By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)
Even with the several Billion Dollars that are spent on sponsorship in the United States each year sponsorship in Europe is a very big business and Ireland’s Daily Business Post newspaper has a terrific article today on how companies can maximize returns on sponsorship which is must read for any company considering or now actively involved in sponsorship of events or venues:
Business advice: Maximizing returns on sponsorship, Terry Pennington, Daily Business Post
“Sponsorship is one of the many marketing tools at the disposal of a business owner or marketing director. But choosing the right sponsorship opportunity for your company or brand is not as simple as it sounds.
Everything starts with looking at your overall company and brand strategy, incorporating your brand values, market positioning and specific target demographics.
Most importantly, it is imperative to remember that sponsorship rarely works in isolation. To achieve results, sponsorship has to be part of the overall clearly-defined marketing mix and clearly link back to the company or brand strategy.
Different brands will seek to achieve different objectives from a sponsorship opportunity, but two key results to consider are: how to maximize brand awareness and increase brand equity, while adding value to the bottom line.
So, some burning questions to ask prior to committing to any form of sponsorship are:
Will this give me access to my target audience?
Does this fit with the overall business strategy?
What will this activity 'say' about my brand?
Is this a vanity project or does it truly fit with our brand?
What am I going to do in addition to handing over the sponsorship money to make this sponsorship really work for my brand?
Activation is the key driver of a successful sponsorship....”
For us here at the Roaring Fork Agency the key takeaway from the above news article is that a company agreeing to sponsor an event or venue is just the beginning of making that sponsorship pay off with increased business, customers and sales for the company which should always be the main goals of any company considering getting involved in sponsoring an event or venue.
A great sponsorship sales agency will make sure that the company and the event that end up working together on a sponsorship or naming rights deal also have a strategic plan to make that sponsorship pay off for both entities and the understanding of what is really important…
A company increasing its business, customers and sales
AND
An event or venue being successful
….is what separates the Roaring Fork Agency from other sponsorship sales agencies in the marketplace.
If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:
paul@roaringforkagency.com
415 730 - 4854
Aspen, Colorado
Tiburon, California
Incline Village, Nevada
Santa Monica, California
Newport Beach, California
Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy
