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It all started with a simple tweet that I posted last night:

Do you think the term “sponsorships” is outdated and everything should be called partnerships? just an idea I’ve been thinking about…

It was really just an idea I’ve briefly thought about on occasion. A lot of times the terms “sponsorships” and “partnerships” are thrown around and used interchangeably to describe deals between entertainment and sports properties and brands. But does the wording that properties/brands use reflect how they actually see their relationships? Should we be moving towards the use of partnerships (which imply that both sides benefit) and away from sponsorships (which unfortunately has not been very well explained to the general public)?

Your Responses

After I posted that message on Twitter, I got some great responses. Thanks to all who contributed the thoughts below (earliest responses posted first):

rscibetti@JasonPeck I definitely see a mix of both terms. Definitely tells you something about how the entity views the relationships

MJMunson@JasonPeck No, people just need to know what it means. Look up the latin roots for sponsor and you’ll see it is a perfect word for its use.

BizballMaury@JasonPeck It’s moving more & more toward partnerships as deals are multi-pronged. See my NY Post article on Yankees/Audi http://ow.ly/hoef

jpbrunelle@JasonPeck I think it depends on the context, but ’sponsorships’ will remain in play for the foreseeable future. Bigwigs want to sponsor.

MJPatzwaldt@jasonpeck i still think there’s a difference between sponsorships and partnerships…those sponsored tend to have longer term benefits

jeffmard@JasonPeck partnership implys 2-way street, sponsorship implys other “partners” exist. Which is more true? then u have advertiser…

Play3r_VP@JasonPeck sponsorships is out. partnerships are in. it’s about relationships + alliances… NOT about hand outs.

mmahoney13@JasonPeck I think the Sponsor should be emphasized more in many cases, esp PGA Tournaments and even teams. they enable us to do more

sponsorpitch@JasonPeck IMO, not outdated & no need to hide from the term + lots of different types of biz ‘partnerships’.. something more narrow needed

EmilyRCampbell1@JasonPeck There r still true mktg sponsorships out there even tho’ some local partnerships may lean more toward philanthropy.

briangainorRT @JasonPeck poses a great question – thoughts on “partnerships” vs. “sponsorships”? How do you see your relationship with partners?

Darren_Heitner@JasonPeck I love the idea of banning the word “sponsorship”, all successful “sponsorships” are partnerships. Both sides should win.

Sponsorships vs. Partnerships – My Thoughts

Let’s see how Wikipedia defines the terms.

“A partnership is a type of business entity in which partners (owners) share with each other the profits or losses of the business.”

“To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services.”

The partnership definition that Wikipedia gives isn’t completely relevant to this conversation–which is about using the term sponsorship vs. partnership when describing deals between sports/entertainment properties and brands. In most cases, no brand is going to be willing to equally share in the losses of the property’s business–unless it’s a special deal where the brand is actually able to share in the profits, too. I’m not aware of this happening very often.

The sponsor definition is interesting as it emphasizes giving support. In my opinion, this “giving support” aspect has not been emphasized nearly enough in discussions and articles about sponsorship. For example, all we heard about for awhile was that since Wachovia wasn’t doing well, they shouldn’t be wasting money on sponsoring their golf tournament (and they actually removed their name from it, even though it was paid for). Or that Northern Trust shouldn’t have had a party for their best executives at their tournament. People hear that, instead of hearing about how much money from each PGA TOUR event goes to charity or that the money spent on parties/events provides jobs for cooks, caterers and others. But I’m getting off subject here.

My thinking about this sponsorships vs. partnerships issue is that it’s more of a reflection on how each side sees the other and how they approach relationships. My feeling is that it starts with properties. Do you want a sponsor (someone who supports you via money or services) or do you want (can you get?) a partner (someone who has a greater stake in your success)? While some smaller properties may be happy just finding sponsors, some of the most prestigious properties can be more selective and seek partners who have very strong brands and who must commit more than just money to the relationship.

What do the big leagues/events call these relationships?

Let’s check out some websites to see what wording some of the major pro leagues and premier sports events use when publicly describing their relationships with brands.

• AVP – sponsors (listed on bottom of home page)
• MLB – sponsors (here’s the link)
• NBA – not clear from their website
• NFL – not clear from their website
• PGA TOUR – title sponsors for tournaments and huge list of marketing partners
• USGA – partners (logos listed on bottom right of their home page and here)
• The Masters – no official wording but relationships with IBM, AT&T and Exxon Mobile
• US Open (Tennis) – sponsors (list is here)
• Breeders’ Cup – partners (list is here)

The funny thing is, for some of these properties (and many teams as well), it’s hard to even tell who their sponsors are by looking at their websites! Or they hide them and make you really look around. That would not make me happy I was a sponsor/partner-no matter what the relationship is called. It definitely didn’t make me happy when I used to spend a lot of time researching that stuff.

As consumers’ attention becomes even harder to get (because we have more choices now than ever), my feeling is that the term “partnerships” will be used more often. Properties who used to sell out every event and may have been content just getting money are now in the same boat as brands–they need eyeballs and attention, too. Now both sides are asking each other for access to market to their customers, and the best relationships will be those where both sides help each other. Sponsorships certainly aren’t dying–I just think the word “partnerships” may be more beneficial in describing these relationships and ensuring that both sides are getting what they want and working to help each other succeed.

But maybe I’m completely wrong. Maybe the words should be used interchangeably and there isn’t really much difference between them. Maybe good sponsors are essentially partners. What do you think?

I apologize for the lack of updates recently – I took on a new job a few weeks ago as social media manager for eWayDirect, which offers multiple marketing services  on a single platform built around a robust reporting structure. The job is definitely a challenge as I’ll be helping them 1) build their branded community platform 2)work with clients on how they can use it and 3) help build their own brand online, but it will be fun. I still plan on staying up-to-speed with things in the world of sports and providing information about the intersection of sports and social media. Please continue to feel free to contact me if there’s anything I can help you with.

I wrote this about a month or so ago- some of the numbers may not be exactly correct now, but I think the overall message is still accurate.

The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) runs some of the most exciting and accessible events in the sports world.  If you’ve seen an event live, you know what I mean. Beach volleyball players are some of the most athletic people on the planet and the AVP’s events have a cool festival/party community atmosphere.

So, the AVP has great events, awesome athletes, cool content, passionate fans and some good sponsors  (Crocs, Barefoot Wine, Russell Athletics, Bud Light, etc). There’s a huge opportunity for the AVP to leverage social media to connect with their fans, build their brand, increase traffic to their website and extend their sponsorships. Here are some social media tools and platforms they’re using (based on some quick research), along with some opportunities for ways they can get more out of their efforts. But I really think they need goals and strategy (if they don’t already have them) to maximize their social media efforts.

Twitter

The AVP’s Twitter account is difficult to find (it’s not linked to on their main website). It appears that the AVP started their Twitter account on April 3rd, but they haven’t really utilized it much (only have 2 updates and 168 followers, and they are following zero people). The biggest benefit of Twitter is that it allows brands to show their human side and share interesting content to build trust and relationships, so the AVP has a lot of room to grow here.

Facebook

The AVP’s Facebook page has about 7500 fans and appears to be updated occasionally with pictures, videos and links to AVP content. They have done a good job at including their 2009 events in this page. However, I think they could do a better job at posting interesting content (AVP-related and other volleyball related stuff) to become a resource for all volleyball fans. And they should look at ways to reward their fans on Facebook to give them a reason to connect with them there.

YouTube

The AVP links to this YouTube account on it’s Facebook page. However, there are no videos on this YouTube account. With all the great videos and content the AVP likely has, they’re missing a big opportunity here to syndicate their content to YouTube, create original content and involve their fans and sponsors.

As we know, social media isn’t just about off-site tools and platforms. On-site elements and features can be utilized to enable audiences to easily share content with their friends and empower them to create their own content (or let them be involved in the process) to give them a stake in your brand. Here’s some of what the AVP is doing on-site.

Blog

I was excited to see that the AVP links to their blog on the front page of their site in a very visible location. However, I was disappointed to see that the blog hasn’t been updated since August 2008. The blog also lives on wordpress.com, instead of on avp.com, so the AVP doesn’t have full control over the creative design of the site and they are missing out on capturing the traffic that comes to the blog. On the plus side, it was nice to see that AVP pros such as Jake Gibb and Todd Rogers had been contributing content to the blog. But a blog needs to be updated at least weekly to be effective, and they should have a content strategy in place to ensure that what is written is relevant and engaging.

Videos

The AVP has a nice video section on its website that features a variety of videos and channels. They appear to be professionally done and they include some great content. People can share these videos on other sites such as Facebook, Digg and StumbleUpon by clicking the “share” link under each video. I’d probably look at making this more visible by including the logos directly under the video and I’d also add a few sites to this list to really give people an opportunity to share this content with their friends.

Other

The AVP has some very passionate fans, but the organization is missing out on capturing this conversation and soliciting feedback on their website. It may make sense to build a community for fans, similar to what other leagues and teams have done. This would most likely increase time spent on the site and page views. More time spent with a brand = stronger fans = more revenue. There also are ways to integrate sponsors into a fan community to add value and generate additional revenue.

If the AVP is going to be successful with any community efforts (on-site or off-site through other social media tools/platforms), they probably need to hire a community manager who is very passionate about volleyball and the AVP. This would be someone whose job is to facilitate conversations, content creation, fan evangelism and feedback and help grow the AVP’s brand and community.

Of course, the AVP really needs a strategy before doing anything. They need to figure out what their goals are, what they will measure as indicators of success, how they will achieve these goals, and what tools/platforms they will use. Once they do this, they will be in a much better position to leverage social media to help them engage fans and build business. What do you think?

The Challenge:

Teams and properties often include a lot of different assets in packages for sponsors. Signage, radio and TV spots, other media, experiences, tickets and more and the impressions, ratings and other metrics can be difficult to keep track of. When sponsors ask for results at the end of a season or after an event, you need to be able to tell them exactly what they got and what the results were to ensure that they are happy with what they paid for.

The Solution:

SponsorshipPRO+ presentation software

I was fortunate to speak with Tom Stipes recently about his company and its SponsorshipPRO+ presentation software tool that enables teams and properties to more easily track their sponsors’ assets so they can give them accurate and detailed post-event recap reports. These reports help properties demonstrate that they fulfilled or exceeded what they were supposed to deliver. He didn’t ask me to write about his software, but I wanted to anyway, because I was very impressed with its features and ease-of-use. Tom walked me through a demo (which he’ll happily do for you as well), but you can also see how this works online.

On the admin side, the tool allows properties and teams to create presentations for specific sponsors and catalog and identify assets. You can use some of the built in categories (radio, TV, tickets, etc) or add your own. Within each category, you can assign a description and results to specific assets and upload documents, pictures, and videos to help tell the story of what your sponsors actually received.

After you finish putting in information about each asset, you can easily turn this information into a presentation which you can put on a CD for sponsors. You can include a video intro if you’d like, and you can add any file type–including large audio/video files, spreadsheets, pictures, documents, etc. At anytime during the presentation, you can pull up these specific files to really show the aspects of the program and the results. If you or your sponsors just want to see everything together in a chart, the software enables you to do this as well.

The software isn’t cheap ($699 for the first license and $449 thereafter). However, I think it would pay for itself due to time saved, money saved (on printing costs–no need to print pages and pages of notes and put them in binders anymore) and features that enable you to track assets and results to show sponsors and keep them happy. One thing that may be interesting to develop in the future is an online version of the software, so people can access the data anywhere. But I can see the value in presenting this information in person, so sponsors really get a good picture of what they paid for. And you can always give the sponsor a copy of the presentation so they can look at the data again later.

Has anyone else used or tried this software? If so, what did you think?

The 2009 IEG Sponsorship Conference in Chicago has come and gone. I had an AMAZING time meeting new people, hearing new ideas and learning. I still have a ton of following up to do and I ran out of business cards while I was there, so I apologize if I ran into anyone on Wednesday when I didn’t have any cards left.

People such as life coach Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis (XPrize Foundation) and Rick Jones (Fishbait Marketing) and Sam Hill (FTI Helios Consulting) gave thought-provoking and motivating speeches. It was also great to have to have the opportunity to hear from people from brands such as Lee Jeans, McDonald’s, Carlsberg Breweries, the NBA Nets, the NHL, Kodak and meet some of the people who work with IEG. I also had a nice chat with Evander Holyfield on Monday night at the House of Blues.

You can find some detailed conference notes on IEG’s blog, but here are a few thoughts I wanted to share.

The Economy and Sponsorship Industry

Obviously, the economy was a hot topic at the conference. There was a good amount of discussion about what people think will happen over the next year. While this is tough to predict, the dominant view seemed to be that we aren’t anywhere near where we were in the 1930s, but it will take at least a few years for us to recover.

There was also a lot of discussion about the image of the sponsorship industry as a whole.  Most everyone was  upset by the recent attacks by congressmen and media on the sponsorship industry. While it’s not fair that sponsorship was thrown under the bus, perception matters, and it’s up to us to educate the public on the benefits of sponsorship–and how it actually is used to build business. More than ever, it’s important that people measure their efforts and link them to business objectives.

Social Media

Another hot topic was right up my alley – social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc) and new forms of marketing that can be used by properties and brands to save money, connect with their audiences, and add value to their sponsorships. Liz Cahill from Lee Jeans gave a great presentation about how they use social media to promote their cause marketing efforts around Lee National Denim Day, which helps raise money to fight breast cancer. Tom Green spoke about how he uses social media to promote his music festival, D Fest, and how he integrates his sponsors into these efforts.

In one of the more interesting examples of new media/marketing campaigns, Johan Jervoe from McDonald’s talked about their unbranded Alternate Reality Game, “The Lost Ring,” which was launched around the 2008 Olympics to target the advertising-adverse Gen Y audience. The game generated 430 million measured media impressions over six months, and five million people participated. Johan said brand favorability and future visit intent increased 45% and 67%, respectively, among people who played the game. It’s still hard for me to understand alternate-reality gaming, and even Johan admitted that McDonald’s still doesn’t understand exactly how/why it worked so well. But this stuff is definitely something to keep an eye on for the future.

Other Thoughts

I was able to use Twitter to find a few other folks who were at the conference and meet them. The ability to find others who share your interests is one very valuable benefit of using Twitter. I’m JasonPeck on there if you want to follow me.

During the presentations, I was one of the only people there taking notes on my laptop. I wish I could have gotten the wireless internet to work in the big conference rooms. The ability to be online and use Twitter during some of the speeches would have brought an added level of interaction to the conference. You may think that this would cause people to feel disconnected from the speakers, but I disagree. Twitter allows for real-time dialogue and discussion to take place during an event. When you know you’re going to share something with your network, you actually are more likely to focus on what is being said, so you share the right information. Twitter also allows for new information to be brought into the conversation. It certainly doesn’t replace the experience of actually being there, but it can help introduce other people to the content. And maybe they’ll see that there are valuable ideas being discussed and will decide to come to the conference next time. That’s a win for the speaker and conference organizers.

I hope some of these notes/ideas from the conference were beneficial. I had a great time in Chicago and look forward to building on some of the relationships that were started there.

I’m looking forward to IEG’s Sponsorship Conference next week, hearing some great speakers, learning and meeting new people. You can see more about the conference at IEG’s website, if you’re interested. You can also join their official group on LinkedIn.

Speaking of LinkedIn, there will be a meetup for members of the Sponsorship Insights LinkedIn Group on Sunday, March 8 at 6 PM at Kitty O’Sheas Pub in the basement of the Hilton Hotel in Chicago.  This will be the first official gathering for the group, which Dan Beeman has built up to about 3,000 sports marketing and sponsorship professionals. LinkedIn is a great way to network with professionals and form new relationships, so if you’re in this industry, I highly recommend joining this group. Dan also has a great blog (Sponsorship Insights) that you should check out if you’re interested in this stuff.

Dan asked me to help host this meetup, and I’m excited about discussing sports marketing and social media with anyone who is interested. Please let me know if you’ll be able to make it. If you can’t make this meeting, but will still be attending the conference, I’d still love to meet up. Drop me a line if you’re interested!

There was a lot happening this week in the sports world, including drama over the Michael Phelps bong photo, discussions about which Super Bowl ads worked and which ones didn’t, National Signing Day and a potential Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger. Here are some interesting stories about these topics, in case you missed them earlier this week: (more…)