Part 2: Sponsorship Anyone?

I have been reading about a lot of traditional businesses (large ones at that) who are turning to sponsorships, new advertising and product placement as new sources of revenue.

The biggest ones which caught my eye were some of the major airlines. Way before the economic crisis really kicked in this fall, we heard about the airline industry losing money, cutting flights, canceling orders for new planes, laying off staff, and raising ticket prices to boot! This industry is in serious need of a cash injection; sounds like a small business owner or a new event.

Here's a good example. If you have flown recently, you have noticed the ad on the tray table. The first one for me was a Verizon ad on my last flight to New York. As I folded down the table and noticed the ad, I wasn't shocked at first, but as the flight continued, I thought about it a little more. Just as we look for places to generate revenue with our events (t-shirts, banners, posters, give-aways, etc) the major airlines are also looking for additional places to slap a logo!

It makes perfect sense for a couple of reasons; you have a captive audience for an extended period of time, demographics are easy to grasp, theres lots of eyeballs, you know where your audience is going to, and in a lot of cases, the consumer can purchase the minute they land in the airport.

These advertisers are seeing this as new, uncharted territory for them to gain more market share. As an event planner who is looking for sponsorship, you have to be that airline. Why does your sponsorship make perfect sense? Your event is the opportunity for them to get more market share, what are your hot points and which companies would be a good fit? Durning flights, I've seen a couple of Verizon ads now, a few for cough syrup/cold remedies, car rentals, hotels, etc. Sounds like everything you would need on your trip. So what would every one attending your event need? That's where we start, keep it broad, and land those sponsors!

A picture IS worth [at least] thousand words

I know what you're thinking - way to be cliché. However you want to look at it, go ahead, but I guarantee that the famous phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words" has more truth to it than you might think.

How hard is it to explain your last game to your friends? Try to tell them how great a play was? Think about how difficult it can be to share the plays of the week.

We also thought about all this, and remembered how great it was to see game film and game pictures when we were growing up. So why not bring back those days? I'm amazed at the quality stefanfoto.net gets us week in and week out with the PEEL, and our other events. Everyone loves seeing the shots, and are anxious to have them posted on our site and on Facebook. Once they are up; the compliments come in, we see a lot of them posted as profile pictures, and they ask for more.

The most rewarding thing that I've seen come out of it was during the summer season of our basketball league. One of the players approached Stefan during one of the games and asked for more shots of him. It was genuine, he wasn't doing it to boost his ego, rather creating a collage for his new born son. As all of us weekend warriors know, an injury after your high school days can mean the end of your favorite sport, and this case was no different. After overcoming a pretty bad Achilles-tendon injury, this player realized that and wanted to make sure that his son would be able to see his Dad in action! I think the collage turned out great, and I we've got a great little athlete growing up. He certainly has good genes!

Stefan has always come through for us, and I would recommend professional photography for your events, as it truly does make a difference. Even with a digital SRL camera, or any top-of-the-line digital camera you could buy, the difference is made with who's behind the lens. I tried myself, and although we got some good photos, they are no comparison to Stefan's work.

Take a look at their site: www.stefanfoto.net