Why Values-Based Sponsorships May Be Worth the Extra Effort
Sport commands outsized attention, which invites added scrutiny, but brands and property owners can disproportionately benefit from a values-based approach to sponsorship.
Values-based deals outperform “traditional” partnerships across several metrics, and can contribute quantitatively to partners’ ESG reporting targets. Fan engagement on social and environmental-themed posts reportedly outperforms typical promotional posts by an average factor of 4x.
Ice hockey team Seattle Kraken’s estimated $800m, 20-year deal with The Climate Pledge, an initiative by Amazon, is just one example cited in this WARC exclusive.
Why values-based sponsorship matters
The attention paid to sport and entertainment crosses income, ideological and geographic boundaries. For brands leaning into environmental and social issues, sponsorship presents a highly visible, multi-touchpoint and extended storytelling platform that transcends sociocultural divides.
Five steps to a values-based sponsorship model
- Understand your brand/property’s relative standing as ‘Brand Citizen’ beyond ESG scores. This means leveraging sustainability and ESG experts in-house.
- Shift mindset from ‘awareness and sales’ to long-term overall business and ESG goals. Consider the non-financial goals (environmental and social commitments) of your partner (hint: read their sustainability report or consult that section of their website).
- Select a campaign theme based on credibility, materiality and KPIs. Stress test this against target market research, but don’t be shy to move the conversation ahead boldly.
- Make a public commitment which include quantitative targets at the outset and invite fans and consumers to contribute to the effort. Those who follow teams do so out of a sense of belonging and look to bask in the shared glory of success.
- You do not need to be perfect. You do need to be honest. Leveraging the sports sponsorship realm with values-based partnerships in the right way allows for brand partners to better engage with sports narratives.
Credit: WARC