Content creation, in the form of photos, videos, or other material culled from live events and meant for sharing on YouTube, social media, or elsewhere, has been increasingly important to sponsors. All parties involved are now asking far more evolved questions about not just how to create it, but how to create truly great material that people will actually want to watch.
“There’s so much out there, so the [goal] becomes how to curate what is good versus bad. What are sponsors going to be able to actually use and gain traction on?” says Alan Miller, co-publisher of Filter and co-owner of Filter Creative Group. “A car company or a fashion advertiser might want to sponsor [our event], so they’ll expect a sizzle reel will go up on our site and millions of people will want to watch, but that doesn’t automatically happen. It needs to be compelling.”
Talk about a compelling idea that got wide traction: Procter & Gamble took to the London Olympics for a mom-focused campaign with an activation in the form of a 65,000-square-foot “home away from home” for the mothers of competing athletes (pictured). Its related global “Thank You, Mom” campaign celebrated mothers of athletes through ads run online, in print, on TV, and through social media. And a short film called Best Job was released on YouTube 100 days before the official start of the games, as was a “Thank You, Mom” app, which let consumers thank their moms by uploading videos, photos, or text-based messages to a dedicated Facebook page.
Sponsors know that content is more valuable the more people it reaches in the digital space. So the goal is to work with the best strategic partners to distribute it as broadly as possible—far beyond one brand’s own established audience. Sponsors want to reach the audiences of multiple, carefully considered partners as well.
For example, Filter produced a national bus tour for client Spotify (pictured), with content created at every stop. Near San Diego, the indie band Tegan and Sara played an intimate set for about 30 fans on the bus. The value of that set was amplified exponentially: In addition to using Spotify’s channel, partner Yahoo exclusively debuted the content. “We need partners to elevate our content,” Miller says. “If you pick a smart partner, you’re able to leverage distribution channels and get the content seen. Do your due diligence, taking those negotiations to the next step.”
It might sound basic, but wireless Internet access is still not universally available, and sponsors want it badly. On-site social media needs to be able to flow and allow for instant response—“especially when it comes to surveys, contest fulfillment, and live-streaming from events,” says Angel City Designs’ Mark Yumkas, based on his team’s experience with recent events like the Battle 4 Atlantis college basketball tournament over Thanksgiving in the Bahamas. “Accessible, free, secure, high-bandwidth Wi-Fi is the backbone for all other applications,” Yumkas says. “You can design and activate all the compelling online social media activations you could possibly imagine, but if your guests or patrons cannot access the information in a timely fashion—or the sponsor cannot deliver all of the information that is created—then the content can be devalued from a performance and impression standpoint.”
It’s not new that sponsors want to align with nonprofits, but the importance of pairing up with great causes is more important than ever for brands, especially in light of recent, widely witnessed tragedies like the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy. Brands are seeking out nonprofits that fit with their visions for corporate responsibility and developing partnerships that go well beyond the hours of the live event.
Jennifer Howell, founder of arts nonprofit Art of Elysium, says sponsors have been reaching out to her group “all the time” versus the more traditional other-way-around route of event hosts courting sponsors. She indicates that she’s seeing charities trying to accomplish their marketing and philanthropic goals in one fell swoop by blurring the line between those previously separate budgets.
She described a recent partnership in which beauty product delivery company Birchbox sponsored a couple of the charity’s events, setting up a bar (pictured) where people could come and fill their own boxes with products of their choice. Some of the charity’s supporters built their boxes, took photos, and gave quotes that were used for an online promotion that focused on the charity’s work as well as the holiday product collection.
Birchbox then put the organization’s logo and mission on its boxes, which were distributed to all of its shoppers in November, as part of a holiday giving campaign. “This helps us greatly to reach a new audience with our mission,” Howell says, while also acknowledging the benefit to Birchbox’s bottom line at a time when its consumers are eager for feel-good stories.
When sponsors shell out dollars, they want to know they’re buying unique access to distribute event content. Guerrilla or other piggyback event marketing—not to mention anyone on site with a smartphone—can diminish that value. Sponsors these days want to limit that.
“We are seeing, especially at larger, higher-profile events such as the Super Bowl, Oscars, etc., there is an ever-increasing number of ambush marketers that surround these events. They are not paying any sponsorship fees yet are producing both online and live activations,” Yumkas says. “We have seen everything from our own vendors and their on-site staff texting, tweeting, and posting live from events. I have witnessed using our intellectual property and our client’s intellectual property for their own gain, without permission or approval. Now, we make all vendors and their staff sign an extensive [nondisclosure agreement] that prevents them from doing this. We monitor it constantly and the default, especially with our vendors, as part of the NDA, is forfeiture of fees or partial fees of goods and services provided if we find a violation.”
Yes, many sponsors want to align with a select, invite-only crowd of “influencers.” But in the current climate, sponsors—including some elite brands—are also looking for mass-market exposure.
For instance, luxury automaker Audi is the title sponsor of the American Film Institute’s A.F.I. Fest (pictured), which now gives free tickets to consumers. “Access to our audience gives Audi the ability to reach a wide variety of potential customers in a relatively short amount of time,” says festival producer Derek Call. “The festival attracts an audience comprised of both industry professionals and movie lovers from all over the globe, and we generate billions of impressions for them other than just the eyeballs of those guests in attendance. Our guests see what Audi has done for them by giving them a free ticket and by supporting the art of filmmaking. It shows how Audi as a brand is accessible to all different types of potential car buyers, and at the end of the day, Audi needs to sell as many cars as possible."
It’s still key for vendors to get attendees interacting with products, not just looking at logos. Sponsors want guests to experience their brand as they would as consumers outside of events in immersive, authentic-feeling sponsorship integrations.
In September, Mercedes-Benz partnered with Carine Roitfeld on the launch of her new magazine, CR Fashion Book, sponsoring the black-tie gala at the Frick Collection in New York. The event offered guests a sneak peek of the magazine from inside the comforts of the brand new G63 AMG, parked outside the museum (pictured). The next day, media could preview advance copies of the magazine in the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge at Lincoln Center. “Experiential marketing has been a consistent and significant part of our arsenal,” says Mercedes-Benz USA department manager of brand public relations Adam Paige. “It’s an element that is a cornerstone of our activations. Experiential on a physical car level, yes, but also a brand experience—it’s a Mercedes-Benz experience.”
Similarly, last summer Lucky Brand hosted an event at a Malibu beach house with an intimate concert by Regina Spektor, but nary a logo was in sight—part of an effort to avoid heavy-handed marketing to an upmarket audience. In the gift bags, guests received a certificate for a private fitting of a custom denim wardrobe at the brand’s new downtown Los Angeles headquarters. That personalized appointment exposed them to the product and the brand’s culture in a meaningful way.
Catchbox is a wireless microphone to pass—or even throw—among speakers or audience members. The device consists of a microphone capsule secured with a magnet inside a soft, seven-inch cube that comes in blue, orange, green, or magenta. Catchbox communicates with an included receiver that can be connected to any sound system. To avoid unwanted noises, internal sensors turn the audio off when the cube is in motion. The company says the product is intended for smaller groups of as many as 100, and it provides the best-quality audio when no obstacles block the line of sight between the Catchbox and the receiver, which should be within 100 feet. As many as four of the units can be used at one time in a room. Catchbox is accepting preorders, with shipping scheduled for June.
On Tuesday night, the W Chicago City Center hosted a Valentine's Day bash in its new EWow Suite. In keeping with the theme, the hotel's in-house mixologist, Lauren Parton, created personalized love potions at the bar. After asking guests a series of questions about cocktail preferences, Parton prepared a specialized drink. She also wrote down the recipe and bottled up a portion of the cocktail mixer as a gift.
Svedka vodka took over DBA in Los Angeles for an early celebration on February 4. At the promotion, which was more cheeky than schmaltzy, starlets such as Vanessa Hudgens and Nikki Reed created their own voodoo dolls at a craft station.
Craft beer is emerging as a fresh choice for beverage pairings at events. In New York, Naturally Delicious catering has a cheese that consists of roasted hazelnut honey, spiced walnuts, and cheeses served with SixPoint Brewery Global Warmer.
In Chicago, Boutique Bites Catering serves mini braised beef short rib "Shepherd's Pie" appetizers with tiny mugs of Guinness. "These are very popular at events, especially among men," said owner Elaina Vazquez.
Beer can pair with dessert, too. The Michigan restaurant Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina pairs house-made gelato with local beers such as Founder's Porter.
On January 29, Dermalogica Canada hosted a breakfast for beauty bloggers and editors at Epitome Pictures. The event launched the new skincare line Clear Start, which is designed for teenage and young-adult skin, and it had a corresponding school-days theme. Guests sat at long tables facing the stage for a presentation. Press materials were contained in bright blue folders that resembled school supplies.
The prom theme was also underscored with brightly colored corsages, which guests pinned on to get into the spirit of the event. Jackie-O provided the flowers.
RetailNext was looking for a way to stand out on the crowded floor at Retail’s Big Show, hosted by the National Retail Federation in mid-January at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The company decided to try a new tactic to entice attendees to stop at its booth: a life-size, lifelike virtual presenter from Prsonas.
PepsiCo's PepCity pop-up at Bryant Park during Super Bowl weekend offered an unusual take on the New York skyline with a mural made from Cheetos.
For Fox's Super Bowl blowout, which took place under a tent in Central Park, producers Angel City Designs created abstract New York apartment buildings to house entertainers. Neon lights in the shape of lightbulbs helped illuminate the two towers, which held dancers as well as an airbrush artist who painted a model wearing a ball gown.
