Individual Sponsorships Require Balancing Risks, Rewards

Individual Sponsorships Require Balancing Risks, Rewards

My last blog talked about whether sponsorship of a team, such as Team USA in the World Cup, constitutes ambush marketing. The answer was – it depends.

Certainly some sponsors use it that way, while others simply find it makes better sense to target a specific market by going the team route.

There are similar considerations when it comes to individual sponsorships. An athlete or entertainer may actually resonate more strongly with your target consumers than a team or league does.

In some cases, a very popular athlete may allow you to address multiple markets much more efficiently than either sponsoring a selection of national teams or becoming a global sponsor.

A good example of this is Argentine star Lionel Messi, whose face has been ubiquitous in television and Internet advertising during the World Cup.

And he’s done pretty well on the field of play, too.

By contracting for personal endorsements or sponsorships with Messi, a host of global companies are capitalizing on the World Cup in multiple markets without having to deal with FIFA or any of the teams directly, or perhaps after having been shut out of those sponsorships by competitors.

Some of these Messi-centric campaigns have the distinct feel of ambush marketing.

The Return on Investment of such a personal sponsorship can be very attractive, because it may allow you to reach the same or even better potential customers at a lower price. You negotiate only the benefits you intend to use, and pay accordingly.

However there is a risk-reward aspect to this strategy.

While it’s highly unlikely that a World Cup primary sponsorship would disappoint, given the event’s long history, established popularity and the spread risk of multiple teams’ involvement, an individual sponsorship can go bad in a hurry.

Your company becomes linked with the athlete or entertainer’s behavior, both on and off the performance venue. If he gets drunk and drives his sport utility vehicle into a tree, you are faced with damage control.

With a team sponsorship, the worst that can happen is early elimination. In the case of Team USA, sponsors were elated to see the team exceed expectations this year.

With a league sponsorship, the worst case would be an unattractive matchup in the finals.

Either way, your corporate president isn’t fielding media calls asking for comment on some salacious scandal.

Peace of mind comes at a price – and that should be factored into your plans.