Ambra Corporation, the importer of women’s underwear, has launched a risqué shortfilm it hopes will go viral, capitalising on the current fascination with the world of vampires.
The film promotes the ‘Killer Figure’ range of Ambra shapewear, and will be launched online through a ‘Killer Figure’ microsite and filtered through social media sites including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook

Watch the shortfilm here www.youtube.com/killerfigure

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The Northern Territory solar city, Alice Springs, is currently hosting the brightest sparks of the eco tourism industry at the Asia Pacific eco tourism conference, Global Eco, this week (9-11 November.)

Within the town of Alice Springs, the local community and businesses are also heavily engaged in embracing sustainable technologies. Since the Alice Solar City was launched in March 2008, 1121 households and 75 businesses have got on board to reduce their energy consumption. [...]

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I’m supposed to be writing an insightful, amusing, introduction to this article to get your attention, but to be honest, if you’ve come this far you’re probably already doing one of three things:
Skipping this (allegedly) insightful, amusing introduction to get to the juicy article goodness below, hoping like hell there’s an idea you can, with implied consent, appropriate for your own use.
Re-tweeting the link that brought you here to all your social media nerd friends (it’s OK, I’m doing exactly the same thing).
Quickly skim-reading the page to see if there’s anything worth tweeting about. In which case, and just quietly, I’d be heading straight to item seven.

Either way, you’ll have realised that this is not an insightful, amusing introduction at all. Apologies for that, here, instead, is a list of ten brilliant social media marketing ideas and a drawing of a spider.

1. Start a Twitter account and give people incentives to follow you. The more topical the better – it keeps people interested and they’ll stay tuned.

2. Use Google Insights to find whatever keywords related to your business are being searched for the most and watch for trends. Blog about them and make videos about them. Make them entertaining. Watch your web traffic go through the roof.

3. Become an expert, start a blog and use your knowledge for good. Industry secrets don’t exist anymore. If you try and keep them to yourself someone else will trump you. We’re operating in a knowledge-based economy. Be the fountain of knowledge, be prolific and people will turn to you, and when they turn to you, you can start relationships with them (you know what I mean, don’t be rude). If you can’t write, podcast it. If you can’t talk, make videos out of it. Make claymation. Do something, don’t just sit there hoping people will come to you because you know so much. Publish. It’s free.

4. Start a Facebook group that people will want to join and subtly sponsor it. Don’t just start a fan page for your business, create a community that people want to be involved in. If you sell surfboards, create a fan page for six foot waves. If you sell wedding photography create a page for people who hooked up with a bridesmaid and are proud of it. If you sell candles start a Facebook group for people who are afraid of the dark.

5. Figure out whoever the key influencers are for whatever it is you’re selling. Read their blogs and leave comments on them regularly. Proper ones. Ones that make them feel loved. They’ll get to know who you are and then when you want to sell something you won’t have to make a bunch of new friends. Never forget that the purpose of a conversation with a new friend is not to sell something. It’s to have another conversation. Seth Godin told me that. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, or what you’re selling.

6. Follow people on Twitter who talk about things you talk about, but do it in a way that will actually help them. Give value. Make them glad someone like you took the time to follow them and start a conversation.

7. Create something amazing and give people a couple of minutes of internet joy. Unless you’re the President of the United States or Paris Hilton, no one cares about your dog or what you had for lunch. Stop putting banal content out there and do something amazing (or something amazingly bad). People love to be entertained, people love to waste time on the internet. Give them a couple of minutes of internet joy. You don’t need talent to do this. In fact, the less talent you have, the better.

8. Get people to Digg what you do. All you have to do is ask them and make it easy. There are heaps of free plugins that easily allow you to add ‘Digg This’ buttons to your articles, website, blogs and goodness knows what else. Take advantage of them and your traffic will go through the roof.

9. Make Lists. Lists of anything. People love lists. You could make a list of the top ten fire hydrants in Surry Hills and as long as you included relevant YouTube videos, people would love it. December to January is prime list breeding season, but don’t let that stop you.

10. Read How to Win Friends and Influence People; it’s the original social marketing textbook. You can buy it online for a cent and it will change the way you think about talking to people, especially if your end goal is to sell something. Unlike most ’self help’ books these days, it’s aimed at professionals, not daytime/late night television watchers. The book was first published in 1937 when personal (read: social) selling, as opposed to television commercial selling, was at its peak. The ’six ways to make people like you’ are just as relevant online as they were before:
Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Talk in the terms of the other man’s interest.
Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

…as long as you can put up with a little period misogyny of course!

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It’s easy for people who have been in marketing a long time, especially digital marketing, to make claims that mobile marketing is a waste of time. MobileStorm CEO Jared Reitzen put up a passionate post earlier this week confronting the prejudice against mobile marketing among e-mail marketers.

One of the biggest problems with email marketing is the turnover rate of email addresses. Within one year 33% of email addresses in your campaign list are no longer valid. Cell phone numbers have a far lower turnover rate, and most people keep their cell phone number for life. With virtually no delivery issues and 95% of cell phones SMS enabled, getting the message in front of eyeballs is much easier via mobile than an email campaign.

He concludes that the biggest hindrance to mobile marketing is the opposition from e-mail marketers, who are bitter about problems with email marketing and don’t understand how mobile marketing differs from email.

“I speak with prospects all the time that won’t try mobile because they feel their customers will get upset,” writes Reitzen. He points out that mobile marketing can equal a “horrible user experience if not executed properly.”

The if, though, is the key. You do have to be careful because, yes, users can get pissed off at your brand if you are sending them SPAM. But if they’ve opted in to your campaign and you are sending them useful messages, mobile marketing, especially SMS marketing, can yield great ROI. Much better than email marketing.Reitzen points out some useful tips:

• Your first approach to a mobile strategy should be to offer something only available via the mobile phone.
• The incentive should be good and be the only place your customer can take you up on your offer.
• All mobile clubs should have a double opt in so you cannot sign up anyone but yourself. The subscriber takes the action of responding with a “YES.”
• Make sure when you are opting people into your database, you not only get them to respond “YES” to join, but you manage their expectations with the types of messages they will get, how often they will get them, and how they can opt out.

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Virtual world Second Life has just introduced a beta designed specifically for businesses that will open up new opportunities for companies to hold virtual meetings and trade virtual goods – especially products based on business collaboration needs.

The new corporate option, “Second Life Enterprise,” will enable companies to run the site on their own network behind their own firewall, adding an extra layer of security to encourage such trading and more use in general.

Consumer Disinterest

The online community’s popularity – at least among consumers – peaked in 2007 when Facebook and MySpace took off, but has waned since then. But several businesses, including IBM, are still fond of the Linden Lab creation. In Q309, a total of $150 million changed hands in user-to-user transactions, a 4% growth over the same quarter in 2008. It has also proved economical for users. IBM’s Academy of Technology, in one example, saved $320,000 earlier this year by using Second Llife to hold two large meetings.

Collaborative Sweet Spot

Now that Second Life has faded from popular view, collaboration appears to have become the site’s sweet spot. Because it offers more interaction than a conference call or webinar and enables participants to interact with each other in 3-D, Linden Lab claims that 1,000 companies now use it for training, meetings and conferences – and take the protocol very seriously. Gartner recently projected that by the end of 2013, 70% of companies that use virtual worlds will have established dress codes and other codes of behavior for the employee avatars.

Virtual Goods Growth

The corporate world may indeed be fertile ground for well-targeted virtual goods, which appear to be gaining popularity across a number of social media platforms. In one example, website Slide – which began as a downloadable desktop program to index photos – has changed its focus to creating virtual worlds for specific demographics (think SuperPoke Pets for soccer moms) and selling virtual goods on them.

Slide’s revenue model, in fact, shifted from 90% advertising to more than 50% virtual goods in the past year, according to CEO Max Levchin (via All Business).

Such figures support a recent study by the editors at InsideFacebook.com and Serious Business, which found that the virtual goods industry is on track to become a $1 billion business this year, and is expected to balloon to an estimated $1.6 billion in 2010.

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Toyota is to earmark a major slice of its marketing budget to the promotion of its upcoming hybrid vehicles, taking them to a mass market, the car brand has revealed.

The company recently launched its ‘Hybrid synergy drive’ TVC campaign ahead of the launch of a hybrid version of the Camry range next year.

With Toyota set to launch eight hybrid versions of different models over the next four years, with every range set to have a petrol/electric option by 2020, the car brand is set to have an increased marketing focus on the sector.

“The current campaign is a prelude to the Camry and showcases the benefits to consumers and prepares the market for a path to purchase,” Scott Thompson, corporate manager, national advertising at Toyota told B&T Today.

“We planned to do something unique with this ad and it’s a fantastic result. I think a 45-second TVC is fairly unique in these cost efficient times.

“This is a huge launch for us. The Camry hybrid car will be the flagship Camry car. Hybrid is a big part of the future for us and a greater proportion of our marketing spend will go on it.”

Thompson added: “The Camry will be targeted to the majority of people, not a niche market. There’s trust and loyalty in the brand in the mass market.

“We’ll position the Prius (Toyota’s leading hybrid brand) as the benchmark for all hybrid cars. It’s moved from a niche product now, but its marketing will be based on its availability from overseas.”

Thompson insisted that Toyota has maintained a consistent marketing message, despite the different style and tone adopted in the hybrid work and the current social media work on its Yaris brand.

“Toyota has been a fairly traditional advertiser, but we pride ourselves on being the first to market with new innovations and opportunities,” he said.

“The social media work has been very interesting and it has created a buzz. The tone does change depending on the audience, but we’ve done a lot of work to ensure the strategy is consistent.

Watch the current hybrid ad here http://www.youtube.com/toyotaau

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Sponsorship for meetings

Ray Shaw, Chairman, Event Planners Australia www.eventplanners.com.au, Australia’s largest single meeting and event management company with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (and soon in Perth and Canberra). He has been a meeting manager for the past 30 years, is the original author and developer of EVENTS conference software and a freelance IT journalist www.rayshaw.com.au. He is considered one of the most influential people in both the meeting and event, and IT industries. He held numerous state and national positions in MEA (formerly ACE and MIAA) and industry boards.

Introduction

Let me be clear – this paper is all about the typical one off sponsorships for annual meetings, conferences or more infrequent regional or international congresses.
It is getting much tougher out there. GST, poor consumer and business confidence, political uncertainty, aggregation of sponsors through merger and takeover and increasing ethical standards all make sponsors more wary. Sponsors are also becoming much savvier. They now measure results more than ever before – ROI (return on investment), recognition, exposure to the right market and good publicity are vital for the sponsor.
Event Planners has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in one off sponsorship for the events it has managed. The largest was around $5.5M for a 5,000 person event, but the range is generally from $10,000 to $100,000. We have been spectacularly successful in exceeding our targets, mainly through a team effort. We harness the client’s contacts, use our expertise to prepare highly tailored approaches, follow up with hard headed sales people and then professionally manage the sponsor’s needs.

Why do you need sponsorship?

In more than 1000 events we have managed, not one would have been as successful without sponsorship – it is vital to the success of your event.
Most meetings rely on sponsorship because registration feel seldom manage to cover more than the basic meeting costs. You use it to make the meeting more affordable to expand delegate boosting, to add more innovation and creativity to the program or social events, to offer bursaries, to fund speakers costs, to make a profit for the host – or a combination of the above.
But that is purely from your perspective. Are these things really important to a sponsor? In one word “NO”.

Why do Sponsors sponsor meetings?

The typical sponsor wants one thing – ROI (return on investment). Unless you can prove to them that your event is going to deliver a better ROI on their promotional funds than other marketing options you have little chance of success – altruism is well and truly dead.

The four deadly sins

There are four fundamental barriers to effectively raising sponsorship:

There is a deep seated psychological and significant barrier to effective sponsorship raising. It is usually regarded as being an ”unpleasant task”, and a major pain in the neck, basically because no one likes asking for money.

Once secured, funds are often misspent or mishandled, leaving both the sponsor and the organisation feeling somewhat less than satisfied – leading to hesitancy by the sponsor to return for future events.

I can tell you how to get over all four barriers with the result that your event will be more successful and profitable.

Sin 1 – Fear, uncertainty and doubt

Why do most people shake in their boots when asked to approach company X for money? Simple – they are outside their comfort zone and they fear rejection.
Have you ever felt trepidation in asking someone on a date or going for a new job? The easiest way to reduce fear is to get to know the enemy. Do some research – get inside the company and find out what they want, need or like. Use the Internet, chat to the receptionist, be daring with the Marketing Manger, ask for an annual report, ask others who have dealt with the company. Every bit of information strengthens both your position and your resolve. You no longer feel like you are imposing on the company – you are offering them a way to make money, not spend it.

Sin 2 – What about you?

If you are not the right person to ask for money, then find someone who is. This is not about you, but about your ability, tenacity and confidence to win the sponsor over and close the deal. Some have it and some do not.
Most of you will be members of the volunteer organising committee. Some will be chairs (who will be very busy with the event), some treasurers (no jokes about accountants please), some program chairs (who want to cram as much down delegates’ throats in as short a time as possible), and some will be along for the kudos or the ride.
The right person is a “buyer”, preferably a substantial one at that. Purchasing officers are NOT the best place to start. It is best to look amongst your colleagues for an outgoing, well connected person who is known to most of the major sponsorship prospects. It does not matter if they are members of your Association or even in the same geographic location. If necessary, co-opt a well known “patron” or luminary and leverage off their contacts and insider knowledge.

Sin 3 – Are you appealing?

You need to put yourselves in the sponsor’s shoes. They are much more concerned about their own needs, than yours. It may sound great to you to offer them naming rights to the dinner, a logo on the satchel or a trade booth, but is that really what will get them results? Start with a clean slate and avoid all the well-worn offerings. Realise that most sponsors simply want to sell to the delegates and you need to work out how you can bring both parties together. What can your organization do (even outside the confines of the conference) for the potential sponsor? The result should be a well planned sponsorship strategy that covers how you will repay the sponsor’s good faith in you.

Sin 4 – It was nice but…

Too many sponsors are expected to throw in money and yet are left to fend for themselves at a conference. You must both lead a horse to water and make it drink – otherwise, you end up with a thirsty, dissatisfied, horse!
It’s a fact that sponsors seldom make the best use of their sponsorship. So once confirmed, you enter the on-going management stage where all the rules can be rewritten (by mutual consent of course) and where you should help the sponsor to achieve real value.
[...] You can also ad value by using sponsors’ products as an early bird incentive. At one medical event, the early bird registration prize was a mahogany desk that was popular with that fraternity. We estimate that 20% more of this group registered earlier than normal and the sponsor also sold a significant number of desks at the show.
Put simply, the four deadly sins can easily be overcome by:

• Investigation – get to know the enemy and put yourself in their shoes
• Finding the right person for the job
• Planning – think outside the box
• Management – help them to effectively use your event

OK so now you know some of our innermost secrets, let’s look closer at some of the professional tips you can use.

Don’t start behind the eight ball!

Many leave sponsorship raising until it is too late. The fact is most sponsors set their annual budgets early, at least twelve months in advance. If you go to them late, you give them the opportunity to say all that their promotional expenditure has been allocated for the coming year. You can increase your chances by spreading the term over two or more financial years.It should be the first job, not the last, so get started early enough to be effective. Leave yourself enough time to get it done – often several months or even years – so you are able to work on the upper level sponsors and move down to the smaller ones.

Research, research, research

We have never been thrown out by a potential sponsor simply for asking about their business and how our event could help them achieve their goals. Most will wax lyrical about what they want to achieve, how good or bad another conference was and so on. What they are doing is helping you to write a highly tailored proposal for them – one which they will strongly identify with. [...]

Who are you?

I am always amazed at how little the meeting host knows about its delegates. We use a profiling system that encourages delegates to give us a mix of demographic information like age, location, program topics of interest and management level, etc. We even ask if they are buyers, suppliers or recommenders and the main suppliers they use.Armed with this information, it is a lot easier to convince a sponsor that you can deliver an audience that they can relate to and profit from.

Who are your targets?

Once you know the audience, there are a number of ways you can identify potential sponsors:Former sponsors of the event are the obvious first source.

• Look at other events similar to yours – who has sponsored them?Work out which organisations benefit from your delegates. What products and services do your delegates regularly buy?
• Look for hidden sponsors like finance, insurance, recycling, construction, IT, printers and advertising agencies in addition to the obvious. But avoid well know public sponsors like Coke, Nike etc – they are not interested.
• Look at the trade magazines that your audience reads and take note of the advertisers. The magazine itself might even be a potential sponsor.
• Tap into the resources of your committee. Have a sponsorship
  brainstorming session. Identify any personal contacts that could make an initial approach easier. If you are working with an Organiser, include them in all discussions.
• Don’t forget government departments and altruistic trusts. Very often Government departments are keen to reach your audience and want to be involved in your event.

Establish your limitations

Are you prepared to allow your event to be sponsor branded? Are there certain ethical off limit areas like blatant commercialisation and, if so, are there more subtle ways to handle these areas without losing the opportunity? How will you cope with competing sponsors who are arch enemies? You will need clearly defined strategies, or face alienating one or both. We have managed this process many times and the key is to be fair, not to favour one over the other and to give all sponsors equal opportunities. That is why you need a clear strategy and a clear set of benefits so that all involved know that there is a level playing field.
We had one medical company that insisted on exclusive sponsorship for their contribution. We went to their two competitors and asked how they would feel, and ended up getting all three around a table discussing how they could divvy up the event.

Tell the truth

Many clients have an understandably inflated view of what their event is and what it will achieve. This can lead to slight exaggerations on things such as delegate numbers or promises of benefits to sponsors. There is no shame in being accurate. For example, it’s fair to say that we normally achieve a range of delegate numbers from X to Y, but we are undertaking a delegate boosting program and hope to increase that to Z.

Think outside the box

Whilst the classroom approach was a good example of lateral thinking, there is often much more you can do to help the sponsor. You may have 5,000 members Australia wide but only 500 turn up to the conference. Why not arrange for the sponsor to attend a series of monthly meetings in different states to address the members.

• Offer free advertising or editorial packages in the Association newsletter.
• Offer to organise and host private dinners with key members (sponsor pays of course)
• Link the web site to the sponsors.
• Think up innovative ways to bring sponsors and buyers together, i.e. speed sponsorship, sponsorship speakeasy’s etc.
• If ethics allow, consider asking sponsors to host “premium” buyers paying variously for their airfares, accommodation, registration etc., in return for more contact. Few sponsors are prepared to turn that down in the hope that it will influence such buyers.

In short, become marketing partners. You will be amazed by just how much additional money sponsors will find if you open up a dialogue with them and show that you really care about maximising their benefits.

How much should you ask for?

There is no golden rule. It depends on a number of factors:

• The potential value of the sale. If a company is selling a $500,000 machine and has the potential to sell a number of them, you will get more than someone who sells $5,000 machines.
• Delegate numbers and their quality. Many sponsors know how much it costs to get to their markets and what the cost of a sale can be. Find this out and stay well within that.
• How hot the topic is – is it leading edge, a growing field (like Biotechnology, Ageing, property development), or is it a relatively static industry?
• And regrettably, on past history. It is very hard when you find the previous event “gave it all away” but we do have success with upping the ante, provided you do things most professionally.

For an average Association event we have identified total sponsorship potential as follow:

• State meetings – a 100-200 person event might be lucky to reach $100 per head, simply because of the number of delegates and the size of the sponsors marketing budget.
• National meetings – a 200-500 person event will range from about $100 to $500 per head. If you have a conference of specialist neurosurgeons (a well defined target that uses lots of expensive toys) then you will be quite justified in expecting to be at the upper end. Conversely if you have a conference of people who don’t buy anything, then you might be flat out reaching the lower end.
• International meetings – a 500 to 5000 person event will range between $500-1000 per head but it can be a real problem unless international sponsors can be found, because the local sponsors don’t want to waste their money on people who will never buy from them.

Bottom line is that sponsors salivate over well-defined vertical target markets comprising buyers rather than umbrella organizations. For example, the Neurosurgeons get great sponsorship over say the Royal College of Surgeons, who represent dozens of specialities including Neurosurgeons. Umbrella organizations can expect much lower sponsorship per head than specialities.

Break up targets into bite sized pieces that sponsors can swallow

It is rare that one organisation will be the sole sponsor, so a strategy is needed to cater for sponsors of various sizes. Really what we are talking about is the level of sponsorship and the associated benefits. For convenience many proposals use terms like Major, Minor, Supporter or Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and associate various levels of investment to these. I am not a fan of these naming systems and try to be imaginative in how we name these levels.
For academic events we have used University degree levels – Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate and so on. A geology event used the names of the various tectonic plates. For one it takes away the distaste of terms like “minor” but if all you are doing is changing the names, then you are merely shifting deck chairs on the Titanic.

Local versus head office or international sponsors

Most state based organizations seldom have large sponsorship budgets, so you will have to approach the National office. First step is to gain the state office’s support. Get over all their objections and understand the companies focus. Next put the sponsorship raiser and the potential state sponsor on a plane to visit head office and plead the case – face to face is important.If you are looking at international sponsorship you need to do the same. If you can convince the potential national office to support your case to the international head office, be prepared to hop on a plane and visit them – never rely on the Australian office to make your case for you.

Be prepared to spend money on the presentation and politicking

Don’t simply type up a “boiler plate” proposal inserting the relevant sponsors name where appropriate and photocopy it. Any presentation looking for more than a few thousand dollars needs to be professional, include photographs, graphs, ROI calculations and lots of well presented information. At the very least it should be colour photocopied, bound and personalised with the prospects logo. For major sponsors it is not unusual to spend about $500 per copy on the proposal in art, design and reproduction costs.
Next, be prepared to present the proposal in person. By all means send the proposal in advance but be insistent that you meet with them within X days to discuss it. At that meeting they can accept, modify or reject it – at least you will know the outcome.
Be prepared to schmooze the sponsor over a meal, preferably along with a few influential members of your organization.

Use a Contract

Once you have a commitment you must use a contract to confirm all points. It does not need to be a legal filibuster – usually a simple letter of intent is sufficient. But there are some key issues to address.

• Don’t promise anything that you are not 100% sure you can deliver. You do not want unhappy sponsors drawing your attention to contract clauses and refusing to pay the agreed amount.
• Don’t state any guarantees on the number of delegates that will be attending the conference and/or specific functions or sessions within the conference program to which your sponsor may be attached. Most sponsors will accept a number range.
• If required, agree on an instalment payment schedule but make sure that you get the full payment in advance. It is often difficult to hunt down the outstanding amounts during or after the event.
• Define any reporting requirements that the sponsor may require – try to stick to standard reports that can easily be updated.
• Clearly spell out any deadlines. For example, dates by which payments have to be made, dates for delivery of material such as signage, promotional brochures, or advertising copy.
• Define responsibilities. Does the company have to provide their own signage and display material or is this the responsibility of the event? Who erects the material on-site? Who dismantles it? Who is responsible for loss or damage of any sponsor materials? Who pays for any freight costs?
• Define the benefits being offered such as any complimentary tickets to functions or registrations to the conference. What exactly is the sponsor entitled to attend as part of their sponsorship?
• If there is a possibility of significant changes in attendance (up or down)? Cover those issues and limit any effect this might have on their contribution.
• Define what happens in case of any unforeseen cancellation or abandonment of the event. You may be able to negotiate a partial refund if this happens.
• If you are provide mailing lists, email addresses, or any private information about your delegates, be aware of the strict privacy and spam laws and the need for the delegates to agree to release this information.
• Take care with the any promises which relate to quality and standards. For example, social events that promise the world, by way of expensive themeing and specific high priced entertainment.
• Take care with promises of press coverage. You cannot guarantee the press will be there or write want you or the sponsors want.

Beware of in-kind support

In many cases, a sponsor may find it much easier and more palatable to provide in-kind support rather than writing a cheque. Such support can vary widely, depending on the event organisers’ needs and what’s available. It may include:delegate and/or speaker gifts, staff volunteers onsite, sponsors’ material which is needed for delegate handouts such as satchels or pens, provision of speakers, meet and greet, audiovisual support. Provision of in-kind support needs to be fairly acknowledged and dealt with similarly to a cash contribution. However, unlike cash, it is hard to value the contribution, which often leads to misunderstandings about the quality or quantity of goods or services to be provided. Many sponsors may think what they are offering is useful, but in fact is not so. Be very specific about what you need to achieve from them.

Involve sponsors in the meetings success

Maintain constant contact with your sponsors during the planning process. Don’t drop them once the deal is signed, only to pick them up again just before the event to discuss signage. Liaise, liaise, liaise in the lead up. Include them in general promotional mailings and news releases.Call a sponsors meeting a few months before the event (usually at the close of early bird registrations). Give them information on delegate numbers (to date) and ask them to help make the meeting better. Show you care and don’t ignore them until the meeting.

At the event – show them more than your appreciation

It is not enough to acknowledge a sponsor in a session – “We would like to thank ABC for the morning tea”. Think up innovative ways to help them get the message across. First and most importantly, treat them as someone special. Don’t expect them to compete with the delegates to register. Allocate a staff member to look after them. During the event, make sure you speak to them and check everything is progressing to their satisfaction. [...] If you have a large number of sponsors, use a sponsor count down style of presentation. Give them 60 seconds to say as much about their business as possible (with a countdown timer on the screen to prompt the audience to shout “Times up” when the counter hits zero…

Don’t waste sponsors time with non buyers

Sponsors are all about getting to buyers. They don’t want to pay for their competition, suppliers or others who will never use their goods or services. A simple method is to identify buyers with a different coloured nametag. Sponsors will thank you for this small courtesy.
Facilitate getting sponsors and buyers together.

• Have a “buyers” drinks session and never underestimate the power of a sponsor hospitality room.
• We have tried “speed sponsorship” where sponsors are seated at tables and buyers (are obliged to) come and spend five minutes with each – the buzzer rings and they move on to the next.

Extend the sponsorship past the event

When it’s over, talk to them about the wash up. Discuss what could be adjusted for next year’s event.Consider presenting some sort of gift in recognition of their support – something which can be prominently displayed in their offices such as a framed certificate of appreciation. It provides an ongoing link between the sponsor and the host organisation.If you have made a decent surplus consider hosting a thankyou dinner or function for the committee, selected VIPs, and the sponsors – this will repay itself many times over.If you have a newsletter then mention them for a few issues, even do stories on them. Think of them as on-going partners – not one off targets.
Even if the event is rotating throughout the states and you might not see them for another 4 to 6 years, make a point of keeping their local office involved in your organization. Invite them to be part of local seminars, sit on strategy committees etc.

Or employ a professional – preferably us

There is an argument that sponsors want to speak to the organ grinder – not the monkey. All I can say is that this has never impeded us and, once we win their confidence, interaction with you as the client is really secondary. It is not about you, its all about how to maximise the sponsors ROI.We have a dedicated Sponsorship and Exhibition Zone based in Sydney because that is where many of the national offices are. However we also use our state offices to follow up on local sponsors.The Zone has always exceeded targets and has never suffered from the hesitation or malaise that occurs when well meaning amateurs try to raise sponsorship themselves.We find that sponsorship works best if it’s a team effort. You help to open the door and we close it. It takes a lot of pain out of the follow up.

[...]Management can be very time consuming. Some sponsors, especially Government, require regular reporting and reaching of key milestone accomplishments before handing over money. We also look for ways to up sell sponsors and gain more value for our clients.
As a guide management services cost 10% of sponsorship.

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Australia has lost its crown as the world’s top brand, plummeting two spots to sit behind the US and Canada and highlighting the importance of keeping a country’s brand “fresh, relevant and engaging”, according to a new brand study.

The Country Brand Index (CBI), produced annually by global brand consultancy FutureBrand and involving 3000 international business and leisure travellers from nine countries, showed while Obama’s rise to presidency saw the US move up the ranks to number one, in terms of its brand strength, Australia fell from the top spot for the first time in three years.

Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World campaign and Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia helped to keep Down Under top of mind for some travellers, however the year’s tough economic climate is being blamed for the slippage.

Other countries which made the top 10 include New Zealand, France, Italy, Japan, UK, Germany and Spain.

“After three years in the number one position, a remarkable achievement by any measure, this new development was just a matter of time,” said Tim Riches, CEO of FutureBrand Singapore and growth officer, Asia Pacific.

“The measurable decline of some key attributes, combined with the revitalisation of Brand USA, has resulted in the effect on Australia’s ranking. It highlights the importance of keeping a country brand fresh, relevant and engaging – no small challenge in a highly competitive international marketplace.”

Results of the CBI, which measures “brand strength” based on a variety of categories including families, outdoor activities and sport, the political and economic value of a country and where people most want to live and visit, are supported by recent findings in the Country Reputation Index by the Reputation Institute and STW-owned research consultancy AMR Interactive, which concluded Australia is highly regarded for its beaches and lifestyle, but not for its brands, products and services and culture.

Both studies highlight the challenge ahead for the successful agency in the Federal Government’s $20m Building Brand Australia project, which will be revealed in February.

The winner of B&T’s own brand Australia competition, in conjunction with crowdsourcing specialist Design Bay, will be announced in the coming weeks.

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The future of one of Australia’s biggest branded events, V Festival, hangs in the balance following promoter Michael Coppel Presents’ decision not to re-sign with Richard Branson’s Virgin empire.

Festival owner, Virgin Management, is now in discussions to find another promoter for the summer 2010 event, with a decision on its future expected in the next few weeks. Virgin is confident the festival, launched three years ago in Australia by Virgin and Michael Coppel, which both own a 50% share, will find another promoter soon and be able to start planning for next year. A spokesperson at Virgin Mobile said a decision will be made on the festival’s future in the coming weeks.

“V Festival has been an extremely successful and popular event, both locally and globally, and one which Virgin Mobile continues to fully support,” she said.

It’s understood the festival’s sponsors are keen for the event to continue, with main sponsor Virgin Mobile and brands including Lion Nathan’s Tooheys Extra Dry and Visa, which supported the festival this year, looking to re-sign in 2010.

“Contradictory to recent reports, a final decision has not yet been made as to whether or not V Festival will go ahead in 2010. We are in discussions at the moment and hope to be able to make a public announcement shortly.”

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Pen brand Artline today launched a topical execution around the Melbourne Cup, appearing in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, which taps into the event with the byline ‘Got a good tip for today?’

Artline is capitalising on the buzz around today’s race, with punters reaching for their pens to place bets.

This is another in the series of topical ads produced by BCM for Pelikan Artline which have included ‘Red Alert’ (following a Qld Health directive that teachers refrain from using red pens to mark students’ work as it may be viewed as aggressive), ‘April Fools Day’ (which introduced the world first microchip fitted pens, trackable anywhere in the world), and a ‘Deficit’ Federal Budget topical execution.

Credits: agency BCM Sydney, client Pelikan Artline, client contact Lynn, Dewick, Pelikan Artline, creative director Geoff Reid, writer Geoff Reid, art director Tony Sutton, agency partner Paul Cornwell, group account director, Gerry Murray, account manager Lucy Tonkin, head of channel planning and integration: Joanne Stone, media group head Martin Durek, media BCM

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