Marketing and Sponsorship Tips
And Now, A Word From Your Sponsor - New Ideas and Trends to Engage Your Sponsors
As the economy struggles, sponsors are tightening their belts and asking more for their sponsorship dollars. Associations need to think beyond the standard “platinum, gold and silver” sponsorship packages to create opportunities that sponsors will value.
Nancy Frede, owner of MarketSense and www.nonduesrevenue.com, said sponsors have more leverage with associations these days.
“It takes a little more convincing to help a corporation to see value in sponsorship,” Frede said. “Small businesses and corporations can have the upper hand. But creating the added value is the key to success and to ensure that as the economy tightens the sponsors are really getting their money’s worth.”
Green Ideas
“Green is definitely big right now,” Frede said. Associations have offered sponsorships for recycling signage and trashcan wraps. She also suggested that badge collection bins could be sponsorship opportunities.
“To make it a more attractive sponsorship idea, part of that money could go toward an environmental donation from the association.”
Highlighting a Sponsor (Literally!)
The Personal Care Products Council creates gobos for sponsors. The sponsor’s logo is cut into a metal plate and placed over a light source and projected on walls or building facades.“It’s a soft (not too “in your face”) branding device,” said Jeanie Tulipane, the Council’s vice president of conferences. “You can change the lighting colors and add theme features like palm trees to other lights to create a mood in the room. I keep the gobos or give them to my sponsors after the event in hopes that they will sign up next year!”
Frede added, “The largest shows do a lot with holograms right now, with company logos on the wall.”
New Technology Opportunities
Frede said new, more affordable technologies are opening doors for sponsorship opportunities. By offering sponsorships that cover the cost of recording sessions on audio and video, Frede said associations can give sponsors the chance to reach attendees and beyond. “They are finding ways that people who cannot attend a conference can still participate,” she said. “Can you do any of your event online or via teleconference? You can find sponsors for those events as well.”
Sponsorships for enduring materials from an event are also up and coming. “We see a lot of groups producing flash drives for conference meeting material with sponsor logos,” said Paul Wehking, Omnipress vice president. “Sponsors love the flash drive placement because attendees keep the drives and use them all year long.”
Sponsor Videos
With the popularity of online video and audio clips, many associations are adding short videos to their sponsorship opportunities. Audrey Perteete Long, education products manager for the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International, said her association’s technology focus presented new avenues for sponsors.
“We have given the sponsor of an event the opportunity to address the attendees for five minutes or show a video about their company and products” Perteete Long said.
The Western Independent Bankers offers sponsors the opportunity to provide a 30-second recording, which is spliced into the beginning of all concurrent sessions that the group records, said Ray Smith, assistant vice president of events management. The videos get even more exposure on the website as podcasts.
Interactive Trends
Smith said WIB sponsors love the opportunity to buy the keynote author’s book and have a book signing at the sponsor booth. “We also include a custom bookmark with the sponsor’s name and logo,” he added.
Frede said associations can sometimes use a little creativity to find ways to incorporate fun and games into sponsorship opportunities. “Could you play a game of bingo on the bus on the way to an event? A sponsor would appreciate being on an interesting game card that the attendee might keep,” Frede said.
Beyond the Afternoon Brownie Break
Sponsors have always had opportunities for acknowledgement at the coffee breaks, and Frede said food is always a good sponsorship choice. “Food is big, but be innovative in finding a way to add the logo, like toothpicks with logos. Or add a logo to the table linens and the chairs.” She also suggested small snacks, like fruit or candy that could be packaged with the sponsor logos.
Smith said WIB’s sponsors have enjoyed sponsoring the dessert trays, where their logos showed up on chocolate squares.
“We have done an ice sculpture of the sponsor's logo,” Smith said, “and an ice luge, which was a big hit with the sponsor.”
The Best Idea: Partner with Your Sponsors
Wehking said Omnipress frequently looks for creative ways to introduce attendees to Omnipress services. “We sometimes talk to associations and say, ‘What if we sponsored the Conference Journals instead of choosing from the list? That way the association gets a new feature for their attendees, and we are able to highlight our most popular products.”
Frede said, “The most important thing is to see if you can move these sponsorships into other advertising opportunities throughout the year. The sales person for sponsorship has to be much more a consultant, really understanding the sponsors business and understanding where the best fit is. Because there may be more ways that a corporation can be a sponsor throughout the year, they’re more of a partner than a sponsor.”
Tried and True Sponsorship Offers That Work
These proven sponsorship opportunities should be in everyone’s development toolkit.
Educational Program and Materials Sponsorship Favorites
- Allow a key sponsor to kick off your general session with a three-to-five minute overview of services. Or give a sponsor one minute to address a session and introduce breakout speakers.
- Offer sponsorships for educational sessions, and ask the speakers to acknowledge the sponsors by asking them to stand up. The speakers or sponsors can tell the audience a summary of services, followed by a round of applause.
- Showcase a sponsor with a slide loop in breakout rooms between sessions.
- Acknowledge sponsors on the event web site with logos linked to the sponsor sites.
- Allow a key sponsor to place a business response card (special offer or call to action) in the printed pieces to drive traffic to the sponsor’s booth or web site during or after an event.
- List all sponsors in the final program at their respective sponsorship levels, and place sponsor logos next to their sponsored sessions, events or special functions.
- Offer premium ad placement in the on-site program: on the inside front cover, outside back cover and inside back covers.
- On text pages within the program book or learning journal, allow a key sponsor to place a watermarked or regular logo in the header or footer.
- Add sponsor names and logos to the session room signs placed in the hallways.
- Include key sponsors in your “show daily” to drive traffic to their booth at the show.
- Include key event sponsors on any pre-show marketing materials such as “save the date” postcards, advance programs or emails.
- Place the sponsor’s logo on the CD packaging, label or flash drive.
- Place sponsor logo (and link) on the conference CD or online version. You can offer sponsorships for the home page or even animated banners.
- Tell your sponsors to make tangible offers to event attendees that are credible and understandable. Avoid using percentage discounts (i.e., 50% off) as attendees may be wary of non-concrete numbers.
- Remind your sponsors to have their organizations up to speed on special offers to event attendees so when an inquiry does come in as a result of the event, staffers are prepared.
- Tell sponsors to be clear and concise in their messaging. Highlighting one or two products or services is more than enough for any attendee to digest at once.
- Encourage key representatives to attend the event and participate in educational sessions. They can meet show management, the leadership of the association or group running the event and the attendees.
