articles posted with tag: event-marketing/sponsorship | See all tags
Never Assume
It’s real easy to come up with a list of potential sponsors for an event. After all, if you just identify your target market and then figure out which companies would be a good fit, you have filled your sponsor bucket, right?
Wrong.
On the surface maybe it looks like a great match. But have you done your homework? Do the companies you’re targeting even engage in sponsorship marketing? (Note that “they should” does not count.) Do they sponsor events similar to yours? (Are you a folk festival targeting a company that mostly sponsors sports events?) If they do sponsorship, is your market one that they target? Does your event offer something different that they can’t find elsewhere, such as greater reach, a highly targeted demographic, or a unique way to engage that demographic? Do you even know what your demographics are?
Many events do not know their demos, and if that’s you then do a survey. You can do that onsite or online or both. Having some demo data on hand will do wonders for increasing your viability to draw sponsors, because for them it’s all about numbers, or “metrics” as they say these days. The more info you can offer, the better.
The moral of the story is: when it comes to sponsorship, never assume.
Posted Tuesday May 27, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship
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Marketing Opps
Go here for current excellent sponsorship opportunities. The page is updated continuously, so bookmark it or fill out the opt-in form to stay abreast of new developments.
Posted Friday May 23, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship
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Head's Up for Event Producers
Now more than ever it’s imperative for event and festival producers to be on top of their game in creating unique, interactive ways for sponsors to get involved. More money is being spent in this marketing category, but it’s being allocated to fewer events overall. Meaning, sponsors are eschewing the shotgun approach and instead looking for ways they can really dig into an event and be an active participant. The days of throwing up some signage and calling it a day are behind us for the most savvy marketers, and savvy event producers know this. This means it’s harder to compete for sponsorship dollars, an already highly competitive arena. So if you’re not in the game, then get in now or you’re out.
I could outline an exhaustive list of things you should already be doing to attract sponsors, starting with mobile media and online social networks. But instead I would suggest you research events that are similar to yours but perhaps bigger and see how they pull it off. Some music events that do an excellent job are Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival (same producers); Coachella and Stagecoach (ditto); and South by Southwest. Even if your event is not music-related, you can still use these examples to get great ideas.
Posted Sunday March 30, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
festival/event management,
festivals
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Thoughts on South by Southwest '08
No surprise, SXSW was replete with way too much to do to squeeze it all in. Crazy! My musical highlights included punk veterans X and I finally got around to seeing Tom Freund, for whom a friend plays drums. I’d say his music is a cross between Lucinda Williams and Leonard Cohen. WOW.
And of course it was a marketing explosion. Very well done in most cases, I’d say, although there was so much of it that it’s easy to get lost in the chaos. Dell did a killer lounge in the convention center, with a fake fireplace, plush carpet, and acoustic acts playing during the day. Probably something they do all the time at trade shows, but not really the kind of thing you see at events like South-by, where the marketing is as much B(usiness) to C(onsumer) as it is B to B.
Several companies had their own venues, be it an actual existing brick and mortar space or a big tent they popped up just for the occasion. Either way, it’s an effective way for a brand to take ownership of the goings-on and then share that with consumers. A nice version of the pop-up store concept.
There was a good bit of “ambush marketing” as well – non-sponsoring companies (who are often competitors with the official sponsors) just showing up and giving away product and swag – which sucks for sponsors but it happens all the time at events. It would be nice if event organizers would police that more effectively but sometimes they can’t and then sometimes they just don’t.
Posted Thursday March 20, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
marketing with music,
music,
music business
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Marketing without Music
Several recent posts have been preaching the gospel of SXSW as an example of how prolific and successful marketing with music can be when done well. But if your business doesn’t really cater to that market, then consider taking the ideas found in this blog and elsewhere on the site and modifying them to suit your target consumer. Event marketing avenues to consider could include sporting events, IT/IS gatherings, film festivals, foodie events, zoos, museums, business networks, and charitable functions.
Posted Friday March 7, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
small business
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South by Southwest Taste on a MyTown Budget
SXSW has become such a high-profile music industry event that marketers clamor to it and then try to rise above the fray to create a killer buzz campaign. And that gets pricey.
(Click here to better understand why music is such a powerful marketing tool.)
So your product or service is perfect for a music industry showcase & festival, but what’s a small business to do? Well, check around for a SXSW knock-off in your city or region. The tremendous success of SXSW has spawned tons of copy-cat events all over the country. Of course they may not offer the same prestigious association, but they do offer a heck of a lot else that any savvy marketer can and should take advantage of. They also offer the chance for a more meaningful interaction with potential consumers – an opportunity that marketing-campaign-saturation renders less relevant every year at SXSW .
So here’s a partial list of similar events in other cities that might be more budget- and marketing-friendly to you:
DFest in Tulsa, Ok.
MusicFest Northwest in Portland, Or.
Atlantis Music Festival in Atlanta, Ga.
NoisePop in San Francisco, Ca.
MOBFest in Chicago, Il.
In addition to the above, most major markets have a local alt-weekly paper that hosts an annual music awards event. Some markets that come to mind are Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Phoenix, L.A. / Orange County, Seattle, and Portland.
These events are lists that come to mind with no research (as I’ve been to most of them). So it’s just a matter of a little research.
OR…
Combo Platter specializes in this kind of thing. To find out why you should consider music events to market at, go here and here
To determine if this is a viable marketing avenue for your business – and it’s not for everyone – contact Combo Platter at info(at)ComboPlatter(dot)net.
Posted Friday February 29, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
marketing with music,
small business
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Study: Marketing (at) Events Increases Purchase Intent
A recent study by the Advertising Research Foundation gives some hard data on the benefits of marketing at events. Primary in the results is the impact of the interaction. (What I’ve referred to as Engagement Marketing.)
The study shows that customers who had some face time with a brand expressed a higher intent to buy, and then goes on to say that at least 50% of consumers who express intent to buy actually follow through on that intent.
Notoriously difficult to measure and prove to the number-crunchers, the impact of engaging your customers nevertheless cannot be underestimated.
Read the full article here.
Posted Sunday February 3, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
marketing
Marketing with Music and Almost No Money
Got $10 to spare for a marketing effort?
Sell A Band may represent the new paradigm for emerging acts in music, given the slow implosion that major labels are currently experiencing, not to mention the coma that music-centered retailers are in.
On Sell A Band, you can search around for acts that your customers like and if you find some, you can sign up for free as a Believer and invest in increments of $10. And of course artists can sign up for free and invite friends and fans to invest.
An especially good idea for small businesses with a strong online / e-commerce aspect, and those who want to build their web presence.
Posted Friday February 1, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
marketing with music,
music industry,
small business
What a Sponsor Wants
I often hear or read questions that go something like this: “How can I find a sponsor that values my (cause, industry, etc.)?”
Like individuals, sponsors want to know what’s in it for them. If they “like” your cause, it’s because your cause lines up with what the sponsor’s customers like, and sponsoring your cause will help them to reach those customers. So to find a sponsor, you have to create value that will give them great ROI – “Return on Investment”. Sponsorship is strictly a marketing decision, and they want marketing benefits in exchange for their money.
Go here for more information to give you some ideas about what to offer a potential sponsor.
I strongly advise you, if you are seeking a sponsor, to hire a professional such as Combo Platter that understands your industry, the sponsor procuring process, and how to speak the language of marketing decision-makers.
Posted Tuesday January 1, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship,
events,
festivals
Tips for First-Time Festival/Event Producers
This advice also comes from personal experience of having known lots of very nice, cool people who were producing various types of events and who made critical errors that can kill an event’s success and hopes for the future. And that would be bad. Your event should be a success!
Start early.
It will take MUCH longer than you think to round up all the necessary elements, especially financing/sponsorship, and that goes double for events that are new and therefore have no track record of proven success and viability. Sponsors, and other partners as well (staff, security, venues, ticket agencies, performers, exhibitors, permitting agencies, etc.) will likely require some vetting of your event, and that takes time. Those folks have their own internal systems for budgeting, decision making, and timelines. Not to mention lives of their own. So if you expect to pick up the phone and hear Joe Major Sponsor tell you he’s putting a 4- or 5-figure check in the mail tomorrow – you’re dreaming. And he’s probably thinking you’re an amateur and a schmuck for even asking. And he would be right.
It will cost probably five to ten times what you think it will. So again, start early.
For a one or two-night club “festival”, give yourself at least 3 months. The bigger the shebang, the more money needed (probably, unless you have rich friends or a family member who owns, say, Target). And time is money, money time. So give yourself plenty of time to raise plenty of money to pay for the costs you know of plus all kinds of things that you haven’t thought of yet.
One thing your event should not live without is in-kind donations. These can range from pizza for the crew to gifts for participants or decor for the venue, all kinds of stuff. A great in-kind donation is credit or gift certificates for a hardware store. A strange event phenomenon is the constant lack of adequate amounts of duct tape, zipties, or tools. This is the event equivalent of losing one sock while doing the laundry.
Do everyone, most especially yourself, a major favor and get someone with experience to work with you, or at least advise you. You wouldn’t want a weekend tinkerer to rebuild the engine of your classic car would you? So get someone with some real experience, which will probably require at least some money, which will take time to raise.
This goes for all event interns, volunteers, and day-of staff who think they’ve gotten it down. That may be the case, but probably not. Being familiar with onsite execution is only one part of pulling off a great event or festival. Many events have full-time staff that work year-round.
A white paper that covers this topic much more in-depth is forthcoming. If you have anything you want to see addressed in that, lemme know.
Posted Tuesday December 18, 2007
in event marketing/sponsorship,
event production,
festival/event management
Give the People What They Want
Burger King is dropping their sponsorship of the NFL at the end of this season because they have been “dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities for local promotional activities resulting from its NFL role”, according to a report in Promo Magazine.
Seems like this should have been a great partnership all the way around, but sponsorship requires ongoing effort after the deal is sealed. Sponsors need to “activate” their sponsorship by creating unique promotions and tie-ins that leverage the relationship. Event properties need to give everything they can to make sure sponsors have the ability to do that.
Now, I have no idea why things didn’t work out in this particular case. Because this was a high level deal worth millions, I very seriously doubt that the individuals involved lacked the know-how to pull it off. Maybe they just didn’t like each other.
But it’s an important lesson in sponsor-event relations: there are always plenty of events for a sponsor to choose from and never enough budgeted to get into all of them. Finding a replacement sponsor to make up for the lost revenue takes a lot of effort which takes a lot of time, and time is money. Good event producers get that.
Posted Monday December 10, 2007
in event management,
event marketing/sponsorship
Sponsorship is for Everyone
While this site is obviously skewed toward the benefits of sponsoring music events in particular, which is a huge category in itself, the biggest category for sponsorship is in fact sports. This ranges from the obvious ones such as American football, golf, and the Olympics to things like local 5k marathons and boating events.
This is especially great news for small businesses. It means that there are opportunities just about everywhere and you don’t need a budget of millions to get into the action. In fact, many smaller local events – whether they are sports, music, parades, community, holiday, charity, or whatever – have starting points at just a couple hundred dollars (much cheaper than advertising on radio or many print publications).
Whoever handles sponsorship for the event you’re considering should take the time to explain in detail all the available options for you that would best fit your budget and objectives. Try not to let preconceptions of pushy salespeople scare you away. Good sponsorship staff understand that honesty is the best policy and that creating a win-win situation is good business. When in doubt, do some research on the event and see if they’ve had consistent sponsors or if it changes drastically every year. (Some change is normal, but a big overhaul year after year is a red flag.)
Now brush off that hesitation and go for it!