The Future of Event Sponsorship

With the ability to fast forward through commercials on our DVRs, brands have had to get more creative with their advertising. Speaking to a captive audience through sponsorship of events has proven to be one way to capture the short and distracted attention spans of today's consumers. But, as we've written about on this blog, with sponsorships becoming more appealing to brands, event organizers have to up their game from simply offering a logo on a sign to coming up with creative experience-based sponsorship packages. But these "packages" are not your grandfather's sponsorship options, today's sponsorships are personalized to both the event attendees and the sponsor.

This report suggests getting rid of the notion or gold, silver, and bronze sponsorship packages. Instead, it suggests tailoring the sponsorship offerings to the needs and even the mission of the sponsor organization. Key sponsors can be attracted by a package that aligns closely with their business mission and branding. A couple of ideas:

• Snack or break sponsors - Instead of just putting up a banner with "Break Sponsored by X Company" customize it to fit the sponsor. If they company has the word "red" in their name, have all red colored snacks available. If a sponsor's name includes the word "water," they may make a great option for sponsoring water bottles or stations.
• Sponsor lockers - Having a bank of lockers to store extra bags and electronics can be especially handy in urban locations where people take public transit. Pay for this addition with sponsor dollars from a cybersecurity company and come up with a catchy theme about keeping all your valuables locked up.
• Sponsor the wifi - Everyone loves free wifi. Let a sponsor get the credit for the perk of wifi and include a quick ad that pops up or rolls when people access the network. This would be great for a networking or telecom company that touts fast speeds or connectivity as part of their brand promise.

All of this is not to say sponsorships should be solely focused on what the sponsor wants, they should power the things you want for your event. Consider product or service donations. The sponsor gets to show off how their stuff works and you get a service or a tool you need to run the event such as virtual reality, streaming video, or a social app.

Finally, don't forget some tried and true sponsor benefits.

• Web advertising -- Ads on your event site are low cost to implement and provide easily measurable results for the sponsor. If they see decent traffic from their ad, they may consider a more sizable investment in the future.
• Real connections - Work closely with sponsors to determine who they want to meet and reach at your event and then coordinate meet-ups and introductions before, during, and after the event.
• Help with follow-up - Making great connections at the event mean nothing without follow-up to close deals. Provide sponsors with an easy way to follow-up. This could be something like complimentary business card scanning, an electronic, searchable list of attendees, or even an online community where attendees and sponsors can interact after the show closes.

We'd love to hear about your creative sponsorship ideas. Share your thoughts in the comments.