The FIVE BIGGEST CHANGES that the “New Economy” will be making on Sponsorship in 2010

Continuing on with our series of blogs illustrating what this year's "Nifty 50" had to say about sponsorships in the coming year --- today, I'm going to start on a "series-within-the-series" on what the sponsor's had to say about sponsorships in the coming year. I'm going to focus on the what fifty (50) of the country's biggest sponsors had to say are the FIVE BIGGEST CHANGES that will be occurring in/with their sponsorships in the coming year. That said, for today, let's start on the FIRST of the five biggest changes…

1. Corporations will be ASKING FOR MORE "Bang for the Buck" for the same amount of money. If you're one of our reader's who's a "seasoned pro" in the world of sponsorship selling and you're starting to feel a bit "beat up" out there in selling your sponsorships – you're not alone! Based on the comments we heard back on this year's Corporate Survey – there're no shortages of sponsors out there "…ready …willing … and able…" to take full advantage of a "down economy." They're asking for "added value" for the same amount of money – and they're getting it.

Here's an example of what some of our "Nifty 50" had to say about this…
o "We're taking advantage of a down market and getting more for less – we're squeezing every deal we can to secure more benefits."

o "We are asking our partners to provide more added value and letting them know that the ROI will be more important than ever as we get closer to renewal time."

o "The economy has allowed us to do things we might not have been able to do because prices are low now. Some media is cheaper this year – but sponsorship possibilities are also cheaper than last year."

Forewarned is forearmed – and this is the kind of information that you're going to need to keep in mind when you're out "on the street" marketing your sponsorships and partnerships. The operative word here is "flexibility". You HAVE to be flexible when you sit down at the table these days. We're definitely in a BUYER's market (… and BOY do they KNOW IT!!).

But that's okay --- keep in mind that you're in this for the long haul. Over time, things always even out. The key is to stay alive with your sponsors. You're going to run into sponsor's that are going to "grind you" right now – but that's okay … you're going to grin 'n bear it … and give them the best service you possibly can in return. That's how you ride out the tide and come out of it on top.

Three Steps to Beat the Trend

So the economy has made the traction on the field a bit tougher. True enough.

But the wheels of business have got to continue to turn. It's not like companies out there can just "sit this recession out", right? Wish that that were true, eh? But honestly, who can afford to roll up into a ball and hide away until the economic skies become sunny again? Not many. (Hmmm… not any?)

(Remember the old saw: "The tough get going when the going gets tough?" – well here it is, folks.)

As I mentioned in my last blog – one of the top take-always from our interviews with fifty of the top corporate sponsor and advertisers in America is that 75% of 'em are planning on spending AS MUCH … or MORE … on their sponsorships in the coming year. So it's out there.

Now -- how do YOU get yourself noticed and move up in the line? Well… here are three ideas, three strategies that you can (and should) be thinking about as you start to think about bringing sponsors into your world.

1) You've GOT to be able to quickly and clearly explain and demonstrate to your potential sponsor how YOUR EVENT, your GROUP, your PUBLICATION, your BUSINESS are able to help your potential sponsor grow THEIR business.

2) Don't sell "exposure" – sell results. The three letters we heard time-after-time this year (in doing the Nifty 50 one-on-one interviews) are the letters "R-O-I" – which stands for Return on Investment. Your mission is to be able to clearly explain how if they give you "x" (as your sponsor), you'll be able to return them "2x" …. Or better yet … "4x"!

3) Can you GURARANATEE results? I know that sounds improbable, but you know… in some cases you can. In certain cases it's possible that (… in return for their sponsorship), you can offer up (or direct to your potential sponsor…) sufficient enough business to off-set their sponsorship investment with you.

For instance, let's say, as part of your business, you put on a meeting (or meetings). Well, this meeting (or meetings) has got be put on somewhere, right? A hotel meeting room perhaps?

Okay – there's a start. Will there be any sleeping rooms blocked as a result of your meeting? (Members, students, attendees flying in staying over for the meeting…?) If so, you've now got some guaranteed business to offer up in return for a hotel's sponsorship.

(NOTE: It's fairly standard in the lodging industry that most hotels will "trade" you the cost of your meeting room in exchange for the income that property will get from selling room nights to your participants. Which is certainly fine, but could you do better? In today's economic environment, you'd be wise to shop your business around.

There are a lot of hotels out there – and the hotel/meeting industry has been slow to rebound from the economic downdraft. So if you've got a decent room night block to be able to offer up … find out who's hungry. When you put your bid out – let prospective hotels know right up front what you looking for not only complimentary meeting space but an event sponsorship (… or "hosting fee") of "$x".

I don't know – maybe 8 out of the 10 hotels you put the bid out to will turn their noses up at your offer. But two very well could be looking at floors of empty hotels over the dates of your event and would be willing to sit down and discuss this. (And all you need is ONE, right?!)

Now maybe you can't guarantee a complete return on their investment --- but can you certify that they'll at least get part of their sponsorship investment back … with the potential of tapping into an audience that gives them every reasonable expectation of being able to seize a profit from the incremental business that comes as a result of being a central part of your business?

Well – that's a start. And you know what … even being able to show your prospect that you can guarantee that they'll get at least a part of their investment back puts you ahead of the vast majority of the other folks soliciting their sponsorship business. (Fact is – even the organizations that have been selling sponsorship for YEARS get caught up in selling "exposure". Selling "touches" --- when they should be selling "dollars".

So sell "dollars" – it's a language just about EVERY business out there understands!

Half Full….Half Empty – You Decide

In my last blog, I kicked off a "series" on what our 2010 "Nifty 50" had to say about their sponsorship spending budgets for the coming year, and as you'll recall – the news wasn't good. In fact, as I noted – in the fifteen years since we started the bi-annual NSF Corporate & Industry Survey, this is the worst forecast we've ever seen. Fully 25% of our "Nifty 50" (fifty of the top corporate sponsors in the US…), flatly admitted that they'll be investing less in their sponsorships in 2010 than they did last year. (And we know that last year was a sobering stretch…)

So if you're a doom 'n gloomer – than we've given you fodder for saying that the glass is half-full. However, for the optimists out there – that means that 75% of our "Nifty 50" are planning on spending "As Much … or More" on sponsorship in the coming twelve months.

The one point that came out time-and-time again is that there is money out there to be spent on sponsorship. The corporates clearly recognize that sponsorship is a great way to present, promote and tie their product/services into their key, target market.

So next up --- on Thursday's blog, I'm going to start giving you the "inside edge" – tips from our Nifty 50 on how you can stand apart from the others and get the deal.

See you back here on Thursday….

And the Sponsors Say...

Hard to believe, but almost a month has gone by since I met up with Professor Jim Kahler, the Executive Director of the Center for Sports Administration at Ohio University in Las Vegas. Jim and I will be teaming up again … as we have several times already, on the presentation of the biannual NSF Corporate & Industry Survey and we were getting together in Vegas to go over this year's findings and drafting this coming year's Report.

This is the survey we present every other year at the Forum in which we reveal and discuss the thoughts, recommendations and observations of fifty of the top corporate sports sponsors and advertisers in the country. We refer to them affectionately as our "Nifty 50' and believe me, if you're in the business of selling sponsorships – you need to know what they have to say.

And that noted, I thought you might find it interesting to learn a bit about what it is they're saying now – about their sponsorships, about how the recent economic slow-down is affecting their businesses and about what the future is holding for their companies.

The first question we ask of all of our "Nifty 50" is whether they're planning on spending more money (…on sponsorships/advertising) in the coming year …. Less money … or the Same Amount of money as they have in the prior year.

There's a little "Good News … Bad News" in our "Nifty 50’s" collective responses, and first the Bad News.

There's no two ways about it, the economy is planning havoc with the concept of "business as usual"! As we've discussed in prior blogs, sponsorships have proven to be one of the best consistent means of connecting companies with their prime customers and prospects. As a result, sponsorship growth has been running in the double-digits for the last four years.

Well, not now it's not. As evidenced by the fact that 25% of our "Nifty 50" were planning on spending LESS in 2010 on their sponsorships and advertising than they did last year. (By the way – not to "sugar-coat" this … for it's significant to note that this is the HIGHEST percentage of Corporate Sponsors planning on spending LESS in the coming year than in any time in the 15 years we've been conducting the Corporate & Industry Survey.) The previous high was 20% -- predicted right around the time of 9/11/2001 – a time when all businesses immediately clamped down.

Now on the flip-side, before you start thinking that "all is lost" – it’s not. Fully 75% of our "Nifty 50" are planning on spending as much … or more … in 2010 on their sponsorships than they did last year. Times are indeed tough – or so America's top corporate sponsors have told us … but they're having no qualms about investing in programs that work.

We'll be sharing some of these thoughts in greater detail in upcoming blogs. But for now – just know that while other areas are getting stripped down to the bare bones, sponsorships --- at least those that are effective and produce results, aren't.

Welcome to 2010...

Welcome to the New Year --- hope things have started off well for you … and that 2010 will see you landing some truly significant sponsorships!

We're heading into the final month leading into our annual event, the National Sports Forum. This year we'll be taking the show to Baltimore – with an expected audience of somewhere in the 600-700 range. This is, as you might imagine, a crazy month for all of us at the Forum as we do our best to tend to all of the final details. You have to be extra careful as this is when things can start to slip through the cracks.

For us – most of our sponsorship selling for the coming Forum is finished. Now it's time for us to focus on the activation of our sponsorship programs. We'll re-check all of our sponsorship agreements – make sure we haven't forgotten anything or left anything out. Our goal is to always deliver more than what the sponsor was hoping for – but at the very worst, you don't want to overlook delivering all the things you promised.

We'll be covering the final steps leading up to the 2010 NSF in this month's blogs. Things are coming together nicely – should be a lot of fun!