Thoughts on Sports Sponsorships

Clint Bowyer being interviewed by ESPN before the race, originally uploaded by C.Fredrickson Photography.

Do you ever watch NASCAR? Probably not. I do and it’s really annoying how the drivers work in their sponsor’s name during every interview they get. Does this actually sell any beer, paint, tools, whiskey, candy, tampons or whatever else they have painted on the car?

I get the whole painting the logo on the car. That makes sense. But weaseling the sponsors name in to an interview? Makes no sense.

And if it does work, why don’t golfers work their sponsors name into the interviews? Probably because their sponsors realize it doesn’t mean jack shit to selling more golf clubs, shoes, cars or boner pills.

Create Your Own Online Sponsorship

I’ve been keeping my eye on how brands are using blogs to create their own, customized online sponsorship.  Although these are really just blogs that are built and maintained by a brand team/marketing department, I call it an online “sponsorship” because it’s not JUST about the product(s).  It’s really more of a blog that appeals to the target consumer, with product placement or brand mentions built in.

Here are a couple examples of brands that are creating their own online sponsorships:

The Cleanest Line

Patagonia might do this better than anyone.  Patagonia’s blog is called The Cleanest Line and it covers topics that are meaningful to the brand: outdoors activities and environmentalism.  Although they do discuss Patagonia products, the blog is more focused on topics that are of interest to the consumer, and because of that, it comes off as totally authentic.  It’s almost like talking to the sales clerk at the outdoor store: product is part of the conversation since he’s there to sell you some stuff, but he’s also willing to give you advice on where to hike or paddle that weekend.  The authenticity and interesting content will keep readers engaged in the blog – which results in Patagonia keeping their name and image top of mind with the right consumers.

Awearness

Kenneth Cole is implementing the same tactic, but in a slightly different way.  Their blog, Awearness is all about politics and social activism.  Unlike Patagonia, who sprinkles in product info, the only links to the brand I could find are Kenneth Cole’s Intro/Profile and a few play on words (Awearness and Clothes Mindedness) in the name and section headers of the blog.  There’s a ton of content on this blog and I love the message they’re communicating, but I’m having a hard time seeing the benefit to the brand if the only branding is via these elements.  I would rather see less content, and more about how the Kenneth Cole brand is adding value to the cause.

Marketers beware: This may look like a great way to build some online presence to a targeted audience, but maintaining blogs like this take up a lot of time and energy.  It’s easy to jump into a project like this without realizing the time commitment necessary to make it work.  If you’re going to do it, you need to be willing to sacrifice a lot of time…or have the momey to hire someone to do it for you.

The Blatant Misuse of Sponsorships

Over the weekend, I was catching up on some TV time (I was a bit “fatigued” from the late night the night before) and decided to watch the finals of the Sony Ericcson (Tennis) Open.

At the end of the match (won by Nikolay Davydenko over Rafael Nadal in a bit of an upset) they awarded the trophies to the finalists.  Just as the do in any other awards ceremony for a tennis or golf tournament, they let the head dude of the presenting sponsor speak for a minute and congratulate the participants.  Being that Sony was the sponsor, the head dude in this case was from Japan and gave a speech that absolutely no one could understand and added zero value to the ceremony or brand.

Why would Sony even bother with this?  I totally get that it’s nice to make the people who write the check feel important and the CEO needs his ego fed every once in a while.  But as the sponsor, you need to know what parts of the sponsorship package to take and which parts to respectfully decline. Same with banners.  Just because the event lets you plaster the venue with banners doesn’t mean you need to.

To me, it’s pretty simple: if the component of the sponsorship package doesn’t meet your objectives, don’t do it.  Save the CEO ego feeding for the golf course.