by Larry Albus, 33 minutes ago
Originally posted at MediaPost.com
The sponsorship industry has advanced a great deal since the time the phrase “sponsorship can’t be measured” typically went unchallenged. As all aspects of the industry have grown more sophisticated, and as the dollar value and prominence of partnerships has grown substantially, the need for accountability has become vitally important.
We are hearing questions such as: Can I measure the impact of my sponsorship activation? What is the return on my venue naming rights deal? As a property, how can I demonstrate return to the sponsors of my event? And the list goes on.
Existing approaches to measurement — which merely transfer advertising surrogates such as media equivalencies and impressions to sponsorship, or use intermediate metrics such as awareness and attitude shifts to gauge performance – miss the mark. They don’t consider either the differences the sponsorship environment requires or the inherent flaws in the way advertising is measured.