Mostexecutives in the sports sponsorship and marketing industry are no differentfrom those in other business fields. They are sincere, qualified, hard-workingfolks who honestly desire to advance their careers by doing a good job fortheir employers.
But the industry also hasits tiny share of people who serve as impediments to good sports marketing.
So, in the spirit of theHalloween season, let’s see who’s knocking on our door and shouting, “Trick orTreat!”
Advertising, Public Relations and Promotional AgenciesDisguised as Sponsorship Experts:
Many companies rely on their agencies as sources for marketingexpertise, including sports sponsorships. The problem is that some agenciespretend to have sponsorship expertise they don’t have.
All agencies are wired tosay “yes” to the client, regardless of whether the skills the client needs arepresent. That’s because an agency’s worst nightmare is that the client willlook elsewhere for a specific skill, develop trust in the new agency and thenmove its business. Also, many advertising, PR and promotional agencies don’tknow how to make money from sponsorships.
The result is that whenclients ask these agencies to evaluate a sponsorship proposal, the agenciescannot do it, and they see the sponsorship as a competitor for billing dollars.So the agencies kill the sponsorship.
When a property is pitchinga sponsor, and the sponsor asks the property to make a careful and criticalexamination of it through the sponsor’s agency, an alarm bell should sound. Inresponse, properties should have in place additional, non-intrusive pathways ofcommunication with the sponsorship decision-maker, aside from theircommunication with the sponsor’s agency.
Autocrats Wearing the Masks of Competent SponsorshipManagers:
This costume usuallyinvolves a sponsor company executive disguising himself as a take-charge leaderwith the best interests of his company in mind. In reality, the sponsorshipmilieu is the autocrat’s personal fiefdom.
He’s not such a big shot inthe office, but he’s the company executive in charge of sponsorships. And whenhe’s on the road with the sponsorship, he’s The Man.
For him, the hotel,hospitality suite, catered food, merchandise and apparel, event signage, wine,restaurants, weather and limo are never good enough. He berates his agencyaccount executive when that exec takes an entire hour to scrounge up 12 morehotel rooms for next week’s Daytona 500.
When the sponsorship ispopular, he’s eager to take credit for it. But when the sponsorship’s effectivenessis questioned, it becomes clear that he hasn’t done the work to understand andmeasure it. He’ll be the first to ditch it.
Sports properties dealing with autocrats would do well to create broaderrelationships in the sponsor company by making sure executives at differentlevels understand the value of the sponsorship.
They also should spread awide paper trail of successes linked to the sponsorship. Because the day willcome when the autocrat is held to accounts, and he’ll get the boot. When hedoes, he’ll make a beeline for an agency job as a sponsorship expert (seeabove).
The Accountant Masquerading as a Marketer:
He spouts an understandingof the importance of building brands and creating loyal and frequent customersby reaching them through sports sponsorship. But he really doesn’t get it.
In his heart, he’s agreen-eyeshaded, sleeve-gartered Scrooge, pinching marketing pennies andcarping about wasting money on sponsorship. He believes that carpet-bombing thepublic through multimedia price promotions is the best marketing tool, and thatshoddy advertising is more powerful than sponsorship.
This isn’t true, of course.According to International Events Group, a Chicago-based sponsorship thinktank, advertising is good at communicating product attributes and pricing. Butit also can clutter consumers’ lives and be intrusive.
Sponsorship does a betterjob of building brand imagery and creating brand awareness, leading to consumerloyalty. And sponsors are invited into consumers’ lives because sponsorshipscomplement customers’ interests.
The problem is that somehowour masked accountant came through business school hearing nary a word aboutsponsorship, so he doesn’t understand it.
People like him rarely stay in the same job more than two years. Propertiesdealing with him should keep records of their successes, try to survive histenure and hope his successor is more enlightened.
Unfortunately, he’ll probably be recruited as the sponsorship manager ofa bigger company (see above).
When these three costumedcharacters approach, it’s best to look behind the mask to know who you’redealing with.n
Mel Poole (mpoole@sportsbusinessjournal.com) is president of the consulting and marketing firm SponsorLogic.
