Sponsorship Audit- What Really Works

We love sponsorships, whether it is for a film festival, fashion show, sporting property or wine & food festival they are great, they tap into consumers’ passions, loyalties and lifestyle interests. And when you hit the nail on the head with a credible activation the results are staggering- you automatically act like a friend to the consumers instead of another salesman trying to make them buy something they don’t really need.

But in these difficult economic times, sponsorships need to be re-evaluated. There are way too many brands out there that sponsor an event and then just sit back and think the brand logo exposure is going to do something for them…. Well wrong. That is why right now, more than ever, everyone needs to do more with less and that starts with something we like to call a Sponsorship Audit.

If you have the internal resources go ahead and evaluate internally, but if you want an unbiased view, contract a freelancer or consultant, right now you could get one for relatively cheap, and you don’t have to deal with the annoying overhead of having a full time employee conducting this audit.

So what to do for a Sponsorship Audit. Well here are just a few things to take a look at:

• Your Target Consumer (not just demos, look behaviorally)
• The Sponsorship Platform's Target Consumer (again not just demos.. that means nothing)
• Who are the other sponsors (do you want to be associated with their brand identities)
• Would you consider partnering on special promotions or on-site activations with the other sponsors (half the cost)
  
• How is the sponsorship platform supporting you (do they include you in its ads, press, marketing material, etc)
• What is the sponsorship platform's long term strategy (are they growing or shrinking and do they seem to be positioning themselves well in this new technologically driven era)
  
• What are the free opportunities during the big events and throughout the year (have you been taking advantage of them... if not why not... they're free)
• What have you been doing to activate (what did that do for the brand)
• Have you been measuring activations (awareness, name acquisition, impressions)
• Have you been collecting names of the fans of the sponsorship platform and have you continued dialog with them (remember these are suppose to be your friends now, treat them like that, if you only talk to them once a year how do you expect them to react)
• What kind of press hits have you been getting and how have you been mentioned
  

Every sponsorship is different, and certainly you can’t be perfect in every area, but why continue a sponsorship that you can’t afford and that is not giving you the payback you want. Instead, invest in a few key platforms that make sense for your brand. Once you’ve decided on these you’ll feel comfortable to extend the relationship long term which in turn will allow you to re-negotiate your contract with a better annual rate, which solves your short term problem.