October 15, 2019

The following is a Room 101 Guide for Race Organizers to produce an attractive and effective race sponsorship offering to attract, secure and manage sponsors and partners.

RULE 1 – STRUCTURE & PACKAGE

The best way to attract sponsors / partners to your event is by offering them a wide range of rights and benefits that will benefit their business. These rights and benefits fall into the following categories…

Rights	Example
Title Association	Naming rights to an event
Branding	Signage at the event
Media, Mobile and On-line Marketing	Association through promotional campaigns in both social & traditional media
Email Marketing	Targeting a wide range of audiences from attendees to exhibitors
Experiential Marketing	Sampling opportunities
Hospitality & Networking	VIP access
Data Capture	Access to attendee data
Merchandising & Licensing	Branded event clothing / gifts

Once you have your detailed list of rights and benefits you are ready to bundle them into straightforward, easy to understand packages to suit differing levels of needs, including: Title and Presenting Sponsors... Co-Sponsors... Official Suppliers... Media Partners... Supporters

RULE 2 - PRICING

It is critical to offer a market price for your sponsorship opportunities. If the price is too high many sponsors will not consider your offer.

Researching online news for what other sponsorships have sold for is a good start - as well as what other events similar to yours are asking for – a lot of this information is readily available e.g. Exhibitor Rate Cards etc.

This approach will ensure that your sponsorship and partnership opportunity is priced in line with other market opportunities.

RULE 3 – SALES MATERIALS

It is critical that rights holders seeking sponsors and partners offer packages that are presented in a way that is attractive to these potential sponsors and partners and that meet their business objectives.

The best way to present the packages is through a mixture of sales materials outlining the offer in both on-line and off-line formats. Including: • Introduction
• Facts and Figures
• The Values
• The Offer - Rights Packages
• Benefits of Association
• Pricing
• Next Steps/Contact Information


Sales material formats that work well include:
SALES WEBSITE
SALES PDFS
SALES VIDEO

RULE 4 – THE SALES APPROACH

Having packaged the opportunities and developed the sales materials it’s now time to target prospect sponsors and partners.

Approach potential sponsors and partners who are the leaders in their sectors, educating them of the benefits of association with your event.

Focus on marketing to many different industry categories, for example food & beverages, health & fitness, automobiles, banking & finance, insurance, travel & tourism, hotels, communications etc.

RULE 5 - NEGOTIATION

There are lots of parts to a successful negotiation. Always keep in mind that negotiation is about a Win Win for both parties. If everyone is happy the sponsorship relationship has more chance of being successful and lasting a long time. Things to consider in a negotiation are…
• Understand the internal process for approvals and authorised signatories i.e. does the contracting party have the authority to sign
• Try and negotiate a minimum 3-year deal
• Provide at least 6 months to evaluate and negotiate any renewal
• Develop a well-developed activation plan - brands will place value on this
• In the event of any issues both parties should have an opportunity to remedy in good faith
• Ensure the agreement has a disrepute clause to protect your event
• There should be no vague deliverables in the agreement – quantify everything you negotiate
• Where possible build in KPIs as measurement

RULE 6 - CONTRACT

It is essential to involve legal experts to oversee the contract ensuring international law and local jurisdiction is acknowledged. This can vary from interpreting the contract to working up a formal contract. The Commercial Terms, Heads of Terms, Intellectual Property Rights and use in Territories are just some of the areas that need to be considered.

RULE 7 - ACTIVATION PLAN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Sponsors and partners place value on activation plans provided by the event organiser. These plans cover: Social Media, Public Relations, Media Partners, Race Photos & Videos Sponsorship, Sponsorship Launch Event, Customer Communications, Event Marketing, Advertising, Promotions, KOLs, Ambassadors, Community Relations, Government Relations etc.

RULE 8 - SPONSOR AND PARTNER MANAGEMENT

It is critical that sponsors and partners know what is going on and feel involved and central to the sponsorship and partnership.

Event organisers should provide a manager to manage sponsors and partners ensuring systems are in place throughout the lifecycle, including: contract implementation - daily contact and monthly meetings; contract review - six month activity review; and contract renewal.

AND FINALLY RULE 9 - THE UN SDGS

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and supported by 193 countries. They cover a list of 169 sustainable development targets to achieve by 2030.

By including UN Global Goals / Sustainability in campaigns rights holders drive the agenda that every business will have to follow to be successful - creating a powerful business and communications narrative based around the UN SDGs and Sustainability.

A growing number of brands and rights holders are aligning their sponsorship and marketing activity with the UN Global Goals thereby “Tying Their Brand To Society”.

Businesses become more attractive propositions to customers, investors and employees who expect them to be authentic, transparent and ethical.

Hundreds of large companies are fully committed to the SDGs including: adidas, Aviva, Barclay’s, Black Rock, Danone, HSBC, McDonald’s, Nestle, Nike, Pepsico, Puma, Sky and Unilever… to name a few. The goals will create an estimated $11 trillion in value for the companies that get their priorities right and communicate their work effectively to investors, consumers and governments…

CASE STUDY

Laguna Phuket Marathon

Sport can be a powerful tool to promote development and peace and is often recognised as a key contributor to promoting tolerance, respect and the empowerment of women, marginalised individuals and communities. By supporting the UNHCR “2 billion kilometres to safety” campaign, Laguna Phuket Marathon 2019 exemplifies sports’ unique ability to drive change.

Every year, refugees from places like South Sudan, Uganda, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Syria travel two billion kilometres to reach the nearest point of safety. The journeys are long, difficult and dangerous and are often undertaken with very little resources. The UNHCR “2 billion kilometres to safety” campaign is not only a show of solidarity but also an effort to build better understanding of refugees and raise money to protect them and help them rebuild their lives.

Everyone from recreational walkers, joggers and runners to professional athletes can join the campaign and make every step count. The UNHCR has teamed up with popular fitness apps like Fitbit and Strava allowing people to track their steps and see their contributions in miles.

Laguna Phuket Marathon supports the Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund and the UNHCR in its efforts to build a better future for refugees. “Running has become very popular in recent years and it’s great to see more and more people enjoying a healthy activity. At the same time, we are seeing runners supporting charitable causes through raising funds and profiles, and we are proud that Laguna Phuket Marathon continues to support Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund, and for the first time this year the UNHCR,” said Roman Floesser, General Manager GAA Events, the organiser of Laguna Phuket Marathon.

In a toolkit published earlier this year, the UN and the SDGs Fund highlighted the importance of cross-sector partnerships to encourage the formation of alliances between sectors, and experts such as Matthew Yeomans, Founder of Sustainly, a consultancy specialising in SDG strategies for brands, have argued that today’s consumers expect brands to take a stand on issues they believe in regarding human rights, race and sexual orientation. In order to stay relevant and connect with today’s consumers, brands must show that they exist for other than purely commercial purposes. By supporting the UNHCR “2 billion kilometres to safety” campaign, Laguna Phuket Marathon is a great example of how sports can help promote and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. is an independent marketing consultancy based in Bangkok, Thailand specialising in commercial sponsorship and partnership marketing, working with both rights holders and brands - acting as a catalyst by bringing them together and maximising the relationship.



They have packaged, sold and managed sponsorship and partnership opportunities for a wide range of rights holders and worked with many of the world’s leading brands to source and engage the right sponsorships and partnerships for them to maximise.

For professional support in building your sponsorship package please contact:



PAUL POOLE (SOUTH EAST ASIA) CO., LTD.
www.paulpoole.co.th

Paul Poole - Managing Director
(English Speaking)
email: paul@paulpoole.co.th
Tel. +66 8 6563 3196

Udomporn Phanjindawan - Personal Assistant
(Thai/English Speaking)
email: udomporn@paulpoole.co.th
Tel. +66 8 6382 9949