IEG’s Dan Kowitz, writing last week on the company’s Sponsorship blog, reported on a panel of industry colleagues who spoke at PCMA’s Convening Leaders Annual Conference. The group consisted of representatives from PCMA, FedEx Services, the National School Boards Assn. and Gaylord Entertainment/Gaylord Hotels and they were tasked with talking about five key elements that they defined as critical to achieving partnerships, above and beyond sponsorships.

Interestingly, each had their own take on the subject, with branding attributes the most common overlap.

Here are their various views on key partnership elements (with our own additions in parentheses where we consider it appropriate).

IEG

• Form partnerships through dialogue, not proposals (look for Win-Win by being flexible and taking account of your potential partners’ desires and needs}
• Determine brand fit (do the brands have common values and target markets?)
• Establish key objectives of the partnership (what is each partner trying to achieve and are they mutually compatible goals?)
• Over-deliver on value
• Define, measure and deliver ROI

NSBA

• Customer service
• Mutually beneficial relationship
• Access to key leadership
• Exclusivity
• Voice for corporate partners

FedEx Services

• Support/advance global brand?
• Make sense in the marketing plan?
• Access to target audience?
• Partner position in the industry?
• Metrics? Measurement? ROI?

PCMA

• Brand alignment – Principles of strong brands
• Commitment – Multiple stakeholders
• Value – Measurement and exchange
• Delivery – Manage expectations
• Accountability – Metrics, reporting, business reviews and ROI

Gaylord

• Prospect research – Proper alignment
• Brand development opportunities
• Business objectives – Total value
• Flawless delivery – Over-deliver
• Accurate & timely metrics – Business reviews

If you are actively considering sponsorship of any property, we encourage you to check out the Sponsorship Evaluation Checklist, which lists a wide range of considerations you should review when evaluating a sponsorship.

Tags: evaluation, key elements, Marketing, objectives, partnership, sponsorship