News/Press Release

The How and Why of Sponsorship Fulfillment Reporting

Originally published June 4, 2007
Written by AJ Maestas, Navigate Marketing

Originally published in The Migala Report

6/4/07 - How does your organization treat the task of sponsorship fulfillment reporting? Is it a necessary evil to satisfy an earlier promise or is it an opportunity to showcase the value of the marketing solutions you have delivered for your client?

In a perfect world it would be the latter, but it is probably the exception rather than the rule. The NBA and NHL seasons are wrapping up and outside of our friends in baseball and motorsports, the summer is a great time to re-evaluate sponsor partnerships.

Ultimately, a sponsorship relationship has to deliver business value in the form of return on investment (ROI). For some marketing partners, ROI may be defined as brand equity or awareness, while for others it may require proof of incremental business. Regardless of how returns are defined by sponsorship executives, it is obvious to all industry observers that we could all improve year-end sponsorship fulfillment reporting.

A binder including photos and detailed record of deliverables is helpful, but the following is a guide I believe will significantly improve the relationship with your partners, increase your retention rate, and ultimately help to attract new partners who place the responsibility of ROI proof on the property.

How to Improve Fulfillment Reporting
How well do your understand your client’s marketing objectives and business strategy? If you think like a stakeholder in their business, odds are, you are an effective agent on the ground and deliver above normal returns. Anything short of understanding their business objectives makes you a blind marketer leading an overly trusting client down the wrong path.

Step one is to make sure your entire sales and service staff understands the client’s objectives. In order to do this, you must communicate with your direct contact at the client as well as everyone up the food chain inside their organization. If the CEO or CFO has different measures of success than the director of marketing, you should know their objectives and document them.

Step two is to set a plan to best meet those objectives. You know what kind of promotions and exposure lead to improvements in brand awareness or in-store traffic. The pitfall is not knowing their objectives or not understanding how to measure and communicate the results and benefits you have provided.

The following is a guide to the most common objectives and recommended measures:

Awareness: Awareness is best driven by a mix of media elements; e.g. on court/field promotion, signage, verbal mentions and supporting media around the team’s broadcasts. Awareness disproportionately increases when fans are touched by multiple mediums.

Awareness Measure: Quantitative research is the only real measure of awareness, but many companies also track media exposure which help equate the investment to a media buy for a sponsor that is less reliant and experienced with research.

Sales: It’s a bit ambiguous to say only “sales” since ultimately this should be a goal for any marketer. In the world of sponsorships there is an art and science to delivering incremental sales volume to your marketing partners. The most obvious ways are to drive traffic into the sponsor’s place of business or help them move consumers through their sales funnel. A sales funnel normally starts with awareness and moves through consideration, education, trial and ends with the purchase decision.

Using our U.S. automaker example, a combination of leads driven by the fan database, on-site initiatives, and dealer promotions might take credit for 2,000 test drives and the ultimate sale of approximately 100 vehicles. By assuming an average contribution margin of $6,000 per vehicle, one arrives at an incremental net profit of $600,000. This profit does not account for the media value automakers receive, or any other sales that occur independent of promotions.

Sales Measure: There are a number of ways to measure sales, although it is rare that a sponsor is going to share any of their internal data with you. For this reason, it is suggested to make some assumptions and mix in an estimated sales volume with some supporting research. Research can reveal market share and a number of qualitative factors that signal sales success. Alternatively, assumptions can be made knowing the number of sales leads driven by promotions.

Using our U.S. automaker example, a combination of leads driven by the fan database, on-site initiatives, and dealer promotions might take credit for 2,000 test drives and the ultimate sale of approximately 100 vehicles. By assuming an average contribution margin of $6,000 on those vehicles, you have arrived at an incremental net profit of $600,000 without accounting for the media value they receive or any other sales that occur outside your promotions.

B2B: If a sponsor has a significant business to business component to their sales and marketing efforts, it becomes your job to help them close large accounts. Creating a “can” buy? or unique experience for their hospitality guests is a good start. Going above and beyond includes introductions to your business partners and sponsors as well as making them your vendor of choice.

B2B Measure: As found in the auto sales example above, an understanding of their contribution margins is enough information to formulate a rough estimate to the bottom line impact. Credit yourself with the net profit driven through sales to other sponsors, your organization and then do your best to obtain an understanding of any lift they are receiving through their hospitality guests.

The final step in the fulfillment reporting process is to match up deliverables against the stated goals. If your end of year presentation to a sponsor walks them through the mutually agreed upon goals for the year, and how you delivered each of those goals, your work is done. Any attrition would be the kind out of your control and inevitable.

When and Who to Use as Vendors
While it is recommended to handle as much of the measurement and reporting as possible with internal resources, there are always tasks best left to niche experts and independent third parties. As a rule of thumb, plan to spend 1% - 3% of your total revenue from sponsorship on research and measurement in support of the sales and fulfillment reporting processes.

Custom research is probably best saved for your largest and best performing deals. Given the 1% - 3% rule of thumb on budget, a sponsorship needs to be larger than $300,000 per year to justify a serious commitment to research. Partners below that level will have to rely more heavily on return on objectives and the ability of your internal staff to measure ROI.

For your reference, the following vendors are recommended in their respective areas of expertise:

Custom Research: For results such as awareness, intent to buy, market share and fan affinity, it is best to stick to a research specific firm. Although many other vendors exist and any project deserves two competing proposals, I would personally recommend Navigate Marketing (the author’s firm), Performance Research and SRI.

On Site Research: For reliable results it is not recommended to survey on site, but it is often done to gather event specific feedback. Two firms offering technology solutions to gather data on site are NCI Mobility and Turnkey Sports and Entertainment.

Media Exposure Analysis: Media exposure does not equate to results, but is often correlated. Numerous vendors with a wide range of technology solutions service the need to understand how often and in what ways a brand gains exposure through television, print and online. Domestically, the major players are Joyce Julius, Nielsen’s Sponsorship Scorecard and Image Impact. Several international firms can cover domestic events as well including Sponsorship Intelligence, Sports Marketing Surveys and IFM. Print and online exposure is a less developed marketplace if you look past the mostly outdated clipping services. Two recommended solutions are Sports Media Challenge’s Buzz Manager and Nielsen’s BuzzMetrics.

Impressions and Valuation Analysis: A number of reputable firms offer a valuation service which measures the market value of a sponsorship as opposed to impact. In particular Navigate Marketing, IEG, and Sponsor Direct.

Fulfillment Software Solutions: As the demand for improving the efficiency and quality of fulfillment reporting has increased, two niche firms have grown to meet that need. Sponsorship Pro + and Stone Timber River, both of which offer software to track, manage and in some cases measure the value of sponsorships.