Time to put a rocket up our collective proverbials...
Here’s one… How many articles, polls or posts have you seen since the closing ceremony about the sponsorship deals our athletes may now attract having ‘proven’ themselves at Tokyo2020?
I have nothing against these articles. In fact, they will gradually help us get to a better place by further shining a light on these remarkable individuals, but here’s my point.
The men, women and (in this example of the Olympics), kids who represented their nations around the world are all extraordinary examples of the human race. Dedication, commitment, tenacity, belief and the walking embodiment of what we’re all capable of to one degree or another. They were always a marketeers dream but they just didn’t have that exposure that made us feel they were worthy of our marketing dollars…
Why? No reach, no audience, no eyeballs = no value. C’mon people. Really? There isn’t a brand or organisation in Australia or the world for that matter that doesn’t have a reputation or perception problem that doesn’t need a solution (bear in mind a good NPS is 28!). Finding ways to tell their brand story with authenticity does not come from a 30” TVC formed of a wonderfully fabricated narrative and beautifully conveyed by actors, but from proof and evidence.
There was a kid in my school back in the UK called Anders. His mum was an astronaut. Anders had very few mates and was often found awkwardly standing at the edge of the playground at break. He wasn’t the cool kid and nobody knew at the time his mum was an astronaut. One break, while all eyes were on the cool kids with the Reeboks and slick haircuts, someone shouted out from across the playground “this kids mum is an astronaut”... Anders became a highlight of our year. His mum came in and did a talk. He was still a wallflower, but everyone knew Anders and how his mum might be in space one day.
Let me break this down:
Anders = unique story and perspective (think Athlete)
Kid who shouted = provided the reach (think media plan)
If you work in marketing, either client or agency side, it is your opportunity to find and shout about an ‘Anders’. Your opportunity to promote the incredible abilities and characters who exist in our society; athletes, dancers, artists et al. Stop looking for the bright lights and flick the switch yourself - it’s waaaay more valuable to help someone on their way up than cling to someone who is.
A point really well made in Andrew Hornery’s article in the SMH where he describes the slim pickings as far as formal budget allocation to athletes is concerned. Athletics Australia has a budget of $1.7m to support athletes. Compared that to the $123.3m Australian businesses ‘wasted’ on digital spend in the 2nd Qtr this year, and it helps one realise the need for more non-Federation funding changes.
To conclude… Reach is a vital part of what we do but you are missing the trick if you start with it. You can buy reach for toffees these days, but you can’t fabricate authenticity… I hope our athletes get the backing and rewards they some rightly deserve. I hope businesses across the country and world sign them up, but I really hope we all take a moment to realise that they were always worthy of our support, we just didn’t give the time to discover that.
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...