Roundtable amusing
The measurement roundtable that appeared in the Jan. 14 SportsBusiness Journal was well-done, informative and, on one level, amusing. I say amusing because all these “full-service” sponsorship buying/activating agencies are grappling with a clear conflict of interest that they couldn’t mention. They’re silently asking themselves: “How closely do we really want to measure the very sponsorships we’re recommending, negotiating and activating?”
Perna
Don’t get me wrong, the 12 people invited were the right people from the right agencies. SBJ asked the right questions and did the right due diligence because, indeed, these are the leading “full-service” agencies doing the bulk of the sponsorship measurement these days.
That’s precisely the reason why so little real measurement is occurring — these “full-service” agencies are conflicted and so are reluctant (afraid?) to measure too closely for fear of measuring their own performance. The December Turnkey Sports Poll asked 850-plus senior-level executives in the industry how they would describe the current state of measurement. An overwhelming majority — 75% — said that measurement is “ad hoc” or “lip service.”
It’s because the wrong folks are handling measurement. Measurement is different than valuation. These “full-service” agencies are strong at upfront valuation, strategy, negotiation, buying and activation. But they’re conflicted as hell when it comes to after-the-fact measurement of efficacy. So what’s amusing to me is that this clear conflict of interest was like an enormous pink elephant in the roundtable room that no one could mention for fear of being drummed out of the fraternity.
Any “full-service” agency charged with the responsibility of suggesting sponsorship ideas/concepts/strategies; developing those strategies; recommending those strategies; negotiating the deals; making the buys; and then executing and activating those sponsorship strategies is certainly NOT going to risk killing a cash cow by really measuring it on the back end. Any real after the fact evaluation — legitimate critical thinking and measurement — could spoil the party! And for that very simple, totally systemic, reason the measurement component needs to be stripped away from these “full-service” agencies.
Announcement to all brands: You need to separate responsibility for measurement and evaluation of the sponsorships away from the “full-service” agencies that are so heavily vested in creating, buying and activating the sponsorships. It’s axiomatic. Until this systemic change occurs, the chances of any meaningful measurement in this industry is, well, amusing.
Smart brands will eventually hire a separate, totally independent, completely objective consumer-insights firm that does nothing but measurement. Like the outside, independent audit firm, such independent consumer-insights firms must have absolutely no financial or creative stake whatsoever in the sponsorships themselves. That is the only way a brand can get a true, accurate, reliable measure of how consumers have reacted to a sponsorship.
And that consumer-insights firm will need to have subject-matter expertise, i.e., that firm needs to know how to measure sports, entertainment and experiential marketing sponsorships with consumers, fans and otherwise, at live events and otherwise. It’s a unique and specialized space and can’t be done from an ivory tower — knowledgeable and immersed in the industry without being beholden to it.
For these reasons, our company, Turnkey Intelligence, no longer accepts research engagements from “full-service” sponsorship buying agencies.
Back in the roundtable room I know their eyes are rolling as they struggle to shove that elephant back behind the curtains.
Len Perna
Haddonfield, N.J.
Perna is the founder, president and CEO of Turnkey Intelligence, a division of Turnkey Sports & Entertainment.
Seeing progress
Hinchey
We read and enjoyed the In Depth article on sponsorship measurement in the latest SBJ (Jan. 14-20). Many worthwhile perspectives and, of course, familiar themes. After 19 years in the business, we realize that we’re all still after the same thing we were when we started: as close to a real-world evaluation as we can get. On the encouraging side, we see progress.
Most recently, we’ve seen the contrast in state-of-the-art evaluation in this country and elsewhere. Our work with corporations and properties in Italy, France, the U.K., Russia and Brazil has underlined their lingering reliance on wholesale media equivalencies, their failure to recognize the importance of integrating research with analysis, of applying appropriate metrics to, for example, signage and promotional activities, or of understanding what constitutes “state-of-the-art.” The educational aspects have been somewhat challenging at times, as have the language issues, but the opportunities have also been rewarding.
Don Hinchey
Denver
Hinchey is vice president of communications for The Bonham Group.
