There Is Still One Great Way For Companies To Reach Consumers.....Sports! - Sports Is the Ultimate Winning Play - The Super Bowl Is Now Only 10 Days Away and a Few Super Bowl Teaser Commericals

In a world where it is increasingly hard for companies, marketers, advertisers and anyone else with a message they want to get in front of the public to be assured that their message will be seen and heard there is still one great medium that insures the end audience will be reached and will be engaged in what they are watching and that one medium is….

Sports!

There is nothing like live sports action to engage the general public and engage them far beyond the games themselves because often the real action lies in the lead-up-to and reactions after the games that provide great opportunities for companies to deliver their message to willing and ready to listen consumers.

Ad Age has the truth behind of….

Why Sports Is the Ultimate Winning Play for Engagement, Michael McCarthy, Ad Age

“Every marketer seems to stand up and cheer for sports. From jewelry retailers to automakers, brands dole out millions of dollars to have access to one of the last DVR-proof offerings on TV, an arena where "mass market," "reach" and 30-second spots still mean something.

Robert Carter, VP-automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales USA, puts it simply. "You have a better opportunity to get your message in front of a sports viewer vs. somebody that DVRs a drama, then commercial-skips," said Mr. Carter at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.

But modern sports marketing stretches far beyond TV. It might be the best place to get creative in both message and media: data-based mobile marketing plays at NBA arenas; virtual ads behind home plate during Major League Baseball telecasts; real-time tweets during NCAA's March Madness; and b-to-b plays at the U.S. Open and Nascar races.

Why? Because people engage with sports like nothing else. If you want to talk passion points, think of those Red Sox fans after the team won its first World Series in 86 years; consider the buzz already building for the World Cup; or just Google "Auburn Alabama final play."

The North American sports market alone is expected to hit $67.7 billion in revenue by 2017, up from $53.6 billion in 2012, according to PwC. That figure includes gate revenue, media rights, corporate sponsorships and merchandising.

Gate revenues are projected to remain the largest segment at $19.1 billion in 2017, growing at a rate of 3.9%. But PwC notes that media rights and sponsorship segments will grow faster, 7.7% and 6%, respectively.”

Wow! 

Those are some amazingly fast-growing numbers in the North American sports market which has been on a steady rise for several decades now and has been on a noteworthy tear in the last few years even in the face of one of the longest and toughest recessions in American history.  

What we here at the Roaring Fork Agency have learned in the last five years since the bubble was burst on the US economy in the Fall of 2008 is that there are a lot of things that Americans will do without but they will not do without….

Their Teams and Their Sports

…..and that reality should be well-understood by anyone that has a product or service they are trying to sell into the marketplace which means that any solid marketing mix plan should include sports, sports, sports….and did we say sports?

Speaking of sports the Super Bowl is now only 10 days away and Ad Age has a round-up of…

Super Bowl Ad Chart:  Who’s Buying What in Super Bowl 2014, Ad Age

…and below are a few of the teaser commercials released by companies for the game:

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Hartford Marathon In Search for Title Sponsor Produces Economic Impact of Race Report….Now What the Hartford Marathon Needs To Do….

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

The Hartford Marathon is now on the hunt for a new Title Sponsor in the wake of ING dropping their sponsorship of the race and the very smart thing that the Hartford Marathon has done is quantify in Dollars & Cents terms what the event is actually worth to the Hartford, Connecticut region.  

The Hartford Business Journal has the story:

Hartford Marathon deserves title sponsor, Editorial, Hartford Business Journal

“While still searching for a new title sponsor, the Hartford Marathon smartly released a study last week showing that last year's October race generated $14.1 million in economic value, up from $11 million in 2012.

The study, done by Avon's Witan Intelligence Inc., found that the average party of people attending the race spent $388.47.

That's up from $282.71 in 2012; the average party was also bigger in 2013 at 3.1 people, compared to 2.7 a year earlier. Hotels, restaurants, and small businesses were the beneficiaries.

While not earth shattering, the numbers demonstrate the race, which drew a record breaking 75,000 attendees, is a major event for the city, helping attract hordes of runners and onlookers from across Connecticut, the country, and even outside the United States.

ING, which sponsored the race since 2008, has dropped its title sponsorship on the heels of a rebranding and new marketing strategy. By all accounts, ING was a good corporate sponsor.

Now it's time for another major regional employer to take the helm. The Hartford Marathon deserves corporate support and there has been no better time in recent memory for a company to implant its name and brand on the race.”

All of the above is great but there are a couple of things that we would recommend the Hartford Marathon add to their website to help sell a new Title Sponsorship and those two things would be:

The Demographics of the Participants and Spectators of the Hartford Marathon

The Benefits that come with being the Title Sponsor of the Hartford Marathon

Maybe an email or phone call is in order from the Roaring Fork Agency to the folks running the Hartford Marathon!
    
Hartford Marathon - www.hartfordmarathon.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

KIA and the Australian Open Producing Some Incredible "Sponsor Recognition" Numbers With Their Partnership

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

With the Australian Open tennis tournament continued to be played over the next few weeks in Melbourne, Australia and with ESPN providing 100+ hours of live tennis on TV and WatchESPN…

ESPN’s 30 th Australian Open Starts Sunday Down Under, ESPN Media Zone

….there are dozens of stories in the media about some of the great sponsorship deals that the event’s organizers have put together including the below story on KIA’s involved with Aussie Open:

How KIA capitalizes on the Australian Open: 1 in 7 Australians recognize it as a sponsor, Myriam Robin, Leading Company

Check-out the incredible “sponsor recognition” that KIA has achieved by being a major sponsor of the Australian Open:

“More than 6.7 million Australians regularly or occasionally watch the Australian Open on TV, and luckily for lead sponsor KIA, almost a million of them intend to buy a new car this year, according to Roy Morgan.

The South Korean carmaker is recognized by one in seven Australians as a sponsor of the Australian Open, making it the runaway winner of brand associations from the Grand Slam.

Of Australians who watch the Australian Open, 40.8% associate KIA with the tennis – more than three times the number who associated next-ranked brands Nike and Adidas. And of all Australians 14 years or older, 14.5% make the connection.”

Wow!

Of course, generating that kind of “sponsor recognition” doesn’t come cheap because in the next paragraph of the above story we learn that KIA spends….

“In Roy Morgan’s estimate, that means KIA is getting a fair bit out of the sponsorship, which media reports estimate is costing it a total $10 million a year in cash and cars until 2018.”

….and “$10 million a year in cash and cars” is a staggering amount of money but assuming standard vehicle prices and vehicle profit margins KIA would only need to sell something around…

20,000 vehicles

…..related to this sponsorship which is only 2% of the 1 million Australians that both watch the Australian Open every year and intend to buy a vehicle in the next year.

YES, that is the kind of ROI (Return on Investment) that makes great sense and Bravo to KIA and the Australian Open for putting together a great sponsorship deal that is a WIN – WIN for everyone involved.

Now back to watching the Australian Open!

KIA Motors – www.kia.com

Australian Open – www.ausopen.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

IEG's Guide To Why Companies Sponsor - ANZ Has Very Clearly Defined Goals for Australian Open Sponsorship

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

IEG is the world’s leading sponsorship consulting, valuation, measurement & strategy company and has done some great work over the years for people that work in the sponsorship business like us here at The Roaring Fork Agency and the following presentation from IEG is a must-read for any company considering an investment in sponsorship:

IEG’s Guide To Why Companies Sponsor, IEG

“IEG analysts identify the most common reasons companies use sponsorship:

Increase brand loyalty

Create awareness & visibility

Change/reinforce image

Drive retail traffic

Showcase community responsibility

Drive sales

Sample/display brand attributes

Entertain clients

Narrowcasting

Recruit/retain employees

Merchandising opportunities

Incenting retailers, dealers and distributors

Differentiate product from competitors

Combat larger ad budgets of competitors

Achievement of multiple objectives”

Most companies that do investment in sponsorship usually focus their goals on several of the above reasons/objectives but most important of all is that the sponsoring company have a very clearly defined set of objectives to achieve with the sponsorship and a great example of that is the below story about the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) which is now sponsoring the Australian Open tennis tournament:

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group eyes Asian views at Australian Open, Owen Raskiewicz, 9 News

“ANZ has been a sponsor of the tennis since 2010 and says, "[it] is a sign of our continued commitment to the Australian market, as well as being aligned with our goal to be a super-regional bank and grow our presence in the Asia Pacific region."

As tennis takes off in Asian countries, thanks largely to the success of Chinese female tennis star Li Na, many big companies are likely to seek sponsorship of major games and events. ANZ already achieved "Diamond" sponsorship status at the Shanghai Masters last year, but will also search for other opportunities in the region.

Women's Tennis Association managing director, Peter Johnston, told The Australian Financial Review Li Na's success has positively promoted the sport in China: "The sport is popular and played at all levels, from government officials down to the rest of the population. So we have both international sponsors and Chinese companies wanting to reach the wider consumer market coming to us." Jacobs Creek, another top sponsor, owned by French company Pernod Ricard is also looking to make a similar move to ANZ.

In 2007, ANZ CEO Mike Smith launched the 'Super Regional Strategy' which is unique amongst Australia's big banks including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), because it actively competes against local and foreign financial institutions in the region. By 2017 the bank hopes to draw between 25% and 30% of group revenue from its strategy.”

In the last paragraph of the above story is the defined objective for the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) in sponsoring the Australian Open tennis tournament:

“By 2017 the bank hopes to draw between 25% and 30% of group revenue from its strategy.”

Bravo to the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) for sponsoring the Australian Open tennis tournament (being telecast on ESPN’s network of channels over the next several weeks) and for showing other companies considering sponsorship the importance of having very clearly defined goals that back-up the hard-earned money that ANZ is spending on the event.

IEG – www.sponsorship.com

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) – www.anz.com

Australian Open – www.ausopen.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

New Balance To Sponsor Snow Removal Along Charles River in Boston This Winter.....Brilliant!

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

Proving that there are all kinds of ways for companies to do sponsorship and raise their brand awareness in the process New Balance will again sponsor snow removal along the Charles River in Boston this winter…

New Balance Will Sponsor Snow Removal Along the Charles River, Nate Boroyan, BostinInno.com

“New Balance has renewed its sponsorship agreement for a fifth consecutive season with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), with the hopes of ensuring pedestrian paths along the Charles River are safe and clear this winter.

Thanks to the renewed agreement with the DCR, New Balance will help fund snow removal efforts along the 17-plus mile path, stretching from the Museum of Science in Cambridge to Watertown's Galen Street Bridge.

“Providing four-season access to the Charles River Basin for runners and walkers is a crucial priority for DCR, and the support of New Balance to enhance DCR park users’ experience in this area supports this mission, and showcases the ways DCR and the business community can work together," DCR Commissioner Jack Murray said in a statement.

Snow removal, itself, will be performed by the DCR within 24 hours after a storm has run its course. The New Balance sponsored clearing is scheduled to begin with the next storm (see: outside your window).

"As a Boston-based company, we understand the importance of training through the winter for early spring racing events," New Balance President and CEO Rob DeMartini said in a statement. "This program helps ensure that athletes can continue to train year round."”

The great thing about this New Balance snow removal sponsorship is that it engenders a lot of positive news coverage….

Running the Charles River Paths This Winter?  This Boston Company is Footing the Plowing Bill, Alex E. Weaver, BostonInno.com

….and will only cost New Balance a reportedly…

$20,000!

Brilliant and a Win-Win Sponsorship Deal for Everyone!

New Balance – www.newbalance.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Great Sponsorship News in the Past Week From the LPGA And PGA Tours

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

There was some great news in the world of golf this past week with both the PGA and LPGA Tours getting significant sponsorship commitments for two of their events that will secure both of those professional golf tournaments for years to come.

First the LPGA Tour which nailed down a new Title Sponsor for the Canadian Women’s Open with the Canadian Pacific railway company stepping forward to sponsor the event which will be held at the London Hunt and Country Club in Ontario.

There is a great back-story to this sponsorship that is well worth your time…

LPGA Canadian Women’s Open gets new sponsor, Ian Shantz, Toronto Sun

“LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan was putting out feelers prior to entering his post in 2010.

"Give me some of the names of some of the heroes," Whan remembered asking golfers on the world's top women's golf circuit. "Organizations like the LPGA thrive on heroes -- people that are on the business side, but really get women's golf, they understand what we're trying to build here and they're going to make a difference long-term."

One name kept popping up. E. Hunter Harrison. Railway tycoon.

Six months ago, the two finally met for dinner.

LPGA star Morgan Pressel's reaction upon hearing about the meeting?

"Well, now you've finally figured it out," Whan recalled. "That's who you've got to go talk to."

That dinner meeting apparently went well.

Looking dapper in a silver suit and purple tie, Harrison enthused in his Tennessee drawl during a press conference on Wednesday in downtown Toronto, "We've got a wonderful opportunity here."”

On the heels of the LPGA Tour getting a significant sponsorship commitment for the Canadian Women’s Open one of the best events on the PGA Tour…

The Farmers Open at Torrey Pines in the San Diego, California

….got a five-year extension on Farmers’ Title Sponsorship for their great event which is a key PGA Tour golf tournament during the Tour’s “West Coast Swing” at the start of each year.

Farmers extends golf sponsorship 5 years, Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune

“Nearly five years ago Farmers Insurance took a flyer while swooping in to sponsor San Diego’s PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines just six days before the tournament began.

The company has its eyes wide open to golf now, and it likes what it sees.

On Tuesday, the PGA Tour officially announced a new five-year contract for Farmers’ sponsorship that will run through the 2019 event.

“To be a sponsor of a PGA Tour event of this caliber is a perfect fit for us,” said Farmers CFO Scott Lindquist at the Farmers Insurance Open media day, where the announcement was made. “There’s been tremendous success for the tournament through the years and we’ve been pleased to be involved since 2010. We look forward to continuing that growth through 2019.”

In a statement, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said, “We are extremely pleased to announce this five-year extension, which guarantees the continuation of the positive impact the Farmers Insurance Open has had throughout the San Diego area.”

With both of these Title Sponsorship commitments on the PGA and LPGA Tours being both multi-million Dollar and multi-year in length that is a great sign for the future of sponsorship of professional golf in North America but also something that we here at the Roaring Fork Agency have been noticing in the last 12 months and that is…

Companies are now becoming more willing to invest in multi-million Dollar and multi-year length sponsorships especially for live sporting events

….and that particular kind of commitment to sponsor sports is a very good sign that corporate executives and the marketing/advertising agencies that they work with to spend their advertising Dollars see better times ahead for the economy which is a very good thing for the world of sponsorship going forward.

LPGA Tour – www.lpga.com

Canadian Pacific Women’s Open – www.cpwomensopen.com

PGA Tour – www.pgatour.com

Farmers Insurance Open – www.farmersopen.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

New AEG Head of Sports and Entertainment With Some Great Rules for Marketing Success

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

One of the more important tasks when putting together sponsorship deals is too make sure that both the event and the sponsoring company are on the same page in getting the most out of the sponsorship for everyone involved and that means the event and company need to forge a strong partnership that will lead to future success for both and with that in mind we recently ran across a news story on the head of sports and entertainment for AEG Europe, Kimberly Kriss, in which Kriss identified…

Six Rules for Marketing Success 

Kimberly Kriss’s six rules for Marketing Success, Marketing Week

1.  Know and listen to your customer now

2.  Building relationships based on giving versus talking

3.  Transparency, relevancy, consistency

4.  Take your customer with you on your Journey

5.  Sphere of influence

6.  Stay curious

Kimberly Kriss has provided some great advice here which is very important to follow because far too often after a sponsorship deal has been put together for an event and sponsor the sponsorship will begin to fall apart in subsequent years when both parties quit paying attention to what the sponsorship was really all about in the first place:

A Win – Win Situation for both the Event and the Sponsoring Company

The Marketing Week profile of Kimberly Kriss, head of sports and entertainment for AEG in Europe, is also a great read that is worth the time for anyone that has an interest in where sponsorship and data is going in the future which will rely heavily on utilizing Big Data to make sponsorships really pay-off for everyone involved in the sponsorship business.  

Enjoy!

Profile:  Kimberly Kriss, AGE Europe, Lou Cooper, Marketing Week

“Tasked with making the sports and entertainment company AEG as big a name in Europe as it is in the US, senior vice-president of marketing Kimberly Kriss has built a team filled with data and analysis experts in order to profile its visitors and support and expand its assets and sponsors.

What do the US soccer team LA Galaxy, Wembley Arena and the Qatar National Convention Centre have in common? They are all part of global sports and entertainment company AEG, which owns or operates more than 100 venues worldwide. Its venues and events feature some of the world’s biggest superstars and attract millions of fans.

The crowds that packed the Barclaycard British Summer Time event, hosted by AEG Live and The Royal Parks in London’s Hyde Park in July, dancing to bands such as The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi, were there in part because of Kimberly Kriss, AEG Europe’s senior vice-president of marketing, who joined the company in May 2012.

Kriss joined AEG from Interbrand and has experience in FMCG, property, retail and sport, a useful combination in her role of marketing various assets and focusing on AEG’s customers.

“The common thread throughout [my career] is you really need to understand who your customers are and then try to sell to them more often, in more places, but also continue to be relevant to them,” she says.”

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Sponsoring the Ironman Triathlon Makes A Lot of Sense...and Cents...For Subaru

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

There is a very good reason that companies choose to sponsor specific events or types of sports competitions and David Booth of Post Media News details vehicle-maker Subaru’s long-time involvement with triathlons and the Ironman series:

Sponsoring Ironman makes cents for Subaru, David Both, Post Media News

“And, as long as I was thinking along these lines, why does a company like Subaru, a small, niche player in the automotive marketplace, sponsor Ironman races, anyway? Why does any automobile company sponsor any sporting activity? Are they not but vanities, the entire project inevitably an example of one highly placed executive having a penchant for a particular sport and a corporate bankroll to finance it with?

The fact that Subaru Canada's national marketing manager, Geoff Craig, has a thing for marathons and all the bone-battering masochism involved (get better soon, Geoff) only reinforced my gut impression. It was only when I found out that it was a previous employee, Brian Hyland — much missed but, how shall will I say this politely, hardly athletic — who initiated the association that the concept of the company's corporate sponsorship became interesting. Indeed, Craig says, the entire triathlon sponsorship process started more than 20 years ago because it made sense.

And by sense, he meant cents. Two decades previous, triathlon was a budding sport and Subaru's support cost the company a mere pittance. Even today, it only costs Subaru Canada less than $5-million, says Tod Sullivan, Subaru's director of fleet sales (and manager of all sponsorship), a pittance compared to the US$3-billion corporations spend on sponsorships in North America alone.

And because triathlon remains a niche part of the sporting world, it makes Subaru's participation especially cost-effective. Besides being the titular sponsor for the Whistler and Mont Tremblant races (both qualifying events for the famed Hawaii Triathlon), it gets naming rights on two other Ironman races and is also the chief sponsor of grassroots provincial triathlon associations throughout the land. Five million smackeroos would seem to buy you effective reach if you choose the right sport.”

Subaru sponsoring the Ironman triathlons does indeed make perfect sense because it associates and aligns the Subaru brand with a sport that exudes strength and being fit which many people in the market for Subaru vehicles that enjoy getting into the great outdoors identify with in a very personal way.  

Besides the brand building that the Subaru’s association with Ironman creates it also sells cars both to the participants in the triathlon events and also to the people attending the races that get to see the Subaru vehicles up close and personal as detailed by David Booth in his story:

“And the Ironman association is effective. Every year, between 1,000 and 1,500 athletes take advantage of a special rebate of $750 to buy a new Subaru, a phenomenal take up rate considering that there are only 30,000 competitors registered for the triathlons and Subaru Canada only sells about 30,000 cars a year. For the Ironman weekend, Whistler Village is transformed into a Subaru love-in, it being impossible to walk anywhere in the Village without running into a Forester, Impreza or Outback display vehicle, a Subaru flag or, for that matter, some form of Sube, resplendent with bike/canoe/kayak carrier, in the parking lots. And, on race day, the adulation only gets more sincere with the loudspeakers endlessly thanking Subaru for being the sport's one and truly loyal sponsor. Indeed, one gets the impression that Subaru is to triathlon what Absolut Vodka is to the LGBT crowd, an early adopter who recognized their community as worth marketing to long before it became trendy.”

Now that is how an event and company working together build a brand and do successful sponsorship!

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Nick Evershed of The Guardian on Sports Sponsorship Gone Too Far

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

Nick Evershed of the Guardian newspaper in England has hit on something that is always on our minds here at the Roaring Fork Agency and is something that anyone running an event should be keeping uppermost in their minds as well as they think about and are selling sponsorships and that is having too many sponsors and sponsorship opportunities that overwhelm and dominate the actual event.

Sport sponsorship has gone too far, Nick Evershed, The Guardian

“After watching the Qantas Wallabies play the Lions at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, I caught up with the Bulldogs and Knights game on Sunday. During the match at Virgin Australia Stadium, a contentious try was reviewed by the video referee and announced on the KFC decision screen. I then watched the try replayed on the Great Wall video replay.

Have you noticed? There are five brand names in this paragraph.

I would hazard a guess that sponsorship and advertising around sports events is higher than it's ever been. It’s worth big money: a report out in June 2013 found sport sponsorship in Australia is worth around US$735m per year.

Tom Waterhouse-style saturation advertising aside, we are bombarded with brands in areas that were previously virgin territory. I imagine sports codes have people whose sole job it is to sit around and think of things that aren’t sponsored, and for which they can sell sponsorship for. Perhaps the urinals at the MCG could be brought to you after a quick message from our sponsor?”

YES, there can be too many sponsors and too much sponsorship of an event and it is vitally important for event managers to strike a reasonable and prudent balance between generating significant revenues to pull-off a first-rate event and having so many sponsors and sponsorship opportunities that the sponsors and the message the sponsors are working overtime to deliver become the dominate theme of the event.

There is no sure-fire formula that an event manager can use to determine is his or her event is becoming dominated by sponsors and sponsor messages, but anyone with common sense can use the “Potter Stewart” test as it relates too much sponsorship which is the below phrase that US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart used in the case Jacobellis vs. Ohio when determining if something was pornographic or not:

“I know it when I see it.”

YES, any event manager or sponsorship sales agency that uses the “Potter Stewart” test for overexposure of sponsors at an event and can easily see when there are too many sponsors that are overwhelming the event itself and even sometimes on the flipside when there are too few sponsors that isn’t allowing the event to generate enough revenue to make the event a success.

As in life a good “balance” between too many and too few sponsors and sponsorship opportunities is what is needed at events and we here at the Roaring Fork Agency stand ready to work with events around the United States and Canada to help them secure corporate sponsorship for their event and to also make sure the event has the right mix and number of sponsors and sponsorship opportunities to make the event a Win-Win for everyone involved.  

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

New Hampshire Motor Speedway Finds Sponsor Only 13 Days Before Its July Race

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

It is never too late to put together a sponsorship deal for an event and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway proved that point again this past week by finding a sponsor for its July 14 NASCAR Spring Cup Series event only 13 days before the race is to be run.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway lands Camping World RV Sales as sponsor for July 15 NASCAR Spring Cup race, Jason Remillard, The Republican

“Just 13 days before the race, New Hampshire Motor Speedway has found a sponsor for its July 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.

Camping World, the nation's largest recreational vehicle retailer, has teamed with NHMS to lend its name to the race, which will be called the Camping World RV Sales 301, the speedway announced Monday.

The company is not new to NASCAR by any means. It is the title sponsor of NASCAR's truck series, and it was previously the sponsor of what is now the K&N Pro Series East. Camping World and NHMS have a long partnership, as the 2007-09 Nationwide Series races and the 2008 Truck Series race at "The Magic Mile" bore Camping World sponsorship.

With a solid base in place at the other levels of NASCAR, Camping World has decided to extend its branding efforts to the Cup series.”

Finding a sponsor 13 days before an event is cutting it close but event managers that are in search sponsorship should keep working right up until to the end to find corporate support and sponsorship because many companies in today’s tight marketing and advertising budgets often find themselves with some resources available to be spent throughout the year and if the right person calls at the right time….one never knows if it will lead to a big sponsorship deal or not!

The Roaring Fork Agency works very hard to build strong and lasting relationships with marketing and advertising executives at companies across North America and we will keep pitching the events we represent to companies that we believe would have an interest in becoming involved and sponsoring an event and on many occasions it was the right pitch to the right person at the right time that made all the difference in the world.

Congratulations to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for inking Camping World to be the sponsor for its July 14 NASCAR Spring Cup Series race!

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

IEG Reports That Fair and Festival Sponsorship Spending To Total $849 Million in 2013

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

The IEG Sponsorship Report put out a very interesting news story this week on how Fair and Festival Sponsorship continues to grow albeit at a slow pace in the United States over the past several years.

Fair and Festival Sponsorship Spending To Total $849 Million in 2013, IEG

“When it comes to sponsorship spending on fairs and festivals, slow and steady may be the best description.

Burdened by the sluggish economy and tight marketing budgets, fairs and festivals have been one of the slowest growing sectors in recent years.  

And 2013 is no exception.

Sponsorship spending on fairs, festivals and annual events is expected to total $849 million in 2013, up 2.9 percent from 2012.

The increase lags spending on arts (3.3 percent); associations (4 percent); causes (4.8 percent); entertainment (5.1 percent) and sports (6 percent) as well as the projected 5.5 percent increase for the overall sponsorship industry.

While spending growth trails other sectors, fairs and festivals continue to draw interest from corporate marketers looking to build their local presence, engage consumers and drive sales.”

A “2.9 percent” increase in Fair and Festival Sponsorship over the past year is still decent growth in a sluggish economy and people that are tasked with finding sponsorship for fairs and festivals need to get out ahead of the curve and get their Sponsorship Presentations in to potential corporate sponsors by the Fall of each year for next year’s event because that is when most of sponsorship and advertising dollar decisions are made by the larger companies doing business in your community.

The Roaring Fork Agency stands ready to help any and all Fairs and Festivals across America and Canada in their search for sponsorship dollars so give us ring or send us an email and we will get right to working finding corporate sponsorship for your event.

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

eBay CEO John Donahue at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Graduation Ceremony

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

eBay CEO John Donahue recently spoke at the Stanford Graduate School of Business graduation and made a great speech that focused on Donahue's "four leadership principles to help graduates stay true to themselves throughout their careers."  (John Donahue's speech starts at the 24:00 minute mark of the below video)

Enjoy! 

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Save Mart Supermarkets CEO Bob Piccinni Is Crazy Like A Fox When It Comes To Sponsorship!

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

The northern California grocery store chain Save Mart Supermarkets’ CEO Bob Piccinni is a big believer in the power of sponsorship and the below Modesto Bee news article details how a company and event can working together build a long-lasting relationship that is a positive for everyone involved:

Save Mart savors NASCAR sponsorship, Joe Cortez, Modesto Bee

“What did Shakespeare say? A raceway by any other name still smells like burnt rubber?

Or something like that.

This weekend marks the 25th year of NASCAR's presence at Northern California's racing venue in Sonoma. In the early days, the track was called Sears Point. In 2002, Infineon Technologies acquired the naming rights. Weeks before last year's race, when Infineon announced it would not be renewing its deal, the track was simply rebranded Sonoma Raceway.

For all but three of those 25 years, however, one name has been constant — Save Mart.

And they said Save Mart Supermarkets CEO Bob Piccinni was crazy.

"Well, I'm not sure anybody ever used the term 'crazy' but I was told that it had never been done," says Piccinni of a grocery chain's sponsorship of a NASCAR event.”

There is NOTHING crazy about using sponsorship to drive a company’s brand with consumers and customers in the marketplace and anyone that is northern California this weekend will hear the Save Mart Supermarkets name over and over again in every imaginable form of media and all because of the decision of a CEO to make a long-term commitment to an event that hits home with his company’s customers.

Bravo to Save Mart Supermarkets CEO Bob Piccinni!

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Ireland’s Daily Business Post on the Importance of Maximizing Returns on Sponsorship

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

Even with the several Billion Dollars that are spent on sponsorship in the United States each year sponsorship in Europe is a very big business and Ireland’s Daily Business Post newspaper has a terrific article today on how companies can maximize returns on sponsorship which is must read for any company considering or now actively involved in sponsorship of events or venues:

Business advice:  Maximizing returns on sponsorship, Terry Pennington, Daily Business Post

“Sponsorship is one of the many marketing tools at the disposal of a business owner or marketing director. But choosing the right sponsorship opportunity for your company or brand is not as simple as it sounds.

Everything starts with looking at your overall company and brand strategy, incorporating your brand values, market positioning and specific target demographics.

Most importantly, it is imperative to remember that sponsorship rarely works in isolation. To achieve results, sponsorship has to be part of the overall clearly-defined marketing mix and clearly link back to the company or brand strategy.

Different brands will seek to achieve different objectives from a sponsorship opportunity, but two key results to consider are: how to maximize brand awareness and increase brand equity, while adding value to the bottom line.

So, some burning questions to ask prior to committing to any form of sponsorship are:

Will this give me access to my target audience?

Does this fit with the overall business strategy?

What will this activity 'say' about my brand?

Is this a vanity project or does it truly fit with our brand?

What am I going to do in addition to handing over the sponsorship money to make this sponsorship really work for my brand?

Activation is the key driver of a successful sponsorship....”

For us here at the Roaring Fork Agency the key takeaway from the above news article is that a company agreeing to sponsor an event or venue is just the beginning of making that sponsorship pay off with increased business, customers and sales for the company which should always be the main goals of any company considering getting involved in sponsoring an event or venue.

A great sponsorship sales agency will make sure that the company and the event that end up working together on a sponsorship or naming rights deal also have a strategic plan to make that sponsorship pay off for both entities and the understanding of what is really important…

A company increasing its business, customers and sales

AND

An event or venue being successful

….is what separates the Roaring Fork Agency from other sponsorship sales agencies in the marketplace.

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

IEG Details the Best Practices When Working With Sponsorship Sales Agencies

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

In March of this year the leading sponsorship organization in America…

IEG – www.sponsorship.com 

….published a great report on Best Practices for working with Sponsorship Sales Agencies and it is a great read for all events and venues that are considering working with a sponsorship sales agency.

Best Practices:  Working With Sponsorship Sales Agencies, IEG

In the section of the above report that lays out how many sponsorship sales agencies get compensated for their work one can learn about how different that The Roaring Fork Agency’s “commission-only” approach is from other leading sponsorship agencies:

Breaking It Down:  How Payment Structures Work

“Most agencies contacted by IEG SR work for a retainer plus commission.

Commissions typically range between 15 percent and 20 percent, although the number usually moves lower for six- and seven-figure deals. For example, an agency that sells a $1 million deal might receive a double-digit commission, while a $5 or $6 million deal may generate a commission in the single digits.

Retainers generally range from $5,000 to $15,000 a month based on the scope of services provided. A property that requires a soup-to-nuts overhaul of its sponsorship program will typically be charged at the higher end of the range.

From there, remuneration can work in a variety of ways. For example, Engage Marketing charges a retainer and commission, around which it reimburses clients 50 percent of the retainer after the first sale.

The agency uses the pricing structure to mitigate risk, said Kevin Alder, Engage president and chief engagement officer.

“If I’m asking a client to spend $10,000 or $120,000 with me, they inevitably ask ‘how much money will you guarantee me?’ The answer is zero. I can’t guarantee revenue back, but I can guarantee that we’ll take the best version of your offering to the right people.””

We here at The Roaring Fork Agency can get your sponsorship and naming rights opportunities in front of the right people and it will cost you event or venue NOTHING until a signed deal is in place and your event/venue have been paid first which is exactly the kind of outcome and Win-Win relationship we here at Roaring Fork would like to build with all of our clients.

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy

Regions Financial Believes in the Return on Investment with Sponsorship

By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)

One of the largest banks in America, Regions Financial, based out of Birmingham, Alabama believes in the value and return on investment in sponsorship as detailed in a recent al.com news story:

Why does Regions sponsor sports?  It’s the return on investment, Alex Walsh, al.com

“Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) knows it's in a unique position in Birmingham, and in Alabama. 

As the only Fortune 500 company in the state's largest metro, Regions finds itself in a symbiotic relationship with the Magic City. "When our community succeeds, we succeed," explains Scott Peters, a senior executive vice president with the company and Regions' head of corporate marketing. 

In other words, when the Birmingham area receives positive attention, Regions stands to gain. That's part of the motivation behind Regions' sports sponsorship efforts, Peters explains.

Three major partnerships highlight Regions' sports involvement. Most fresh on many Birminghamians' minds is perhaps the Regions Tradition, which ended Sunday. There's baseball -- Regions Field is the increasingly-popular home venue for Birmingham's Barons. And Regions is the official bank of the Southeastern Conference, perhaps the most significant partnership of the set.”

Yes, sponsorship works for companies looking to drive their brand forward and Regions Financial is a great example of a company that is using sponsorship to grow their business and reach more consumers in the marketplace.

Regions Financial – www.regions.com

Regions Tradition – www.regionstradition.com

Regions Field – www.regionsfield.com

Regions Financial and the SEC Conference – www.regions.com

If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:

paul@roaringforkagency.com

415 730 - 4854

Aspen, Colorado

Tiburon, California

Incline Village, Nevada

Santa Monica, California

Newport Beach, California

www.roaringforkagency.com

Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy