• Know the Business Objectives

  Make sure there is sound understanding of a company’s business objectives. Since sponsorship is a big part of the marketing mix, sponsorship assets need to link strategically with overall business objectives. Develop key performance indicators that demonstrate the link between the two.

• Involve the Sponsor

  Somehow, sponsors have been forgotten in the process. They hire agencies to develop metrics but rarely participate. Their lack of involvement means they don’t engage business colleagues who manage horizontal and ancillary marketing initiatives. Without this input, key measurement metrics are missed.

• Identify Measurement Filters

  Since sponsorship is more inclusive in the marketing mix and integrated across numerous brand platforms, it is imperative that success criteria are shared throughout the system. As we all know, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

• Boost Data Accountability

  We all agree there is no “holy grail” when it comes to measurement, but this is where the industry remains asleep at the wheel. Although we’ve made remarkable progress with digital recognition technology, we need to catch up in other areas of accountability. Agency and brand partners must share the job of achieving outcomes and should be equally responsible for delivering information in a timely fashion.

• Develop Processes

  Accountability is actually a two-part process. Once the responsible party is recognized, it is imperative that they train in the art of data collection. The difference between incomplete analysis and great analysis is this step. We’ve all asked for results at the conclusion of a sponsorship — only to be told the information is unattainable. The counter approach is to identify these parties and teach them to analyze data throughout the sponsorship.

• Upgrade the Delivery

  It’s time to move past a fragmented approach where objectives and ROI are measured in mostly incomplete detail. Sports marketers need to resolve to make a stronger commitment to metrics that deliver robust, comprehensive analysis in a neatly wrapped package.

Basketball may be perceived as an American sport, but the National Basketball Association is looking to expand its international profile in a series of overseas exhibition games and events this month.

Extending the pre-season hoopla in Europe and China has become a standard part of the NBA’s marketing playbook. But the scale of activities is unprecedented, showcasing a growing roster of sponsors and a lineup of 200 current and former NBA stars.

Adidas is sponsoring an amateur five-on-five invitational tourney in three European venues with musical events accompanying the games. Motorola joins the pre-season action this year as title sponsor of the Motorola NBA 2 V. 2 Basketball Challenge in China with 35,000 men and women expected to participate.

NBA legends Scottie Pippen, George Gervin, Vlade Divac and Darryl Dawkins will attend the events.

While China-born, 7′ 6” star Yao Ming and scores of European-born players have done well in the NBA, the latest initiative is not an exercise to scout new talent. Rather, the league’s ulterior motive is to spawn overseas outposts that will evolve into marketing powerhouses of their own. NBA merchandising revenues currently draw 25% from overseas, up from 20% in 2005.

For the first time, international home appliance manufacturer Haier will sponsor basketball camps for players aged 15 to 18 in 10 Chinese cities with former stars Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Buck Williams and Otis Birdsong providing pointers.

“Part of our job is to create opportunities for our fans to interact with the game and the players,” says Mark Tatum, NBA senior vice president of marketing partnerships. “It runs the full gamut from the grassroots effort to bringing our teams in exhibitions around the world.”

The NBA continues to contemplate the creation of an NBA European league. But China also presents an explosive marketing opportunity, with 300 million individuals currently playing the game there, according to the Chinese Basketball Association. So many enthusiasts make sponsorships an easy sell, according to Tatum.

The China Jam Van, a customized 52-foot truck that transforms into a 10,000-square foot interactive NBA exhibit, will tour the country for the third year, hitting 24 cities.

A new five-city summer tour, NBA Fit Camps, will teach Chinese teens about basketball, fitness and nutrition.

NBA Madness, another program of grassroots events that includes amateur three-on-three tourneys, will tour a circuit of six European countries, six Asian countries and, for the first time, Brazil and Puerto Rico.

The league has drawn up a new grassroots play in Korea as well, where Gatorade will sponsor a basketball camp for 40 promising young teenagers selected by the Korea Basketball League. The San Antonio Spurs’ Bruce Bowen and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Andrew Iguodala will participate as coaches.

Sao Paulo, Brazil is also a stop on the caravan. Dubbed “Basketball Without Borders,” the tour combines player involvement in community projects while they conduct basketball camps. Stops this past summer included Shanghai, Paris and Johannesburg; 40 NBA celebrities participated.

“The great thing about our players is they get it,” says Tatum. “They understand that basketball is a universal sport. They love the game and they want to give back.”

Apart from the up close and personal contact, the league also struts it stuff through October in a more conventional exhibition schedule.

NBA teams are now flying to the other side of the world for exhibition games. For the second year, the NBA China Games presents a series of exhibition games, with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic facing off for games in Shanghai and Macao, where the Magic will also tip-off against the China Men’s National team.

Video game publisher EA Sports is presenting NBA Europe Live for the second year, with the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors playing against each other and top European club teams in Italy, Spain, Turkey and England.

The NBA has enlisted 20 European sponsors for this tour, including new brands Beko, Efes Pilsen, TAC and Turk Telecom in Istanbul and Bel Queso in Spain.

NBA rosters included 85 foreign born players at the end of last season, and that number is growing. So are the number of NBA international broadcasts, with 45,000 hours of programming carried by 188 TV partners in 215 countries and 41 languages last season.

China is a prime example: more than 51 TV stations will carry NBA contests this season, up from 32. Overall, the league will add 24 TV partners this season.

W

For more articles on events go to www.promomagazine/events

WHAT CRISIS?

Amid a national foreclosure crisis that’s been dominating the news in recent months, Bank of America has been taking its mortgage marketing on the road in the form of a mobile unit decorated as a small suburban neighborhood.

The immediate objective is to promote its No Fee Mortgage PLUS product, where the bank pays for closing fees and does not require mortgage insurance for those who take the deal.

The mobile unit — complete with mailboxes, a picket fence and lemonade — is making the rounds at home shows and NASCAR events through the end of the year.

Inside the pre-fab structure, consumers get an education about mortgages, and the advantage of the Mortgage Plus product.

“We went to the consumer — to engage people with an experience that would entertain and educate, and make them feel good about mortgages,” says Peter McKillop, a spokesperson for Bank of America’s Global Consumer and Small Business Banking.

The company does not offer the kind of subprime mortgages that have resulted in scores of homeowners across the country being unable to meet their financial obligations. These homeowners were viewed by some banks as credit risks.

Bank of America’s message to would-be purchasers is that “we’re very much open for business,” McKillop says.

The bank’s mortgage applications are up 20% over the same period last year, in part attributed to the road show, the biggest mortgage marketing campaign it has ever undertaken.

Mortgage lenders of all stripes have spent more than $3 billion on advertising since 2000, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

But Patricia McCoy, a law professor at the University of Connecticut who studies mortgage advertising, notes a marked lull in subprime mortgage marketing in the midst of the current crisis. Traditional bank lenders are still actively advertising. “It may be there’s a renewed effort to pitch the good prime customer,” she says.

Omnicom units Emanate and Concentric designed the mobile unit for the Bank of America campaign.

TV or newspaper ads coincide with each event.
— Richard Tedesco

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