Optimize Sponsorship Selection Case Study

Background

Using the Brand Keys methodology, predications of the effectiveness of a range of sponsorship options for major US energy retailer KeySpan are made and then tested over a three year period.

Implications

The key implication of this paper is the proof that the Brand Keys approach is an accurate way to predict the ROI effectiveness of sponsorship investment. Using Brand Keys it is possible to test a range of sponsorship options prior to investment and accurately select the one that will generate the largest increase in company revenue prior to making the investment.

Marketers buy sponsorships that are "ideal" for "their" demographics and that have some reasonable connection to the category in which their brand competes. But if we examine the exercise honestly, we must come to the conclusion that this has generally been a "by-the-gut," demographically driven, ROIdeficient decision-process. The Brand Keys approach changes this completely and permits preinvestment calculation of sponsorship effectiveness.

It's not that the concept of inserting the brand values into the sponsorship selection hasn't been talked about before. It's been examined on a qualitative basis, but until now has not been validated on a quantitative basis. Until now, marketers haven't been given the tools to quantitatively predict the ROI for different sponsorship options.