Sports Marketing Sponsorship + Clandestine
Sponsoring a sporting event, team, or franchise is no small investment. Sports activation & sponsorship is continuing to grow in popularity along with its return on investment (ROI). We have key observations & learned insights that can help assess if the expense is truly worth it AND how to get the most out of your spend.
The sponsorship alone is really only the tip of the investment iceberg; there are numerous other costs associated that need to be factored in. Once you’ve signed a contract, you need to have a plan on how to activate the sponsorship. Will you have an opportunity to host guests? If so, you’ll need a comprehensive hospitality plan, including designing the space, signage, staffing, food & beverage, potentially transportation as well as gifting items. If your sponsorship covers a franchise or a team be prepared for these costs to multiply due hosting opportunities expanding. It’s important to start your assessment with as many facts & figures as possible.
Based on your numbers, the next step in the process is to quantify the value of the sponsorship opportunity. This is also where ‘squeezing the most juice’ out of your sponsorship is essential. The obvious sponsorship value is in brand awareness opportunities – logos, signage, experiential activations, hosting suites, etc.
Gone are the days when a company can write a big check for name or logo placement and expect long lasting results. Fans and constituents want engagement, therefore your brand must be innovative and have a plan. If you really want to maximize ROI, the sponsorship should also hone in on cultivating business relationships & curated opportunities that widely increase your overall business bottom line. Create exponential value through B2B connections.
Before you sign on the dotted line as a sponsor, analyze the other brands in the partner’s portfolio. Are they brands you want to be associated with? Are they brands you’d like to do business with? Sponsorship goes well beyond eyeballs and impressions. Identify co-sponsorship brands you’re targeting. Leverage your contract & contacts within the athletic franchise you’re working with – they’re in a position to make those direct connections. Your internal sales team should be focused on bringing targeted prospects; at the same time, aim high by identifying the co-sponsors who could dramatically increase your revenue for the year through unique partnerships.
Lastly, wow ‘em. Allow our Clandestine team to create true wow moments by partnering with your activation team to design a thoughtfully curated experience that best encourages relationship opportunities. The ultimate goal is to create lasting relationships.
Just this past week, we hosted a private Clandestine dinner where we partnered with a few of our clients to hand select their guest list and we created a manifest of all attendees that we shared with guests ahead of time. We assigned seats with meaningful networking in mind. We planted extroverted ‘connectors’ who’s job it is to introduce business targets to each other. The food & beverage was private, superlative – with a service attendant that was also focused on attending to the guests every need. The ultimate goal is relationship creation.
Let us know if you have any questions, happy to answer!
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