Sponsorship Strategist

A word from a sponsor: Relationships matter

If you have 3 minutes, take a look at this video interview by 501videos.com with Sarah McCrum from Pacific Continental Bank about what she looks for in sponsorship arrangements with nonprofit organizations. Hint: relationships matter. Thanks to James Eirkson, Director of Education & Community Outreach, at the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, for sharing it with us. Read more →

Jackson Hewitt: Think sponsorship

If ever a marketing campaign cried out for a sponsorship component, it's this one. Check it out. < Jackson Hewitt, how about a dance party on April 16 for all new and existing customers? Read more →

Join me in Boston for a wicked good sponsorship seminar

I'll be presenting a seminar on Thursday, February 2, 2012, 7:30-10 a.m., for the Boston Business Journal, called Creating More Powerful Partnerships & Sponsorships, and I hope to see you there. Whether you buy or sell sponsorship, in a nonprofit or for profit setting, you'll leave with lots of ideas on how to improve your sponsorship results. The networking opportunities will be tremendous – how often do you have the opportunity to get together with other sponsorship specialists, on both sides of the table? – and definitely worth getting up early for. If that's not enough for you, check this... Read more →

Aesthetics matter

Seth Godin wrote an interesting post last week, predicting a deterioration of the quality of marketing – a "coarsening," he calls it – as marketers increasingly prefer direct response advertising, clickable and measurable. "Coarse" is a great term to describe the Kraft strategy I described in the previous post, "Big is not a strategy." No nuances, no subtlety, no human touch. Just a big noodle. A big hot dog. Some sponsors skip over activation entirely, which is like buying a TV or radio spot and not giving the station the spot. In other words, it's a waste of money. Some... Read more →

Big is not a sponsorship strategy

If you had a brainstorm to take one of your products, make a really really big fabricated replica of it, maybe even with a slogan on it, and then set that up on display and call it sponsorship, rethink that idea. Big is not a strategy. If you drove through Philadelphia during the holidays, you'd likely have seen this: (It says, "You know you love it.") Yes, it's a giant noodle at a park in a prime location adjacent to an outdoor Christmas market. As far as I can tell, no sampling, no couponing, no interaction with the noodle makers.... Read more →

Happy 2012!

Live from Philadelphia, where the tradition is to watch (mostly) men in dresses and "golden slippers" do the Mummers' Strut along Broad Street. Why? Who knows? HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's to a great year, having as much fun as these guys! Read more →