"Toilet paper?" he asked in astonishment. "Are you out of your mind?"
Roger was a travel agent sharing with me his sad tale at spending $500 on a golf sponsorship - and getting no response. His sponsorship of the event made sense. The outing was a senior event, held at a country club attended by lots of seniors with enough disposable income to afford travel. Problem was, Roger confused "sponsorship" with "promotion".
"Roger, sponsorship itself is not effective promotion," I said. "The sponsorship is merely your "Option Cost". Before you cough up $500 for a sponsorship, you have two options. One is the option to donate, which is what you did. Two, is the option to promote, which is where the toilet paper comes in."
"So what do I do with toilet paper," he asked.
I bit my tongue for a second, then continued.
"Before you agree to sponsor, explore the ability to integrate with the event. That means having a physical or interactive presence.
"A physical presence is an event booth or table. At a golf event, you can host a putting or chip-shot contest where prospects can win a prize. In your case, a prospect plays your game, you jot down their name and phone # and reward them with your promotional item."
"What do I give 'em", he asks.
"That's where the toilet paper comes in," I said. "I'll get to that in a minute."
"The other approach to integration is to have an interactive presence. This pertains mainly to door prizes and is designed to drive traffic from the event to a retail location. Use this tactic when you can't have a physical presence. But it's most effective when used in conjunction with a physical presence.
"You offer a door prize that is too valuable, large or fragile to have at the event. The winner receives a prize certificate directing them to pick up the prize at the retail location.
"For you, I recommend the physical presence. You offer an event-related game of skill or chance and reward them with the toilet paper up front and award the grand prize- a trip or whatever -during the awards banquet."
Roger was growing impatient so I shared my idea.
"Roger, you being a travel agent, imagine the talk you'll generate if you handed out rolls of toilet paper imprinted with your logo and the message, "Where Do You Want To Go?"
Understanding how to turn a sponsorship into a promotion can yield powerful results. And you can mold the concept to nearly any event.
First, ensure the event is a good fit for your business. Ensure attendees want or need what you have to offer and can afford it. If it's a good fit, then consider paying the "Option Cost" a.k.a. sponsorship fee.
But before you do, ask if you can have a physical presence at the event. If you can, the goal is to collect actionable data to facilitate effective follow up. Collect business cards as the "admission price" to play your game or ask people to "register" while they wait in line.
In lieu of a physical presence, ask about door prize options allowing you an interactive presence. If you can't have either option, then you're about to make a donation. If it's a worthy cause and you'll be satisfied generating goodwill for which R.O.I. can't be measured, then go ahead. If not, pass.
If you can have a booth or table, talk with the event coordinators. Find out what other companies are supplying so you can plan your prizes appropriately. And just because you're sponsoring, say… a golf event, doesn't mean your promotional item has to be golf related ie: toilet paper. Remember, these people do something else when they're not golfing.
Example: You sponsor a golf outing for real estate professionals. Offer a logo'd tape measure with built-in note pad and pencil to use when prospective home-buyers want to measure closets and what-not.
Again, using golf-outings as an example, the next best thing to having a table or booth is driving the beer cart. You wear a logoed shirt and have access to everyone on the course. Perhaps you can distribute the drinks in your logo'd drink holder. If it's hot, keep some logo'd bandannas in a cooler of ice water and hand them out.
Last on the list of event opportunities is the "goody bag". Most events allow you to donate "goody bag" items for free. This can be the most cost-effective promotional tool of all. Think in terms of how the item can generate phone calls, drive people to your website or your retail location.
Keys attached to a key tag inviting them to stop by and try their luck is an option. A restaurant can imprint their "To Go" menu on a banner pen. Other ideas that can afford a good imprint area include bandannas, playing cards and imprintable paper clips attached to a card with a special offer.
With a subtle shift in mindset, you can turn a passive sponsorship … into a powerful promotion.
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