Making eyeballs work

making minds think

Why Sponsorship Sucks

Sponsorship is invariably a lazy way for a brand to reap the dividends of ‘hanging out’ with the right companyMost sponsorship is executed by stakeholders who had no part in the decision making processOften this results in brand apathy for what should be an exciting point of brand leverageInvariably this leads to a brand following the usual parameters of sponsorship, copying precedents and ‘following the rules’The rules of engagement for marketing are still being writtenThe scope for brands and consumer engagement opportunities is really opening up in the beginning of the 21st century

Why Sponsorship Sucks

FACTS, INFORMATION, TRENDSSponsorship is a complex and relatively new communications arena for a lot of companies, andconsequently, there is a lack of clarity about its strength as a marketing communications tool.Sponsorship is not a straightforward selling instrument; it works quite indirectly. Many companiesclaim they don’t know how to implement them.But marketers clearly believe in the value of Sponsorship as evidenced by the explosion inSponsorship investment over the last two decades: from $2 bn in 1984 to over $33 bn in ’03. Thisescalation is driven largely by ‘sports’, which account for nearly two-thirds of total Sponsorshipspend in most countries.

ROIFACTS, INFORMATION, TRENDSSponsorship is a complex and relatively new communications arena for a lot of companies, andconsequently, there is a lack of clarity about its strength as a marketing communications tool.Sponsorship is not a straightforward selling instrument; it works quite indirectly. Many companies claim they don’t know how to implement them.But marketers clearly believe in the value of Sponsorship as evidenced by the explosion inSponsorship investment over the last two decades: from $2 bn in 1984 to over $33 bn in ’03. Thisescalation is driven largely by ‘sports’, which account for nearly two-thirds of total Sponsorshipspend in most countries.

ActivationSponsorships don’t work unless consumers are told about them. They’re like brands themselves – they need to be advertised so the nature of the Sponsorship is known and understood. They need awareness to generate awareness for the brand! It’s important to create content related tothe Sponsorship, use it as a showcase for the event and as a way to deliver the rights across allmodes of communication, i.e., ‘consumer touch points’: merchandising, point of sale, advertising,etc.

YouTube gives everyone a

channel

Consumers having their own fun without brands

Once we needed advertising and sponsorship

It paid for a lot of entertainment

Advertising and sponsorship was useful

But now we can use digital tools to have fun

The unbranded Flickr uploader and downloaderA missed opportunity for Kodak or Fuji?

Everything you need is here at Teabuddy - to keep track of who made the last round of tea, how long it is since someone made their last round, and perhaps most important of all - to nail the tea-slackers!

A missed opportunity for Tetley or PG Tips?

Branded & Sponsorship Utility

If small teams could create applications that people love – imagine what could be done by a big brand with a big budget

In order for brands to remain relevant they must become useful

Branded and sponsorship Utility is all about brands being useful to their customers, suppliers and the people they touch

Examples

Nike iPod RunLondon

The previous site is a map of the Run London event sponsored by Nike

It’s also a ‘route finder’ – a Utility

And also links to another type of branded utility of Nike and iPod who have collaborated together to create a ‘running experience’ which goes beyond just music or running shoes as the next slide shows

Manulife Opportunity

The Beijing Olympics are an opportunity to shake up the way that Sponsorship is traditionally executed

It’s about walking the walk and not just talking the talk