Business-to-business event sponsorship: Generating value through strategy and metrics

Corporate sponsorships of public events—especially sporting events—are nothing new. But in 2010, when Alltech set out to sponsor the World Equestrian Games, it did so through a lens which evaluated the impact of their sponsorship very differently. Although history of corporate sponsorships has shown that it is very difficult to extract meaningful data that can be analysed to determine the return on investment, Alltech was able to accomplish just that. Now, as the company approaches the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, they will again capture data for use in measuring the benefits of this continued sponsorship. This time, however, the aim is to measure direct connections between the company and its end-line clients: farmers. A variety of contact points are planned for the 2014 Games, including experiential marketing on-site and a high-quality advertising campaign. Additionally, there will be a unique campaign to celebrate “unsung heroes” farmers and owners through a social media campaign, intended to build awareness and engagement. Further metrics are tightly focused on relationship development and maximizing the location benefits of the Games. Alltech will apply insights gained from five main lessons learned through the first Games experience, which are discussed in the following article.