Can You Leverage Luxury Sponsorship?
We are in a dynamic and changed environment for sponsorship across many sectors, but this might be a boon time for luxury sponsorship. That’s because the combination of a glut of luxury brands, a growing aspirational audience, large numbers of influencers, and unabated growth in social media content has produced new opportunities. At the top-end of luxury, there are venues, events, and high-brow gatherings where sponsorship alignment is also attainable. If, however, you are unfamiliar, developing and maintaining sponsor relationships can be the most difficult task in business.
If you are an emerging luxury brand, an influencer, or even a solo entrepreneur in luxury, it is important to consider how you will participate in the sponsorship ecosystem – what your objectives are, and how best to achieve them. That’s because you can play in the sponsorship game, but you must understand it. Sponsorship relationships are built on shared goals, a strong network, trust, and results, but as weighty as sponsorship can be, that does not mean landing a sponsor will be difficult. The key is picking the right partner, entering the sponsorship conversation at the right time, which means well in advance, and making clear the value you bring, so you can be included in your sponsor’s strategic and financial plans. Then it’s about working through the exact phases of activation and execution. The greatest difficulty in sponsorship is in the evaluation and execution phases, where strategy and plans must be airtight.
What’s interesting about sponsorship today is how many options exist on all sides. The relatively new, and adaptable role of influencer offers a broad range of personalities and specialized content. It comes with access to enthusiastic and highly targeted audiences impacted by influencer recommendations and preferred choices. I often receive overtures from sponsors, exploring how we might work together, and frankly, I have only entertained them recently, as the inquiries have increased. I am also engaged in multiple sponsorship discussions between small luxury brands among my membership community and potential partners. Just last night I was on the telephone with another company asking for my advice on exploring how they might heighten awareness of their luxury lifestyle brand.
I have been engaged in sponsorship discussions since the 1980s when as a media executive I was unexpectedly asked to address changes to the agreement with a financial sponsor of the electronic ticker tape in Grand Central Terminal here in New York, fed by my company Reuters. In the 1990s, I launched a lifestyle brand with the help of many sponsors, eager to get in on the cool of diverse, online content. The headline in the industry magazine, AdAge read: “Urban Sports Network, catering to young African American sports fans, was launched last week with 16 sponsors on board.” It summarized months of effort, conversations, and agreements between my sports media company and brand names like American Airlines, Loews Cineplex, and BOSS.
I think the big and hidden opportunity in sponsorship is the leverage it can bring. That is also what I see many entrepreneurs and marketing executives fail to capitalize on. First, sponsorship provides enormous leverage when it comes to aligning with industry trends, advances, and culture. When a brand becomes associated with a personality or product, the qualities of both rub off on each other. This can be good, or it can be bad, which is why relationships must be chosen carefully, but when the right choice is made it can be magical. For example, I’ve seen the relationships between luxury brands like Rolex, and professional sports result in brilliant storytelling and buyer interest.
The other point of leverage in sponsorship is business growth. Rather than incremental steps, if you are the business or event being sponsored, you can leap forward with the clout and financial support of a well-respected sponsor. For the sponsor, they instantly get street cred in your category. This happened for the telecommunications company Sprint when it aligned with my company to help supply the technology we developed for the NFL. They later went on to become the official sponsor of the NFL and could point to multiple steps they had taken to grow the sport, including our contract.
This brings me to the third aspect of sponsorship relationships, which is how with vision they can become stepping stones to more lucrative opportunities. I have taken the smallest relationships, and things others might not see as assets, and turned them into large deals with sponsors. There is a trick to seeing what you have and being imaginative and resourceful to grow sponsorship relationships. I have had sponsors underwrite dinners where I’ve been the featured personality, and many other situations you might not automatically see as sponsorship opportunities.
Whatever you do, I recommend that you consider how forging relationships with sponsors can improve your business. The right sponsor can add the lift you need.
Want to learn more about leveraging sponsorship for your brand? Write me: info@andretaylor.com
At Taylor Insight we help luxury and premier businesses excel and grow by attracting, retaining, and growing with affluent clients. We provide exceptional strategic, marketing, sales, and service guidance, and a portfolio of high-impact learning programs.
