effective B2B sponsorship
Relationship
drivers or jollies away from the office?
From New Edge Magazine May 2003 -by Adrian New
There are two questions that I've been consistently asked since I've been
in Singapore; firstly, do I play basketball? Answer, no I just happen
to be quite tall; secondly, how should a company evaluate business-to-business
(B2B) sponsorships? Actually, to be accurate, the second question is usually
"what is all this entertaining I do really worth" but the answer
is easier to reach if the question is phrased in terms of a business investment
decision rather than the relative size of the entertainment budget.
As always, the more accurately you can define your reasons for doing something
the more accurately you will be able to measure its worth. The most famous
phrase in marketing is, "I know half of my marketing is working,
I just don't know which half" and this stems from the, hopefully,
"old" approach of carrying out activity against the so-called
mass-market, rather than directly targeting smaller customer segments.
In today's world customers are proving more and more elusive and therefore
any marketing activity has to be more and more targeted to the customers'
specific interests and passions or they will just ignore you.
This applies at every level of your customer segmentation model so whether
you're marketing to teenagers fresh out of school or CEO's with 40 years'
experience the same principles should be adopted in your marketing strategies.
As I've argued in previous columns, sponsorship is the most effective
marketing segment when it comes to interacting with your customers, to
building a relationship with them and to thereby utilise their passions
to deliver business revenue and a return on your investment.
Let us therefore think of B2B sponsorship as a sub-category of sponsorship
with the same specific objective; to generate revenue. This may be primary
or secondary revenue. Primary revenue B2B sponsorship provides some sort
of guaranteed business from the sponsorship undertaken. In other words,
revenue guarantees are built into the sponsorship agreement, an example
might be a film developer that provides free roles of film in return for
being given the developing business. Secondary revenue B2B sponsorship
provides no such guarantees. Such sponsorship is meant to target the sponsor's
customers, particularly business decision makers, and is often described
as "entertaining". Arts sponsorships are often undertaken for
this reason, to provide an opportunity for an exclusive invite that your
top customers will find it hard to refuse. You hope!
The challenges associated with primary revenue B2B sponsorships are many.
These sponsorships are essentially business deals in which brand fit and
customer experiences can sometimes take a back seat. However, the litmus
test for primary revenue B2B sponsorship should be the same as for any
sponsorship. If the property's image is poor, its fan profile is not desirable
or the brand fit does not exist, then pass on the opportunity. If you
have confidence in your field sales people, allow them to close an attractive
sales deal with the property, without having to purchase a sponsorship.
Of course, there are B2B sponsorships that are effective, but those tend
to focus on the brand and the customer first and the revenue opportunity
with the property second.
Secondary revenue B2B sponsorships are referred to as B2B sponsorships
because the sponsor's customers are largely business entities. There are
no direct revenue sources built into these sponsorships but there is an
expectation that the relationship building opportunities that are presented
will yield business returns further down the line. Secondary revenue B2B
sponsorships should specifically target your existing customer base and
prospects, utilising what you know about them in terms of their interests
and passions. A good database and research are key. We all go through
life assuming that everyone else is just like us and it usually comes
as a shock when we find out they're not
People have different interests, attitudes, passions and motivational drive and any B2B sponsorship that you undertake should reflect the interests, attitudes, passions and motivational drive of the people you are hoping to attract. For example, you may find that the best way to attract your customers to an event is to sponsor something that allows them to bring their partner or offers them something of educational value to their children. When choosing such a sponsorship you should be mindful of the following:
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Look for sponsorship opportunities that are personal to your customer and highly participative in nature. For example, these opportunities can be designed in virtually every sport, including baseball fantasy camps, motorsport driving experiences, backcountry ski experiences with Olympic skiers, and pro-am golf outings. The possibilities are limitless, however you may be required to purchase assets separate from the sponsorship so plan carefully; just because you sponsor a golf event it won't guarantee you any access to the players you want to work with so you may need to do a side-deal with them as well
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Develop unique, unrivalled hospitality experiences. Relationship building is critical to maintaining existing customers and generating new business. Unfortunately, key customers are constantly invited to sports, arts and entertainment events. Aside from special transportation, accommodations and premium seating, hospitality experiences should include access to restricted areas and interaction with athletes or celebrities. You may be required to purchase assets separate from the sponsorship, such as appearance fees for retired athletes or signed jerseys/guitars etc.
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Ensure that there is a compelling, legitimate story involving your products or services. Exciting participative experiences and memorable hospitality make an impact, but you need to tie your brand to the property and the customer experience. This means seamlessly integrating your product or service into the property, in other words, using the property as a live case study. Showing how your company positively impacts the operations or success of a property can genuinely influence the purchase behaviour of a customer or prospect. For example, providing instant race results through mobile hand-sets.
Integration of the sponsorship into other marketing activities. Just as
B2C sponsorship has to be supported by public relations, promotions and
advertising in order to be effective, B2B sponsorship should also receive
the same support, perhaps weighted differently. Promotions may not be
as critical to the mix, but direct marketing may be more important. Because
B2B sponsorships tend to target business decision makers, it is imperative
to tell your story through influential channels. That may mean giving
tours of your live case study to the business press or entertaining industry
analysts at events.
As with all marketing, the effectiveness of B2B sponsorship comes through
integration of your activities, not fragmentation. Most companies I meet
have not yet grasped this simple principle. I'm forever meeting PR execs
who complain that their latest event would have been a great success if
only the direct mailing had taken place in time, or sponsorship execs
that are frustrated by the so-called sponsorship budget being divided
into 20 different departments' entertainment budget. Success only comes
through team-work, a unifying vision supported by inter-related, mutually-supporting
marketing activities that deliver a unique and compelling marketing platform
which inspires your customers and gives them a reason to purchase your
services or products. If whatever you are doing doesn't pass this test
then don't do it!
Adrian New
