What are the Challenges that Face The Sponsorship Industry in 2017
Whilst sponsorship in the widest sense continues too flourish, even in the light of difficult economic conditions around the globe, the sponsorship industry has much to do to continue to deliver value and impact for it's customers.
Those challenges are many and varied and some are clearly more significant than others. Some challenges will undoubted carry more weight in some parts of the industry than in others. So what do we honestly see as the challenges facing us as a company this year in working with our clients and our part of the industry?
Challenge 1 -
Knowing your audience and creating campaigns that both appeal and engage with the chosen target market, whilst constantly striving to be new and different but staying true to brand values. Being genuine in that engagement and tailoring the content to your target market by knowing what they want, how they want it and when they want to receive it.
Challenge 2 -
Return on Investment has long been and still remains key in sponsor partnerships. Return on Objective however is coming more and more to the fore as businesses look to align their strategic objectives to what they’re supporting in sponsorship terms. Making sure that sponsorship deals deliver on this, through direct or indirect means, ensures companies can justify their partnerships and the deals they enter in to.
Challenge 3 -
Activation. Sponsorship has long moved on from being just a name on a shirt or a pitch-side board, companies want to see innovative ways of activating their sponsorships, which get them involved in the community, engaging with the customers or potential customers (and employees) and ensure the brand name is spread as wide as possible.
But whatever challenges we all face, the real key is to keep giving businesses what they want – and making sure they feel their sponsorship is creating value!
Building and nurturing honest, meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders in the sponsorship industry remains the key to long-term success in this business and cannot be replaced by any amount of data or technology.