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Implementation Planning

• Identifying Appropriate Athlete Endorsers
• Expecting Proper Levels of Sponsorship Service
• Implementing Effective Hospitality Strategies
• Integrating Community Relations into Sponsorship
• Planning And Scheduling Around A Sponsorship
• Rethinking The Effectiveness Of Promotional Giveaways
• Using Intangible Assets
• Using Sponsorship to Market Luxury Brands
• Activating Sponsorship through the Web
• Falling For Price Escalators
• Generating Direct Revenue From Sponsorships
• Activating Golf Sponsorship Successfully

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Implementing Effective Hospitality Strategies

Sponsorship is about the customer's relationship with your brand, and the hospitality component of a sponsorship provides an exceptional opportunity to bring your customer closer to the brand. We're not talking about giving your field sales rep a few choice center-ice seats ten rows from the glass, where he can schmooze for a few hours with a top customer. Come to think of it, you don't even need to buy into a sponsorship if all you're going to do is entertain. If that was your sole tactic to close deals, you might as well just buy a season-ticket plan and take your customers to dinner.

So what do we consider effective hospitality? It means providing the invitee, whether a current customer or a prospect, with an experience that is exceptionally participative in nature and also provides numerous touch points for the customer to interact with your brand. In other words, it's an active encounter with your brand and the property, rather than a passive viewing routine. Consider this scenario: You take a prospect to watch the game from the company suite. He witnesses a boring blowout in which the outcome is determined early and loses interest in the game soon after. The following week he is courted by your competition and sees a thrilling last-minute, come from behind victory that secures a playoff spot for the home team. He doesn't stop talking about the game. Who loses here? Your company does because you have no control over the customer's experience and you provide him with no interaction with your brand. So why not take control? Here are a few ideas for captivating your customers:

Athlete Interaction: We live in a society in which athletes and celebrities are almost worshipped by the general public. Even if your customers are C-level executives, they are no different. Negotiate assets such as locker room tours, visits to post-game press conferences, and spots on team road trips, which provide opportunities to meet and talk with the players and coaches. If some of those assets can't be provided, think creatively. Your customers still have a soft spot in their hearts for the heroes of their childhood, so pay retired players to spend an evening in your company suite. Some alternative properties (i.e. action sports) may be able to create from scratch lounge areas that provide a relaxed atmosphere for customer-athlete interaction.

Let Them Play: More memorable than watching the game is the opportunity to participate in it. No, we're not talking about affecting the outcome, but we do mean letting your guests experience what the professionals go through. Do you sponsor an open-wheel racing team? Then you should be provided with rides in modified two-seater cars. How about a three-inning baseball game on the field the players use, complete with introductions, uniforms, and a videotape of the experience so your customers can relive the experience over and over. And over!

Access to Restricted Areas: Do you want to make your customers feel special? Then let them experience the event differently from everyone else in the expensive seats. If you're dealing with a flexible, progressive property, ask property reps to arrange for short visits to the sidelines, bench, dugout, or whatever the athlete area is called in that particular sport. Perhaps your guests can visit the press box or the broadcast booth.

Don't Forget Brand Touch Points: You want to make sure that your customer leaves the event thinking about your brand and its connection and shared imagery with the property. If the customer can actually use your product at the event, make it available to them. Does your company manufacture binoculars? Every guest in your suite at the football game should have a pair. Are your servers and workstations used by a Formula One team to crunch numbers? Then give those CIO's and CTO's a tour of the garage and have team engineers explain how integral your technology is to the success of the team.

Some properties have become increasingly responsive to the needs of sponsors who want to differentiate their hospitality and provide memorable experiences to their customers. The majority however, would prefer to sell you a sponsorship that includes a suite, some prime tickets or a block of seats up in the rafters, or all three! Establish early in negotiations with the property that you have specific hospitality needs, without which the sponsorship won't be effective. Property management will likely be very responsive to your wants and needs.