The state of event sponsorship report 2019

STRATEGIC RESEARCH ON THE TRENDS
DEFINING EVENT SPONSORSHIP IN 2019
THE STATE OF
Event Sponsorship
+

THE STATE OF EVENT SPONSORSHIP+
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2

CONTENTS
Copyright 2
Introduction 4
Research Methodology 6
13 Trends Defining Event Sponsorship 7
Industry Level Analysis 10
Finance 11
Luxury 19
Tech 26
Healthcare 34
7 Event Sponsorship Leaders Share Their Advice 44
In Conclusion 56
About the Author 57
EventMB Studio Team 57
About Cvent 58
CMP Credits 59
Disclaimer 59
3

Marketing budgets are coming to events. This is some of the best news of 2019.
Many events have an unprecedented opportunity to capitalize on a fresh injection
of cash, driven by the rise of experiences.
Brands prefer events as their most effective marketing channel. Fantastic news,
right?
Not so fast...
Is your event ready to capitalize on this
unprecedented opportunity?
While brands chase live experiences, the traditional event sponsorship tactic of
selling exposure does not reflect the marketing needs of 2019. Online marketing
has given access to an incredible wealth of data.
INTRODUCTION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARKETING LEADERS WANT MORE
ACCOUNTABILITY.
This report is for sponsorship decision-makers. In it, you’ll find the necessary
information to create more effective sponsorship opportunities. The goal is for
you to generate greater revenue for the event and improve the ROI for your
sponsors. This mutually beneficial relationship should grow in the years to come.
^^ A research and analysis of 350 sponsorship packages
^^ Vertical analyses of the finance, luxury, technology and healthcare
event markets
^^ A summary of the most unique ideas per vertical
^^ Comments from 7 event sponsorship leaders on the trends
impacting modern sponsorship packages
Inside, you’ll find
Introduction Industry Level Analysis 7 Event Sponsorship Leaders In Conclusion13 Trends
4

WHY RESEARCH SPONSORSHIP?
EventMB’s State of the Event Industry research found that almost half (49%) of
event professionals thought that their biggest challenge was finding sponsors.
Even those who didn’t see it as their most substantial struggle did find difficulty in
doing it. 53% agreed that finding sponsors for events is a challenge.
Many eventprofs may find comfort in the fact that very few saw it as easy. Less
than a quarter (22%) said that they weren’t struggling to secure sponsors. To
make matters even more challenging, 17% of event planners feel retention rates of
sponsors are decreasing, while only 10% believe they have stayed about the same.
SPONSORSHIPS ARE BECOMING
CRUCIAL IN EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
Let’s face it, finding sponsorships is a challenge, and retention rates can end
up leaving something to be desired. Another concern behind the importance of
sponsorships is the increasing desire to produce Wow! moments for attendees.
While these can be done on a budget, much of the experiential marketing that
is getting attention on social media is costly. Some event tech used in these
undertakings requires larger budgets. Event planners have two choices. They can
choose to innovate in an incremental, cost-conscious, conservative fashion or they
can embrace enormous changes by relying on sponsorships to defray those costs.
REVERSING THE TIDE WITH
SPONSORSHIP TRENDS
The results from the State of the Event Industry Research merely piqued our
interest. We wanted to deliver the most comprehensive research ever carried on
event sponsorship. Instead of asking event professionals what they would do, we
looked at what they currently do.
We analyzed 350 sponsorship packages in four key verticals of the event
industry:
ņņ FINANCE
ņņ LUXURY
ņņ TECHNOLOGY
ņņ HEALTHCARE
Sponsorship success often entails finding that sweet spot of the desired
opportunity and marrying it with the analytics that proves solid return on
investment. After all, your sponsors are investors in the success of your event.
It must be worth their while, and this report will show you just how to align your
offerings with their needs.
5

was from
networking
organization events.
were government
agencies or
affiliations.
were affiliated
with educational
institutions.
came from private
organizations or
public businesses.
were private
organizations or
public businesses.
were networking
groups outside of
formal associations.
were private
organizations or
public businesses.
of the event data
was pulled from
national professional
associations.
of luxury hosts
were nonprofit
organizations or
foundations.
of events analyzed
were hosted
by professional
associations and
societies.
49%
60%
39%
14%
5%
14%
19%
34%
5% 41%
were state or
regional medical
associations or
societies.
of the events
were educational
consortiums or
organizations.
were hosted
by private
organizations or
public businesses.
of the healthcare
events were
hosted by national
associations or
medical societies.
60% 5% 16% 17%
HEALTHCARE
TECH
FINANCE
LUXURY
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
In this report, we looked at 350 events that occurred
over the past two years to find the most popular and
most unique sponsorships. Furthermore, we reviewed
the cost variance between sponsorship levels.
We analyzed events pulled from publicly shared
information both on the internet and in case studies
across the four verticals. The data obtained came
from events hosted by organizations in North
America, Europe, and Asia, with most of it from the
United States.
Breaking down the kind of return by categorizing
the type of sponsorships as either value-oriented or
awareness-based, we examined events of all types
across the verticals mentioned above.
6

Understanding a general tendency of the market is critical
for event professionals looking to implement successful
sponsorship packages in 2019.
The following trends reflect the most recurring patterns in our analysis.
13 TRENDS
DEFINING EVENT
SPONSORSHIP
13 TRENDS
1
2
Smaller events tend to sell a la carte options more than
other types of events do. While most sponsorships were sold in
packages, there were still 10-30% of events selling sponsorships a la
carte style, with a customizable selection of options.
Combo sponsorships are the most popular. Across
all verticals, 67% of the sponsorship packages we analyzed were
a combination of awareness and value. They offered branding
opportunities and something of tangible value, most often event tickets
or booth sales. 23% of packages offered only awareness.
7

Gold, silver, bronze no more. Some forward-thinking event planners
have dismissed the traditional “metal” names for sponsorship packages
(platinum, gold, etc.) for more value-oriented titles, such as “Social Media
Awareness” package. This helps marketers with sponsorship dollars to
quickly identify the sponsorship opportunities best aligned with their goals.
Some planners are tying titles into their themes, while others are using titles
that are important to the mission or the organization.
Tickets are a popular inclusion in sponsorship packages.
Most of the sponsorship packages analyzed included at least one
complimentary ticket. Some events offered the option of purchasing
additional tickets at a deep discount.
Increasing interest with discounts for future events. Some
events are tying current sponsorships into future ones by offering free tickets
or discounts in sponsorship for future events to those who sponsored the
current event. This tactic can be successful in building on momentum, even
for one-off events. After all, building on a successful established relationship
with a sponsor is easier than creating a new one for each event.
Meal and break sponsorships. As some of the most popular
options, these often provide sponsors with the opportunity to give a speech
or presentation. Creative event planners are allowing for some sponsor-
performed menu selection and color-branding with the food or beverage
selection like serving monochromatic snacks that match the branding colors
for additional brand recognition.
Tying sponsorship costs into membership. Many membership
organizations are requiring (or highly enticing) sponsors to be members of
their organization. Some do this through discounted sponsorship costs for
members (example: members pay $500, non-members pay $750 for the
same opportunity). Other organizations make membership mandatory by
incorporating dues payment into the sponsorship cost.
Land a variety of sponsors with flexible pricing. Some events
offered special nonprofit and for-profit sponsor pricing to incentivize
participation. NPO staff are trained to ask for a discount so having one ready
shows a desire to meet expectations.
Planners are using loyalty points to reward continued
investment. For organizations with repeat or multiple events, offering
potential sponsors a loyalty program (points for every sponsorship dollar
they spend) can drive retention. These points can be used for discounts,
upgrades, and offsetting other event spends.
3
7
8
9
4
5
6
8

10
11
12
13
Pricing variance on sponsorships depends on the vertical.
The pricing variance from the top tier of sponsorship to the third tier across
all verticals was at least $15,500 with the largest gap between the top tier
and the third one being in luxury at $31,384 and the smallest in finance at
$15,547. The largest singular spread (not averages) was in tech where an
event had a $375,000 difference between first and third tier.
The rise of hybrid events. In some cases, verticals are blurring. The
subject matter is no longer appealing to just one industry. Niching is still a
popular way of personalizing an approach to attendees, including subject
matter, so overlapping is inevitable. For instance, there was some overlap in
the finance and technology events we analyzed.
Premium events can be leveraged to increase traffic
at others. For event planners with sell-out sponsorship events and
sponsorship waiting lists, setting lesser sponsorships at other events
as a prerequisite to be considered for the larger one is a possible tactic.
Associations with local events may consider adopting this tactic for national
or state event sponsorships. This helps trickle down sponsorship dollars
to the smaller events by requiring participation in them in order to be
considered for the larger events.
Virtual sponsorships for lower-priced opportunities. Sponsorship
travel dollars dissipate quickly. Some event planners are offering lower-
priced, virtual sponsorship levels for those companies that can’t attend.
Now that we know the general sponsorship trends, let’s take
a look at how those manifest within specific industries.
9

So what is happening specifically in finance, luxury,
tech and healthcare events?INDUSTRY LEVEL
ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
10

FINANCE
We examined 57 events and their
respective sponsorship offerings.
The hosting organizations ranged
from small networking organizations
based on personal finance to large-
scale professional associations.
SAMPLE SIZE:
57 EVENTS
ANALYSIS
11

MOST POPULAR SPONSORSHIP TYPES
The most popular sponsorship types in the finance vertical included
sponsorships at a variety of price points, including
PRESENTING
SPONSORSHIPS,
which afforded the
opportunity to speak in
f ront of the group
FINANCE
LANYARDS BAGS EVENT APP
WATER
BOTTLES
WIFI OPENING
RECEPTION
PHOTO BOOTH
   
   
12

These sponsorships indicate the popularity behind offering
lower-margin opportunities for tighter budgets, as well as
those that require a significant investment.
Another interesting trend to look out for in finance includes
sponsorship packages for multiple events. For example,
some organizations host similar events across the country
FINANCE
throughout the year. It can also work for events held at
different times of the year in the same city. Packaging these
multiple opportunities together under a larger umbrella
can help use one event’s popularity to build another’s.
This is a popular trend with associations and membership
organizations.
13

UNIQUE SPONSORSHIP IDEAS
IN FINANCE EVENTS 
Content sponsorship designed
to provide much of the thought-
leadership content surrounding
the event
FINANCE
Live and on-demand video
sponsorship
14

SPONSORSHIP PRICING
TRENDS 
A LA CARTE
33%
Sponsorship packages are becoming
more flexible and personalized. Now,
instead of a gold sponsorship containing
“x, y, and z,” the sponsor is being given
the option of selecting a predetermined
number of items or activities from a
much larger list. This allows the sponsor
to select what items and activities
they prefer while still providing some
parameters around the options.
FINANCE
Nearly 33% of the finance events
analyzed offer some type of a la
carte sponsorship activity that can be
customized, not traditional designated
packages. Some of these a la carte
options involved customizable bundles,
while others have a “create your own”
selection of single-branded items,
activities, and presentations.
This type of menu pricing sponsorship
also allows for non-exhibiting
sponsorship opportunities, something
many event planners have embraced
(including the idea of catering to them
through virtual sponsorships).
15

INTERESTING PRICING APPROACHES
Some events were taking a unique approach to pricing by
Including discounts on additional tickets.
FINANCE
Offering exclusive sponsorship opportunities to
key or top-tier sponsors. ACFCS offered a platinum
sponsorship package with enumerated benefits/items
but all other sponsorships were a la carte.
Basing sponsorship prices on the sponsor’s
membership tier. The higher the membership tier, the
lower the sponsorship package price.
Basing sponsorship levels on dollars spent for a
la carte items. NAFSA sponsorships are calculated
by how much money is spent on individual items.
There is no set “gold” package; sponsors achieve
higher levels at predefined spend thresholds, like
$25,000. This gives sponsors more flexibility in
purchasing the options they are most interested in.
Offering discounts on multiple sponsorships.
The discount can be applied per event or across the
organization’s list of events within a given year. It can
even be applied to next year’s events.
16

We analyzed the pricing difference between the first- and second-tier
as well as the second- and third-tier. In the area of finance we found
the average difference is:
FINANCE
VARIANCE between
TOP 1 AND 2
$9,625
When it comes to sponsorships, event planners offer awareness-
targeted and value-based packages. A sponsorship that included
branded hotel key cards would improve awareness while a keynote
sponsorship that also included a discount on exhibition booth
pricing or free event tickets has a monetary value to it that can be
directly calculated.
In our findings, 68% of finance event packages offer awareness
and value together in some forms, while 17.5% were sold under
awareness alone.
VARIANCE between
TOP 2 AND 3
$5,947
AWARENESS
17.5%
AWARENESS + VALUE
68%
ANALYZING SPONSORSHIP
TIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES 
17

1
2
3
Most events offer sponsorships at high
and low ends
Some have made sponsorships
customizable from a list of options
(or by suggestions from the potential
sponsor) while others design
packages
Many planners are leveraging interest
in this year’s event against other
events in other cities or at future times
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR THE
FINANCE INDUSTRY 
FINANCE
18

LUXURY
Luxury events span many industries
and we analyzed the sponsorship
packages for several different types
from high-dollar fundraisers to VIP
invite-only events.
Here’s what we found.
SAMPLE SIZE:
35 EVENTS
ANALYSIS
19

The most popular sponsorship types in the luxury vertical included
lounge and meal sponsorships. Unlike other verticals, with
luxury, the sponsorship interest seemed to be on experience and
pampering and less about branded items and things.
Category or industry exclusivity (or placing strict limits on numbers of
sponsors from an industry) played a big role in driving sponsorships for
luxury events. Some event planners gave exclusivity only to their top
tier, others charged for exclusivity. For one event, sponsors could buy
industry exclusivity (to be the only car company sponsor, for instance)
for an added $250,000 above the chosen sponsorship package.
LUXURY
LOUNGE AND
MEAL

20

VIP pre-party for Gridiron
Greats offered a private
meet and greet with Mike
Ditka given to top sponsors.
LUXURY
Several events gave out future
dinner or event passes to sponsors
to increase value and keep them
associated with the organization and
its efforts.
IN LUXURY EVENTS 
21

SPONSORSHIP PRICING
TRENDS 
A LA CARTE
10%
As expected, most of the sponsorships
in the luxury vertical were high-dollar
opportunities with the exception of a
few smaller fundraisers. Nearly 10%
of the luxury events offer a la carte
sponsorship activities, not packages.
That’s the smallest percentage of the
verticals examined.
This trend reinforces the fact that
luxury sponsorships are based largely
around experiences and not things
so planners put together experience
packages, not orders for branded items
as sponsorships.
LUXURY
22

Some events were taking a unique approach to pricing by
Dividing the sponsorship opportunities into
categories. Using categories like brand awareness,
entertainment, and publicity helps sponsors decide
what packages to select to meet their needs quickly.
Segmenting benefits into before, during, and after
categories so sponsors are clear on what to expect.
This may be an area of disconnect for many planners
and sponsors, so listing these will help everyone on
deliverables and other tangible items.
LUXURY
Calculating fair market value of sponsorship
benefits within the package and listing those details
in the sponsorship materials.
Basing sponsorship level names on the theme.
STARS Gala’s theme of “Building Magic in the Air”
flavored their sponsorship levels. They used building
titles instead of metals. Several events focused on
high-dollar philanthropy bestowed important feel-good
or business names on sponsors such as “angel,”
“inspiration,” and “investor”.
Bestowingnamingopportunitiesonthetop-levelsponsor.
Offering sponsorship prices with and without ticket
costs factored in for those who are unable to attend
but still want to support organizational efforts.
One creative marketing approach played upon the “why” of sponsorship
by showing how sponsorship dollars were going to have a direct, tangible
impact. The package listed how many nights of housing the sponsorship
provides for the nonprofit. Transparency was at the core of this approach.
23

as well as the second- and third-tier. In the area of luxury we found the
average difference is:
VARIANCE between
TOP 1 AND 2
$16,693
In the luxury vertical, 90% of packages offer awareness and
value, not just one or the other. This is to be expected as the
sponsorship price points were higher in this vertical and thus more
would be expected. .
VARIANCE between
TOP 2 AND 3
$14,691
AWARENESS + VALUE
90%
LUXURY
24

1
2
3
Experiences trump things in
this vertical. The most popular
sponsorships are activities, not swag.
Providing a VIP experience for
sponsors for their investment can
incentivize sponsorship.
Transparency and leading with the
event’s “why” is a trend that is now
entering into sponsorships as well
LUXURY INDUSTRY 
LUXURY
25

TECH
The tech vertical is an
interesting one, a combination
of experiences, technology, and
branding components.
SAMPLE SIZE:
124 EVENTS
ANALYSIS
26

The most popular sponsorship types in the tech industry ran the
gamut and were divided between networking and marketing.
TECH
SNACK BREAKS LANYARDS SOCIAL MEDIA
SPONSORSHIPS
THE TOP LEVEL TITLE OR NAMING
RIGHTS
  
 
27

TECH
50th-anniversary sponsor
Lighted foot path
Maps, virtual/app and paper
Teen track
Some sponsorships are not on a first-come first-served
arrangement. At the RedHat Summit, the platinum
sponsor was by invitation only, an interesting use of
exclusivity as a driver to action.
IN TECH EVENTS 
28

SPONSORSHIP PRICING
TRENDS 
A LA CARTE
14.4%
Nearly 14.4% of the tech events offer
a la carte sponsorship activities, not
packages, allowing sponsors to decide
how they want to spend their money on
individual activities or items.
It was common for tech event planners
in our research to limit the number of
industries represented in each area.
Three-four competitors seemed to be
the allowable average.
TECH
The tech industry also seems to be
cognizant of the alternative pricing
required to attract (and make feasible
for) certain types of sponsors. Many
events in this vertical offered free
booths for open source exhibitor
sponsors and nonprofit pricing.
29

Some events were taking a unique approach to pricing and
sponsorship by
Offering a choice about which items they sponsor
through a “pick 2 or 3”, etc.
Offering thought leadership and lead gen-oriented
sponsorship.
Giving additional tickets to the event or offering
discounts on affiliated events. Some planners
offered discounts for referrals as well.
Discounting booth registrations based on package.
For instance, gold receives a 20% discount on
exhibition pricing, while silver receives 10%.
TECH Using creative names for sponsorship packages.
SIGNAL 2018 labeled their packages using
visionary, creator, or maker titles.
Offering priority points toward future
participation that allow for things like first option/
right of refusal on available sponsorships or booth
location choice.
Adding a 50% discount on an additional booth for
the top-tier sponsor.
Using Early Bird pricing. The sooner sponsors sign
up, the less expensive it is.
Allowing in-kind donations and ‘gifts’ of service,
equipment, or software. Not all sponsorships are
subject to cheque signing. Some event planners
incorporate donations of tech and tech services to
cover sponsorships.
30

Some event planners embraced complete customization of their
sponsorship packages. For instance, the Convergence India Conference
has no set packages at all. All of their sponsorship opportunities are
tailored to sponsors’ needs.
It is not surprising that the tech industry would use tech to improve the
sponsorship experience.
The Orlando Innovation Event uses a chatbot
to disperse sponsorship information. That way
potential sponsors can get the information they
want at a time that is convenient for them and
without the need for callbacks.
TECH
Providing shared booth space for smaller
sponsors to help minimize costs. Often, these
sponsors’ services are complementary.
Combining packages for top sponsorships. The OT
Serve Synergy sponsorships are packaged packages.
The Grand package includes three smaller, targeted
packages, such as digital media.
Offering member and nonmember pricing.
Members are eligible for pricing awards and sponsor
points.
31

as well as the second- and third-tier. In the area of tech we found the
average difference is:
VARIANCE between
TOP 1 AND 2
$16,182
In the tech vertical, 84% of packages offer awareness and
value, where 16% offer one or the other. While most exhibitors or
sponsors may be interested in brand exposure, the events are also
offering value in how they appeal to the sponsors, often including
items like free tickets for staff and/or clients as well as benefits that
have a cost/value associated with them.
VARIANCE between
TOP 2 AND 3
$8,759
AWARENESS + VALUE
84%
AWARENESS OR VALUE
16%
TECH
32

1
2
3
4
TECH EVENT INDUSTRY 
TECH
Tech sponsorships tend to be priced much
like tech offerings are with three options.
Some are allowing for a “Pick 2 or 3” for more
targeted personalization.
Alternative pricing strategies are common for
lower budget sponsors like start-ups, nonprofits,
and companies providing open-source tech.
Event planners in tech offer more ways to connect
through tech such as powering sponsorship
questions and answers with chatbots.
The definition of sponsorship money is changing.
Some event planners are incorporating
donations of tech and tech services to cover
sponsorships instead of collecting checks.
33

HEALTHCARE
Healthcare was the largest vertical
we analyzed. As increased interest
in personalized medicine transforms
the healthcare industry, we’ll see it
affecting events as well.
SAMPLE SIZE:
128 EVENTS
ANALYSIS
34

The most popular sponsorship types in the healthcare industry are:
BAG INSERTS
HEALTHCARE
CONFERENCE
SPONSOR
PENS TITLE
SPONSOR
FOOD PHOTO
BOOTH
EXCLUSIVITY
   
  
35

This speaks to a mix of interests, which is not surprising.
Healthcare events span everything from walk-in,
free wellness seminars to medical society meetings.
Experience sponsorships are more popular among
the latter, while branded items are more common
sponsorships in the former.
The unique sponsorships in the healthcare vertical fell
along the lines of wellness both physical and mental, as
one would expect.
HEALTHCARE
36

Lactation lounge
5k run sponsorship
Bark park
Yoga
Registrations for students
Childcare
Snack breaks
Patient attendee roundtable attendance
IN HEALTHCARE EVENTS 
HEALTHCARE
37

The podium
The bar
Poster board sponsors
Website sponsorship
Wifi
Other popular sponsorships that were not
directly wellness-related but popular include
IN HEALTHCARE EVENTS 
HEALTHCARE
38

SPONSORSHIP PRICING TRENDS 
A LA CARTE
28%
Nearly 28% of the events offer a la
carte sponsorship activities, not
packages.
This number was second only to finance
in the tiers we analyzed. Most of the a
la carte options were designed around
awareness like promotional marketing
items. Samples and swag are powerful
drivers in healthcare events.
HEALTHCARE
39

Some events were taking a unique approach to pricing and
sponsorship by
Packaging sponsorships broken out by sponsor
need like academic, awareness, etc.
Offering discounts on sponsorship packages for
existing corporate partners.
Employing a loyalty program by bestowing points
for each dollar spent.
Giving invaluable opportunities for higher tiers to
get the best space in the main hall and exhibit hall.
Presenting a clear understanding of total costs
of sponsorship packages in individual prices
too. While some of this may be done because of
regulations and the transparency required of certain
types of sponsors, many healthcare event planners
are listing sponsorship packages by what each item
or service would cost individually so the potential
sponsor could assess the value.
Offering virtual packages for those who can’t
attend. There are also sponsorships for the technical
support of virtual attendees.
Using interesting sponsorship naming
conventions such as: transformer, champion, leader,
and innovator.
Organizing sponsorships by price so potential
sponsors can easily select what fits best in their
budget.
HEALTHCARE
40

Like the other verticals in this report, healthcare event planners are also
offering event pricing based on member or non-member status. While
some are turning to adding a membership fee into sponsorship to ensure
everyone is a member, we also saw the prevalence of nonprofit pricing.
One event discounted sponsorships by as much
as 50% for charities.
Giving discounts to next year’s conferences.
Providing first right of refusal to corporate sponsors.
Placing requirements on sponsorship. Texas
HFMA’s three chapters combined to offer statewide
sponsorships and only those can exhibit at the TX
state conference.
Adding membership price into sponsorship fee so
that all sponsors become members.
Making top sponsor customizable.
Providing discounts for early sign-ups or
discounts on next year.
HEALTHCARE
41

We analyzed the pricing difference between the first- and second-
tier as well as the second- and third-tier. In the area of healthcare we
found the average difference is:
VARIANCE between
TOP 1 AND 2
$12,194
In the healthcare vertical, 71% of packages offer awareness and
value, where 29% offers awareness alone.
VARIANCE between
TOP 2 AND 3
$7,718
AWARENESS
29%
AWARENESS + VALUE
71%
HEALTHCARE
42

1
2
3
Loyalty matters. Many provide first right of
refusal to corporate sponsors.
Driving action by offering something
they want. Texas HFMA’s three chapters
combined to offer statewide sponsorships.
Only those statewide sponsors can exhibit
at the TX State Conference.
Stay in contact. By adding membership
price into sponsorship fee all sponsors
become members and thus are
connected with the organization.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR
THE HEALTHCARE EVENT
INDUSTRY 
HEALTHCARE
43

7 EVENT SPONSORSHIP
LEADERS SHARE
THEIR
ADVICE
What’s Standing Between You
and Your Ideal Sponsors?
EVENT SPONSORSHIP LEADERS ADVICE - 1
Meg Fasy
Principal, FAZEFWD
Meg has worked with some of the biggest brands out there,
and her career spans several markets including hotel,
CVB, industry associations, event technology and strategic
partnerships, where she has been both a buyer and seller.
Meg is best known for motivating sales and marketing
teams, driving strategy and connecting people. She started
FazeFWD, a sponsorship management company, because
she saw the need to elevate the conversations between
organizers and brand partners for the mutual goal of
increasing attendee engagement.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO SELL EVENT SPONSORSHIP
IN 2019?
There are two challenges that we come up against regularly: timing and competition.
44

As more and more organizations are seeing the value in face to face meetings, more
events are being created to match the internal demand. However, many of these
meetings are happening in the short-term, missing the potential sponsor’s budget
period.
In addition to financial constraints, staffing to activate sponsorships is also a timing
issue.
Competition is an increasing challenge for growing revenue and your sponsorship
ecosystem. Sponsors are being asked to sponsor more shows and increase their
level of engagement but their internal budgets aren’t necessarily increasing at the
same rate.
WHAT TOOLS ARE YOU INVESTING IN FOR 2019?
One focus is on matchmaking tools, specifically those that provide crowdsourced
learning and networking at events. Another is communication tools. We are seeing a
growing need for a quicker and an easier way for attendees to get information.
WHAT TRENDS ARE DEFINING EVENT SPONSORSHIP IN 2019?
The trends that we are seeing are around sustainability, collaboration and activities.
We suggest to every client that they allow us to create unique opportunities that will
enable their attendees to feel more engaged. People want to feel as though their
time was used to improve either themselves, others or a cause.
//
What Event Sponsors Want
from your Event
Bobbie Carlton
Founder, Carlton PR & Marketing
Bobbie Carlton is the founder of Carlton PR & Marketing,
a boutique integrated marketing agency. They focus on
efficiently delivering marketing results for startups and small
companies, and also offer a combination of PR, marketing
programs, social media marketing, and content creation.
She is also the founder of Innovation Nights and Innovation
Women, and is a speaker bureau for entrepreneurial and
technical women, and an award-winning marketing, PR and
social media professional.
45

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO SELL EVENT
SPONSORSHIP IN 2019?
Selling event sponsorship is quite challenging. In addition to running a killer event
for attendees, you need to balance the needs and wishes of the sponsors - and
these are sometimes contradictory to those of the attendees. In all things there
needs to be balance.
For example, there’s often little more than a sponsor would like than to spend the
entire event pitching and selling their products and services. Attendees are rarely
there to learn just about the sponsors. Sponsors often want your list and emails
but attendees are not interested in getting a lot of emails about the same event -
consolidated emails helps prevent fatigue.
You also need to balance servicing the sponsors and focusing on running a great
event. A high maintenance sponsor can take time away from the event itself. On
the other hand, we want to work closely with our sponsors in order to improve
everyone’s experience. Because our Mass Innovation Nights events are usually
held inside our sponsors’ local offices, our team is actively looking for unique
opportunities and experiences we can offer our guests.
In terms of the actual sales process, we need to connect with the right people
inside a company. Sometimes the right person is in HR, or marketing, or PR, or
an innovation group. We never know who will have budget and a goal or program
that coincides with what we offer. We need to find this person, discover their goal
and convert them into our champion.
And then there are the things we all struggle with, the ability to get everything
done in a world where it seems like there is a never-ending stream of emails and
phone calls, How do you manage your time and an overflowing inbox? There are
not enough hours in the day to get everything done.
Our events are social media powered product launch events. We live on Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn and drive hundreds of thousands of views through
social, email and our website. So, it stands to reason that we invest in tools
that enhance our social media game, drive social media amplification and bring
people to our website to see all the new products (and learn about our sponsors
too). At the same time, we’re investing in tools that enable our team to better
collaborate - sharing information, documents, tasks. We’re looking at how we can
make better use of our time as well.
We’ve been working with different types of tools to offer webinars and other
remote events. We need tools that can support hundreds of users.
I’ve been personally experimenting with scheduling tools - tools that allow us to
schedule appointments with a minimum of back and forth. These make it easier
for us to schedule calls with both potential sponsors and the product launchers
we work with - the best use of our time. Today’s world is so busy and so many
emails, phone calls, etc. It’s hard to manage it all.
46

WHAT TRENDS ARE DEFINING EVENT SPONSORSHIP IN
2019?
In 2019 more sponsors than ever are looking for unique opportunities and
unique events. No one wants the same old, same old. Sponsors want something
different, We’re also seeing more call for invite-only events. Smaller events, more
exclusive, with higher level attendees, are what more event sponsors want.
More and more event sponsors have specific metrics they are looking to hit.
Very few sponsors are coming to us and asking for air cover and brand visibility
- or should I say, very few cite brand visibility as their primary goal. They want
specific leads and want to to hit specific metrics.
Event sponsorship itself is growing and becoming a larger part of a brand’s
overall marketing budget. More marketing people are looking at events, live
events, as a way to connect with their audiences. My theory is that so many
companies are doing more and more with digital marketing and collecting more
leads. There comes a time when they have to get face-to-face with those leads
and a one-to-many event is the best option. Tools that allow anyone to easily
collect RSVPs and manage tools help this effort.
//
Boost Your Sponsor’s
ROI
Megan Ridgway
Senior Specialist of Event Operations, S&P Global Market
As the Senior Specialist of Event Operations at S&P Global
Market Intelligence, Megan is currently working in corporate
events, she specializes in coordinating events, creative
design, and marketing. Her background ranges from working
weddings, catering, arena management and university
athletics. Outside of events, she loves going to the beach,
wineries and football games.
47

The biggest challenge in selling event sponsorships is making sure the sponsor
feels like they are getting the best return on their investment. It does not matter
if the event is a fundraiser or a conference the sponsor does not want to waste
their money on something they do not find value in. It is important to make sure
that every single opportunity to add value to their sponsorship is noted which will
help make the sell easier.
Always make sure they will be featured properly. This could be anything from
where and how signage is going to be displayed to where they will be seated at
the event. Depending on your event try to find little to no cost items that can help
elevate the deal and make their sponsorship unique. If you are already planning
to have digital signage, adding them is a no brainer. Offer the sponsor the option
of featuring their brand using their own promotional materials at your event. It
will cost you nothing and they will be able to share information about upcoming
promotions, events, products and contact information with all your attendees.
Something simple like having their name tag be in a different color or have a
sponsor ribbon attached is also a great way to distinguish them from the group
and makes them feel special.
Right now the biggest tools we are investing in are on site event management
applications. Ones that cover multiple aspects (registration, website, email,
onsite, checkin, etc.) are what we are targeting right now to go with a one-stop-
shop user experience.
What trends are defining event sponsorship in 2019?
The biggest trend I am seeing right now are unique event sponsorship
opportunities. Any spin (small or large) that you can incorporate into your
sponsorship makes it seem like a completely new opportunity and one to take
advantage of.
//
48

Let the Data Do the
Talking
Noel McWillliams
Sponsorships Manager, Cvent
Noel is the Sponsorships Manager at Cvent and is
passionate about facilitating strategic partnerships that
helps companies meet their goals and objectives. She began
her career in non-profits at the Association of Corporate
Travel Executives (ACTE) and prior to joining Cvent, Noel was
the Director of Business Development at FlightStats. Noel is
founding member Women in Travel, which was acquired by
the Global Business Travel Association in 2018 and recently
served as the Oregon Affiliate Chair for the Pancreatic
Cancer Action Network.
GDPR. When approaching anyone for sponsorship dollars, their first question is,
“who attends”? Seems reasonable. However, to stay GDPR compliant, sponsorship
executives should no longer send first name, last name, title and company (let alone
contact details!). At first, we saw this as a threat, but the past 6-12 months has
allowed us to address this differently. Using non-personal data, we can breakdown
the attendee: which industry they are from, where they do business, their budget,
combined with a standard list of companies, has allowed us to create personas. It
allows a prospective sponsor to comprehend the attendee in a new way and is far
more powerful than a long list of titles and companies. GDPR has also challenged
our program post-event. Over the years, receiving the complete attendee list had
become perhaps the largest sponsorship deliverable, removing that has been
extremely costly. Nevertheless, we have found ways to showcase a return on
investment to our sponsors without handing over personal data through unique
onsite opportunities that provides more 1:1 time with prospects.
Like most challenges, changing the way we look at it, has helped our event thrive
and become more exclusive – which is something sponsors want.
Performance Reports that are powered by Data. Data. Data.
Believe it or not, many organizations don’t invest properly in measuring the
return on an event, so it is up to us to prove that value to them pre-event, during
49

the event and post-event. We, as sponsorship executives, sit on an enormous
amount of data (when using event technologies, like Cvent) that, when sliced and
diced properly, provides valuable, tangible and executable data that justifies a
sponsors investment. This data has the opportunity to power a robust, complex
Return on Experience (or Investment, or Engagement) Report that then helps us
retain that sponsor and ideally more revenue.
Personally, I have been manually putting together Sponsorship Performance
Reports for years and each year it gets stronger with data I able to extract. I am
confident it has helped my sponsorship program (both with Cvent and in the non-
profit space) with retention. To be able to package photos, impressions, leads,
conference highlights and more for the decision maker is a huge advantage when
fighting for sponsorship dollars. Not only do I send it post-event, but again in Q3
(and maybe even Q4) when they are budgeting, to remind them of the value they
received. Sponsors are very appreciative of this report, as they don’t have to go
back and pull these details and remind themselves what they did, let alone what
was the return on the event. Make it easy to get the renewal (and more)!
2019?
Experiences. Generating new, unique, creative, lead-producing opportunities
are a must. Take the average (and sometime boring) Attendee Lounge, that no
one wants to sit at because they don’t want to engage in a conversation or have
their badge scanned, etc. Now, create a backyard BBQ, complete with corn hole
tournament, branded koozies with a beverage, small bites, create an experience
that will drive leads, provide positive branding and that your attendees want to
be a part of, those are the kind of ideas that sponsors are seeking and expecting
us to dream up and pitch. We all know, most sponsorship decision makers
are marketers, therefore you must think like a marketer. You need to not only
understand the company’s’ goals, objectives, what regions are the looking to
grow in, etc., but also the needs of the marketer, do they want thought-leadership,
networking, 1:1 time, branding, etc. Find out, then build an experience from start
(pre-event) to finish (post-event) for them to visualize – this allows the sponsorship
to come to life and not a flat opportunity they read in a prospectus.
Involvement. This is a trend that has been around for decades, especially for
high dollar sponsorships, but something we are starting to deal with more
and more. Sponsoring organizations don’t sign a contact and show up at the
event. They want to know every detail and every opportunity that they have at
the event ( in addition to pre-event and post-event). Keeping with the Attendee
Lounge sponsorship noted above, they want to know the flow of the event –
what direction are the attendees coming from, what hours are expected to be
busier – so they can staff accordingly, they want to know what time are meals
and networking breaks - in case they should arrange drinks or snacks, etc. As
sponsorship professionals, we should embrace this trend, their engagement
and involvement means they feel as invested as us, to make the most out of the
event, because there is nothing worse when an organization gives you dollars
and doesn’t prepare – and says, “we didn’t see the value.”
//
50

Interactive Experiences
Are Here To Stay
Gina Jahn
Regional Event Sales Manager, MidMrkt Suite
As Regional Event Sales Manager at MidMrkt Suite, Gina is a
seasoned event professional, with over 18 years experience
organizing tech events (from 20-2000 people). She boasts
a strong background in event and conference organization,
content development and organization, speaker sourcing,
event marketing, strategic planning, attendee experience,
and total event logistics.
Sponsors have a lot to choose from by way of events - so how do you convince
them that your event will yield them the highest ROI? The challenges I foresee will
be having enough runway before the events to build the relationships with new
vendors in order to build their trust and convert them to a customer.
TIME! Building segments of time into your daily or weekly schedule to dedicate
towards prospecting new leads. Building in time to build relationships. Building in
time to build content that helps show sponsors the value you can offer them and
their clients.
2019?
EXPERIENTIAL.INTERACTIVE. Many sponsors are over spending tons of money
shipping big booths and heavy product displays. They want to build relationships in
that short amount of time an attendee will be at their booth. I have seen more and
more companies more willing to create a booth experience via interactive activities
or more heavily focused on F&B than in previous years. Offer them experience
options that they may have otherwise not thought of.
//
51

Make the Most of Social
Media This Year
Jason Koop
President, Canadian Special Events Media Group
Influencer, story-teller and President of Canadian Special
Events Media Group, Jason Koop left a very structured
corporate gig six years ago for the world of live events, and
life has never been the same.
“I used to complain about the pressures of upper
management and the stress of long days and while I’m
not discounting those stressors,.... nothing can quite
prepare you for the stress of executing a live experience,
be that a corporate activation, a wedding, a concert, a
charity Gala, or a 5000 person conference.”
One of the biggest challenges in securing sponsor dollars is the lack of effective
messaging and marketing the one looking for sponsorship is willing to do. I’ve sat in
hundreds of meetings mapping out strategies to drive attendee, guest or exhibitor
registrations and almost none on connecting our message with potential sponsors.
Instead a companies build sponsor kits filled with copy that’s meticulously written,
edited, argued over and edited again while the actual value is underwhelming or
“arrogantly implied.” This is especially true for industry specific or association efforts
who too often assume the value of their members or audience. Then they randomly
email, cold call and blast out kits.
Sponsorship dollars can be more valuable than ticket or exhibit sales because
they’re tied to a different set of deliverables and not limited by space, your venue,
or your market. So, it’s important to have a strategy from the start. That means a
message, a marketing solution, a social media solution and a sponsorship kit with
short form visual content that easy to digest and where the value is clear.
The second biggest challenge is getting them to call you back, and my response
to that is stop calling people cold. There are so many ways to warm up that
relationship before you make that call and it’s all about social media.
Make a hit list, find out where they’re active socially and start engaging with them
52

by commenting, sharing or liking their content. There is some science to this. Social
media validation is a powerful tool and an undervalued marketing solution. Use this
leverage to create a relationship and that cold call becomes a warm lead.
We feel that chatbots are finally smart enough to return some of the early promises.
For this reason, we will be utilizing chatbots for CSE Live for the first time.
Social media is now driving our inbound sales and so this year we will be
investigating platforms that allow us to better use coordinate, manage and execute
our strategies
The future is voice activated and mobile, so we will be evolving our platforms to
make for a better interface, one that works effectively on mobile
2019?
The days of a sponsor dropping his pants for a logo on a website, or a “thanks to
our sponsor” page in a hand out that gets tossed out before they make it back to
the car are long gone and good riddance. Today it really is about quantifying the
value, proving the attention, qualifying the audience and measuring the return. If
you can do this you will succeed cause 90% of the sponsor packages I see come
across my desk fail to deliver on what should be a baseline.
If you would rather lead then simply succeed, then customization and collaboration
had better be important to your process.
Find out your client’s pain points and if at all possible find a solution. Be generous
with your advice and take the time to learn their needs -- are they launching a new
brand, or embracing a new message? Know the key data points and when it’s all
said in done, ask the client if he has any of his own ideas.
If you can get that person sitting across the table from you imagining how they
would connect with your audience, how they might maximize the attention and
you’ve created a sponsor that’s invested emotionally, creatively and ultimately
financially.
//
53

Find the Sponsorship Strategy
that Works for you
Maayke Könemann
Sponsoring and Event Marketing Specialist, ING
Maayke started her career in trade shows at Telegraaf Media
Groep, one of Holland’s largest publishers, and later on at
RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. Over the past 10 years,
she has been working in various sponsorship and event
related positions with ING, a multinational financial institution
with 52,000 employees, offering retail and wholesale banking
services to customers in over 40 countries. Here she has
been responsible for numerous international client events,
such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Cup
for the Dutch national football team, and Sibos, the leading
financial conference. Within her current position, she is
a strategic advisor for senior executives on relationship
marketing & sponsoring policy for wholesale banking.
The biggest challenge is to create as much value as possible. And underlying
there are several challenges.
Insights – data – processes – ROI – objectives
We can sell sponsorships better when there is a data driven approach in place.
Collect data from the activations like: target group, objectives, costs, show/
no-show percentage, budget vs actuals, client satisfaction rate etc. When your
reports are based on data, not only activation by activation but on an annual
basis, you can provide proper insights. And decision makers love insights. This
enables you to elevate the discussion to a more strategic level and sponsorships
as a marketing tool will sell itself.
Like many other companies, we want to measure a clear ROI. Therefore we have
the ambition to create a tool that can calculate event ROI but also speeds up the
communication processes and is connected with our CRM system. Furthermore
sustainability is playing a more and more important role. It is currently a trend but
54

will soon become the norm in the industry. For events this means that we started
to measure the CO2 footprint of all events in 2018, this is a pilot in the NL. Based
on the measurements of 2018, we are going to develop a reduction policy.
2019?
Strategy – Sponsorships are still seen as a cost centre where I believe they can
work for you as a huge income generator, as long as there is strategy in place.
And with strategy in place, I mean whether sponsorships are in line with the
company’s strategy, focus on the right target audience really knowing in depth
who you focus on and address a relevant message. I believe companies will add
focus to their sponsorship strategy and choose a few that work well rather than a
scattered pallet of sponsorships.
Sponsorships will become more data driven. Still too often sponsorship
activations lack any data background. They are organised from a gut feeling point
of view. When there is a data driven approach, it is easier to make decisions
fact based. As marketing in general is shifting to a more data driven approach,
sponsorship for sure will do so too.
Purpose-driven sponsorships. I think the trend of CSR related sponsorships will
continue as companies don’t want to ‘just’ spend a lot of money. They want to
make an impact on society. If they choose for a purpose-driven sponsorship, it will
contribute to a brand in a positive way.
55

By analyzing 350 events of all sizes across four verticals,
we found some important components of successful
sponsorships. Pricing is often adjusted based on status,
type of sponsor, and timing. The bulk of sponsorships
offer both value and awareness.
While most events offer a greater percentage of packaged sponsorships, a la carte
options are still fairly popular. As long as the trend of personalization keeps up, we
can expect cafeteria-style selection will be a popular alternative to pre-packaged
sponsorships.
Ready to put some of these trends and ideas to work in your own event?
Here is a recap of the trends we looked at:
1. Offer Incentives (e.g. discounts for sponsoring future events).
2. Allow cafeteria-style sponsorship options so sponsors needn’t come up
with it all on their own but can still create a personalized sponsorship of
choice.
3. Use sponsorships that encompass both a branding awareness
component and one that is value-based. Knowing what a potential
IN CONCLUSION
SO
Introduction 13 Trends Industry Level Analysis 7 Event Sponsorship Leaders In Conclusion
sponsor is most interested in from a goal perspective can help
you decide the right percentage of awareness and value-based
sponsorships.
4. Decide on the appeal of your current sponsor package names. Can
you brand them by using theme-inspired names or words that will drive
interest?
5. Consider incorporating membership into the sponsorship if you’re a
member organization. Require purchasing a membership or simply give
it away as part of the sponsorship price.
6. Offer more snack break or lounge sponsorships. They’re popular
across several fields.
7. Use a loyalty program to ensure continued support.
8. Try virtual sponsorships for ways to involve sponsors who can’t attend
or man a booth.
9. Implement a larger spread in your tier pricing variants to increase
revenue.
10. Consider a blend for future events. If your event is struggling, opening
it up to a hybrid model with crossover subject matter may not only
attract a different type of attendees but sponsors as well.
Event planners admit that sponsorship is one of the most challenging parts of
their jobs, but what these trends and examples show is that many event planners
are successfully embracing these new ideas.
56

This report is brought to you by EventMB Studio.
EventMB Studio is a boutique content marketing service that produces top quality
digital content assets for market leaders in the event and hospitality industry.
Get in touch - contact@eventmanagerblog.com - for a free consultation.
EVENTMB
STUDIO TEAM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EventMB Studio is powered by EventMB.com, the most influential website
in the meeting and event industry. Founded in 2007, EventMB has been
widely referenced as the go-to resource for innovative event professionals
wanting to learn more about trends in the event planning industry.
57

Cvent,Inc.isaleadingmeetings,events,andhospitality
software company with more than 3,700 employees,
25,000 customers, and 300,000 users worldwide.
Cvent, Inc. is a leading meetings, events, and hospitality software company
with more than 3,700 employees, 25,000 customers, and 300,000 users
worldwide.
The Cvent Event Cloud offers software solutions to event planners and
marketers for online event registration, venue selection, event management
and marketing, onsite solutions, and attendee engagement. Cvent’s suite
of products automate and simplify the planning process to maximize the
impact of events.
CVENT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Cvent Hospitality Cloud partners with hotels and venues to help them
drive group and corporate travel business. Hotels use the Cvent Hospitality
Cloud’s digital marketing tools and software solutions to win business
through Cvent’s sourcing platforms and to service their customers directly,
efficiently and profitably – helping them grow and own their business.
Cvent solutions optimize the entire event management value chain and
have enabled clients around the world to manage hundreds of thousands
of meetings and events. For more information, please visit Cvent.com, or
connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
58

59
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and provides Continuing Education credits for learning activities.
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DISCLAIMER
While this report has been sponsored, EventMB’s analysis is completely unbiased.
Publishing date: February 27, 2019

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