Strong Sponsorships

FedEx was to be the main sponsor of the three-day conference that focused on entrepreneurship. It seemed to be a perfect match since the conference was being held in Memphis, where both FedEx and Nibletz are based.

Furthering the Memphis connection, Sandler hired New York Times best-selling author Damien Echols to speak during a "fireside chat." Years ago, Echols was convicted as a teenager along with two others of the 1993 murders of three cub scouts in West Memphis. Echols, who spent 18 years on death row, was dubbed, along with Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin, "The West Memphis Three," and the three were exonerated in 2011 with the support of celebrities that included Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Johnny Depp, and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

But it wasn't Echols' tragic story that Nibletz was booking; the organizers felt that his unique history with technology was a good fit for their tech-minded audience. "He spent 18 years in prison, going in when beepers were popular. When he got out, he was given an iPhone and had no idea how to use it. He freaked out when he went into a grocery store and there was a self check-out lane and a credit card machine," explains Sandler. "He offered an interesting perspective on how technology has evolved."
But Sandler made one mistake - he didn't keep his main sponsor in the loop. "We told FedEx about Echols a week before the conference. We talked to a lot of influential people about it and concluded it wouldn't be a big deal," explains Sandler.
That conclusion was incorrect. FedEx pulled out immediately.

"We had concerns with that particular speaker," says FedEx spokeswoman Shea Leordeanu. "We were told it was an entrepreneurial startup conference at the time the deal was made. This didn't fit our understanding of an entrepreneurial startup conference."
Conference programs were already printed with FedEx's corporate logo and the company paid to have them reprinted sans its logo. The conference did go on without FedEx's support and drew 1,200 attendees. If Sandler had the chance to do things differently, he would have told FedEx about Echols earlier in the process, he says.

Kim Skildum-Reid, founder of Power Sponsorship, a Sydney, Australia-based sponsorship consulting, training, and coaching services company, feels that Sandler should have spoken to FedEx before signing Echols. "While his topic may have had salience, his back story was the real story, and the real draw for delegates. It changed the focal point of the event, and doing that without consulting the major sponsor isn't fair, and shows a distinct lack of respect for the relationship," says Skildum-Reid, who also is co-author of The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit and author of The Ambush Marketing Toolkit and The Corporate Sponsorship Toolkit.

Most sponsorships are not plagued by controversy. Most are win-win situations that help meeting organizers defray costs and provide a valuable asset for the sponsor - if the two are properly matched. Here's how to avoid some common pitfalls and make sure that happens. 

1. Stay Away From Controversy
As the Nibletz Media-FedEx snafu dem-onstrates, controversy can destroy a sponsorship opportunity. "Polarizing topics and polarizing people are risky," say Jim Burba and Bob Hayes, co-founders of Burba Hotel Network (BHN), a worldwide leader in developing and producing conferences for the hotel and tourism investment community. Since 2000, their events have attracted nearly 80,000 international delegates in 22 countries. "Since we are all about relationship building, we tend to stay away from situations that will accomplish the opposite. We are leery of topics and people that are too political in nature because no matter how sensitively they are presented, a segment of the audience is going to be alienated. Yes, controversy can get you headlines for your event, but it may not help in the long run."

One controversy BHN had to navigate involved Proposition 8, the 2008 proposed (and passed) amendment to the California Constitution created by opponents of same-sex marriage. The Mormon Church was reportedly a major source of the Proposition funding. "Because of this, Marriott International, one of our top-level sponsors, unfairly came under fire with a threat of a possible gay boycott of the company because of its Mormon connection through its then-CEO Bill Marriott, who is Mormon," says Hayes. 

When anti-Proposition 8 activists learned BHN's Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) was being held in San Diego with Marriott as a guest speaker, there was the threat that the conference would be disrupted. 

"We immediately got on the phone with Marriott headquarters to give them a heads up, and we let the host hotel know they might be in for a demonstration outside the front door," says Hayes. "Mr. Marriott promptly issued a statement separating himself and the company he headed from any support of Proposition 8. Thankfully, the statement from Mr. Marriott calmed the situation, and no protestors appeared at our event."

2. Be Aware of Competitive Relationships Between Your Sponsors
After his experience with FedEx, Sandler vowed that in the future, he would never be so reliant on one sponsor. "It's a much better strategy to have several major sponsors rather than just one. That way if someone drops out, it doesn't hurt as much," he says. 

But that can be a juggling act, as many sponsors usually have competing agendas. WATG/Wimberly Interiors, one of the premier hospitality design firms in the world, has been a longtime sponsor of the conferences BHN produces. 

When considering a sponsorship opportunity, WATG/Wimberly Interiors looks at who the other sponsors are. "If a competitor is also a sponsor that will impact our decision whether we will or will not be a sponsor. If we are amongst several competitors, the value of our sponsorship may diminish," says Beverly Hills, CA-based Raj Chandnani, vice president of strategy for WATG/Wimberly Interiors. 

The balance between a sponsor's desire to not share the limelight with their competitors and the event producer's desire to invite all appropriate sponsors can be a challenge. Philosophically, BHN doesn't want to get in the middle of a "Coke-Pepsi" battle by inviting one firm over another. They view all sponsors as equals, and don't want to assume one is better than the other. "However, we are very aware of the competitive relationships, act accordingly, and don't make it uncomfortable for the sponsors. We're very open about telling sponsors that competitors have been invited. All the major hotel companies sponsor our events, and they are all fierce competitors. If we had to pick just one firm from each sponsor category we would have a very limited pool of sponsors and would miss having the program content perspectives of a broader sponsor pool," says Burba. "Also, if the marketplace is very competitive, we often learn that companies have sponsored specifically because their competitor is there."

3. Balance Sponsors' Goals With Event Objectives
When considering sponsorship opportunities, FedEx looks for conferences where the focus matches its brand. "At FedEx, we recognize that our impact is greater than the services we provide, so it's important to us that our corporate message is framed in the right context," says Leordeanu. 

That is a lesson that Sanders learned the hard way and he says that, going forward, Nibletz will be committed to looking for sponsors whose culture matches their event goals. "It's important to look at who your big corporate sponsors are and make sure there is not something that can possibly collide with their values," says Sandler. "It's a balancing act where you have to make sure everyone's values are in sync." 

Because it can be challenging to find the right fit, BHN's strategy, whenever possible, is to sign up returning sponsors. "Our sponsor campaigns are inclusively exclusive, meaning we are selective about the companies we invite to sponsor and their relevance to the industry we serve," says Burba. "Important in the execution of the inclusive-exclusive principle is the word 'invite.' We invite sponsors that fit a desired profile, meaning that a company cannot simply go online and sponsor. We develop a list for each conference of who we want to have as a sponsor." 

BHN also creates a list of what types of attendees it would like to attract. "These two elements are interdependent. Sponsors' names and logos tell the story about who you are and, therefore, who should attend," Burba says. For example, if BHN is looking to attract blue-chip developers as attendees, then it needs blue-chip sponsors that will attract their attention. 

"Inclusively exclusive works for us, but sometimes it isn't easy. It isn't easy to say no to a company that wants to pay you money, but doesn't fit the goals of the event. You always have to put the credibility of the event first. If a company doesn't fit the goals and objectives of the event, you risk damaging relationships down the line with other sponsors and attendees," says Hayes. 

4. Logo Placement Isn't Enough
Traditional sponsorship opportunities like signs, logo placement, and show directories are important but certainly not enough, says Susan Daddio, senior manager of global events for Milford, MA-based Waters Corporation, a company that creates business opportunities for laboratory-dependent organizations. Waters exhibits at about 600 to 800 conferences worldwide every year and is a high-level sponsor at several hundred, from those that attract about 200 attendees to huge citywide gatherings that bring in at least 30,000. 

"Our main sponsorship criterion is to find events that can increase our exposure in hard-to-get segments where we haven't been able to make inroads," she says. "We look for access to mailing and pre-registration lists, private one-on-one roundtables with attendees, workshops, and networking events. We are more interested in that one-on-one experience versus just having our logo on a board that no one will ever look at or a print ad in the program book or a link to the website." Daddio admits that it is getting extremely difficult to get pre-registration lists as a result of the regulations that govern many industries including the pharmaceutical industry.

5. Be Transparent With Sponsors
Waters was a sponsor of a conference held in Anaheim, CA last year. The conference organizer never told the exhibitors and sponsors that one of the exhibiting companies uses animals for experimentation. "An animal rights organization picketed the conference and got into the hotel and destroyed some of the booths," says Daddio. "It's important to stay in touch with the conference organizer and find out who else is exhibiting." 

Flexibility is also key, says Daddio. "When you're good partners, you're flexible and they're flexible," she asserts. "Waters is a company with almost $2 billion in revenues, close to 6,000 employees worldwide, and one of the premier companies in our space. That doesn't mean we throw our weight around, as there is always someone bigger out there. You have to build trust so you trust them and they trust you." One way to foster this is by participating in exhibitor and organizing-committee advisory meetings. 

Open communication between sponsors and conference organizers is imperative, says Sylvia Allen, founder and principal of Allen Consulting, a media relations company that specializes in sponsorship, and author of How to Be Successful in Sponsorship Sales. Allen is no stranger to sponsorship controversy. She organized a month-long celebration for the Florida Powerboat Racing Association a few years ago. She got a local KFC franchiser who owns 12 of the popular chicken franchises in the area to be a sponsor of the offshore powerboat race that was being held in Fort Myers, FL as part of the celebration. The day after the franchiser agreed to the sponsorship, one of the racers was arrested for drug running. 

"I immediately called the franchiser and asked if he had read the paper. I told him I didn't want him to do this, as he owns family restaurants. He pulled out and sponsored a synchronized swimming event instead."

6. Don't Leave Out Your Target Market
According to Skildum-Reid, to facilitate a successful relationship, it is important to add value to the target audience's experience. That's the "last generation" phase of a sponsorship, she says. "Last generation is about nurturing a brand's connection with a target market by putting their needs first." 

In the past, sponsors have concentrated on creating bonds with events, rather than with attendees. "For years, good sponsorship was defined as being win-win, that is, the sponsor wins and the host organization wins. While having this kind of mutual benefit is a great idea, this approach completely leaves out the most important part of the equation: the target markets," Skildum-Reid says. How can a sponsor achieve this? By providing meaningful added-value benefits to target markets. 

"We do all we can to make attendees feel like they are stakeholders in the event," says Hayes of BHN. "This process takes a lot of time to organize and manage, and can often yield difficult-to-implement ideas, but it is worth it."