Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS SPONSORSHIP?
Sponsorship is the price a brand pays to access an audience, typically sitting within sport. It’s kind of like paying an entrance fee at a night club. That’s what gets you through the door.
WHAT IS SPORTS MARKETING?
Once you’re in the nightclub, you now need to buy a few drinks and display a bit of wit and charm to engage with the other partygoers in the club. The same thing happens in sport. Once you have access to an audience due to your sponsorship, you now need to implement creative strategies to stimulate those sports fans to a point where they reach an intention to purchase from you.
WHY IS MARKETING SO IMPORTANT TO SPONSORSHIP?
Put simply, without marketing, you will fail to engage your target audience. This means, you will spend a lot of money on sponsorship and yield next to zero return on that investment. You will then become a statistic… 7 out of every 10 brands who invest in sponsorship want to end the contract early.
HOW SHOULD I SET A BUDGET FOR SPONSORSHIP AND MARKETING?
Every brand is different in size which means they will have a different amount of money they can invest in this marketing discipline. We therefore recommend using a percentage approach. Of your entire budget, 40% - 50% will be spent on the actual sponsorship | 50% - 60% on marketing activations | 4% - 8% on evaluating your sponsorship.
Ultimately, the amount you will spend on sports marketing will entirely depend on what problem you are trying to solve, for whom and how much solving that problem is worth to you.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY SPONSORSHIP STRATEGY IS WORKING?
We highly recommend measuring the value of your sponsorship programme. Over 80% of brands who invest in sponsorship don’t measure the value of their activities. Which we think is crazy but you can’t manage what you don’t measure.
In professional sport - media valuation reports and surveys are the best way to measure the success of your sponsorship programmes. For TV data, we recommend using YouGov and for social media, our partner Zoomph is a great source of social intelligence. Additionally, to measure experiential initiatives, survey agencies such as Survey Monkey are helpful in building an easy to use environment for your audience.
WHY DO BRANDS INVEST IN SPONSORSHIP?
Most companies are either looking to win new business or retain it. Through the vehicle of sponsorship, companies are well placed to engage an enthusiastic fan base and also entertain existing clients, helping them build meaningful relationships with customers. Brands often use sponsorship as a way to communicate their core company message (brand awareness), launch new products and services, and deliver and demonstrate sound CSR initiatives to leave a positive impact on their communities.
WHY SHOULD WE USE ROCKET YARD TO HELP US WITH A SPORTS MARKETING STRATEGY?
Working with an agency like us, helps fast track your evolution from advertiser to sponsor. Our network, know-how and industry experience, means we are well placed to help our clients achieve maximum brand sentiment and commercial value.
Alternatively, you could always aim to reach out directly to the rights holders and talent yourselves. From here, you will need to negotiate a contract, build a communication strategy, implement that strategy and then measure those results.
HOW DO ROCKET YARD CALCULATE THEIR FEES?
Every programme we put together is tailored to the needs of each individual client. We base our fees on our clients industry, competition, goals, existing in-house resources and other agency relationships. Although every brand we work with is on a bespoke agreement with us, our minimum service fee is £2,000 + vat per campaign or per month.