Sponsoring major sporting events : Where to invest and how to measure? Michael Cole Co-founder TrueGold Communications (former marketing director BT Global Services)
Corporate spending on sponsorships in the United States is expected to grow to $20 billion in 2013 - equal to one-third of total US television advertising and one-half of digital advertising. Yet industry research reveals that about one-third to one-half of US companies don’t have a system in place to measure sponsorship ROI comprehensively. In our experience, executives who implement a comprehensive approach to gauge the impact of their sponsorships can increase returns by as much as 30 percent.
The Economist Group 2013
1. Case Study – BT’s activation of London 2012 2. Explore methods of measurement 3. Conclusions / Panel
London 2012 - Highly visible with brand-affecting objectives …. 1. To help stage an inspirational Olympic Games and Paralympic Games for the athletes, the Olympic family and the viewing public 2. To deliver services to the Olympic Park and all venues on time, within agreed budget, to specification, without penalty and providing for a sustainable legacy
…. but remember your other critical stakeholders too! …
British Telecommunications plc
Brand impact of the Games ‌ for those that get it right and for those that get it wrong
+ 20.0 % INCREASE OVER THE PERIOD
- 17.8 % DECREASE OVER THE PERIOD
British Telecommunications plc
BRAND MESSAGING
Bringing (it) us all together for London 2012
Technology Technology
Community Community
Momentum Momentum
Helping to make London 2012 the most connected Games ever
Giving millions of people an experience to remember, and not just those in London
Continuing to make a positive impact after the Games
ACTIVATION THEMES British Telecommunications plc
BT named the company that provided the greatest corporate contribution to the success of the Games * * TLG/Populus survey, September 2012
British Telecommunications plc
More than 20 million visits to the BThosted London 2012 website during the Paralympic Games
BT told its story through events‌.
BT network coped with more tweets on one day than during the whole of the Beijing Games LOCOG teams and 27,500 media provided with BT internet, email, phone lines and mobile 1 million users at its peak on its UK Wi-Fi network – a UK first Paralympic athletes able to log-on to high speed fibre broadband at the Village for free
British Telecommunications plc
More than 20 million visits to the BThosted London 2012 website during the Paralympic Games
and across branded assets‌
BT network coped with more tweets on one day than during the whole of the Beijing Games LOCOG teams and 27,500 media provided with BT internet, email, phone lines and mobile 1 million users at its peak on its UK Wi-Fi network – a UK first Paralympic athletes able to log-on to high speed fibre broadband at the Village for free
British Telecommunications plc
BT partnered with Channel 4 to give Paralympic sport more air-time than ever before: 500 hours of Games times footage during London 2012
British Telecommunications plc
BT recognised the role of athletes at the heart of the story
Daley Thompson
British Telecommunications plc
The Brownlees
Dame Kelly Holmes
Greg Searle
Major Events Measurement Framework WHAT
REACH
HOW
Reach and Frequency for Advertising Online buzz & digital media engagement Media coverage evaluation Hospitality attendees at events Sales engagement Public “dip-stick” research at Games-time
Awareness of Company as sponsor Understanding of Company’s role as sponsor Recall of Advertising Recall of sub-category sponsorship (eg Paralymic) Impact on health of Company brand Impact on Company’s people/pride
Monthly L2012 awareness tracking (Nielsen) Advertising tracking (GfK) Paralympic/C4 sponsorship tracking (Ipsos MORI) Brand streaming annual brand health-check (MMI Eye) Employee care - quarterly survey
Maxus reach & frequency reporting Buzz + digital metrics valuation of offline media Partner agency reports on attendees Company CRM Pan-company survey of hospitality attendees Nielsen L2012 daily survey
Public research to understand message penetration & attitudes
RECALL Econometric modelling of impact of changed perception on P&L and brand value
ROI
Impact on drivers of brand performance (split by individual levers) Pipeline and new order value Modelled impact on P&L Impact on value of Company brand
Sales and marketing reporting by Line of Bus (Contract Value, Revenue) Modelling exposure to Company activation Weekly research over Games time to record impact on brand Brand evaluation
© TRUEGOLD COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Evaluating Sponsorship Performance
Source : SponsorMapTM
Evaluating Sponsorship Performance (example)
In conclusion ‌. 1. Consider your strategic objectives first 2. Evaluate the sponsorship marketplace and assess 3. Select the sponsorship that aligns with strategic imperatives, and where the passion and gratitude to the sponsor is likely to be high
4. Develop your measurement framework across the business 5. Each line-of-business to consider its investment at a minimum of three levels and evaluate desired outcomes against budget 6. Draw-up your programme structure and ensure alignment (inter-lock) between programme leadership and strategic focus – resources, budget, suppliers 7. Measure, re-assess and re-align throughout the sponsorship cycle 8. And remember for B2B, the programme extends BEYOND the event - LEGACY
TrueGold Communications is a specialist consultancy delivering real practitioner marketing and communications expertise to assist corporations and organisations seeking a podium performance in sponsorship and sport.
michael@truegoldcommunications.co.uk
“First of all, thank you so much for all your help with the benchmarking trip. VP Kim [KT] and other clients found it very helpful and we really appreciate the time and efforts you put into the programme in order to design the agenda and provide the expert team.” Jun Shin | Associate Principal | McKinsey & Company
“As always, it has been a pleasure to work with you, …. and thanks to your help we are confident we have the tools and plan to do what we want.” George Middleton | Deputy Head of UKTI, Rio de Janeiro | British Consulate General