A quarter of a brand’s sponsorship budget should remain flexible so as to allow funding for a “super idea” which has not been budgeted, Diageo's sponsorship chief advised. Diageo Head of Sponsorship Rory Sheridan said, "What we have found out in the past obviously is when you plan things nice and officially early, the one super idea comes at the end when [there is] no money left. So we have actively tried to incorporate [planned reactive] into our plans. We know these opportunities are going to come. They are going to come externally, internally, from consumers, trade partners. And it’s [important] to be flexible enough to have budget available.”
Sheridan said most of these ad hoc sponsorship ideas were digital or social ideas. He was speaking Thursday on the final panel session at the Leaders Sports Business Summit at Stamford Bridge in London. Sheridan was joined on the panel by Marcus Kikisch, head of brand communications for Hyundai Europe, and Scott Kegley, executive director of digital media and innovation for the NFL Minnesota Vikings.
The panel were asked about how they discovered and chose sponsorship properties. Kikisch said: “It’s always good to use an agency, of course -- to use a third party. But, of course, internally a lot of stakeholders are having a say and having their own meetings. Therefore, you definitely need a kind of neutral partner from the outside." Sheridan said, “We obviously value lots of opinions, but we tend to process the clear majority of proposals and considerations directly ourselves. Only we know what we know and what we want. We do get a lot of proposals.“
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
