Why Reach Keeps Me Up…
Here’s one… I’ve wanted to write about ‘reach’ for a while. It’s the single biggest concern I have with our industry, and one I think we all need to be well aware of.
With NSW in the midst of a lockdown due to last god-knows-how-long, and other states experiencing their own ‘squeaky bum time’ now feels like the right time to talk about reach. So why does it concern me as much as it does? The answer lies in a number of places, and I’ll do my best to outline them.
Selling sponsorship based on the audience it reaches, while important, allows the marketing industry to view sponsorship as a media channel and therefore compare it to other media channels. While many of our top properties come with huge audiences, none of them can reach as many consumers as other channels can for a fraction of the cost. Ergo - we’re wrongly educating the industry that the strength of sponsorship is its ability to reach an audience vs. its ability to persuade an audience.
When sport grinds to a halt, sponsors run for the hills. We saw this at the outset of Covid, and we’re at risk of seeing it again now. Marketeers want make-goods, refunds or terminations because they’re no longer reaching fans in the numbers they were sold. Fans are fans regardless of whether an event is cancelled or not. Clearly this is a case by case thing, but I’d bet the majority of brands with grievances were just logo slapping in the first place.
Focussing on reach takes the focus away from actually using sponsorship. If you’re justifying sponsorship spend based on reach and therefore media value, it’s highly likely you’re not leveraging IP or integrating the sponsorship into your business or value chain (hint: this is where sponsorship will crush any other media channel for performance). Sponsorship isn’t a media channel, it’s a business strategy. Logos mean nothing without a proposition behind it.
Reach blurs the lines of logic. It’s like a crack pipe for the sponsorship industry. You just want more and more of it regardless of whether there is a better-placed property to help solve your problem, albeit with a smaller reach. Are we overlooking opportunities to partner with more niche properties in search of others with maximum reach? I reckon we are…
So if reach really does worry me, what do I propose we do about it? Well, it’s actually quite simple. Don’t start with it, don’t focus on it and don’t justify against it.
Instead, focus on finding the property with the best potential to solve your problem. Then, build the sponsorship proposition that aligns the property with your business and/or brand strategy. Finally, get creative and design a solution that can be integrated into your business.
Only once you’ve done this, can you then use what reach is available to hit your audience. If you need more reach than the property provides, top it up with paid spend. You will end up with a far more powerful approach that isn’t impacted if an event is postponed.
I’m super passionate about this topic and hope my concerns and suggestions have been clearly articulated. Selling/buying reach is a race to the bottom. We have a mountain to climb to get the collective marketing industry to see sponsorship for its myriad advantages and to use it to its best to solve problems. Reach is always going to be important, but it can also be our demise...
Now that’s team spirit, Telstra.
Here’s one… now we’re a few weeks on from the Telstra Small Business Week, what can we all take away from Telstra’s activity through their NRL and AFL sponsorships?
While the concept of ‘pass-through’ is nothing new (Mastercard have built their business by buying rights and sharing them across myriad issuer and merchant partners), this particular execution is a strong proof point of the brands objectives to support small businesses and an interesting execution to boot.
So what can we take away from this? Well, here’s some fodder for thought:
Sponsorship can drive the value chain - Sponsorships provide an unreal power to forge relationships and work towards common goals. For Telstra to bring so many SME’s into play here is evidence. Working your sponsorship through your value chain is rarely done, but oh so powerful when it is. Do it!
Slap-on-the-back logo usage - This is some brand slapping I applaud. Why? Because it means something and supports a strong narrative. Having the confidence to ‘turn off’ your brand in order to ‘turn on’ another's is a clever way of re-injecting interest back into your brand. Over time, fans can become impartial to brands with long tenure. While that doesn’t mean there’s a problem, it does mean that pulling off something like this actually drives a reinvigorated awareness and interest into your brand.
Insightfully rich - We always look for the unique fan insight into leverage activity, but an idea like this leans on a far broader insight around the Australian spirit of the ‘have a go’ attitude and the essence of ‘mateship’. It’s a clever way of giving the campaign licence to exist outside of the stadiums in which it appeared and into the zeitgeist around the country. You could be an NRL rejector and still be moved by what Telstra have done to help others.
Up in Lights was a big gesture, but has a HUGE impact on business owners - Few of us will know what it’s like to launch and grow your own business. I’m only just at the start of my journey, but can only imagine the sense of excitement and pride that comes from seeing your dream ‘up in lights’ and broadcast to the nation. I know how good it feels to see your own logo on a keep cup, let alone a footy field!
Don’t say, do - This is categoric proof of the power of sponsorship to do ‘real’ things that mean ‘real’ things. There is no other brand touch point that actually exists and touches people in the way sponsorship does. If you have a strong brand purpose, how are you using your partnerships to prove it?
Collaboration - There’s no doubt this would have been a ball-ache to pull off (pun intended). Managing conflicts, exclusivities, multiple stakeholders is a serious undertaking. The entire project team from both Andrew Abdo and Kylie Rogers to Jeremy Nicholas and his leadership team at Telstra right through to the broadcast partners, agency partners and commercial teams at the clubs should be proud of what they’ve pulled off. Don’t get me wrong, this wouldn't have been all rainbows and lollies but when all is said and done, great things are never the easiest to do, but the most rewarding to be a part of.
Here’s to hoping activity like this gets recognised far and wide as another strong example of raising the tide mark in the strategic and creative execution of sponsorship.
Bravo, Telstra.