The BusyEvent Blog

John asks: What’s the difference between a sponsorship and a true brand partnership?

BusyEvent answers: As the economy waffles for the near future, new sponsorships will become more difficult to obtain and existing ones will fade. Brand partnership requires a good understanding of the profiles of the various users of the brand. If an event can know enough about their attendees and then deliver the right demographic audience to the brand, then there’s a real reason for sponsorship (money, services, in-kind products like food/beverage/prizes). Real creativity is required to build up a brand partnership that gets a group of people really engaged in the brand. Simply placing logos on stuff isn’t going to fit into shrinking marketing budgets. The emerging trend is to gather better data before, during and after the event so you have something tangible to show a brand to obtain their involvement in your event(s). We use SMS, web, variable data postcards, voice response, RFID and barcoding in concert to know as much about a group of people as we can without anyone feeling manipulated. It’s a rewards-focused program where people let us know a little about their preferences and get something valuable for their time. I hope this either confirms what you were thinking or expands on a fruitful conversation to come. Best of luck in the new year!