The Truth Comes Out:Getting and Keeping a SponsorFebruary 19, 2006 OK, right here in the prelim to this blog I’m going to reveal the most closely guarded secret in marketing. I’m dead serious; I’m going to give it up. Are you ready? Here goes. The next three words will change your life; “No!” means “Yes!” What? “No way!” you say. “How can that be?” you shout. Yes way, my friends. It is true. “No” means “Yes”. It is an absolute reality in the world of marketing and advertising. The first "no" just means that you didn’t explain it properly. That’s it. It’s that simple. Don’t believe me yet? Then read on. It’s just your success that lies in the balance. Marketing and advertising executives want to say yes. They need to say yes. They have a budget to protect that requires that they say yes! I understand that this concept seems pretty strange but it is the unconditional truth and this information is one of the most important weapons you will have in your arsenal as you are searching for sponsors. The secret to using this information will be discussed in the third installment of this blog, which will be written in four separate segments because there is so much to cover. Hang in there though because when you have finished all of them you will be well on your way to the first of many “yeses” to come. By the way, this information is not for everyone – only those that are serious about taking their best shot at obtaining sponsor dollars need continue. And, by the way, if it starts to look and sound like work to you – that’s because it is! There is just no way around it. There is no such thing as a shortcut for this subject. If you are looking for a gimmee you are on the wrong course, there are no short putts here. Because if you are not willing to put forth the effort then you are just wasting everyone’s time including your own. So, those that are hoping for a handout to pop up along the way - stop reading now.
Research, research, and then research some more. The root meaning of that word is to “search again”. Take that meaning to heart and you are already off to a great start. Knowledge is the most powerful tool you will have in your battle to get those corporate dollars coming your way. Going blindly into a presentation with a company that you know nothing about is simply a suicide mission. In fact, I would venture to say that failure to do the requisite research is the most common cause of disappointment in the search for corporate sponsors. You can have one of the greatest presentations in the world and it will most likely fail if it is presented in the wrong manner to the wrong person at the wrong time. The first thing to do is to make a list of every corporation that you would like to approach. This list will most likely be quite long but don’t worry it’s about to get a lot shorter. If you don’t know where to begin making your list, you can get a pretty good start by looking at the shirts of BASS anglers, NASCAR drivers, sporting event commercials, and roadside billboards. Look up the top 25 or 50 or 100 companies in your home state. Lastly you can include companies in the fishing industry. They should comprise the very bottom of your list. Now that you have a huge wish list of brand names, companies, and corporations in front of you it is time to spend several hours in front of your computer. And, if that idea does not appeal to you then you have exactly two options. You can either hope to get lucky or you can quit now and save yourself the trouble. Get out lots of paper and pens. Start a file on each company you research. Take the first name on your list and look them up on the web. Read everything on the site. Pay special attention to the areas on their site that identify corporate structure and officers. You are looking for the CEO, Marketing Director, and the Advertising Department Director. If you run across a listing for the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) take note of that name too because those guys are sometimes good sources of information pertaining to the various department budgets. Write down phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. Look for a reference to a holding company or “a subsidiary of” identification that will lead you to where you really want to be – the parent company. Nearly all of the companies and brand names on your list will turn out to be a part of a larger company. Most of the time each subsidiary will have its own brand-name marketing/advertising department but occasionally all decisions are made from the top. You need to know what the situation is before you make a presentation. There will be more later on in Step 2 about how to get that info and what to do with it. Look for photos or references to articles that may clue you in to their thinking and “branding”. Look for advertising trends that will help you identify the pathways that they have chosen to market their product in the last two years. Do they take a mainstream conservative approach, do they like the more radical fringe type advertising, or do they rely on humor as their sales pitch. Do they get involved in charity work? If so, find out which charities and why? If they use a celebrity to represent their company, try to figure out why they used whom they did. What is that celebrity’s personality? What do they represent? Try to determine the segment of the population they are trying to reach by using that particular celebrity. Especially read the history of the company. Where it started and how it grew. Roots are hard to get away from. Most successful companies are doing a lot of things right and it will all be there in the history. Do not short-change the history information! The history is vitally important to your understanding of why this company and brand name is where it is today. You will learn how the minds that founded the company work and what avenues appeal to them for growth. When you follow the timeline in the development of a company you will learn how they grew and why. You will gain an understanding of the inner workings of the company and you will begin to see the company from a different perspective. This information is valuable to you because leaders tend to surround themselves with like-minded, capable individuals to ensure that the company and the legacy will continue to grow. By now several “Ahas” and “Ahhhs” and “Oh, reallys” should have gone off in your brain. Information is a powerful stimulant. Now that you have exhausted the company web site, go back over your notes and arrange them so they make sense to you. Keep all the notes in a folder labeled with that company name. You will find that you have some questions about some of the information. How, why, where, when, how long, etc. Go back to the web search engines and find the answers. Look up and read articles published in the past two years about the company or its principle leaders. Most especially look for references about a marketing or advertising agency! If you find a specific reference to an ad agency, make this notation in bold in your file When you have done all the above you will have one file that is now useful to you. And, if you have read this far there is a chance that you may even be serious about getting and keeping a real sponsor. Do not despair. It is a lot of work! But if you have researched and built the first file correctly the rest will become progressively easier. You will get so good at this by the third or fourth file that you will fairly fly along getting the rest of them done. After you have created your files many of the companies will now be merged into a common file under their umbrella or corporate parent company – thus the shortening of your list. These files will all contain vital information that should be pretty familiar to you by now. Arrange the files in some sort of order that appeals to you. You are now ready to begin the final process in step one which is the coordination of all the information you have collected. Take the top file on your list and study the notes you have made. Especially note what kind of advertising they are using – print, radio, TV, internet, etc. How do their print ads look. What is the content, theme, color scheme, and overall visual effect. What segment of our society does this company target. Get a good idea in your mind where each company is putting its marketing and advertising dollars. This is the personality of the company.
Now, spend some time thinking about how you can fit into that plan; how you can become a part of that company personality. What can you offer them that appeals to their current thoughts about marketing and is intriguing enough that they will use it to appeal to a portion of their chosen market. If you can see a way that you fit into their current advertising and marketing scheme, you have almost certainly opened a door before you ever make that first call. You see, if you already fit into what they are doing, and more importantly, can speak intelligently about their product, their company, and their marketing plan you are bringing them a sharp and desirable product – you. You are offering them another way to reach out to their target audience and you have the advantage of being a real live person with a persona. You can relate to their target audience in a way that is not possible with print or television media. This is not a mystery or a closely guarded secret, these guys already know this! You are just what they need to reach out to that segment of their targeted audience that is not swayed by print media or television. And, it is often a very sizeable share of that target. After all, aren’t you more convinced of the virtues of a product when one of your friends tells you in person how good it is as opposed to some slick ad in a magazine or on television. The trick now is to present yourself and your plan to the right person in the right way so that you become a part of their plan. And that brings us to Step Two.
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