As the president of Navigate Marketing, where we specialize in the research, measurement and analysis of sports sponsorships, I frequently work with properties and brands making the most of their sponsorship opportunities in the sports world. But too often, I witness brands making some common mistakes. Here are five examples, all of them easy to make, and all of them necessary to avoid.

Investing Based on Gut Feel
Too often, a top individual in a company will decide to sponsor a property based on a personal affinity for that property, or a personal belief that the property is hot or increasing in popularity. But this is akin to playing the stock market without really researching any stocks. It’s a recipe for fiscal failure. 

Brands need to perform their own due diligence prior to investing with a property.  It sounds obvious, but this involves looking at various potential sponsorships and comparing them on a number of levels, including, but not limited to:

• The specific demographics reached by the properties.
• The opportunities for activation with each property.
• The sponsorships already in place with each property.
• How each property aligns with the brand’s identity and objectives.

By making these comparisons, a brand gives itself a much better chance to find the best possible partner for executing a successful sponsorship.

Failure to Cultivate the Sponsorship
Once the decision – and investment – has been made, the tendency for some brands is to believe that the work is done. They can sit back and let the sponsorship perform. Of course, it doesn’t quite work that way. More effort, and more money, is typically required to create a successful investment.

There is some debate in the industry over exactly how much should be spent on activation, but the general consensus is approximately two to three times the cost of the sponsorship agreement. It may be tough for a company to accept spending $2 million in activation efforts for a $1 million sponsorship, but without proper activation, the initial $1 million will likely not be leveraged properly.

Research and measurement is also necessary, and much less costly. We generally advise brands to spend between 1-3 percent of the sponsorship investment cost on research, so between $10,000 and $30,000 for a $1 million sponsorship. The exact type and timing of the research depends on the sponsorship and the objectives desired by the brand.

• For a naming rights deal, the brand can commission a sponsorship valuation before landing a partner to determine the fair market value – much like using Kelly Blue Book before purchasing a car.
• For a bank striving to entice more people to sign up for checking accounts, the research can involve tracking those numbers throughout the sponsorship and surveying people exposed to the sponsorship via a sponsorship impact study.
• For a company selling widgets, a return on investment (ROI) study should be conducted toward the end of the sponsorship term to aid in the renewal process and make a determination on the success of the sponsorship investment.

Measuring ROI Incorrectly
As important as it is to perform research and measurement, the results will be meaningless if the process is flawed.

One common mistake is measuring ROI based solely on the comparison of exposure value to sponsorship cost. While adequate exposure value is a helpful complement to ROI, measuring the incremental sales that can be attributed to the sponsorship is the more  insightful method.

This type of study is somewhat complicated, and certainly the process has yet to be perfected (and employed industry-wide). But the advances in these calculations are providing valuable feedback to brands, who are able to learn not only how much exposure value they’re receiving, but also if that exposure is yielding actual results for the company’s bottom line. If a brand is going to pay for an ROI study, it needs to make sure this method is being used.

Putting Too Much Stock in 1st Year Results
The excitement of signing a sponsorship deal is often accompanied by high expectations, especially as the dollar figure grows, and there’s an almost immediate desire to see if the sponsorship is meeting those expectations. Research and measurement efforts assist a brand in determining this, but executives tend to lack something necessary for managing a sponsorship – patience.

Very rarely does a sponsorship investment become a huge success in year one; it traditionally takes 2-3 years for a sponsorship to gain traction. This is simply a result of the time it takes to break through the clutter and become more engrained in the minds of the fans and the public.

When brands start making sponsorship decisions based on first-year performance – especially decisions that scale back activation or drastically change the long-term strategy – they run the risk of dooming the sponsorship before its had a chance to grow. That’s not to say the first year isn’t important; it just shouldn’t be the basis for an overreaction.

Ignoring the Potential Success of Investing in Sports
With the combination of a struggling economy, government bailouts and a cynical public in the past few years, there’s been an understandable hesitancy by some brands to invest in or maintain sports sponsorships. But this is generally a mistake.

Sports have been and are still a great way to reach a group of passionate, loyal customers who have the potential to help a brand grow. Time after time, it’s been proven that sports sponsorships yield positive results when managed correctly.

It’s important not to let fear or temporary public opinion prevent a meaningful partnership that will produce long-term benefits. If a brand does have the financial wherewithal to invest in a sports sponsorship – both the initial expenditure, and then the activation and research/measurement that follows – it should do so with confidence.

AJ Maestas is the founder and president of Navigate Marketing. If you have any questions or would like to learn more information about sponsorship or Navigate’s services, contact him at amaestas@navigatemarketing.com or call (312) 762-7477.

As a way to draw increased awareness and attention to some of the standup sponsorship opportunities on our site, we have decided to set apart one blog per month to put the “Spotlight on Sponsorship”! If you have a premium level listing on SponsorPark, and would like to have your event featured, please contact Stephanie.Lochmiller@SponsorPark.com to submit your event.  This month our spotlight shines on the 12th FINA/eSynchro World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships.

What is the 12th FINA/eSynchro World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships all about?

This year, from August 11th to 15th, Indianapolis will be the host to the 12th FINA/eSynchro World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships. The event will be held in the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI, and is anticipated to draw in more than 300 of the world’s most elite athletes from 30 different countries, along with their coaching staff, personnel, family and fans.

Since its inception in 1989, the internationally-sanctioned competition has featured both team and duet events, which are Olympic disciplines. The 2010 Championship will be the first to include the free combination event, which has been known in other championships as a fan-favorite, as it incorporates a variety of different routines into one four and a half minute program. Past hosts of the event include Montreal (Canada), Moscow (Russia), Bonn (Germany), and Salerno (Italy). This is the second time the US has been the site for this event. 

What makes this a stand out event?

This event is the only female exclusive Olympic sport.  Although often seen as a “mystery sport” to the general public, intrigue and interest surrounding the sport often leads to increased media exposure. The event is made up of athletes who are almost always articulate, attractive, and intelligent young women, who are active in their own communities and are very passionate about the sport even after they are no longer able to participate.  Synchronized swimming is the Ultimate Team Sport, and the character of its participants shines though in this event.

This is truly a global event that has very inexpensive sponsorship opportunities available to get a partners name in front of an audience of very dedicated consumers.   According to Jordan Dillion, Business Development Director for the event “If the global world isn’t your target, we have six national championships that happen domestically every year as well as general sponsorship opportunities of the Senior National Team that will compete in various international competitions, including the 2012 Olympics Games in London.” 
 
Surviving Sponsorship in a Heated Economy

This event, like many others has seen some sponsorship changes in the last few years.  According to Dillon, they have adjusted their efforts to work along with the goals of their partners and have noticed more sponsors offering “In-kind Value” as opposed to cash value.  They’ve also worked harder to retain the sponsors they have had from past events.  They have also turned to SponsorPark to gain additional exposure from those sponsors who are still actively seeking opportunities to support.
 
Preferred partners?

Being an exclusively female event, they seek partners who are targeting generally female client bases, or aquatics companies.  The event does boast a strong community and teamwork based group of athletes so those partners who are looking for a strong moral connection to their product should definitely look into this event.  More on the event can be seen at their SponsorPark listing, or you can become a Facebook fan  as well as following them on Twitter.

“How can you win if you can’t see the scoreboard?”  Susie Egr – my favorite supervisor back in my retail days used to often ask in her tours.  Her coaching was gold; at that stage in my development as a leader and a manager proved to be not only right on, but the challenges were invigorating, empowering and most of all – results oriented.  “The behaviors that drive results;” was a phrase my team and I were very used to hearing and implementing; not surprisingly, when we wrapped our minds around the principal, it proved incredibly valuable. 

A fact is a fact is a fact:
In sponsorship, this same principle can be applied.  As a sponsorship opportunity representative, there’s likely a routine that you have in place for analyzing efforts.  These are the things you have established as critical information; it’s what you need to know in order to even begin to report value of what transpired to those who care (supervisors, partners, internal implementers, board of directors, etc).  Ex: Reviewing reports, crunching numbers, uncovering growth or lack thereof, comparing this year to last year, logging how your efforts were implemented, noting the state of the economy or outside impacting factors, consider your projections vs. your realities, etc… The first round of these efforts is fact – it is what it is.  Basically put the entire experience under a magnifying glass and observe away.  These things are not arguable, they are statements of reality; “our sales at the concessions stand went up 8 percent this year; and the average attendee ranked this experience at a 9 vs. last year at a 4.”

Infer based on fact:
Once you have established some clear and valuable facts; you can start inferring what I call the “whys.”  X happened because Y happened.  You tie a result to an action step; “we had more volunteer support this year than last year, from 76 to 89.  There were more volunteers this year because: a- our sponsor involved their internal staff this year with 15 more volunteers than last year; b- we promoted the opportunity through social media over 4 different mediums for 6 weeks; c – we rewarded our volunteers with 5 free tickets to the event, plus held a “thank you” party on their behalf.”  This step is critical because if you stop at the results, you never understand why you got the results that you did – you end up crippling your ability to plan well for your next year/effort.  When you make logical inferences, you’re then able to speak to the root cause of that result.  Perhaps you were talented in your ability to implement and activate, but if you can’t speak to why, you just look plain lucky – and we all know that luck runs out at some point; you know this and your partner knows this.  

Behaviors:
You can break this down even further.  “Sarah Smith was in charge of our sponsors this year.  She visited our partner and met with their management team, drew up a plan to invite internal staff to volunteer, and offered sign up forms that were distributed throughout each department with clear instructions for how and why to be involved.  Last year we did not offer these forms – it was all web based sign ups.  In addition, the thank you party was a huge success, with a motivating speech, food and ‘dress rehearsal’ skit of what to expect; volunteers ranked their level of excitement and preparation for the event at an 8 instead of a 5 last year.”  This is clearly just an example, but can you see how this string of thought processes enables a manager to more clearly communicate to the appropriate individuals what’s working and how the partnership proved valuable.  You can even take this information back to a chat with Sarah Smith to say, thanks for your efforts – your ability to motivate and inspire as well as plan and drive execution resulted in ….”  You get the picture.  Obviously before you can report on these insights, you must have accurate reports to reference which point back in support of your inferences.  This builds credibility and strengthens your insights.  Sponsors can be like small children, always asking “why?” especially when you are inferring something that might be a behavior you want to see from them.  It’s easy to argue with opinion, but it’s tough to argue with supported numbers.

So… what does this have to do with sponsorship best practices?
Before you start thinking you just read a blog on management and reporting vs. sponsorship, let me explain to you why this is so incredibly relevant.  Being able to drive behaviors that achieve results can make or break the longevity and success of a sponsorship opportunity.  When you can speak intelligently to what works and what doesn’t, your sponsorship partners are more open to getting creative, they trust your insights, and they can speak intelligently to their superiors about why they should continue the relationship with you.  What's more, you drive accountability and leverage strenghts. Money is tight, sponsorship is competitive, people require helpful reporting as your partner and it can be the reason they don’t come back if you don’t report well or in a timely manner.  When you report, stay accurate.  Sponsors appreciate knowing what worked and why; as well as what didn’t work, or were your opportunities were - along with a proposed solution.  If you can get their wheels spinning around how to improve an effort for the next year, you’ve already got them thinking about the future of your relationship.  When you know the behaviors that drive results you can create action plans around what you want to see happen. 

Here’s another reason.  During all my time in management, the number one reason why I see individuals failing in certain positions is a lack of role clarity and the ability to speak intelligently to the cause and result of their efforts.  Once they can do this, you’ve empowered them to self motivate and self adjust.   If you can coach your team (or if you’re not the coach, if you can proactively figure this out) what’s working and what’s not, you will be able to see the mood elevator in your team improve, the ability to lead and earn the respect of your team will be easier to maintain, and you will be better able to inspire and motivate towards a behavior that drives a result. 

So do you know what your scoreboard reads?  Any great examples on reporting – inspire the sponsorship community with your examples!