Sponsorship activation strategies that drive maximum exposure for financial services

We’re getting closer to Super Bowl weekend, when clever ads and other sponsorship plays generate buzz from a wider audience than just sports diehards. It’s when the viewership draws those who care more about what motivated Kansas City Chief’s fixture Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” than what motivates the Philadelphia Eagles to go for it on fourth and short.

It’s also a great time to talk about the benefits of sponsorship marketing, including for the financial services industry.

Sponsorship marketing, in simple terms, allows brands to leverage the strong affinity and emotional connection consumers have with a sport, music event, and any number of crowd attractions, and expand and extend the sponsoring brand’s appeal and relevance.

Successful sponsorships start with selecting, valuing and negotiating the right sponsorship deal and the chemistry and quality of the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored entity. This must be followed by exclusive product integration, co-branding and hyper-local activation that delivers experiences that money can’t buy.

That said, in this article, I’ll focus largely on sponsorship strategies and best practices for maximizing national exposure from regional sports sponsorships. So while we’re all enjoying the Big Game, which airs February 9, banking marketing leaders can have a rethink of what events, calendar slots, and markets might bring the most opportunities.

Here are some selected strategies and tactics for the broadest reach.

Not just quantity but quality is important

While negotiating the deal is merely a starting point, many times it can either expand or constrain the activation. Therefore, negotiating the right terms and assets that are aligned with your goals – not just the quantity but also the quality of assets – is critical. This will become evident from the examples later in this article.

Allocating sufficient investment for activation drives synergies

Many organizations do not allocate sufficient budget for activation because they assume that the media assets already negotiated in the sponsorship deal will be sufficient. Investment in strategic augmentation, extensions and integration of brand stories/ads can drive significant synergies and deliver a better ROI than sponsorship alone. As a rule of thumb, consider allocating 30% to 35% of the sponsorship fees for activation.

Bigger is not always better.

As Archie Griffin of Cincinnati Bengals once said, “It’s not the SIZE of the dog in the fight, but the size of the FIGHT in the dog.”  A professional league is not always a better option – fanbase and engagement are more critical.  Let’s consider the example of a major league team vs. a college conference. NFL/NHL teams (e.g., NFL’s Baltimore Ravens or NHL’s Nashville Predators can be very effective in driving strong engagement in the local market but they have lower reach nationally as 60% to 75% of their fanbase is local).

College conferences such as the SEC can drive 10X to 15X reach as it spans 15 states (with many of the largest MSAs in the country) with a near-national fan base while representing sponsorship investment like that of an NFL team.

Strategic and high-impact location of stadium signage can be very effective in driving national exposure.

Prominent (and strategic placement of) external and internal stadium signage such as the LED scoreboard, LED perimeter boards, centerfield signage, field goal net signage and specific concourse area signage provide maximum visibility not only to the fans attending the game but also to those watching th the game on video/screens.  These high-impact locations also get frequent camera shots and media coverage.

LED Boards can display dynamic content throughout the game, visible both to the live audience and viewers at home.

Brand/logo placement on jerseys (home game and away games uniforms) and apparel can expand reach.

High-impact media walls can be effective for PR opportunities whereby logo/branding is captured in every media/press interview with broad coverage.

Strategic broadcast integration can drive greater reach and frequency, at a much lower cost and provide a platform that can go well beyond brand awareness.

Strategic broadcast integration is more than ensuring that your brand is featured in TV and radio broadcasts through in-game mentions, graphics, and commercials. It is seamlessly integrating your brand message into the show. In other words, rather than just placing brand logos and message boards on pre-game and post-game shows, consider weaving your campaign messaging into the content.

For example, as part of an SEC sponsorship, we had standard brand mentions in several pre-game and post-game shows (e.g., SEC Nation, Marty & McGee, etc.).  However, we went a step further. We integrated our campaign “Regions Bank is there for you for your “IFs in l-IF-e” into the pre-game and post-game shows. We integrated the notion of “What IFs” in the commentary, whereby the show hosts and guests had long conversations about “WHAT IF player X did this or that” and the hosts bookended the show by saying “Regions is there for you for your IFs in life.”  This also connected directly with the bank’s mission “to make life better.”  It led to about 10 minutes of branded message exposure in each broadcast during the entire season – a huge exposure without any incremental media investment.

Digital and social media activation can drive broad reach and engagement.

Pre-game, during and post-game engagements via social and digital channels can create a special emotional connection by creating anticipation as well as allowing fans to relive the special moments, thus strengthening the emotional connection with the brand and creating new and reinforcing existing positive brand associations.

Integration with the team’s media assets can expand your reach and drive engagement.

Leverage the team’s media platforms, including their website, social media, fan engagement apps and email newsletters to reach a broader audience.

Strategic advertising and brand engagement within apps for fantasy football games can expand the reach to an entirely new audience.

Carefully selected influencers and celebrities can be very effective in driving brand preference through positive associations.

There are many pros and cons to using this approach; factor the implications carefully. As NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning once said, “It takes 20 YEARS to build a reputation and 5 MINUTES to ruin it.”  While we can benefit from celebrity status and strong affinity to these individuals, we must also contend with any fallout from these celebrities’ lifestyles, personas and choices they make on issues that might conflict with our brand.

Finally, measure and track the performance of your activation efforts.

Pre-activation, post-activation and ongoing tracking of brand awareness, familiarity, consideration, positive and negative associations, etc., are critical.

This will help ensure that your activation strategies and tactics are positively impacting brand metrics and help you use these learnings to revise and refine your strategies and tactics.

Abbas Merchant is a senior financial services leader and former CMO at Regions Bank.