Learning From Our Diverse Sector
When you think about it, we have a very diverse sector. There are many different groups and types of organizations involved in sponsorship and experiential marketing. What links all those groups?—the success of revenue generation through corporate sponsorship. And for the most part, they are all calling on the same types of brands or sponsors. Think about this collection of organizations in our sector, to name a few.
The list goes on. When was the last time, as a sponsorship sales executive for a professional sport team, would you expect to sit next to someone selling sponsorships to a hospital foundation, and on the other side, a person selling sponsorship for the local food bank? Our sector is diverse, but we all have a single goal as properties and sponsors—put more money on the bottom line for ourselves and our partners.
What is the point of this discussion? It is about learning from others. I am wrapping up attendance at a three-day sport conference. It is Brian Burke’s Prime Time Sport Conference. I attend this event because I learn so much. True, all the content is not applicable (such as player agent negotiations and possibly ticking tactics or contract negotiations), but there was a focus on sponsorship, revenue generation, and a ton of networking and off-line learning. You did not find charities or post-secondary education folks there (at least not the sponsorship-mandated folks), nor did you find municipalities or performing arts organizations. But if I could learn here, they probably could as well.
Last week, I attended and spoke at the WSC® Alberta Forum. It was a full two days dedicated specifically to sponsorship marketing with a delegate list that looked like the list above—highly diversified. All were in attendance.
As I noted in an earlier TMC, last month I attended a conference that was basically all charities and brands. There were no municipalities, sport organizations, shopping centres, or country music festivals. It was all charities focusing on finding partners to further their missions. Perhaps some of those other groups could have learned some important ideas… I sure did.
All three events were beneficial to me and to the entire sector. I took away information from last month’s conference that I can use with our shopping centre clients and sport properties that will help them secure more money for themselves and better ROI for their partners. You would not find either of these groups at that conference, but they should be there. It was just like at the Prime Time Sport Conference—no arts organizations or social service agencies. But again, I have takeaways from a sport-focused conference that will help them. Then, at the WSC® Alberta Forum, there was a ton of learning with multiple groups that can learn from each other.
That is my point. The arts organizations can learn how to do things better when they open their eyes and ears to what the sport sector is doing. And the sport marketing folks can benefit when they understand and learn from the social service agencies and hospital foundations. The charities can learn from municipalities and shopping centres. We need to be more open minded and have less of this attitude: “Oh, that is not my sector. I can’t learn from them—they are sport and I am arts.”
Wake up! You can learn lots and take away tools, ideations, and revenue opportunities.
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