National Sports Forum 2009

“Driving New Revenues”Mike Humes, Jason Bitsoff, Laura Day, Chris Johnson, Stu Upson – January 26, 2009

Panel Participants

• Mike Humes – Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing – Chicago Fire

• Jason Bitsoff – Vice President, GM, Sponsorship and Strategic Alliances – Feld Entertainment

• Laura Day – Senior Vice President, Business Development – Minnesota Twins

Panel Participants

• Chris Johnson – Vice President, Corporate Partnerships – Boston Bruins/TD Banknorth Garden

• Stu Upson – Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing – Skip Barber Racing School

Sponsorship Spending

Market Challenges

• Crowded Landscape• Economic Climate• Reduced Traditional Media Coverage• Consumer Choice• Marketing Resources• Consumer Expectations• Global Economy• Consumer Cost Models• Media Mix

Sponsorship Spending

2009 and Beyond

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RUN NOW TO THE BAR

THE END IS NEAR

Business Planning1) Goals/Objectives

2) Strategies

3) Tactics

Same applies to organization, departments and individuals.

“What you Measure you Accomplish”

APPLY METRICS WHEREVER AND WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

Key Enterprise Components

• Brand – is it good for the health, breadth, equity and is it a fit?

• Fans – Is what we are doing developing a fan base? Are we engaging them?

• Revenue – Can we track/measure our investment/impact?

Why Sports Sponsorship?

• Increase Brand Loyalty• Create Awareness and Visibility• Change/Reinforce Image• Drive Retail Traffic• Showcase Community Responsibility• Drive Sales• Sample/Display Brand Attributes• Entertain Clients• Recruit Employees• Merchandising Opportunities• Incenting Retailers, Dealers and Distributors

“Back to The Basics”

11 Basics to Surviving/Beating the Sponsorship

Market

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

1. Build Relationships Across the Organization

• If you have not already done this, it may be too late.

• Develop accredited methodology to demonstrate your market value.

• Study the business/industry of your current and prospective partners

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

2. Hold the line on your rate card/values

• Rather than lowering your fees, add additional benefits

• This enhances the value of your property relative to the price, while maintaining your own revenue level and future partnership value/power.

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

• Don’t be a pest, but check in with your partners regularly. Build a relationship.

• Give updates, talk activation strategies, send a holiday greeting, etc.

• Keep the communication channels open 365-24-7; if a partner is getting cold feet about a renewal it’s an open

discussion, not a closed one.

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

4. Be creative with deal terms

• We generally devote a lot of creative energy to developing activation concepts for sponsors. 

• Get creative with not only activation strategies, but also deal terms. VIK (Value-in-Kind), extend payment terms, develop out of the box terms to help partner weather the downturn without sacrificing the partnership

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

5. Know the Market

• The six figure flop that may be chalked up to calculated risk in yesteryear, today costs jobs.

• Be prepared to tweak your pitch in light of a lowered risk tolerance. 

• Rather than giving a prospective partner the opportunity to “get in on the ground floor”, demonstrate how your property will help them “spend smarter” and stretch the same marketing spend even farther.   

11 Basics of Coming out on Top6. Network, Network, Network

• Are you using all the tools available to you? LinkedIn, Facebook, SponsorPitch, Twitter

• Find a mutual connection or find someone within a company that can be your proponent you’ll at least make it out of the pile. 

• Online tools can help you spread your message, make new connections and cultivate long-term relationships. 

• A quality lead will more than pay for the time and/or money you invest to build a quality presence online for yourself and your property.

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

7. Be an Awareness Consumer

• Business goals are changing. Employees are being laid off, divisions are being divested and product strategies are shifting.

  • Be respectful of your partner’s business climate

and make sure that the benefits you initially offered are still aligned with their business goals in light of recent company news

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

8. It’s a Partnership  

• Sponsorships are a lot easier in good times, than bad

• We will be called upon to quantify how we will grow the business of our partners and prospects 

• If you can show you’re flexible, open-minded and understanding of their business needs today, you’ll have more success tomorrow

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

9. Manage Expectations – Internally/Externally

• Be realistic with expectations and be certain to utilize a full disclosure platform internally, be certain sure that others within your organization are prepared accordingly. 

• Since sponsorship touches virtually every aspect of your organization, you can’t be shy about sharing good (or bad) news.

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

10. Diversify

• Treat your partner portfolio like your 401k.

• Autos and financials may be in decline or have one foot in the grave, but if you’re diversified with sectors like energy, health care, green, sustainability then you may be able to soften the blow.

• Just like stocks, diversify your revenue streams and make sure your sponsorship revenue is not too heavily weighted to one single sector. 

11 Basics of Coming out on Top

11. Be persistent, but gracious

• If a partner doesn’t renew or can’t swing the investment this year, thank them for their time and tell them you look forward to having another discussion next year. 

• It’s a small industry. Karma, integrity, dignity, honesty and reputation matter.

Sponsorship SalesTalk 30%, Listen 70%

Find Out• “Who besides yourself is involved in the

decision?”• “What is your decision making process?”• “When would you like the proposal?”• “When do you plan to make a decision?”• “Who else are you talking to?”• “What are your criteria for selection?”• “Is there anything else I should know about

goals my proposal should address?”

Developing Effective Proposals

• Offer Marketing Solutions• Make it Relevant• Use Research and Specifics to Support the

Sale• Highlight the Potential – Offer Activation Ideas

• Demonstrate Return on Sponsorship – Detail Sponsors’ Successes

• Keep Your Proposal Focused and Marketing Driven

Strategic Activation

• Promotional – generate visibility

• Reputational – enhance brand imagery

• Experiential – establish relevance

• Behavioral - generate database and revenue

• Emotional – brand loyalty

• Executional – maximize investment and increase ROI

“Sponsorship without activation is like an electric toy without batteries”

Servicing Partners to Achieve Maximum Results

• Define Success in Advance

• Make Activation Turnkey

• Educate Your Audience

• Host Partner Summits

• Provide Qualitative/Quantitative Fulfillment Reports – IEG, Joyce Julius, etc.

30 Steps to Sales Success

30 Steps to Sales Success, con’t

30 Steps to Sales Success, con’t

26. Mentoring

27. Surround yourself with successful people

28. Don’t make promises you can’t or don’t intend to keep

29. One final call

30. Exercise