Yesterday we heard about an interesting new sponsorship opportunity/idea. The Bird's Nest, the main stadium of last year's Olympics, is set to auction the rights to name its 80,000 seat backs for the Italian Super Cup game which will be held on August 8, the first anniversary of the Olympics opening ceremony. In the spirit of this, Kevin Hanft offers up some tips on what it takes to execute sponsorships in the PRC.

I’ve had the opportunity to work two major sponsorship events in China. In doing so, I accumulated an appreciation for a very different way of doing business. It requires great patience, a broad perspective and time - things which most Western brand marketers are chronically short of.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were expected to ‘open’ up China as a market for a ...

TAGS: 2010, FIFA World Cup, Soccer, South Africa, Futbol, Activation

So, the US unexpected performance during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup raised soccer awareness in the States for a few days. As important as that is, it also served as a good reminder that the FIFA World Cup is only 11 months away. We’ve heard the rumors and echoes whether South Africa was even going to have the chance to host the event. Clearly, the show will go on, albeit with some added attention to hotel accommodations and transport.

And yes, those annoying vuvuzellas!

Most American fans and marketers place greater emphasis on other sporting events ahead of the World Cup, however for most of the world; it is THE competition like no other. Given that, I offer some ideas and perspective on FIFA World Cup marketing:

It is HUGE - everywhere but the US. Football/Futbol/Socc...

TAGS: Agency, New Business, Pitches, Presentation

I recently participated in a new business pitch for a major branded sports property. The agency team pulled together and did a great job, developing a thorough presentation and exciting creative. It’d be a great account to have on agency roster, in any economic environment.

It struck me that we should approach more of our professional lives like a new biz pitch. For those in agency or consulting businesses, you are constantly in this mode so it may be old hat. But folks in other corporate roles who lead projects or have responsibility for matrix management, you too are pitching. Clearly, anyone in career transition, every interaction is a new biz pitch.

During an earlier fact finding conference call, the client commented on how other agencies had ‘missed the point’ and did not s...

This is the fourth posting in our "Key Learnings" blog series, which is a regular collection of insights and stories from thought-leaders within the sponsorship industry. Today's key learning comes from Kevin Hanft from Marketing Leverage LLC.

Thankfully, we have seen the end of the populism trend of bashing every company that had a sponsorship, ran client hospitality or rewarded its employees for working hard. I understand the sentiment that people cannot walk away rich for failing or manipulating the markets. But, where accountability exists and results can be demonstrated, I support most any activity that makes solid business sense.

Clearly sponsorship took it on the chin for a while in 2009, with auto makers and financial services firms as leading sponsors, it is hardly a sur...

Partnerships, Sponsorship, Collaboration, Webster's Dictionary

This is the second posting in our "Key Learnings" blog series, which will be a regular collection of insights and stories from thought-leaders within the sponsorship industry. Today's key learning comes from Kevin Hanft from Marketing Leverage LLC.

“Strategic partner” is a term used freely and likely too often. Especially when it comes to sports and entertainment marketing. Properties have moved away from the term sponsor, as it has taken on an almost derogatory tonality. Political correctness has called for ‘partner’ as the preferred label.

To be honest, I don’t care what term is used; I just want properties and brands to truly understand and agree upon the nature of the relationship they are entering. The issue - I don’t believe that anyone is aware of the very real distinctio...