Why Sponsors of Small Teams Have to Become Active Themselves – Sonja Kreye
November 19, 2014
Unlike big sports clubs, small regional teams usually have no direct contact person for sponsoring partners.
If you as a sponsor have any special requests, they might remain ignored or are moved due to lack of time.
Therefore you should become active yourself. Get in contact with your partner, instead of waiting until someone from the club will contact you.
Here are a few simple tips and tricks, so you do not have to wait weeks for responses and promotional material:
– Take pictures of the next game yourself and agree to the image material and rights with the club
– Ask if you can display your flyers, business cards or special offers at the club house
– Suggest several prizes or even the main prize with personal handover during for the next raffle (great for logo placement or taking images for social media)
– Suggest shooting dates for a team photo with your logo branding
– Ask whether there is any press invited or invite press yourself for the next game
– Ask if you can buy tickets for employees at reduced rates, especially when the games are not sold out
– Start planing a promotion before, during or after the game and ask for suitable dates and possible locations for your promotion stand in advance
– Check if you can act as a partner for mid-term actions (eg ice hockey)
– Determine someone from your team to spread content such as photos and game results on your own communication channels (online, social media, etc.)
A sponsorship is always as successful as its activation. Therefore, it is of decisive meaning that you use your partnership efficiently.
Otherwise the risk is high that neither you nor your partner are afterwards satisfied.
What kind of activities are you planning next with your partner club or sponsored?
Sonja Kreye, Sponsorship and PR Consultant, Sonja Kreye Consultancy
Sonja Kreye is a Sponsorship and PR Consultant and is working with customers that include tolimit Sport & Marketing, Publicis Kommunikationsagentur, Motorsport-Guide.com and Joest Racing Team. She is consulting her customers with regards to sponsorship concepts, sponsorship development and activation as well as with regards to public relations and communications. In her career, Sonja consulted and managed sponsorship concepts for brands such as DHL, Krombacher, Veltins, Sigma, Procter & Gamble and many more. Prior to her current role, Sonja was Business Relations Manager at Porsche and furthermore consulted Formula One race tracks such as Hockenheim, Shanghai and Magny Cours. She is furthermore an editor to various German motor sport and motor sport business magazines.
Sonja holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Media & Marketing from Steinbeis University Berlin, School of Management & Innovation
Sonja Kreye’s 