John Nelson

SLC 7031

Dr. Drayer

Challenges in Sponsorship Evaluation

The landscape of the American economy is rapidly changing. People are making less

money, and generating a respectable amount of discretionary income is a hard thing to come by

as prices continue to rise. Both corporations and people alike are feeling the constraints of the

current economy landscape.

Every cent counts, as America is currently experiencing its second recession in less than

thirty years; and third in the last 100 years. America hasn’t seen a falling out of the market, and

cuts in worldwide budgets like this in years.

The American dollar isn’t backed by the same security it once was, thus making issues

related to pricing and investments very sensitive. The scope of the economic landscape is

changing, and efficiency is now valued as the most important commodity one can have; thus

making the electronic transfer of money a very common practice.

A rapid rise in electronic payment funds has been the norm in America for the past few

years. Not only does this lead to less face to face and personal interaction between people, but it

leads to a sense of false security and a lack of hands on knowledge about money transfer. John

D. Hawke states the following in regards to the growth of electronic funds in American society:

Debit cards accounted for nearly a third (31 percent) of in-store purchases in

2003, up from 21 percent only four years ago. Reliance on credit cards held

steady during that time, at about 21 percent. Cash and checks, which accounted

for 57 percent of in-store purchases in 1999, dropped to about 47 percent last year

(Hawke, 2004).

To further this point, consider the following facts about electronic funds in America:

Nearly 1 in every 3 customer purchases in the US is made with a payment card.

Of every $100 spent by consumers, nearly 40% of it is in a form other than cash or check.

US Visa cardholders conduct more than $1 trillion in annual volume. (Sage Payment

Solutions, para. 4)

The purpose of the essay is to identify the challenges associated with the evaluation

sports sponsorships. So how does the transition of the financial landscape in America relate to

sponsorships?

The connection between the two is very simple, and holds true as one of the most

foundational reasons there are so many challenges in sponsorship evaluations. As the pace of

American life continues to rise, people are less willing to commit time and energy to a situation.

More than ever, people evaluate every transaction they make with the upmost scrutiny as quickly

as they can, and exude a sense of personal and financial protection with their finances.

So not only are we less patient than we were twenty years, we are more paranoid and

cautious with our money than ever. When money is as tight as it is for people now days, there

has to be proper justification for every dollar spent by a business or family.

Sponsorships and advertising is a division of business in which many people consider

very flexible and expendable when it comes to their budgets. Because sponsorships and

advertising aren’t absolutely critical for the success of a business, the flexibility of a companies’

marketing budget is very comparable. The monetary circulation and stringent evaluation of

revenue generation is watched closer than ever, and the slightest negative sign that money isn’t

being spent wisely can be cut off at a moments notice. The following quote unfortunately shows

how important sponsorships are to companies.

“It is estimated that only about 40 percent of large companies even review sponsorships

at the board level (SponsorMap, 2009).”

With these rising trends in American finances, we are also seeing how “the rich are

becoming richer, and the poor becoming poorer.” America is growing into a massive corporately

owned entity, which is giving financial power to a relatively small percentage of people. We are

in the prime era of corporate development in America, and this can be seen as either a major

benefit for sponsorship properties, or can be a significant negative; it’s all a matter of approach.

Corporations are well structured, significantly large businesses that have already

developed a firm foundation upon which their business operates. These massive corporations are

also the businesses that have the discretionary income and marketing dollars to pay for high

priced sponsorships and advertising outlets. However, since most corporations are so firmly

established, they are also the companies that don’t necessarily need extra advertising and

sponsorship rights for the success of their business. Consider the following facts in regards to the

growing corporate trends in America:

The top 200 corporations’ sales are growing at a faster rate than overall global economic

activity. Between 1983 and 1999, their combined sales grew from the equivalent of 25%

to 27.5% of the world GDP.

While sales of the top 200 corporations are the equivalent of 27.5% of world economic

activity.

Between 1983 and 1999, the profits of the top 200 firms grew 362.4%, while the number

of people they employ grew by only 14.4% (Shal, 2002).

I personally believe we are seeing a trend in which companies that have the money to

activate large sponsorship packages are also the massive corporations of America. The problem

is: These companies are not as active in pursuing sponsorships as they probably once were;

simply because economic constraints don’t allow for that kind of spending. This in turn, leads

those that handle marketing budgets to perceive sports sponsorships as something that is easily

dismissible and not a requirement for their plans. The correlation here is very simply. As the rich

become richer (corporations such as banks, retail outlets, oil companies, etc), and the success

rates of these companies continue to compound, the need for these companies to invest in sports

sponsorships will continue to diminish for two reasons: the company is already successful, and

the justification of spending millions of dollars in a suppressed economy is hard to do.

In a report conducted by sponsorship evaluation giant IEG- in regards to the economy’s

effect on sponsorships - their research states the following:

51% of the survey’s respondents said their companies spending on sponsorship

fees will decrease this year from 2008 levels. Only 14% of sponsors plan to spend

more, while 36% said their budgets would stay the same as last year (IEG, 2009).

IEG’s studies also concluded the following:

47% of sponsors said they were seeking to get out of their current sponsorship,

even though those deals were not currently up for renewal […] the average

percentage of overall marketing budgets claimed by sponsorship fell -1.9% to

17.6%, while the average amount spent on activation relative to rights fees slipped

for the second straight year to $1.40 for every $1 spent on rights fees (IEG, 2009).

The graph below shows what companies spent on sports sponsorship in 2008. From the

quotes previously stated, one can get an idea the kind of money that is going to be lost over the

next few years in sponsorship sales (IEG, 2009).

In addition - to the increasing pace of American life; frugal spending of businesses; lack

of sponsorship relevance among companies; decreased personal connection due to increased

electronic fund transfers; and separation of rich and poor - there are a variety of other problems

associated with sports sponsorship on the horizon. Some of these problems include: lack of

proper evaluation by properties; play of a team; lack of community support; and lack of passion

by the figures that control marketing budgets.

Although there might be a vast amount of problems that seem to weigh heavily on the

sponsorship industry; it’s nothing more than any other industry faces. The bottom line is: many

of these issues can be attacked and resolved simply by getting back to basics. This means:

providing the company/client with what they don’t have; good customer service; time efficient

and appropriate information about their company; and information about what a sponsorship can

provide their FOR THEM.

Sponsorship properties can do nothing about the changes in American life or the

economy. What they can do is: get away from the “selling nature,” and provide a customer

service based approach that reaches budget holders on a personal level rather than just a business

level. An area of focus that I would like to attack in this process would be that of sponsorship

evaluation practices; not only year-end evaluation, but starting from the beginning.

Before delving into the actual issues, a sport manager needs to get a grasp on the reality

of the sporting industry and it’s affect on the American economy. According to Sports Business

Journal, it is estimated that the sports industry is roughly a $213 billion a year enterprise (SBJ,

2009). If the sporting industry was formally accepted as an “official economic industry in

American society,” it would rank as the 6th largest in the world.

In the sporting industry, there is roughly $5 billion spent annually on sponsorships.

However, this doesn’t include the advertising and endorsement categories. When marketing

leaders must allocate a budget into these three categories, a lot of factors need to be taken into

consideration.

For the sake of argument, if you combine: sponsorships, advertising, and endorsements;

this total would amount to $33.98 billion amount spent annually on marketing objectives in the

sporting industry. Converted, marketing objectives constitute roughly 15-16% percent of total

amount of revenue generation world-wide in sport. With sponsorship playing somewhat of a

minut role in the total marketing budget (roughly 15%) there are numerous challenges that

present themselves in order to gauge the effectiveness of the money spent on sports

sponsorships, and the justification for doing so.

Lesa Ukman cites three reasons for the difficulty in sponsorship evaluation.

The first difficulty in the evaluation process is: We are accustomed to relying on

impressions and media equivalencies (tangible and easily measurable facets) as the basis for

evaluations. This forces us into a trap of treating sponsorships as if they were goals in

themselves, thus disabling the ability to provide appropriate information on the sponsorship;

which should be the actual effect of the sponsorship had on its audience (Uhman, vii).

The second main difficulty is: The lack of a standard measurement formula or system.

Ms. Ukman states: “There is simply no escaping the fact that to measure anything of value, to tie

expenditures to business objectives, sponsors have to customize. Not all sponsorships are

structured the same, thus there isn’t a universally accepted formula for evaluational purposes

(Ukman, viii).”

For example: Company A wants to brand themselves with a sporting entity, but hasn’t

established any concernable or tangible measurement for how they evaluate their sponsorship.

However, Company B has objectives such as: driving traffic to certain locations through the

distribution of print material, and evaluates their partnership based on the percentage of coupons

redeemed at the location. These differences in sponsorship objectives lead to a non-unified

approach of measurement.

The graph below, provided by IEG, shows the purpose of activation for most

sponsorships (IEG, 2009).

The second difficulty directly correlates to the third difficulty, which is: The widespread

belief that there is no concernable way to measure sponsorships, so companies simply avoid it.

“Because sponsorship is almost never a company’s only marketing activity, isolating the results

of sponsorship is impossible […] even if perfect measurement is possible, by the time it is

achieved, the strategy will have changed (Ukman, viii). The following graph is a good example

of is common practice in terms of evaluating sponsorships (Irwin, 2008).

With the multi-layered shell that comprises sponsorships, there are two main parts that

make it up: tangible/visible elements, and non-tangible/non-visible elements. Throughout both of

these sectors, the major theme is the lack of a universal measurement tool for an accurate

consensus of the sponsorship as a whole. There is plenty of technology available for tangible

elements of a sponsorship; but the non-tangible elements are much more difficult to measure.

In a recent article Marcelo Cordeiro makes a great comment on the evaluation process of

the recent Olympics. He states:

The phenomenon of corporate sports sponsorship […] has since gradually evolved

into a discipline involving ever larger investments, and therefore research and

strategic planning to justify them. The core relationship involved in sports

sponsorships relies on the basic principle of exchange […] As part of the

development of sports sponsorship, the relationship between sponsor and rights

holder has also developed into much more of a multi-faceted, mutually beneficial

partnership rather than purely that of financial counterparts […] Sponsorship

evaluation is much more challenging due to the nature of sponsorship as a diffuse,

multi-layered and multi-element package. Corporate sponsorship objectives are

ever widening and vary […] further limiting the ability to reach a definitive

financial assessment of ROI, and necessitating a broader approach to assessing

return against sponsorship objectives (Corderio, 2009).

If a company isn’t receiving valuable information about their ROI and productivity of

their agreement, there should be no reason for them to spend in the first place. This is a tough

position for a sponsorship property to be in, because the one aspect that clients want the most

(accurate evaluation research) is the hardest aspect for a sponsorship company to provide. The

following graph, provided by IEG, shows the extent to which companies rely on sports properties

to measure their ROI (IEG, 2009).

It’s more important than ever for companies to provide their consumers with the

information they request. Customer service activation strategies need to be at an all time high,

now that spending is tighter than ever before. With the current economic pressures, it should be

assumed that sports properties (an entertainment organization) would do their diligence and

provide measurable ROI information on a regular basis. However, the graph below paints a

landscape that tells a completely different story (IEG, 2009):

It’s shocking to see that most sports properties are not making the necessary efforts to

fully satisfy (customer service) their clients; so doesn’t it seem reasonable that decreased

spending from rich (and poor) companies would be the current trend? Despite the fact that

companies are not meeting the expectations of their clients, it must be noted that the perceived

ROI for sports sponsorships is actually in somewhat decent shape, respectively. The following

graph shows that the perceived ROI from sponsorships within the past few years is actually very

good (IEG, 2009).

With evaluation being such a major facet of the sponsorship industry, and falling squarely

on the shoulders of sponsorship properties; there are many ways to cope with the challenges of

sponsorship evaluation and retain/gain clients in a failing economy. The following points

describe tactics to measure the more tangible and visible elements of a sponsorship. They

include:

Comparing sales for the time frame surrounding the sponsorship to the same time frame

in previous years.

Measuring sales in the event area against sales during the same time frame in other

markets of similar makeup without the event.

Comparing sales in participating retail or dealer outlets versus sales in retailers not

participating.

Comparing usage levels among fans of the sponsored property to usage among

consumers in same demographic who are unaware of the sponsorship.

Tying sales offers directly to the sponsored property and then tracking redemption rates

Coding new leads generated and then tracking conversation rate of those leads

Working with the sales force to track the value of new or incremental business generated

by clients who were entertained.

Calculating additional display orders and the volume generated by the displays

Calculating the value of new sales to cosponsors (Irwin, 2008, p 204).

The methods listed above are all great ways to help evaluate sponsorships; from a tangible

view. However, it only hits a small part of the total agreement. The chart below supplies the

greatest method and step by step instruction for how to combat the multi-faceted challenge list in

sponsorship evaluation (Uhman, 2007).

The first step of this model is: Setting Objectives and Baselines. This includes:

establishing sponsorship objectives; and identifying pre-sponsorship baseline levels for each

objective. One of the main problems managers deal with is: objective development. It is very

common to see sponsorship objectives as vague ideas, which will lead to complication in the

evaluation process down the road. The following steps should be utilized when developing

appropriate objectives (Ukman, 2007).

Distinguish a directional marketing variable (e.g., increase brand awareness, prompt trial,

increase repeat purchases).

Ensure a specified target audience (e.g., 18-24 year olds).

Develop a time period (e.g., 3 months).

Set a measurable quantity (e.g., increase 12 to 14 percent) .

The second step of this process is: Creating the Actual Measurement. This section asks

the following questions: what information is needed; how will data be collected-internally vs.

externally - and who is responsible; what is the budget; who is providing the funding; when is

the funding due; how will the funding be used?

Within this process there are twelve distinct methods created to the measurement

methodology plan (Ukman, 2007). They include:

I. Measure Outcomes, Not Outputs – Managers need to learn that measuring what a

sponsorship actually produced (outcomes), is more important that measuring what

a sponsor got or did (outputs). Most output measurements involve impressions

and media. “These ‘surrogate’ measures fail to capture whether the sponsorship

impacted attitudes that lead to purchase and other desired actions or the actions

themselves (Ukman, 2007, p 8).

II. Measure Behavior – This step incorporates “isolating behavioral changes caused

by the sponsorship (Ukman, 2007, p. 9).” In other words: technology can give us

the increase the company has seen because of the sponsorship; but proper

behavioral measurement involves watching the consumers’ behavioral manners

adjust.

III. Apply the Assumptions and Ratios Used by Other Departments Within Your

Company – When the turnover rate for accurate numbers takes too long to

develop, and things have already shifted, it is important the sponsorship property

use estimates to gauge ROI. E.g., how many leads; how many prospects

committed to sales after the event/sponsorship; developing weighted averages

from product interest levels, etc.

IV. Measure the Emotional Connections – This is one of the most important steps in

this process. Measuring emotional connections incorporates not only short term

“sales numbers;” “but focuses on the emotional connections between brands and

consumers and the value of influencing long-term consumer behavior…the value

of sponsorship is its ability to facilitate and deepen relationships; to have

conversations and add value to customers’ lives; to connect brands to customers

and customers to each other and their passions (Ukman, 2007, p. 9).”

V. Research the Emotional Identities of Your Customers – This step is very simple in

nature, but is often overlooked by many. A successful sponsorship should be

based on a relationship between you and your client. Know your customers;

understand them; not from a demographical point of view, but a personal point of

view. A successful sponsorship manager should know their clients: interests;

loves; passions; what they want; and how their personally connected to the brand.

VI. Identify Group Norms – This step correlates to step five, in that it involves

knowing the customer. A manger needs to learn where their audience is

portraying an action that proves the target audience will enjoy the psychological

benefits of the sponsorship, and increase consumptions of the products.

VII. Include Cost Savings in Your ROI Calculations – This a very critical step, and is

one that routinely gets turned around in sponsorship evaluations. This step

incorporates an understanding that it is not about cutting sponsorship mediums,

but rather measuring the savings that are generated by the sponsorship. E.g., The

total cost of the sponsorship was $200,000; 10% of your goal in the sponsorship

was the generate new quality hires; typically generating quality leads costs the

company $15,000; the company walks away with eight new qualified candidates;

this converts to $120,000 in saved lead generation; of the $200,000 spent 10% (or

$12,000) was allotted for recruitment; this leads to a $100,000 savings for the

company because of their sponsorship.

VIII. Include all Target Audiences in the Research Then Slice the Data – According to

recent research, most sponsorships will only be affective to those most closely

related to the organization/team. The continuation of the sponsorship into further

depths of the audience should be very specific. When researching who else the

sponsorship is hopeful to influence, research needs to be very detailed, in order to

assure that continued expansion of the sponsorship is worth the money being

spent.

IX. Capture Normative Data – Capturing normative data is simply the process of

knowing where the company stood before the sponsorship. “Comparing data from

a specific program to normative data lends invaluable context to the findings;

once comparable, the value of the research is exponentially increased by the

number of programs studied (Ukman, 2007, p. 11).”

X. Use Evaluation as an Enabling Tool – The principle of this step is: don’t wait

until the last minute to evaluate a sponsorship; thus risking the chance that the

sponsorship didn’t work and the client got nothing out of it. Rather, a property

should use evaluation frequently to further tailor the objectives of the sponsorship,

in order to ensure that it is working properly and the company is receiving a

quality return on their investment. This allows a property to use evaluation as a

tool, rather than an end of the agreement crutch.

XI. Combine Quantitative and Qualitative Research – Properties need to ensure that

they combine both Quantitative (awareness; demographic fit; and purchasing

behavior) and Qualitative (image fit; emotional triggers; reaction to new concepts;

and transforming experience) research into sponsorships, enabling for a balanced

attack on what they need to do to ensure the sponsorship works.

XII. Measure Often - The final step of this process correlates very closely to step 10.

Measuring the effects of the sponsorship often allow a property to adjust and

change to what might be occurring, and understand what other processes of

activation are needed to ensure success of the agreement.

The graph below is information provided from Tiger Sports Properties-a division of

Learfield Sports, and their main research forum: Scarborough Research. The following slide is

research that is utilized on a daily basis by TSP to help get other companies started off on the

right foot in determining their next step of their partnership with the Memphis Tigers. The

following slide shows how over the fast four years, the amount of Tiger fans within the Memphis

area has increased 8%. In accordance with the demographic numbers of the city, this is a

substantial increase, and really helps the client understand that developing (or continuing) their

partnership with the Tigers will help them reach a large basis of the Memphis population

(Scarborough, 2010).

The third step is: Implementing the Measurement Plan. There are three sub-steps in this

process. They include: Visibility Research; Communications Research; and Behavior Research.

The understanding of each of these sections is vitally important for a property to provide

accurate feedback for sponsors. Some sponsorship packages include all three aspects in their

deal, thus requiring the sport property to have a full understanding of how to integrate all of them

properly (Ukman, 2007).

Visibility Research tends to be where most sports properties spend their time evaluating.

Visibility Research encompasses the actual “numbers” of a deal; where impressions and media

equivalencies can be measured. However the main problem with this area is that it doesn’t

encompass all aspects of a sponsorship agreement in most cases. There are numerous

measurement techniques that are included in this section, however the underlying and congruent

theme in this step is: having a foundation upon which to measure. In order to ensure that a sports

property is providing accurate, quantitative feedback for sponsors, the research must have

foundation upon which to be measured; e.g., where the company was “sales-wise” before the

activation of the sponsorship.

The second subsection is: Communications Research. There are two main types of

Communication Research: awareness and attitudinal. “Awareness reveals whether or not a

sponsorship was received, while attitude measures assess customer response to a sponsorship

(Ukman, 2007, p. 20).” Tracking studies are used to measure this category. Tracking studies

include methods of evaluation such as: questionnaires, surveys, etc.

In order to perform tracking studies effectively, they should be done at the following

times: prior to a sponsorship; when promotions begin; during the sponsorship; and post

sponsorship. Once again, the concept of having a foundational ground upon which to measure is

vital to the success of this step. It is also important to use tracking studies during the sponsorship

in order to measure progress and see if anything in the activation process needs to be altered.

The final subsection is: Behavior Research. Behavior Research is the study of the actions

taken by the audience as a result of the sponsorship. Once again, the main method of evaluation

is having a starting point upon which to gauge the success of the agreement. A few examples of

measuring behavioral changes include the following (Ukman, 2007, p. 28):

Comparing sales for the period surrounding the sponsorship to the same period in prior

years.

Measuring sales in the event area against sales during the same time period in other

markets of similar make-up without the event.

Comparing sales in participating retail or dealer outlets vs. sales in retailers not

participating.

Coding new leads generated, then tracking conversion rate of those leads

Calculating the value of new sales to cosponsors.

The fourth and final step in providing a successful evaluation for a sponsor includes:

Calculating the Return on the Sponsorship. This step includes: collecting results and analyzing;

sharing outcomes; determining the next steps; and adjusting initial objectives to reflect new

conditions and reallocate resources based on performance and changed priorities. The bottom

line with this step is: being prepared to provide a detailed and final evaluation for the client.

Having “all your ducks in a row” and having the appropriate research available to show how

every dollar the client spent went to a worthy cause is absolutely critical. The following quote

(Ukman, 2007) states it best:

Comparing data from a specific program to normative data lends valuable context

to the findings, and answers the inevitable questions: ‘Are these results good or

bad compared to other sponsorships? By building a historical database, you can

see how sponsorships are performing on a relative basis and thus, better decide

how resources should be allocated. Most of our clients have a dual need for both a

comparative across-the-board analysis of sponsorship activities and individual

program evaluation. Research plans incorporate a two-phase structure, addressing

both the primary level of objectives (affecting all sponsorships-and the secondary

levels, which are property specific. The primary levels of research require

consistency in the core set of evaluation criteria so that the results between

programs are truly comparable. Once comparable, the value of the research is

exponentially increased by the number of programs studied, as simple research

results can then be developed into consistent sponsorship learning’s and taken yet

a further step into predicting the impact of sponsorship campaigns.”

With all this information on how to provide an appropriate evaluation, all while dealing

with the struggles of American society, at the end of the day, it boils down to one point: there

must be an a objective foundation upon which evaluation processes are laid out from the

beginning, that in turn will reach the consumer on a personal basis and provide them with a level

of customer service that they won’t experience elsewhere.

To round off the presented information, I felt it was important to get the opinion of

someone how has first-hand experience in the sponsorship world, and has seen the challenges

related to sponsorship evaluation on different levels. For this, Brad Harrison - General Manager

of Tiger Sports Properties in Memphis, TN – was interview.

Prior to joining TSP two years ago, Mr. Harrison spent time as the GM at Utah State

University (another Learfield Sports Property). He also spent numerous years in many sales and

management positions with the: Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, and the Detroit Pistons.

Mr. Harrison was interviewed regarding a number of topics related to not only

sponsorship evaluation, but sponsorships in general. Below is a list of some of the main points

Mr. Harrison felt were important to communicate with the public.

One of the main challenges with sponsorship evaluation is the fact that

there is such a multi-faceted layer that comes with it. There are so many

different aspects of sponsorships in which a sports property needs to keep

in mind.

It is very important that a sports property continue to show a business the

value of their partnership; because another difficultly is how to attack the

perceived value a sponsor holds about a sports properties inventory.

It’s very important to receive as much information about the company

through an in-depth fact find. Fact finding is one of the most important

areas of sponsorship; as it relates to all areas of sponsorship, and sets the

property up for proper evaluation methods and objective development.

A developing trend in sponsorships is the emphasis placed on ROI, where

it used to be more about brand awareness.

One of the best tools in the evaluation process is research. Forums such as

Scarborough Research are great for showing clients their ROI.

It’s important for sellers to communicate – especially with the current

market - that in order for a sponsorship to truly be effective, it needs to be

part of a larger and longer package.

Sports properties and sellers need to set themselves up for success and be

conscious of developing proper objectives and activation methods in order

to allow for proper evaluation methods.

Evaluation should be continual. It shouldn’t wait until the last minute,

because there might be items in which the customer isn’t happy with and

needs to be fixed.

Ambush marketing, desensitization of advertising and emotions, all play a

role in the challenges related to evaluation as well.

Starting the sponsorship off on the right foot is absolutely the most crucial aspect in the

evaluation process. Evaluations shouldn’t be a crutch upon which a sport property has to “deal

with,” but rather should be a customer service technique the property employs on a regular basis

in order to ensure that clients are fully satisfied with the product they have paid for.

With so many variables affecting sponsorships and their evaluation processes, customer

service techniques need to be taken to the extreme and utilized on a daily basis in order to ensure

that each and every client is fully content with their product. If a person is truly invested in

customer service, then the challenges related to sponsorship evaluation is something that can be

avoided and attacked with vigilance and reap success; which will in turn lead to more satisfied

customers, more referrals, and more sales.

To simplify all the information provided, sponsorship properties need to do the following

in order to cope with the challenges of modern day sponsorship evaluation:

I. Learn about the client – develop the relationship!

II. Develop a distinct and unique sponsorship proposal tailored to the company’s

wants and needs. That business is a person as well; not just a means to an end.

III. Being the evaluation process with information on where the company is NOW;

before the sponsorship begins.

IV. Activate the sponsorship.

V. Continue evaluation process on all levels throughout the agreement.

VI. Alter objectives or activation processes if things change.

VII. Provide season ending evaluation research to show the progress the company has

made since the beginning of the partnership.

VIII. Then finally, renew the partnership and earn your money!

In today’s world of overexposure and over-saturation in the media, successful managers -

whether sponsorship driven or not - need to develop ways to “go above and beyond.” Managers

need to ask themselves: How can I reach the client in a way that hasn’t been done before? The

desensitization of American is only growing stronger; how do I break through this barrier? How

do I measure something that doesn’t have a formula?

All these questions are answered by the simple concept of customer service. Providing

continual research to keep clients up to date on the latest findings of their partnership, and

developing an emotional connection with the client, will take a partnership agreement to a new

level. Both these steps – and everything in between – provide the client with tangible and non-

tangible items that make them feel “worthy” and feel that their money is being spent wisely.

References

Corderio, Marcelo (2009). Sports Sponsorship Evaluation – the challenge within the

world of sports and the Olympic Movement. Retrieved April 10, 2010 from

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/26426867/Sports-sponsorship-evaluation-the

challenge-within-the-world.

Harrison, Brad. (2010) Personal Interview. Tiger Sports Properties, Learfield Sports.

Interview conducted: April 30, 2010.

Hawke Jr., John D. (2004). The Power of Plastic: how banks are using technology

to reach the unbanked. Retrieved April 10, 2010 from website:

http://www.occ.treas.gov/cdd/powerplastic.html

Irwin, Richard L., McCarthy, Larry M., Sutton, William A. (2008). Sport Promotion and

Sales Management. Champaign, IL., Human Kinetics

Shah, Anup. (2002). The Rise of Corporations. Retrieved April 6, 2010 from website:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/234/the-rise-of-corporations

Ukman, Lesa. (2007). How to measure, justify, and maximize your return on

sponsorships and partnership. Chicago, Illinois: IEG, LLC.

IEG – Sponsorship Report – Ninth Annual IEG Performance Research-Sponsorship

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IEG Sponsorship Report website:

www.performance.com/sponsor-survey2.htm

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from website: http://processingplanet.com/html/facts_and_stats.html

SponsorMap – Measuring Sponsorship ROI. (2009, May 29). Retrieved April 10, 2010

from Evaluating Sponsorship Performance – Some Recent Findings from

SponsorMap website:

http://www.sponsormap.com/measuring -sponsorships-return/.

Scarborough Research. (2010). Tiger Sports Properties, Learfield Sports.

Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal (2010).