Fan loyalty is at the forefront of every team’s objectives. Loyalty is defined as “having or showing complete and constant support of someone or something.” Teams build loyalty in many ways: social media, events, player appearances and, of course, winning. Season ticket holders are a prime example of fan loyalty. They are the super fans.
Building loyalty with corporate partners presents a bigger challenge. They aren’t the super fans. In fact, they may not live in your city, or state, and could be fans of another team. So the question is: How do you create fan loyalty with corporate partners?
Listen
Listening is important in all aspects of life: school, work, relationships (trust me on this one). When it comes to corporate development, both sales and activation, listening builds the foundation for loyalty. What are your partners telling you? What is important to them? What are they hoping to get out of the partnership? How do they measure ROI? Who is their target audience? At the same time it is equally important for you to ask the right questions to assist in uncovering these answers.
“Partnerships that stand out are with teams that take the time to understand our needs and the needs of our brands. We work together to create programs in and out of the game day experience and we make sure that our programs make sense for both parties. We are simply not filling a round hole with a square peg.” – Doug Mraw, Anheuser-Busch
Understand their business
In corporate development you are not only working for your team, you are working for your client. Your client’s goals are your goals. Understanding the client’s industry will help you to accomplish this.
Do research on the company and stay up-to-date on industry news. I have found that social media is one of the best ways to stay informed. Follow your client and others in the industry on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn about the client as well as be in the forefront of industry news. Is there a platform they are focusing on? For example, how can you build off of State Farm’s “assist” platform? Is there a new product they are pushing in the market? Anheuser-Busch’s big push of their new brand, Montejo is another great example. Understanding their business will help you bring new ideas to the table and make a huge impact on your client.
Creativity
Now for the fun part! Use the information you gathered to come up with creative and unique activations. Be creative and stand out from what other teams are doing to separate you from their other partners. Always be sure to keep their goals and objectives in mind.
“We created a monthly newsletter for one of my biggest clients. We wanted to keep both the client and us as an organization engaged together throughout the season. Recapping their involvement with SSE each month reinforces our commitment to each other’s goals. The newsletter also makes it easy for their company as a whole to be looped in on what they’re doing with us throughout the season.” – Ashley DelValle, Partnership Activation, San Antonio Spurs
Relate
It is easier to sell and retain clients with whom you have a close relationship. Meet with your clients face to face on a consistent basis. Find out what is important to them personally. Do they have kids? Pets? When are their birthdays? Surprise them by remembering this information. If a birthday is coming up, send gift. Stop by the office with breakfast, cupcakes, or team gear on game days. It will make them feel important and make a big impact! If they aren’t local, call them on their birthdays or mail them gifts. Get creative! Go above and beyond!
ROI
At the end of the day, what your client is looking for is a return on investment. How this is measured will vary on the client. It could be growth in sales, brand awareness, capturing leads, driving traffic to their website, and much more. Customer surveys are a great way to capture this information. Do fans recognize the partner as a sponsor of the team? Are your team’s fans more likely than non-fans to be aware of, consider, buy from, or visit the website of the partner?How does that make the fan feel towards the partner? Are they more likely to recommend to a family member or friend? If you can give your client the return on investment, you’re going to have a good shot at increasing loyalty and building a successful partnership.
The ongoing conversation is how to integrate the second screen into the sports industry. More and more, fans spurn attending games to watch events from the comfort of their own homes. As teams and leagues seek to increase revenue, the time has come to fully integrate the second screen into the stadium.
In order to fully integrate the second screen into the stadium experience, stadiums must present fans with seamless Internet connectivity. The data usage at some of the sporting world’s biggest events demonstrates the reliance fans have on the second screen, even while they’re inside of a stadium attending an event.
The Super Bowl of data usage
At the 2014 Super Bowl, fans used 3.2 terabytes of data. This amounted to fans uploading over five photos per second onto Instagram throughout the game. More recently, at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, fans used 6.34 terabytes of data–nearly double the amount of data that Super Bowl attendees used! This amount of data corresponds to 18.1 million social media posts with photos being sent during the game held at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
In order to attract fans to events, teams and venues must have reliable Wi-Fi connectivity. In fact, in a recent survey of 3,000 college students and young professionals, Cisco found that one in every three believes that the Internet is as important as air, water, food and shelter!
What teams and corporate partners must ask themselves is: If one of the most important parts of the game experience is what fans are holding in their hands, how can we build our brand and improve our bottom lines by providing reliable Internet connectivity?
Finding partners
One way teams and venues can maximize revenue by providing reliable Internet connectivity is to partner with corporate sponsors to provide or upgrade connectivity. This year, the Dallas Cowboys did just that when the team partnered with AT&T to fully upgrade AT&T Stadium’s connectivity to maximum potential. Doing so ensured that fans attending the College Football Playoff National Championship Game wouldn’t hit any snags when posting on social media during the game. Fans attending games at AT&T Stadium can access mobile devices with exactly the same reliability they get at home.
Other teams have likewise made seamless connectivity a priority in their venues. One team that has also successfully done so through a corporate partnership is the Seattle Seahawks. In October 2014, the Seahawks announced that along with Verizon, they would make significant enhancements to CenturyLink Field’s Wi-Fi network by having Extreme Networks install high-density Wi-Fi and Purview analytics systems.
Given that every team needs to maximize connectivity capacity to ensure fans connected to the second screen continue to attend games, it’s critical that teams look for sponsorship partners to help provide connectivity upgrades. Sponsors can serve not only the important role of helping pay for the upgrade costs, but can also help publicize the improvements through their networks.
Corporations should be attracted to the possibility of partnering with a team for a connectivity upgrade, because of the goodwill created among fans–if the partnership is strategically articulated in a campaign that links the WiFi provision for the team’s fans with the providing sponsor. Every digitally savvy fan will celebrate a corporate partner who ensures seamless communication on their social media channels while attending a game.
In the digital age, robust connectivity should be one of the top priorities for every team. As teams look to cut costs and create revenue streams, it becomes apparent that partnering with sponsors for the upgrades provides the best solution for making robust connectivity a reality.
Back in the early 1990’s, I started out with my Baseball Almanac contacting major and minor league teams to conduct research. Being at Ole Miss during that time, just an hour south of Memphis, I made quick friends with every pro franchise that came through town–among them the Memphis Chicks, Memphis MadDogs (CFL), Memphis Fire (USBL), and Memphis Redbirds, where I managed their fan research for three summers before leaving for Baylor in 2002.
During the ’90s, I recall a visit with a vice-president of marketing at a MLB team in the northeast about collaborating on fan research. He thought it was all very interesting, but said they weren’t interested because, “We already did one fan survey this year.”
Times have changed and MLBAM has taken the league and its teams to the front of the class in understanding its fans. However, one paradox I learned still holds today:
Everyone who’s read “Good to Great” knows that the best leaders have an intense drive coupled with humility. This combination is what makes any leader get better because first they want to and second they know they don’t have a corner on knowledge. Derek Blake, Vice President, Partnership Marketing, La Quinta Inns & Suites, demonstrates this kind of leadership. Derek shares how this plays out in working with educators,
Business today is always evolving and we want to be on the cutting edge. Working with academics who are experts in a very specific field of study – like corporate partnerships – just makes sense. By giving back to our educational institutions, we help build the foundation of who students become in the future and that’s where we all benefit.
Some of the greatest franchises in the world are literally right up or down the road from us here in Waco and they always want to learn more. Some might think the San Antonio Spurs have accomplished all they need to after five NBA titles and operating above 99% attendance capacity. But from the top to the bottom of that organization, they always want to get better and are always open to new ideas, new methods, and new approaches to satisfy and grow the fan base.
The Dallas Cowboys are the NFL’s most valuable franchise, but their executives never hesitate to explore new ideas and to partner with us on research and classroom projects. Eric Sudol, Sr. Director, Corporate Partnerships Sales & Service at Dallas Cowboys, adds, “Teams are always busy and we can save time and money by partnering with academics when our interests overlap with their research needs.”
Much the same can be said of Baylor’s other partners around the state, both corporate and sports organizations. Further, aggressive teams like the Padres, Browns, Chiefs, and Dolphins work with us to take an innovative partnership approach with corporate sponsors to provide valid measures of sponsorship returns.
ESPN and the Sports Analytics Conference partner with MIT. Wharton’s Consumer Analytics Initiative (WCAI) works with a variety of corporate partners (see right) and also works with sports teams. Yet, some corporate and sports organizations are hesitant to engage with academics.
Hey, I get it, we’re a little weird. Some of us are a lot weird. There’s a reason the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is called a “nerdfest” and hosts a panel entitled, “Revenge of the Nerds.” But, for the fearful, here are three reasons you should work with academics:
Focus. At research institutions like MIT, Wharton, and Baylor, faculty are experts in very specific fields. Aside from service responsibilities, typical workload is 50% research & 50% teaching. We spend 2-4 days a week, about 50 weeks a year, often for many years focused on finding out what’s new in one or two areas–which leads to the next point.
Innovation. Academics are rewarded for publishing research. Research gets published (ideally) only when we learn something new. In contrast, syndicated research firms are rewarded for standardizing and commercializing past practices.
Confidentiality. If you read the Sports Business Journal and popular press, you might think academics will want to publish the name of the team, the executives, and specific financial or customer data. In sharp contrast, academics do the opposite for two big reasons:
Research is published when it’s generalizable to other situations. Sports is just the laboratory to study interesting phenomenon. We often don’t state the specific team or location because then someone would say it might not apply elsewhere.
Research is based on the relationship between variables or fields in a data set–not the levels. In other words, we care about the relationship between X and Y, not the levels of X and Y. So, if you had data on fan demos and expenditures, we don’t care about the amounts–we care about how much variable X (e.g., tickets used) influences variable Y (e.g., renewals). What we report is the strength of relationships.
Expense. What academics need most is data. If you can provide access to data, most academics will trade time for cool data. Obviously, our institutions and programs need support so we can conduct research and teach the future business leaders of the world. Partners understand that (e.g., WCAI, above), of course. But, essentially, all we need is access.
You probably rely on a variety of benefits when pitching a sponsorship opportunity to a prospect, including things like signage options, hospitality opportunities, media exposure, and activation potential. However, have you considered the value of how well your brand “fits” with the prospective partner?
What does research tell us?
Research we’ve done shows that a good match between the sponsoring brand and property leads to a number of positive outcomes. More specifically, a strong sponsor-property fit results in:
Positive attitudes and emotions toward the sponsor and the sponsorship
Higher recall of the sponsoring brand
Higher levels of attention to the sponsor
A greater willingness to consider the sponsor’s products.
These successes lead to higher sponsorship renewal rates, and it’s a great selling point for a brand to choose your property over others.
When is the fit obvious?
The term “elephant test” is sometimes used to describe situations in which an idea or object is hard to describe, but instantly recognizable when viewed. Fit between sponsor and property can often be considered an idea where the elephant test is in play. Audiences will often have a feel for whether a sponsor and property fit together, even if they have difficulty defining why.
The “why,” however, is typically based on at least one seven common types of fit:
Use — when sports participants or audience members are likely to use the sponsoring brand
Size similarity– when the brand and property are equally prominent
Audience similarity– when the brand and the event share the same target audience
Geographic similarity — when the brand and property have the same scope of influence
Attitude similarity– when there is equal liking of the brand and property
Image similarity — when both brand and property have equivalent meaning or image in consumers’ minds
Time duration — when the brand and property go together because of historic ties
Which type is best?
Should brands and properties seek partnerships with particular type of fit? Are multiple fits better than a single fit?
This seemingly simple question has a complex answer, because the best fit depends on many factors. The interplay between the fit type and the product category may influence which type is the best. Product categories differ in purchase frequency (soft drinks vs. automobiles), purchase involvement (candy vs. vacations) and consumer interest (casinos vs. insurance). So, for example with casinos, geography and size (prominence) might be more important than anything else.
How “the best” is defined will influence the answer of which fit is best. In some instances “best” might be measured by the pairing that results in the highest level of recall. But, of course, there are many other measures of “best” depending upon the goals of the sponsoring brand. These could include changes in brand attitude, purchase intentions, word-of-mouth propensity, and image change. Thus, what is deemed to be the best is dependent upon what goals the firm is seeking to achieve through sponsorship.
What if the fit isn’t obvious?
Is all lost if no obvious fit exists? Sponsorship research indicates “articulation” holds value if the partners communicate why the firm sponsors a particular event, especially if a fit argument can be made (e.g., Brand X is proud to sponsor team Y because of….). This explanation tends to have a more favorable effect when the communication about the sponsorship originates from the property rather than from the sponsoring firm.
Other creative approaches can manufacture fit. Southwest Airlines sponsors the NBA halftime break, which somewhat fits with its “Wanna Get Away” campaign. Better fits were the Nestle’s sponsorship of the NBA Crunch Time Stat of the Game and the Dutch Boy Paint’s “In the Paint” TV segments. The San Diego Padres made a TaylorMade club fit as a right field foul pole. The Chicago White Sox start games at 7:11 because, you guessed it, an anchor sponsor is 7-11.*
In the end, it’s up to you to assess sponsors for the appropriate fit or to get creative to make the sponsor fit. Because if it doesn’t “fit” in the buyers’ minds, you won’t be looking at a good fit at the end of the contract.
*The foul pole and the 7:11 ideas are originals from Dan Migala. Contact Dan at the Property Consulting Group.
After spending more than 8 years in the “Minor Leagues” (4 with Daktronics Sports Marketing and 4 with the Texas Legends), I have learned you can never have a shortage of creative inventory and thinking. This is especially true in a competitive market space where you are up against all the big boys of the NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL. You must be able to differentiate your property and the value of your brand with new, creative ways to drive value to a brand or sponsor.
Where do you find new premium inventory?
When team owners annually increase revenue goals and you are already sold out of your premium inventory, what do you do? Where do you find new premium inventory that drives enough value to justify a major spend and attract the big sponsors?
Justin Cooper, Director of Group Sales for the Texas Legends suggests, “With major league teams the sponsorship opportunities provided are more black and white, while within the D-League (and other minor league markets), being creative is half the battle. Without creative and outside the box thinking, it’s hard to affect the transactions that big league teams are asking for.”
In my time at the Texas Legends, we have been nothing short or creative with our outside the box thinking. Most times, there is no box.
Creating visibility out of thin air
Case in point, last summer when we were brainstorming with one of our existing sponsors, KIA Motors America and Central KIA dealerships, we were challenged with coming up with a way to get them “Bigger and Better” inventory and provide a more commanding brand visible platform.
So, what’s the problem you ask? An existing sponsor is telling you that they want to spend more money with you and asking how they can spend it.
The problem was that we were sold out of premium court inventory: We had already sold the four court quadrants the NBA allows D-League Teams to sell. We had an already committed jersey sponsor. Our center court logo was the brand of a state in Mexico (Veracruz, MX), not the Texas Legends logo. So, I guess that was thinking outside the circle. But, surely we weren’t maxed out on premium inventory, right? How could we possibly find additional inventory to meet the sponsor’s need of “Bigger and Better” inventory and stand out along with our other top-tier sponsors?
Let’s hang a car!
The conversation was flowing at a nice Brazilian steakhouse with representatives from the Legends, Central KIA and regional KIA Motors. We were throwing out ideas, taking turns putting on the thinking cap and then as we scratched our heads, we looked at each other when….POOF…there it was. Just like out of thin air came the idea, “Let’s hang a car.”
Our KIA representatives looked at each other inquisitively as if they had misheard what was proposed. “Hang a car? As in a KIA?” It certainly would capture the attention of fans. What else could we do to build value?
We could create a season long activation and give the car away during the final home games.
We could capture leads for the sales team and enhance other marketing initiatives through media, digital and print.
The ideas started pouring in…from where? Out of thin air.
Fast forward…in a Kia
Eight months later, there was a beautiful KIA Soul hanging above center court inside Dr Pepper Arena. We received a challenge from a sponsor with specific goals (Bigger and Better). We created inventory that didn’t exist. We created one of the best activation ideas to be the first to suspend a car above the playing surface of a professional sports team.
“The advantage of selling a smaller sports property is the ability to help marketers target a specific group of people and engage them in an intimate and memorable way” adds Jon Bishop, Senior Director, Team Marketing and Business Operations for the NBA.
One thing I enjoy best about working in the minor leagues is that you are not limited on creatively thinking of new sponsorship inventory. The Legends have mastered this art after changing the way that many league executives think and what even a sponsor would imagine possible.
When it comes to your team or property’s inventory, are you maximizing all the potential areas of valuable inventory? Are you looking for those ideas that just may appear…out of thin air?
Manchester United, along with Real Madrid and Barcelona, have the most fans outside their own country. They can count on fans in emerging markets, especially Asia and Africa.
The Red Devils may be suffering on the pitch currently, with the tenure of David Moyes, Sir Alex Ferguson’s anointed heir, currently a stuttering work of bathos, but their relentless commercialization shows no signs of abating. Indeed, it has become something of a running joke that United cannot seem to win much at the moment except for a slew of endorsements and commercial partnerships ranging from Japanese snacks to diesel engines.
Google+ Campaign
Manchester United has an active, if fairly staid, social presence, but they have recently become one of two clubs (Real Madrid being the other) to begin exploiting the burgeoning potential of Google+. With some 1.15 billion registered users, Google+ is a more dynamic, interactive social platform than the less agile social media such as Twitter and Facebook. United has hosted chats with the team on Hangout, and, most recently, launched Front Row, a campaign to encourage that global fan-base mentioned above to participate in the match day experience.
Using a hashtag-based competition, similar to Juventus’ #LoveJu fan choreography campaign, Manchester United invited fans to submit a picture via Twitter or Facebook using the #MUFrontRow hashtag to show their passion for the Red Devils. Winners were then selected from this group to participate in a Google+ hangout, which displayed their faces on the pitch-side advertising hoardings at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, during the showpiece match against north-west rivals Liverpool.
Why the hold up?
Google+ has been around a while, so why has it taken so long for football clubs to recognise and develop its potential?
Clubs’ use of social seems to fall largely into two camps:
the sometimes successful tongue-in-cheek conversation with fans via Twitter, and
the rather generic release of team information, photos, and match reports via all platforms.
Google+ requires thought in order not to be simply yet another platform on which to post the same pictures and comments. But, with thought, Google+ can be perhaps the most useful of all platforms for clubs.
Google+ fan interaction = community
Fans love nothing more than to debate and discuss, to put questions directly to their heroes, and to feel part of a community. This is especially so when it comes to fans of a team in a foreign country.
If you are a die-hard United fan from Thailand or Ghana, you might never get the chance to go to Old Trafford. Google+ hangouts allow a level of engagement and participation that is immediate, actual, and generates the kind of fan engagement that builds a genuine sense of community.
Circles = Global reach for sponsors
The use of ‘circles’ on Google+ also allows the content managers for United’s social team to tailor material specifically to fans in different countries. This, in turn, has an obvious benefit for a club with specific sponsorship partners in different locations. Those commercial tie-ins can be used only in the circles where the have an impact for the sponsoring partner.
The use of Circles is not the only benefit for sponsors. DHL already hosts the Hangouts with players. AON, the title sponsor of United, sees their logo emblazoned across shirts in every Hangout.
Customized messaging
The tailoring of commercial messages across specific circles can also benefit sponsors. The main plus point, though, is surely that Google+ allows fans across the world to feel connected in a way that other platforms cannot. It creates a direct, bespoke level of conversation, at times a genuinely two-way conversation, with a variety of content that realises and solidifies a fan’s passion for her team.
Football clubs benefit sponsors mostly by positive association rather than direct messaging. The global reach of Google+, married to its ability to create more of a genuine feeling of community than any other social platform, means it could be the most significant vehicle for generating earned media for clubs yet, with all the commercial benefits that entails.
Manchester United might be struggling on the pitch, but in the social space, they’re setting the pace.
Signing a long-term deal can be compared to getting married. In the beginning the relationship and courtship are very exciting. Executing the agreement constitutes the end of a courtship process. The first couple of years are the honeymoon phase. Then the focus switches to how to keep things fresh.
With all of our focus on measurement, impressions, ratings, and formulas, the success for our long-term partnerships are more a product of relationships with partners and consistent commitment to truly investing in our shared community in an authentic and meaningful way.[/dropshadowbox]
Keeping things fresh is a challenge all brands and properties eventually face. But, thankfully, there are five steps partners can take to ensure things run smoothly.
1. Communicate. Maintain regular intervals of communication to make sure changes in priorities, objectives, staff or branding are shared and understood by both parties.
2. Take time. Deep relationships at multiple levels inside both organizations takes time. Doing so allows both parties to build camaraderie and strength that will become important during the latter years leading to renewal or renegotiation.
3. Anticipate staff changes. The folks that negotiate and execute the long-term deals are not always going to be around to see them through. When staff changes *on either side), both parties must work to maintain consistent communication and share past history, programs, successes/failures, etc. Doing so will ensure seamless transition when these changes occur.
4. Review terms. Terms negotiated in long-term contracts need revisiting and maybe even refreshed at regular intervals. A good example is a 10-year contract that began in 2000. Who knew the internet and social media would evolve the way they did during that time? Odds are that properties took the opportunity to create additional revenue streams via these channels with other partners. However, they should consider offering alternative assets to a long-term partner to demonstrate how important they are to the organization. Parties that anticipate changes and are willing to make room for them throughout the term of the contract will find themselves in the best position for creating and maintaining long-term relationships that last.
The key element of long-term agreements is the ability to continually re-visit the partnership throughout the term.
The worst case scenario for both sides is simply being heard from at renewal time. In order to ensure continued success, a long-term partnership should be treated as an annual renewal. While the framework of the agreement stays in place, continual evolution of the elements is critical.[/dropshadowbox]
5. Renew your vows. Just because a partner signed a long-term deal does not mean properties should say, “Thanks, here are your assets. Have a nice life.” Over time a property may come to rely on this partner revenue as “expected.” See what happens in other relationships when you take someone for granted. If you want to sustain the relationship, work closely with partners to ensure the relationships remain deep, programs relevant and results are shared on a continual basis. Properties taking this approach rarely find themselves in divorce court, barring a massive shift in strategy, finances or other extraneous reasons.
What will you do today?
During the courtship process both parties have stars in their eyes and see infinite possibilities. What do you need to do today with your partners to create and maintain the enthusiasm you had back in the beginning?
Mutual respect takes time, effort, constant open lines of communication, openness to change and making room for change. If you follow this road map to partner relations, odds are you’ll celebrate a series of milestone anniversaries for years to come.
Today (9:00 CST) we revealed a new look for American Airlines. I’m asking my fellow board members on the S3 Report and our readers to join me in celebrating this significant step forward in our journey to become a more modern, world class global airline worthy of the name American.
And, in anticipation of your questions: No, I didn’t design the new look. I was tasked with helping plan the launch of an iconic American brand that hasn’t been refreshed in 45 years (what an honor!). It is a significant milestone for the company, and one of those career-defining moments for me, so I hope you will join me in watching the unveiling today:
We’ve been hard at work building an exceptional travel experience with our customers at the center:
adding hundreds of new planes – including the Boeing 777-300ER set to fly in a matter of weeks
cutting edge technology, and
more ways to keep our customers comfortable and connected throughout their travels.
Today’s announcement takes our transformation one step further.
I look forward to strengthening our valued partnership throughout this journey, and invite you to be among the first to see our new look. Many of you know I have recently been preoccupied with another project, and, well, this is it! I am very happy to be able to share this moment with you.
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, we understand the rollout of our new look will take time, but are excited to take this step forward with you today. For our business partners, we will reach out to you to help define a conversion plan including our new look in your communications and channels. Thank you for your continued partnership, and for putting your trust in American Airlines.
With all of our focus on measurement, impressions, ratings, and formulas, the success for our long-term partnerships are more a product of relationships with partners and consistent commitment to truly investing in our shared community in an authentic and meaningful way.[/dropshadowbox]
The key element of long-term agreements is the ability to continually re-visit the partnership throughout the term. 
