In past Olympics, some critics have made negative commentary about the Olympic marketing ROI because they have stated what is the purpose of promoting a brand that already has high brand awareness? For example, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics some comments were made in the press that Coca-Cola should not need to invest in sponsorship of the Olympics because it is a very well known global brand. Apart from developing the brand in China, it was judging the value generated by Olympics sponsorship as simply based on buying brand awareness that was not considered that necessary by some journalists.

Even worse were some of the comments made about the sponsorship ROI for Olympics sponsors where the media coverage value was considered the measure of success. Counting logos being the supposed primary value of an Olympic sponsorship itself. The same people stated that given that the ROI for the Olympics was attributed to media valuation then it does not deliver a satisfactory return on investment to sponsors. This attitude really missed the point the key wow factor that makes Olympic sponsorship a powerful marketing investment. Simply put, the Olympics serves as a global platform, to engage with consumers through passion. It is passion marketing at its finest. Consumers are passionate about the Olympics, they associate major brands with this experience and many feel appreciation to sponsors because of their involvement with this event. Moreover, the Olympics provide opportunities to strengthen brand values for global sponsors.

The ROI that is generated for a sponsor is for the brand at multiple levels, not a single measure. For some sponsors it will drive loyalty, increase consideration and deliver increased sales at a global level. For others it is generating brand goodwill itself and strengthening a consumers relationship with a brand. There are multiple ways in which the overall impact of the investment will be made for the individual sponsors for ROI.

Business journalists should be asking the sponsors how well the sponsorship has met the objectives for individual sponsors, whether that be about sales or brand goodwill. They will find that different sponsors have different objectives to measure the success of their investments. Let’s remember that the Olympics is not just about logo placement, it is about building stronger emotional connections with brands and their consumers and that’s the key to measuring sponsorship ROI in London 2012.

Sponsorship accounted for $17.2 billion of marketing expenditure in North America in 2010, a 3.4 percent increase from the previous year. More than 70 major U.S. companies are each investing more than $15 million per year in sponsorship deals alone. As more brands increase their investment in sponsorship, some key questions about how sponsorship works and how it can more effectively be measured remain.

The full article is published at Quirk’s Market Research Review.

http://www.quirks.com/articles/2011/20110926-2.aspx

Some of the key questions should be answered by research include:

Q. How many target consumers have been engaged by the sponsorship?

A. We know that 15.4 million target consumers are passionate for this property and that almost 10 million can recall our sponsorship. We also know that 6.3 million consumers are delighted that we sponsor it.

Q. Did it impact on our key brand metrics of brand trial, brand advocacy and brand used most often?

A. There are significant lifts on brand performance metrics. These are strongest with passionate fans and those delighted that our brand is associated with the property. The are all directly linked to the sponsorship itself which will be tracked over time to see how they change.

The webinar will provide a case study on measurement approaches.

- Setting measurable objectives
- Case study for motor sport sponsorship ROI
- The role of the the automotive customer and fan
- What to measure and how to measure it
- How to demonstrate the direct link from sponsorship to increased car sales and customer satisfaction.

For sponsors this provides an easy to understand example of approaches to make sponsorship ROI measurement. For properties and those involved in motor sport it provides key information on delivering sponsorship ROI.

Registration is free.

For Tuesday February 1st 2011 the scheduled times are: North America 4.00pm to 5.00pm EST Time.

To register for the webinar simply register on our webinar page. http://www.sponsormap.com/webinars/ 

If you cannot attend this webinar but would like to view it in the future you can simply join our mailing list and check back to see the schedule of webinars dealing with the specific issues of measuring sponsorship ROI.

Sponsors had claimed that they need a better sense of ROI for their investments that media measurement or other claims of ROI that properties were providing to sponsors. In short, sponsors were demanding that the properties be responsible for providing the ROI to the sponsors. The issue has manifested itself in several measurement approaches that by default let sponsors not become involved in the measurement process. In no way are the sponsors clearly sharing their objectives to the properties, yet at the same time demanding better measurement of the ROI.

The fundamental problem is that sponsors need to take ownership of their own objectives. They need to ensure that their sponsorship objectives are clear and align with the companies overall marketing objectives. This sounds obvious but it is the critical point to which the issue and challenge of sponsorship measurement revolves. If a sponsor lacks clear sponsorship objectives, then they place the onus of measuring sponsorship ROI onto the property. They would therefore expect a property to provide sponsorship ROI on their behalf. This immediately puts the property in a position where it needs to second guess a sponsors key business objectives and motivations for their investment.

How would a property know the business objectives of a sponsor? Virtually no sponsors include properties in their company strategy meetings or in a company plan. Properties simply do not have the insider view of a sponsors objectives and it is unrealistic to expect them to know the sponsors business.

Given a lack of clear objectives, the default measurement approach has been to traditionally use media valuation and sponsorship scorecard systems. Both these methods can be easily used as they are not based on the sponsor’s key business objectives. Hence, properties use these methods in providing sponsorship ROI to sponsors.

The main criticism of the sponsorship ROI by sponsors is related to these measurements not being sufficient to demonstrate sponsorship ROI. The sponsor wants to know if a sponsorship is selling more cars or beer for example. It is a big ‘so what’ if all the sponsorship ROI is about is about counting a logo or rating the sponsorship on a scale of 1 to 10.

It has to come back to the ownership of the ROI measurement process. Only sponsors can really measure their sponsorship ROI, as they know the business objectives and are in a better position to ensure that any ROI justification is in a language that demonstrates a sound understanding of their business. Properties are not in a position to really provide the insight that a sponsor needs, instead they should be focused on doing what they do best which is engaging with fans and providing a marketing opportunity for a sponsor.

Sponsors need to step forward and take ownership of the measurement process as this is not something that a property should have to provide to a sponsor. The methodologies are available for market orientated sponsorship ROI but this is only something that the sponsors can drive forward, never the properties.

This webinar that will provide specific case studies from Europe for measuring sponsorship ROI in a European context.

- Music event sponsorship case study from Russia

- Broadcast sponsorship example from the UK

- Football sponsorships from the EU

- Arts sponsorships

Examination of some case studies from both sponsors and properties from European markets. The webinar is free.

For Wednesday January 26th 2011 the scheduled times are: Europe 10.00am to 11.00am London Time.

To register for the webinar simply register on our webinar page. http://www.sponsormap.com/webinars/ 

If you cannot attend this webinar but would like to view it in the future you can simply join our mailing list and check back to see the schedule of webinars dealing with the specific issues of measuring sponsorship ROI.

Information obtained from brand tracking studies generally covers a broad range of topics from the marketing mix as a whole.

These include:

- Brand awareness

- Brand trial, purchase and loyalty

- Advertising awareness

- Purchasing behaviour

- Brand imagery

- Demographics/Psychographics

There are many other types of information that can be collected in a brand tracking study but it does provide a strong basis for a consumer based marketing information system. It highlights important issues for brands that can be addressed in a marketing strategy either tactically or strategically.

When we look at sponsorship, it is important to remember that sponsorship ROI can also be measured through an existing brand tracking study by simply including several sponsorship specific metrics. The key is adding the right metrics to a brand tracker in the first place.

To be specific, the most important metrics are sponsor recall, the PassionIndex and Gratitude Index. They are the most important metrics to capture the essence of sponsorships.

These can be included as an add-on to existing brand tracking studies as they provide useful diagnostics that better able us to determine sponsorship effectiveness because they are based on a combination of recall, passion and appreciation. Simply with more metrics we are better able to measure sponsorship effectiveness than the traditional approach that is simply based on one measure alone (sponsorship recall) to explain everything.

For many sponsors simply improving sponsorship measurement in an existing brand tracker is a simple solution that can dramatically improve insights and demonstrate sponsorship ROI to sponsors. 

SponsorMap has been designed to integrate with existing brand tracking studies and can be easily function as a useful add-on for the brand tracker.

Importantly, SponsorMap is applied for to provide meaningful measurements of deliverables from a sponsorship.

Still an emerging concept, experiential marketing involves a target audience member in an event experience related to a brand or product. The goal is to make a “quality brand experience” that creates real engagement where customers are not only exposed to the brand name but also given an opportunity to interact with the brand, absorb the messaging and understand how the brand attributes are relevant to their lives and needs.

“Advertising is rapidly losing its effectiveness as consumers have learned to tune out the bombardment of ads in everyday life, so more and more firms are turning to experiential marketing tactics that are novel enough to catch the attention of the sophisticated consumer’, commented Nicholas Cameron, Director of SponsorMap.

“The tool is building on our existing knowledge of event sponsorship that we have developed from our SponsorMap methodology but it also encompasses key word-of-mouth measurements that are especially of value in experiential marketing where WOM impact is considerable.”

The SponsorMap range of tools measure consumers’ passion and gratitude to try and identify the role that sponsorship is having on brands. SponsorMap has been used in more than 20 countries across the globe and is currently partnered with TNS.
There are various modules of SponsorMap ranging from sponsorship pre-testing, tracking, hospitality and event research and also including the PassionIndex, a syndicated report that examines sporting and entertainment passions.