A fixture of the Canadian Sponsorship Forum since 2007, the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study (CSLS) provides the most comprehensive analysis of the Canadian sponsorship industry available. This year, the Study shines a light on hot-topic trends in the entertainment industry, while also examining how the 2010 Olympics affected the sponsorship landscape. Dr. Norm O’Reilly, professor at the and senior adviser to TrojanOne, opened the day to discuss how this valuable data on industry size, spending by sector, activation trends, evaluation practices, strategic priorities and future outlook can be used to back up your sponsorship decisions.
I’ll start out with the good news Norm shared: Based on our sampling process and conservative assumptions, we estimate that $1.55 BILLION was the industry size in Canada in 2010. This represents an 8.5% increase from 2009 and nearly a 40% increase since 2006.
The not-so-good news? With over 400 responses, the Study found ROI from sponsorship improved in 2010, but there is considerable room for greater improvement. Fewer sponsors are very satisfied with ROI from sponsorship and more are dissatisfied. Given this and the theme of this year’s Forum, rev up you ROI, Norm cut the data of the three studies (sponsor, sponsee and agency) to provide delegates with suggestions to rev up their ROI*:
- It is time to forget about Vancouver 2010
- Go Digital
- Reconsider your targets for sponsorship
- Be creative and always on the lookout for new opportunities
- Have a year-round sponsorship strategy
- Develop a balanced strategic mix
- Do not overlook the role of value in-kind sponsorship
- Do not underestimate the not-for-profit sector
- Note that sponsors (and not just sponsees and agencies) have a positive outlook again
- Put yourself in the shoes of other stakeholders
- Activate!
- Remember the little guy!
- Evaluate!
- Focus on renewal from day one
- Sponsees and their agencies need to step up and service their sponsorships and sponsors need to hold them to it
- If you don’t have the capacity and expertise, get help
- Take advantage of a tool that works and is growing in absolute size and relative proportion of marketing budgets
*Each of Norm’s suggestions were supported by detailed key findings that will be made available to delegates after the conference. Make sure you’re a subscriber to our weekly newsletter (subscribe on http://10.100.10.28/sites/canadiansponsorshipforum.com/) to receive details on how you can download Norm’s presentation. And here’s the great news: All delegates of the 2011 Canadian Sponsorship Forum will automatically receive a digital copy of the Final Report that they can implement into their FY12 planning!