Briefing Document: Sponsorship Online Course
Final Project: Sponsorship Proposal
Assignment / Objective
The assignment is to develop a sponsorship proposal using the knowledge and insights you have gained from the Sponsorship Online Course.
Challenge
You have been approached by a brand that needs advice about the potential opportunities associated with sponsorship to achieve specific brand marketing and business development objectives.
For the purpose of this assignment, you will have a choice between two different types of brands:
1. EzePay (pronounced easy pay)
EzePay is a financial services product that allows consumers to manage all their payments through one mobile web-based platform. The proprietary technology has been created and developed by EzePay to work with all major banks, credit cards and payment service providers.
As this is a new financial service, it is not well known and the Marketing Director has been tasked with increasing the visibility of the brand in three key regions, namely Europe, Asia and North America. This is a subscription based service where new customers will have 3 months free trial, followed by a monthly fee of €5.00,-
The second objective is to increase the number of consumers registering with EzePay, without overstepping data protection laws, and capture details of 10 million people, specifically in the 18 to 30 years age group. This target is to be achieved over 3 years.
The Marketing Director at EzEPay is familiar with the general benefits of sponsorship but is not an expert and therefore needs advice about all aspects of a sponsorship strategy including selection of a sponsorship property/partner, investment, activation and setting KPI’s to track and measure the performance of the sponsorship.
Brand values of EzePay include: innovative, trustworthy, pragmatic and provocative.
This is the first opportunity to demonstrate you have the ability to secure EzePay as a client and a top-line presentation is required, not a full proposal. The annual investment in this case for sponsorship, activation and any other marketing expenses is €50 million per year.
2. Avalon Energy
Avalon energy is a manufacturer of re-chargeable batteries and energy packs for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Backed by Venture Capital investors and quoted as a Top 50 Unicorn by technology and automotive experts, Avalon Energy is a disruptor looking to capitalise on the transition to electric vehicles over the next 25 years.
Simply speaking, Avalon Energy believes ultimately all EV’s will operate with standardised battery packs which can be inserted and removed from the vehicle just like we replace batteries in electrical appliances. Batteries and electric packs can be exchanged or re-charged at special stations in supermarkets, offices, sports venues and a host of other strategic locations that will allow EV’s to simply replace their energy pack in a matter of minutes and continue the journey. As the energy packs are standardised, the quantity of packs will not result in over-production and are constantly being recycled, reducing any potential environmental impact.
To increase awareness of this revolutionary energy pack for EV’s Avalon wishes to increase brand awareness and promote the benefits of the new product. Two major car brands have already confirmed they will be producing small to medium sized EV’s using Avalon’s new energy packs in 2021. Joint marketing between Avalon and both car brands will be discussed and likely to develop. (For the purpose of this assignment, use Nissan and Volkswagen as a proxy for the automotive brands).
This is a product targeted at both EV manufacturers and EV owners/drivers. The goal is to approach the market ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’, creating demand from both types of customers. Expected prices are €499,- for a standard energy pack with a radius of 500Km and a single re-charge is €9.95 when exchanged at an Avalon Energy Station. A more extensive energy pack with 1.000 km radius is expected to be available in 2023 for €799,- and a re-charge price of €15.95. Each energy pack comes with a 10 year guarantee or 500.000 km’s, whichever is achieved first.
Brand values include: cutting edge, high tech, challenger, durable and powerful
Sponsorship knowledge is non-existent at Avalon and the Marketing Director has asked for two potential options, one with a budget of €25 million per year and the other €75 million per year including all associated expenses.
The Concept
Develop a concept sponsorship plan to explain your initial recommendations for further internal review by the Marketing Director and the Board of Management.
The sponsorship selection, activation plan and all details in the concept proposal should be as realistic as possible based on publicly available information, desk research, news reports and industry sources.
Who is the client?
In both cases, the client is a 40 year old Marketing Director from Australia who has been living in Europe for the last 15 years (Amsterdam, Munich and Barcelona) with a family of three children aged 7, 10 and 14 years.
The Marketing Director studied Business Administration at university and has been a lifelong marketer working at AkzoNobel, BMW and NH Hotel Group but has never been directly involved in sponsorship programs.
Personal interests include tennis, fitness (running) and surfing.
What do you want the client to understand?
That you have the knowledge and expertise to advise this organisation how to identify, select and secure the most relevant and suitable sponsorship to achieve the stated objectives.
What is your added value?
How are you going to ensure the client feels comfortable working with you and what else can you do to increase confidence in your abilities?
Mandatory / Executional Factors
Please ensure you think about and address these factors in your proposal:
1. Marketing objectives – what are the marketing objectives for this ‘product’ or ‘service’ in the context of the (sport) market or business where the organisation operates?
2. Market or situation analyses – what research have you undertaken to establish the sponsorship opportunity for this ‘product’ or ‘service’? What are the external factors that are most influential in shaping the selection of sponsorship properties?
3. Competition – who are their competitors (if any) and what have you learnt by analysing the competitors? Are there any key stakeholders that can have a positive or negative effect on the sponsorship plan or activities? If so, what are they?
4. SWOT – Prepare a SWOT analysis of the sponsorship properties selected activities for your organisation. How can the organisation increase the opportunities and/or reduce the threats as they relate to the marketing objectives? Make two recommendations.
5. Market segmentation – who has been identified as the main target market? Explain the market segmentation variables and how they apply to the customer(s). Can you outline the profiles and expected behaviour of key customers in the target market?
6. Value Proposition – what problem is your organisation seeking to solve for the prospects / customers or what is the added value of their ‘products’ or ‘services’ that will support the development of this organisation? How is this relevant, authentic, inspiring and different to the competitors and how can this be used in your sponsorship concept development and recommendations?
7. Branding – what is the effect of the brand values in the sponsorship selection, plan and activities? How can the brand create a distinctive position in the market place? Think about the brand values and factors that will influence the customer’s perception of the brands’ ‘product’ or ‘service’ and how the sponsorship could reinforce these values.
8. Integrated marketing campaign – which sponsorship activities will you employ to bring the ‘product’ or ‘service’ to the market? Think how to create market awareness, generate demand and diversification to enter different regions and segments. How does the content, media network and/or distribution channels affect the ability to meet the marketing objectives?
9. Pricing – what is the pricing of the product or service? How could this influence the type of sponsorship you would recommend and the activation?
10. Measurement – how can you measure the success of this sponsorship concept to achieve the marketing and business objectives? Is there any evidence of research or benchmarks in this sector for the selected sponsorships?
Additional Information
There are certain details which might not be described in this briefing document. It is your responsibility to make intelligent assumptions about the scope and setting that could influence your recommendations.
This sponsorship concept proposal should be in a presentation format (PowerPoint, InDesign, Key Note or similar package and converted into a PDF).
You may use a maximum of 20 slides and include an Appendix for any reference material you feel is relevant.
Graphics, visuals and any other aids to support your proposal is welcome.
There is no pitch fee for this opportunity and there are four other agencies / consultants in the first round of the pitch. You will be informed if your concept proposal is approved for a face to face presentation within 14 days of receiving your proposal.
Good luck!