surfing.

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Mr Bic-ket

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

BIC Australia is going to create a new national campaign, featuring Australian cricketer Mike Hussey. Hussey will be seen in a range of off-field scenarios, including a book and cricket-bat signing, backyard BBQ, and preparing for a sports awards night – all featuring BIC products.

There is no doubting Mike Hussy’s popularity among cricket fans. He is a working class hero who appeals to both genders and is a great talent with the media and fans alike. He also personifies the values of everyday Australian’s which makes him easy to relate to. It also helps that he plays in a national sport on free to air television. These are all great reasons for a brand to align with Hussey but I’m guessing it was his slightly nerdy nature that gave him the nod with BIC.

Pens aren’t the most exciting product especially in this digital age so it helps to have a celebrity face to catch people’s attention. I’m sure BIC will play on Hussey’s nerdy good guy nature in their creative. In the meantime, let’s hope Hussey scores some runs, god knows (and BIC) he needs them.

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Getting Into Bed with TV

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Australian media deals between TV networks and athletes are extremely lucrative (think Stephanie Rice and Channel Seven) but there are pros and cons. Let’s look at some of them.

Pros

  • Lucrative multi year contracts
  • Great exposure for the athlete that is nearly always positive
  • Broadens the athletes appeal as they are used across different programming
  • Invaluable on-camera experience which helps their presenting and media skills
  • Opportunity to cross promote the athlete’s other sponsors
  • Gives you an excuse to knock back other / unwanted media requests
  • Can help win potential sponsors (they see it as a channel for free and regular publicity)
  • Can help ease the athlete into a media career when they retire


Cons

  • Limits the athletes exposure across other media channels
  • Pushed into programming that may not fit the ‘brand’ of your athlete
  • Media burnout from appeasing the network + all other print, radio requests
  • Creates rivalries with other networks (they can turn against your athlete)
  • Creates friction with the media plans of other sponsors / club / sporting body
  • Disrupts your own media plan as the athlete is always on call for the network
  • You can’t sell paid exclusives to other media outlets
  • Can turn off potential sponsors by limiting the reach of PR campaigns

Personally I think the money on offer from the networks outweighs the cons. But it’s still important to evaluate everything when considering these deals.

For example, a media deal would suit an established athlete who is nearing the end of their career. It keeps them in the spotlight (which is good for sponsors), and helps develop their TV skills which can give them a crack at a career in the media when they do retire.

On the other hand, such a deal might restrict the up and coming athlete and can even make them look bad because they are inexperienced or pushed into uncomfortable roles. Just some points to think about when your evaluating your next media deal.

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Like Attracts Like

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Have you ever chosen a restaurant over another simply because you can see that there are more people eating there? You think “this place is popular, they must be better than the guys next door”! As silly as this sounds, the same principle can often apply in athlete sponsorship. Sometimes a brand will be attracted to an athlete simply because of the other brands that athlete is aligned with.

Brand benefits flow each way in sponsorship. Yes the athlete adds to the sponsor’s brand, but let’s not forget that the sponsor also adds to the athlete’s brand. If you’re an athlete with quality blue chip sponsors then your perceived market value is going to be a lot higher.

So what does this mean? Well sometimes athletes have to sell themselves short just to get in the door with a great brand. But hopefully in doing so, they will attract other great brands at the correct prices.

Let’s say I have an athlete with 1-2 sponsors who aren’t doing much in the way of leveraging the relationship. The money’s ok but I’m really trying to grow the athlete’s brand to attract better quality sponsors. Now let’s imagine a prestige brand comes to me in this situation and wants to sponsor my athlete. Perfect, however they want to pay under what the athlete is worth and use the savings to go above the line (eg. national print campaign and/or TVC featuring the athlete). Do I tell them to go jump or sell my athlete short?

I would take the latter option almost every time. You simply can’t buy the sort of brand positioning and exposure a major campaign with a prestige brand gives your athlete. How do I know this? Because I experienced a similar situation to the one above and the result for the athlete was a flow on effect of blue chip sponsors at the right prices.

Money shouldn’t be the sole consideration when looking at sponsorship deals. Look at the bigger picture. Sometimes you need to take a step back to leap forward.

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