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November/December 2007
Beyond Sponsorships
How Six Organizations Shifted Their One-off Sponsorship Sales Mindset into Deluxe Programs Designed to Generate Killer ROI for Their Exhibitors — And Revenue for Them
Booth sales may be a show’s meat and potatoes, but sponsorships can elevate that meal to a five-star experience. A show organizer can only charge so much for a booth. And no matter how big its facility, every show is ultimately limited by its physical space. But sponsorships are only limited by talent — to create an original idea, sell that idea and make it a reality.
Such creativity’s not always easy to come by. That’s one reason show organizers seem to offer the same sponsorships year after year. And while there’s nothing wrong with selling banners, pillar wraps, tote bags and lanyards — could your show do more? What hidden sponsorship assets are just waiting to be uncovered? How can you generate the most revenue, while providing great exposure and ROI for your exhibitor?
Here are the stories of six shows, how they identified successful sponsorship ideas and translated them into reality. For some, it was the “big idea,” while for others it was an internal, organizational change that helped find unrealized revenue. For others, it was simply identifying an unmet need, or finding the hidden opportunity that had been there all the time.
PARTNER TO MAKE A SPLASH
What they did:
The Great American Trucking Show, organized by Randall Reilly Publishing, holds two free concerts for attendees featuring nationally known acts. This year’s concerts featured the Wreckers (Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp) one night and Aaron Tippin the next. Each night, a single sponsor can exclusively reach the audience.
How they did it:
Alan Sims, Executive Director of the Randall Reilly Events Group, creates a turnkey package for each night’s sponsor. It includes: advertising throughout the year promoting the event in Randall Reilly’s trucking magazines and in show literature; a VIP section at the concert just for the sponsor’s special customers; concert signage; and the ability to show a video clip about the company and its products before the show.
Sims and his team work with the sponsors to select the entertainment, and Sims’ team takes care of all the logistical planning. The concerts are open to all show attendees. At their booth, the sponsors can give away VIP tickets to prized customers.
How they sold it:
“For us, the goal of this sponsorship isn’t revenue,” explains Sims. “This is truly a partnership between us and the sponsoring companies.” Sims says the concerts are a major attendance draw for the show. Last year the show’s attendance was 47,980, up 4.5 percent from the previous year and 20.4 percent over the previous four years.
Show attendees are trucking fleet operators and independent owner/operators. Producing concerts of this caliber would be cost prohibitive for the show alone. But with costs met by the sponsor, Sims says the show benefits from the buzz and the draw of the talent, and the sponsor gets a program that truly makes a big splash.
Each concert package is sold by Sims and offered to the show’s largest exhibitors. The previous year’s sponsor gets the first right of refusal for the next year.
Why it’s successful:
“The sponsorship sells itself,” says Sims, “We’ve done it since 1999, and we’ve had the same sponsors since 2003. After each year, they’re excited to talk about what we’ll be doing for the next year.” Sims says he can also gauge success by the number of attendees that line up for hours to be sure to get tickets.
What makes it a good sponsorship:
“It’s a turnkey package that has obvious benefits for both the show and the sponsor,” says Sims.
GO FOR EXCLUSIVITY
What they did:
The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI) was looking for ways to increase sponsorship revenue when Steve McNeil, Marketing and Events Manager for the association, hit upon one of the association’s most profitable sponsorships ever while walking down the street in Boston. “I saw these boats for dinner cruises and I got the idea,” says McNeil.
The association’s show is modest, with 25,000 square feet of exhibit space and approximately 1,800 attendees a year.
But a show’s size has nothing to do with the potential value of its sponsorships. It’s the quality of the audience that counts, says McNeil.
For an exclusive sponsorship, the association chartered the deck of the Odyssey, a dinner cruise ship, for a threehour dinner cruise around Boston Harbor, complete with a five-course meal, bar and entertainment.
How they did it:
McNeil made the event a complete turnkey package for the sponsor. The price included everything from rental of the ship to shuttle buses to ferry attendees to and from the event. McNeil and his team took care of everything from planning the dinner and entertainment to inviting the guests.
How they sold it:
Exclusivity was the key to this sponsorship. Any exhibitor can rent a cruise ship and plan their own party. What McNeil had to offer was the opportunity to reach a highly select group of attendees. The ship’s deck could only accommodate 200 guests, which meant not all attendees could go. Every week McNeil sent the sponsor a list of the attendees who had registered for the show. The sponsor carefully selected the guests from those lists. “They really got into it,” says McNeil, “It got so they’d call every week to ask us how many seats they had left.”
Because of the value of this sponsorship, McNeil only offered it to several of his top exhibitors. He created mock-up pictures of the cruise ship, the dinner and the stage with company logos, so they could better envision the sponsorship. “I do that for a lot of the sponsorships I sell,” says McNeil, “The mock-ups really help to sell sponsorships because they can see what it will look like.”
Why it’s successful:
The sponsorship cost TAWPI $25,000 to produce, but made that much again in profit. And, the sponsor wants to do it again. Next year the show is in Orlando, and McNeil is already working with local venues like Universal Studios to develop something unusual and special to help his sponsors make a splash. “I don’t want to mess around with hotel room keys or logos on tote bags anymore," says McNeil. "We can do better, and our sponsors want more than that.”
What makes it a good sponsorship:
“The sponsor can see the ROI they’re getting out of the deal. It’s tangible,” says McNeil.
RE-INVENT THE BRAND
What they did:
Two years ago the California Restaurant Association took stock of its overall brand and image. Instead of being the hip home of Hollywood restaurants and California cuisine, the association felt it was perceived as a stogy lobbying organization. That image had to change. The association needed to boost its public image and bolster its relevance to the industry. It needed to grow its membership and its revenue.
But changing the image and the brand meant much more than a few new brochures with a pretty new logo. Instead, an overhaul of the association not only allowed it to develop new programs, but it also helped the organization create new sponsorship opportunities. These better reflected the association’s brand, and strategically helped the association grow revenue, while at the same time leveraging sponsorships to meet other needs, such as membership recruitment.
How they did it:
The association didn’t view its sponsorships as an afterthought. Instead, overhauling the sponsorship program was an integral part of the associationwide reinvention process. Sally Howard was hired as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Development to help spearhead the makeover. Previously, Howard oversaw sponsorships for the California State Fair.
At the time she was hired, Howard remembers the association had no real marketing department. Sponsorships were sold essentially as one-offs by different members of the association staff. Howard set about taking stock of the sponsorship opportunities that existed beyond advertising or the trade show, as well as assessing membership services and various communications outlets managed by the association. She identified areas that could be expanded or improved.
To help sell those changes to internal constituencies, Howard brought in IEG, an outside consulting firm specializing in sponsorship sales. IEG, as an impartial outsider, helped to get the other departments within the association to think creatively about what could be changed or added to improve the association as a whole and to create additional sponsorship revenue.
How they sold it:
The association consolidated all sponsorship sales under the marketing department. While one-off sponsorships are still available, Howard has transitioned the association to a year-round sponsorship sales cycle centered around packages created to best meet a given sponsor’s marketing goals. This way, Howard says, she can offer sponsors exposure all year, and charge them accordingly.
“I think the best way to sell sponsorships is to think of them as partnerships,” says Howard, “We were able to approach companies that had never bought with us before and offer them opportunities they’d never seen from us before. We were open to their ideas and what they wanted to be able to buy.”
She watches for partners that can help further develop the association’s brand and not just buy booths or Web banners. For example, a sponsorship package from Dell yielded not only revenue for the association, but a discount on Dell products for association members, whether the purchases are for business or personal use. That’s an asset not only for sponsorship sales, but another member benefit that can help grow membership.
The association also created new opportunities such as the “Crave the Experience” Gala at the show. The Gala was a hip and trendy restaurant industry event (the image the association wanted to present) that reached out to members and nonmembers alike. At $175 a plate, it featured world-class food from Food Network celebrities and hip entertainment such as live painting by David Garibaldi, an acrobatic performance and live music.
“In the past we had events that were always attended by the same people. Now we’re producing more events like this that are fun and hip, and appeal to the entire restaurant community and not just our longtime membership,” says Howard.
To sponsor this event, Howard landed American Express, a company the association had tried to sell to in the past, but had never been able to capture its attention.
Why it’s successful:
Howard is reluctant to say just how much the association has increased sponsorship sales through the re-organization, but it’s “significant.” For the gala alone, the title sponsor paid $40,000. Additional sponsors paid as much as $10,000 each. And that’s just one new opportunity.
What makes it a good sponsorship:
“Both parties are getting what they need out of the arrangement,” says Howard.
MAKE IT YEAR-ROUND
What they did:
The Golf Course Superintendents Association (GCSAA) has increased sponsorship revenue by trading in sponsorships for a “value-added” program. Vendors spend a certain level at the GCSAA trade show or with the association’s magazine, which buys them the right to obtain a certain level of exposure through items that were once sponsorships.
The move was made in response to some sponsors who were considering pulling out of their sponsorships because they didn’t feel they were getting enough ROI.
How they did it:
Mark Bisbing, Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing, created a master list of all of the association’s potential sponsorship assets. He approached each of the association’s eight departments and asked them to think of potential assets, and if they would be willing to turn those assets over to the new program. He brought in sponsorship consultant IEG to help with the process.
Bisbing created three levels of packages — platinum, gold and silver — based on how much a given company was spending with the association. Bisbing then created a chart with all the potential “sponsorship” or value-added options a company could choose. Platinum participants could choose as many as 52 benefits, including items such as their logo on the back of GCSAA membership cards or the opportunity to create a custom message on the trade show’s registration page.
Gold-level participants could select up to 48 benefits, and silver-level participants earned 33 benefits.
“The process allowed us to identify opportunities we’d never taken advantage of before, and consolidating the offerings this way made it all easier to manage,” says Bisbing. For example, GCSAA hosted an annual reception for job-hunting students at its show. While the reception drew approximately 450 attendees, it had never before been seen as a sponsorship asset. Now it’s a benefit that platinum and gold members can select.
How they sold it:
GCSAA created a three-person team to work with the different departments within the association and manage the program's sales and maintenance. The program is priced at three different ranges starting at $100,000 for the silver level and maxing out at $1 million for the top-end platinum level. Magazine advertisers and show exhibitors wishing to spend enough to participate in the program have up to three years to reach a given threshold of spending. If they commit to spend that much within three years, they can participate in the program starting with their first year.
Why it’s successful:
Already the amount of money being spent by existing partners has jumped by more than $200,000 and is expected to increase by more than $1 million by the end of 2008. “This has been a great way to stabilize as well as increase our revenue,” says Bisbing.
What makes it a great sponsorship:
“Our new program gives companies lots of choice and flexibility to meet their goals,” says Bisbing. “If they want a big booth at the show one year to make a new product splash, and the next year they want a smaller booth, but want to spend more somewhere else — that’s okay with us as long as they meet what they committed to spend.”
LOOK UNDER YOUR NOSE
What they did:
The hardest part of developing great sponsorships, says Jim Fricke, Executive Director of the Colorado Garden Show Inc., is identifying all the sponsorship opportunities sitting right under your nose. Twelve years ago his company began to work with Creative Strategic Solutions to identify and sell sponsorships. “Every year we go through a process of looking at the floorplan and brainstorming what our sponsorship assets really are,” says Fricke.
But it was on a cross-country drive that Fricke got the idea for two of his pureprofit sponsorships. The show had always allowed children 12 and under free admittance. It had also always used coupons for $2 off the price of a ticket as an attendance builder. “It hit me, why not find sponsors for both of these.”
How they did it:
Because these were items the show was already providing, implementing the sponsorship was relatively easy. Both sponsorships were sold to Allstate. The company’s logo was printed on the $2 off coupon, and the company’s name was included in pre-show promotions, with lines such as “Kids under 12 get in free courtesy of Allstate.” There were no additional costs or labor to implement the sponsorship.
How they sold it:
Creative Strategic Solutions helped Fricke determine the price as well as which potential sponsors to approach with the opportunity. “Outsourcing sponsorship sales, of course, means I have to share a cut with Creative Strategic Solutions, but it generates revenue and I don’t have to do much,” he says.
Why it’s successful:
Sponsorships at Fricke’s show last year accounted for 12 to 15 percent of the show’s gross revenue. Since the new sponsorships didn’t require Fricke to spend any extra money, the revenue represented pure profit.
What makes it a good sponsorship:
“It helps an exhibitor rise above the noise to find an intended audience,” says Fricke.
A TRIPLE PLAY
What they did:
Vision Expo East and Vision Expo West, produced by Reed Exhibitions, had a problem. Part of the show is fashionoriented, showing off the latest glitzy eye fashions. The other part of the show is clinical, featuring scientific equipment. Exhibitors on the medical equipment side found it hard to compete with the fashion side of the show. “The medical equipment just isn’t as sexy as the lines of eyewear,” says Dana Brady, Exhibitor Marketing Consultant for the show.
To help generate more excitement about the scientific exhibitors, the show created the Visions Expo Medical and Scientific Theater on the show floor. The scientific exhibitors could sign up for an hour-long time slot to make educational presentations. Attendees, mostly doctors, could earn free continuing education credits for attending the sessions.
How they did it:
Reed’s exhibitor marketing department (which specializes in selling and servicing sponsorships) worked with exhibitors to get presentations approved for continuing education credits by the appropriate industry organization. It also checked to make sure all PhRMA regulations were followed. Sessions were marketed to attendees in advance by show management, however, they could attend a session on the spur of the moment if there was room available.
Some exhibitors elected to hold their sessions during meal times and served a meal during the presentation. Entrance in and out of the theater area was regulated to ensure that attendees didn’t stop by just long enough to get their CEU paperwork and leave.
How they sold it:
The show’s exhibitor marketing department organized and sold the sponsorship, working with the booth sales team as needed. The sponsorship was sold as a turnkey package so that all the exhibitors needed to do was create a polished (and approved) presentation. Everything else was taken care of by show management. The sponsorship was offered first to companies taking part in the scientific and educational pavilion, and then opened up to other exhibitors as space allowed.
Why it’s successful:
A basic hour-long presentation cost sponsors $2,800 (more if they wanted to serve food). Each session drew between 50 and 100 attendees, although Brady says as word gets out among attendees, the popularity of the sessions is growing. “They’re starting to realize they can get a lot of their continuing education credits for free if they go, which is a great deal for them.” The price was originally set not knowing how well the idea would work. Now that it’s quickly growing in popularity among both exhibitors and attendees, the show expects to raise the price accordingly in the future.
What makes it a great sponsorship:
“A win, win, win makes a great sponsorship — when you can meet everyone’s needs from show management to attendees to exhibitors,” says Brady. “It generated revenue for show management and helped us increase interest in the scientific exhibitors. It was a win for the exhibitors because they got great exposure, and it was a win for the attendees because they got free continuing education credits. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Heather Kirkwood, Senior Editor of EXPO Magazine, has written for the exhibition industry since 1997. She was part of EXPO’s editorial team that won the 2005 Folio: Eddie Award for Editorial Excellence and the 2005 min’s B-to-B Best Web Site Redesign Award. She can be reached at (913) 344-1376 or hkirkwood@ascendmedia.com.
• Put your sponsorship program to the side, and do a holistic review of your event, from the first day of planning to the first day of planning for the next show. Look for sponsorship opportunities you might not have seen before. Most shows have unrealized sponsorship opportunities. Ask your staff to go through this process every year.
• Take an inventory of your sponsorships and consider whether your show would be better served by offering each as a one-off, or would more revenue and exhibitor ROI be generated by creating more robust sponsorship packages and offering them to a select group of exhibitors? “Many shows find that they’re much better off selling 15 really great sponsorship packages for more money than trying to sell 50 sponsorships,” says Bill Chipps of IEG, a company specializing in consulting and creating sponsorship opportunities for a wide variety of events. “Not only do they find they can create more revenue, but it’s often easier to service 15 sponsors than 50.”
• Most shows sell sponsorships to industry vendors. But, if your show attracts a particularly affluent attendee base, are there companies from outside the industry that might pay well for access to your attendees? Think about airlines, credit cards or luxury cars.
• Consider centralizing the sale of sponsorships. Selling sponsorships is different from selling booth space. Someone with the time to form a deeper relationship with a client and who has the freedom and creativity to develop proposals based on that company’s needs, rather than simply selling from a menu of choices is more likely to generate creative, high-dollar sponsorships.
• If you can’t create a sponsorship sales specialist in your organization, then create sponsorships that are very tightly packaged to make them easier to sell in a booth sales setting.
• Consider outsourcing sponsorship sales if your company or association simply doesn’t have the time or resources to fully exploit the potential revenue stream. Companies that specialize in sponsorship sales can also be particularly helpful with price setting.
• When creating sponsorships, be sure your organization has the resources to follow through once the deal is sold.
• Take a look at your show’s challenges. What problems do you need to solve for your event? Sometimes these so called “problems” are sources of new sponsorships.
• Nancy Largay, Director of Business Development for The Global Executive, an event marketing company, cautions to be clear about what the goals are for a sponsorship from a show management point of view. “Too many shows do sponsorships at cost. If you’re going to do sponsorships at cost, make sure it’s for things you would have spent money on anyway. Otherwise it’s not worth it,” she says. “Sponsorships should generate a profit.” |
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