By Carlee Driscoll

Any of us would have to be living under a rock to not see the impact of big budget sponsorship in the world of sport, entertainment, charity and business. The recent Rugby World Cup was green with Heineken, this year’s NRL final was the perfect opportunity to launch Telstra’s new look, Melbourne Cup is all about Myer fashion and Polo in the City is more about pearls than ponies thanks to Paspaley.

And it’s not just sport and sporting teams that attracts sponsorship. Almost every show on our commercial TV screens is ‘brought to you by someone or something’. Why would Flora pay the big bucks to be associated with The Biggest Loser and why would Coles want to ‘own’ Masterchef?

Big budget internationals don’t just take these sponsorship opportunities because they can afford to, they create these opportunities because they are looking for marketing initiatives over and above the typical advertising and public relations offerings.

So can sponsorship really work for us small guys too? The short answer is ‘maybe’ and the long answer is ‘absolutely, provided (as with any marketing initiative) that it is well planned and well executed’! Sponsorship provides a great means of broadening our competitive edge and growing our awareness but how do we get it right?

First and foremost we need to find something that is the right fit for us. The event, the team, the person or the organisation we select needs to match both our own brand values and our target markets. If the values are drastically different to our own it may damage our own brand by association. If their target markets are different to our own we have to question why we would spend time, energy and dollars wanting them to know about us.

Secondly, we need to negotiate clear and tangible benefits that suit us. For a start, think about….

• Visual branding with logos
• Sampling opportunities to get your product into new hands or in front of new eyes
• Networking or speaking engagements in front of target market clients
• ‘Access’ to relevant contact databases
• How to get media coverage in appropriate media
• Association with the strong aims and objectives of the partnering organisation / event

Thirdly, and finally, it is important to work at sponsorship opportunities to make them worthwhile! Keep on top of those hard-earned and hard-negotiated benefits. Don’t just assume that your sponsorship partner will deliver those benefits to you. Take charge and explore every chance to exploit every opportunity.

Carlee is the Strategic Marketing Planner for Chilli. If you’d like to see how Carlee and the Chilli team can help you grow your business call 5437 7788.