A PHRASE TOO OFTEN HEARD

A lot of what we learn in the sports business world comes from what we pick up, whether it be via reading, listening or watching from industry sources. But I think some of the most important lessons, ideas, and thoughts come from our own personal experiences. It's just a matter of taking a step back, looking at the situation and analyzing how we can continue to improve.

And that introduction takes me to a recent conference call. To be courteous to all parties, I won't reveal names or affiliations, but parties of the call included:

- Existing Partner (major brand that has a two year partnership contract with the property for the 2010 and 2011 years)

- Agency of Partner - Property (team)

- Potential Endorser (member of current team/property; to potentially be used in 2011 activation plans)

Currently, I work for the potential endorser in the role of sports marketing & partnership.

After we all exchanged greetings, the agency of partner proceeded to initiate the call with a statement that really caught my attention:

"You know it really takes us (partner & agency) a year to fully understand the partnership and team and really learn how to activate & maximize the investment."

Now I imagine many of you have either heard this, thought this or somehow can directly relate to it. And if not, you are either doing an excellent job or not thinking, listening or analyzing. The truth of the matter is that this is an all too common phrase and assessment.

We're quick to point fingers, but the truth of the matter is that it's everyone's fault and ultimately becomes everyone's problem (for some later than sooner when parties go their separate ways) So that one statement got me thinking about what we, as a collective group, can do better when it comes to sports marketing and partnerships.

Maybe these seem a bit obvious or simple, but they are good reminders and are often not being done. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts, comments and additional insights.

- As I said before, a statement like above is a collective issue, so I think the mindset needs to be on collective ownership of the partnership. Once the contracts are signed, this is not the time where the "keys of the partnership" are handed over to the brand and the dealer/property walks away. All parties need to feel part of the collective ownership of seeing the partnership succeed from the beginning.

- What I still see (and too often) is the generic mass mailing pitch. That's the quickest way for someone to hit double delete. Do some research, customize the pitch and work on setting up a meeting. And customize doesn't mean putting a logo on the presentation or a jersey. Think as if you were the brand

- If you were the brand, why would you want to partner this property? How would you activate? How can you use the property's assets in the brand's marketing campaign? How does it fit in the brand's current marketing campaigns? What are the brand's goals, objectives, CSR programs, etc. and how does the property fit? It's amazing how much information is on a brand/corporation's website. Use that to your advantage. You may not be 100% correct in your assessment. That's ok. I found that corporations won't hold you to this, but it gets them thinking, and at the very least shows you are committed to not only selling the property, but helping the brand.

- Brands and agencies should have a good idea of what properties they want to align themselves or partner with. Don't wait to get a proposal, be proactive and approach the property. Take control of the direction you want to drive your brand.

- Maybe the most important: Listen. I've been in meetings where the property comes in and is just focused on the pitch. They're not listening to the brand. Meetings are meant for conversation and relationship building. Ask questions. What's important to the brand? What are the possibilities?

- Are you holding partner summits & meetings? A great and necessary event to bring together all the partners and key management to talk about and share property marketing campaigns, partner's marketing campaigns, property goals/objectives/plans, etc. I've seen some great work come out of these meetings where partners join w/ team marketing campaigns and partners work with other partners on joint campaigns. Without these meetings and communication events, it would be very hard to coordinate collective efforts. They're also great for developing B2B opportunities.

I heard a story once how NASCAR's official paper supplier secured numerous NASCAR partners as buyers during NASCAR's brand council meetings. And these were some BIG paper buying companies! Some further thoughts on these summits, meetings, councils:

- Don't just have one. Sharing year plans are great, but things are constantly changing, new ideas are being formulated. Partnership and marketing are not static activities. These summits should happen at least once per quarter and positioned with ample space before big events.

- I've seen properties do a great job holding partner summits, but they hold the first one a few weeks before the event or team's first games. Time becomes a barrier to collaborate on any campaigns quickly. Start early.

- Make the summits fun, interactive and engaging so partners are excited to come to these events. When possible, try to include the team or event. Give them a unique experience. With the cycling team, we always had one summit that involved a morning ride with the team/professional riders. What activities will have them go home bragging to their friends and colleagues? What gifts can you provide? A signed game ball? If partners can't attend, include them via other ways. No one should feel excluded with today's technology.

- Follow up these summits with monthly reports, giving an overview of all activities from marketing to operations to major media reports. It's also nice to include a report/recap on the event or team from a player or coach. What are you most proud of to share with your partners? What's coming up next? Provide a comprehensive report at the end of the event/season. What went right? How can we improve? Statistics? Valuation reports for event and partners? Media clippings?

- When possible, try to announce major news to partners before the media. It will make them feel special, part of the team and won't catch them off guard when being questioned. In your announcement, explain why it's important to keep confidential, how the property plans to announce, and any relevant talking points for partners. If there is enough time, maybe there are unique opportunities to include partners in the announcement.

- How well do players and coaches know the partners? And I don't just mean awareness of partners? Do they understand the role the partner plays with helping the team? Can they answer questions from the media on the partner and their brand? Do they know who the key figures of the partner are? With the amount of private/corporate funding in today's sports world, this is an important part of athletes' jobs; now more than ever before.

Athletes are focused on games and training so the importance of this must be communicated from above - coaches and upper management - with briefings and sessions on their role off-the-field and their interactions with partners.

- I want to go back to that phrase. It wasn't said with anger or blame. It wasn't said with surprise. It was said simply as a fact, as if it was the norm, as if it's expected, as if it's accepted in the industry, as if it's not the first time he's said it nor the last, as if it's perfectly ok. And I think that's the worst part of it all. Certainly, partnerships and marketing are learning processes and we'll always be tweaking, changing, analyzing, asking what went well, what could have gone better, but besides what I mentioned above, I think we also need to take a closer look at what a mentor of mine called harvesting. Strangely enough, he compared partnerships to farming. You can't just take seeds, throw 'em in the ground and expect them to grow the most bountiful crops. You need to spend time plowing, tilling, fertilizing the land before you even think about putting those precious seeds in the ground. But then once the seeds are in, you need a whole new level of caring - water, treatment to keep away weeds and animals, sun, etc.

It's the process of getting the ground ready that I see is often rushed when it comes to partnership. (By the way, it's weird for a native New Yorker to be talking about farming, but it's an analogy that makes sense)

- We're often so quick to want to get that signature on the page and get the funding secured that we're consumed with the sale, sale, sale. Brands and agencies often just finished their previous marketing campaigns and don't have the proper time to really think and fully understand the partnership. They see the big things they like - media numbers, marketable athletes, key locations, etc. But the thinking of how to activate and leverage the partnership often comes after the signature - "Let's sign now and figure it out later." Unfortunately I've seen many instances where the brand regrets not putting in some clauses in the contract that would have helped with their activation campaigns (i.e. athlete appearances).

- A suggestion to get away from this issue is to start the relationship process a lot earlier than we are doing now. Now I know many brands and agencies will say that "we're not thinking about that now, it's too far down the road, come back to us at this date." I understand that we're all consumed in getting the job done that's right in front of us. Our plates are full, but we need to figure out a way to start thinking more about the future. I understand that budgets aren't figured out and that current marketing plans aren't yet activated, that contracts can't be executed, but how about being invited to an event, getting monthly reports that properties send out to their existing partners, taking a meeting.

Wouldn't that help in understanding the property, opportunities, possible ways to activate? When and if you finally sit down with a property, wouldn't you have a better idea of what you are really negotiating for? Wouldn't you have more time to conceive your marketing campaigns upon the start of the partnership (and I don't mean just slapping or changing logos). We seem to be all too busy in getting those seeds, throwing them in the ground and wanting something to grow.

We all need to spend more time cultivating those relationships so when the seeds are put in the ground, they have the right nutrients and environment to foster growth.

- Of course, this may require for existing partnership renewal periods to be pushed forward. Let's be honest, a brand that has been partnering with a property or event for a number of years, should have a good idea before the final year of the contract if they want to continue. Maybe they don't have a firm answer or don't want to make a decision until the deadline, but a lot of brands and properties have a good idea on the success of the partnership and how things may be looking for the future.

If a good relationship has been cultivated throughout the partnership, I think both parties will know where they stand before that final year of the contract. That one small phrase sparked a stream of thoughts and ideas. For many of you, this is not ground breaking stuff, it's not rocket science, nor comprehensive, but it's some simple things that we often forget. We get consumed in the marketing specifics and how we are going to tie the latest social media strategies to our campaigns and how many Twitter followers we can get. But sometimes it's good to just step back and remember how important cultivating and nurturing relationships are to being a successful marketer and building successful partnerships, no matter what party you represent.

Post your comments below, or get in touch with Jared at jaredmelzer@mac.com. You can also follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/jaredmelzer.

Comments