Summary Event Communication & Sponsoring

EVENT COMMUNICATION
& SPONSORING
2022 - 2023

,Inhoudsopgave
sponsoring of events......................................................................................2
what is event sponsoring................................................................................................. 2
from the perspective of the sponsor................................................................................2
from my perspective as eventmanager...........................................................................3
types of partners............................................................................................................. 5
eneco clean beach cup.................................................................................................... 6

sponsor plan..................................................................................................6
preparation of the sponsor offer......................................................................................7
preparation of the sponsor acquisition..........................................................................10
sponsor plan in a nutshell.............................................................................................. 11

sponsor proposal..........................................................................................11
content of a partnership proposal.................................................................................12
what should your proposal look like?.............................................................................12
sell, negotiate and close................................................................................................ 12
how to make a written agreement: contract.................................................................12

communication plan.....................................................................................13
chapter 1: description of situation.................................................................................14
chapter 2: target group(s) – to whom?..........................................................................14
chapter 3: communication goal(s) – why?.....................................................................15
chapter 4: key message(s) – what?...............................................................................15
chapter 5: communication tools – which + when?.........................................................15
chapter 6: retro planning – when?.................................................................................23
chapter 7: budget – how much?....................................................................................23

do’s and dont’s in event communication........................................................24
before the event............................................................................................................ 24
at the event................................................................................................................... 26
after the event.............................................................................................................. 27

gastles bruno verhofstede – verhofstede & partners......................................28
sponsors........................................................................................................................ 28




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,SPONSORING OF EVENTS

WHAT IS EVENT SPONSORING

= investing in an event in order to get certain benefits from the event
 to companies, sponsoring can be one of their ‘marketing communication tools’
 some have foreseen a sponsoring budget, some haven’t
 an event manager SELLS a sponsorship: you offer something and in return you ask for
a correct price! (be it money or in exchange)
 the price should be calculated as correct as possible, based on the (real or estimated)
financial value of all benefits offered



FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SPONSOR

WHAT DO SPONSORS INVEST?
sponsors invests …but they often invest a mix



WHAT DO SPONSORS EXPECT IN RETURN?
 showing the brand
 being included in the decision-making process (reserve this for your main sponsor)
 a VIP experience (like free tickets)
 branch-exclusivity (being the only sponsor in their brand)
 to make financial profit, to get sales from it

BRAND AWARENESS AND BRAND ATTITUDE
 awareness: make people know their brand:
o outside the event: logo in event ads, on event website, on event social media
o at the event: logo on stage, on banners, on screen, …
 attitude: make people love their brand: live interaction needed!
branding only has a result on the LT → sponsor looks for consistency in supporting a
certain type of event and a certain event. Sponsors don’t switch each year.

ASSOCIATION WITH A VALUE
 companies don’t want to be seen as the dirty moneymakers (anymore)
 companies like to sponsor an event which represents a certain value they care for. by
sponsoring, the value of the event radiates to the sponsoring brand
 possible human values: sustainability, brotherhood, diversity, fair play, tolerance,
solidarity, authenticity, ecology, integration, social responsibility, charity, .…

SHORT TERM SALES (GROWING IMPORTANCE!!)
the 3 ways sponsors can grow their sales on the ST and LT, thanks to sponsoring an
event:
 short term (measurable):
o sales deal, made between organisor and sponsor (best option!!)
o on site sales actions (not website, site = on the location of the event)
o off site sales actions (ex. you can win a ticket by buying on of their products)
 long term (difficult to measure):

2

, o branding
o association with a value

HOSPITALITY
 for client relationships (ex. Telenet invites big clients of them at events they sponsor)
 for employee relationships (ex. Artevelde sponsors Filmfest and Artevelde mailed their
teachers that they can try to win one of the 50 tickets they got by being a sponsor)



HOW DO SPONSORS MEASURE THEIR RETURN?
some sponsors do this and others don’t
1. they measure the financial value of sponsor-driven media coverage, versus what
they’ve paid (ex. calculating how long your logo is visible in a commercial, …)
2. they measure the change (before/after event) in
 public’s awareness of the brand
 public’s attitude towards brand
3. they measure the change (before/after event) in ST sales



FROM MY PERSPECTIVE AS EVENTMANAGER

DO I NEED SPONSORS?
event revenue:
 tickets
 sponsoring
 catering
 merchandising
 (subsidies: from authorities) → it’s not seen as sponsoring, it’s a support, they do it
because you do good for their city, …
when is the answer ‘no, I don’t need sponsors’?
 teambuilding for your employees → it’s not that expensive and they have budget for
it, you wouldn’t find many sponsors for this
 a wedding → you wouldn’t find many sponsors for this
 all private events → you wouldn’t find many sponsors for this
 a product launch → it would distract from their own brand and their product, they
have a marketing communications budget



WHICH ‘DIRECT’ BENEFITS CAN I OFFER?
‘direct’ benefits I can give to sponsors:
 right to visiblity (branding) in the marketing communication campaigns of the event
(many people, lower quality)
 right to visibility (branding) at the event itself (less people, but the quality is higher)
 right to ‘name giving’ or name connection (ex. the Telenet Lunch, the Mercedes
Afterwork)
 sales rights: direct sales to event visitors
 media rights (for tv station)
 hospitality rights (= VIP tickets)

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