Cocoon Branding Inc.

Today, the official name of Winnipeg’s new football stadium was announced: Investors Group Field. Kyle was interviewed by a local news station for his insight on sponsorships and naming rights.

For the team and the venue, a naming sponsor provides some additional sustainability and long-term viability. While fans sometimes complain about naming sponsorships being a sign of ’selling out’ the truth is that it’s a part of business in the sports world. Almost every pro sports venue has a naming rights sponsor. These sponsors play a large role in keeping ticket prices down, enhancing the pro sports experience for fans, and sometimes even providing experiences or exclusive access that money can’t buy.

For the sponsor, it’s much more than an opportunity to get your name out and position your brand alongside something fun – it’s an opportunity to build loyalty with existing customers and target new customers. Of course, you will have physical presence in-market – and national exposure through event coverage – but the most valuable component of your sponsorship is the opportunity it gives you to engage with the audience.

As a sponsor – or a potential sponsor – there are four key things to consider when deciding to become a naming sponsor.

1. Choose your sponsorship property wisely.

The property you choose to sponsor should align with your corporate goals and objectives, as should the way you choose to activate your sponsorship.

2. Plan to activate your sponsorship.

An activation strategy, or lack thereof, will either make or break any sponsorship investment. You need a plan to leverage your access to the audience as a result of being a sponsor – the sponsorship fees you pay are your admission to engage far beyond simply adding your name to a building, and that is where the true value of your sponsorship will lie if you choose to access it.

3. Watch your investment grow.

You should have metrics in place to measure your return on investment. This allows you to adjust your activation strategy as you learn more about the property and your new fans.

4. Sponsorship should be a win/win situation.

Both the sponsor and the property should benefit from the deal. Each brand should enhance the other, and work together to enhance the experience for the customers, audience, or fans by making it more engaging and memorable.

If you’d like to know more about branding + sponsorship, contact Kyle at kyle@cocoonbranding.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Share. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.