Wine gets better as it ages. Marriages deepen as a couple grows old together. Sponsorship partnerships are more powerful with time. There are so many reasons why this is true, and so many benefits to establishing a long term partnership. Consider this – when you got married, did you know everything about your spouse the day after you said “I do?” Isn’t it true that it takes years to peel back the onion and really know the different layers of a person? When you have a sponsorship partner it’s the same deal – your partnership the first year might be really good, but the longer you make your mark on one another, the more cemented the message is that you are sending together. Everyone wins. Why? Clearly it’s easier for sponsorship sales professionals not to have to start over year after year, and it’s in the best interest for a brand to generate the perception of an authentic and genuine message when they commit. Now, some if you are thinking, “ummm, you don’t have to convince me a long term partnership is a good idea, but it’s easier said than done.” So let’s go through a few questions that once answered might help you to strategize and pitch strategically.
- What brands come to mind who are in alignment with your mission/vision? Consider your target message and find a partner who complements this message with their own. These are the brands that will benefit most from partnering with you. They just make sense.
- Research these brand’s previous sponsorship efforts – is there anything they have participated in that would pose a conflict of interest? I’ll give an example. I spoke with a client recently about their target list of sponsors. There was one particular sponsor that came to mind as we were chatting that I thought might be a good fit. As it turned out, this particular sponsor had produced a traveling event similar to the one our client was seeking sponsorship for. They’re obviously not going to sponsor someone else’s competitive event when they’re producing their own.
- Do you have the ability to offer an incentive to your sponsor to sign a long term contract? Perhaps you offer discounted partnership price for every year they commit to beyond the first if they’ll commit in the present.
Maybe you’ve done all of these things and you’re still struggling – have patience. Continue to brainstorm long term messages you want to drill home to your audience, continue getting creative about how you might do this with a partner in a genuine way. Sometimes it’s not as easy as your first pitch, but then again… sometimes it is. I also think that as powerful as a long term partnership has the potential to be; it also takes a different level of creativity, activation and overall effort than that which you have the time and energy to offer a short term partner. If you’re offering the “same old” benefits to a partner and then asking for a long term commitment, they’ll likely laugh you out of their office – there’s not good enough incentive. But if your messages will only build one another as a more relevant, likeable, positively characterized brand, then take the plunge and pitch an idea that they have to pay attention to.
Another quick suggestion – let’s say you’ve taken all of the above steps, identified the perfect partner, deliberated on a top notch activation effort, pitched to the right decision maker, and you’re still turned down (we all know this happens). Remember to maintain your report, your connections, and continue to foster the relationship. Perhaps in the future the original reasons they had for not moving forward with you will dissipate, and you want to make it easy for them to recall your opportunity and connect with you to hear more.
Let’s quickly consider the alternative to long term. When a brand embraces a message for a short stint, or affiliates with a cause for a season, then changes their affiliation quickly, it leaves a negative impression on their target audience. It appears that their commitment was marginal, weak, trendy, and selfish. Not an attractive message for a brand to send out.
So prepare your pitch for a long term sponsor and watch as your efforts become more powerful with time!