I recently was speaking with a marketing manager with one of the major Detroit manufacturers.  He indicated more of his dealer network and dealer association groups are investing in local or regional sponsorships.  A key issue for many is how to get measurable returns from their sponsorship investment.

A important part of any sponsorship is an effective sponsorship activation program. And the concept seems to be gathering interest among both sponsors and properties facing more choice and intense competition.  The days of simply offering or buying name recognition are over.  The table stakes have been raised with increased accountability and the need for  budget performance being the order of the day.

A lot of discussion occurred at the Western Sponsorship Congress around the need to leverage the sponsor investment through an engaging activation program.  The same themes were expressed at the National Sports Forum earlier this month.

One of the topics of interest that arose was the use of promotional items such as event T-shirts as an activation tool.  While the discussions focused on T-shirts, similar concerns apply to the range of traditional, static promotional items handed out at events, sporting events, charity runs, or walks.

The consensus of opinion at both conferences suggests most current promotional items don’t offer any true engagement value for the sponsors nor deliver measurable results.  At best, they provide a “thank you” to participants.

I question whether they even deliver on this component. Often the quality of the product, the lack of engagement delivered, or the inability to deliver a measurable response make them of dubious value for the sponsor.  And of course, T-shirts in particular, suffer from the “logo soup” effect – every sponsor’s logo is included minimizing the impact for any individual sponsor.

If this is the case, are there alternatives to increase engagement with the sponsor brand while delivering a call to action?  What is unique that can offer real value to event participants?

Three criteria for creating higher value for sponsors include:

1.     Be unique.

Sponsors want to get noticed and ensure their message reaches event participants.  Handing out the same old promotional items with a sponsor logo isn’t sufficient to have the desired impact.

Some new products such as snapNwin cards deliver as they really stand out and get noticed.   Their ability to deliver a high quality message through a collectible magnet increases the impact of the sponsor’s brand at events such as walks, runs, sporting events or fairs.

2.       Deliver a call to action.

Brand awareness is great but doesn’t generate measurable responses.   I have yet to have any client tell me handing out a T-Shirt or pin has delivered one sales enquiry or online lead.

One of the newest opportunities is to leverage the appeal of music downloads to generate follow-up to a sponsor’s website.  Great appeal, easy to implement and provides a direct measurement of response.  Other new devices including QR codes are available to make it very easy for event participants to respond from events through their smartphones.

3.      Reinforce sponsor identity.

As the major sponsor of an event, it is frustrating to be buried among the logos of all the sponsors.

Delivering a customized incentive that is clearly sponsor branded and offers the ability to drive website visits or instore redemptions raises the profile of the sponsor.  More importantly it leverages the investment made for the rights fee.  More expensive than the accepting the generic “logo soup” approach, it will generate better results when integrated with the call to action.

Creative approaches to developing an activation program are needed to stand out, get noticed and engage event participants.  The above criteria will help in the selection process of your activation elements.

CF Marketing Group delivers promotional messages through the use of unique, innovative products to increase the stickiness of promotional messages for marketing contests, events or sponsorship activation programs.  Stickiness means your promotion will be noticed, have interactive elements and deliver measurable results.  To find out more watch our short video. Or call me at 1.888.215.8315 to discuss some ideas on how we can help.