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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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Using Intangible Assets

Sponsors who lack the experience of exploiting rights granted by a property are left wondering why the sponsorship didn't have a lasting impact. Usually, inexperienced sponsors struggle to put together an action plan to leverage the intangible assets that are part of a contract. Intangible assets are benefits that are difficult to value, primarily because they provide different value to different sponsors. These assets include, but are not limited to, the property's logos, marks and reputation, networking or business opportunities provided by the property, category exclusivity, and levels of fan allegiance to the property and its sponsors.

So why pay for intangible assets if you are not likely to utilize them? Mainly because most properties value their logos, marks and reputation (the area we will concentrate on in this article) and feel that sponsors will benefit from those assets. Also, properties make a great deal of money from selling intangible assets because they can be sold to multiple entities (unlike a single ticket or sign, which are unique tangible assets) and they cost virtually nothing to produce, although properties may argue that they invest significantly over time to build strong reputations and value in their marks. Finally, sponsors just don't have a choice. Most properties will not let you choose from a menu the assets you want to purchase.

Fundamentally, you should not purchase a sponsorship if you have no designs on using the accompanying intangible assets, which means you are not planning to properly activate the sponsorship. There are numerous properties that have extremely valuable marks and reputations - the NFL and Formula One's Ferrari team come to mind - and sponsors of those properties pay handsomely for intangible assets. However, if your main objectives are to entertain clients in a suite or increase awareness of your brand on-site through heavy signage placement, sampling and/or vending opportunities, then a deal with one of the aforementioned properties is a waste of your sponsorship investment.

Are sponsors in certain categories more appropriate fits for properties with considerably valuable intangible assets? Of course a brewery is probably going to benefit from fan avidity and loyalty when it puts a team's logo on beer packaging in the team's local market or region. What about manufacturers of information storage systems or servers? Highlighting the property's use of such products as a case study may be beneficial, but placing the property's logos on a piece of business-critical hardware certainly won't positively impact purchase intent and is probably not appropriate as well.

Before you negotiate a sponsorship agreement, step back and evaluate how much the property's intangible assets really mean to you. If they aren't going to be part of your supporting marcom plan for the sponsorship, then try to pay individually for tangible assets only. Better yet, find an alternative property whose intangible assets do have value to you and will be part of your exploitation plans.