Now that the college football bowl season is over, is everyone rushing out to get a Capital One credit card? Are you BYU fans rushing to get a Pioneer television because you saw the Cougars sneak past UCLA in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl? And after the national championship game between Ohio State and LSU Monday night, are you all switching your insurance to All State?
If you answered “no” to any of those questions, then it begs the age-old question about sponsorships: why would a company spend thousands (if not millions) for the privilege of being a title sponsor for college bowl games (and in Capitol One’s case, the entire bowl series)? Aren’t we taught that the bottom line is what counts in any of our marketing, advertising and public relations activities? If college football fans aren’t buying based on the sponsors of their favorite bowl games, then are these companies spending (wasting?) all that money merely on awareness?
It might appear that way to the viewer who sees the logo on the field, the advertisements during the game and the presentation of the trophy by a company official. But these major sponsorship packages include much more than the public sees. Remember, all these stadiums have luxury suites, so what you don’t see are the high-end customers and prospects being catered to before, during and after the game. You don’t see the parties and receptions before the game where company officials work the crowd and make sure their high-dollar clients are well cared for. You don’t see the sponsor’s sales executives shaking hands over the halftime buffet as they reach preliminary terms on a huge financial deal. These are the activities that companies pay major sponsorship money for. The logos and name mentions and ads are all gravy compared to the high-end wheeling and dealing that is going on.
Major sponsorships like college bowl games are complex. It is possible for companies to pour a lot of money into sponsorships with little value. But if you approach a sponsorship with a clear idea of what you want from it and identify how you will measure the results, you can get return that positively impacts the bottom line.
Now, who’s ready for the Super Bowl ads?
