ROI Measurement For Sponsorships Found Lacking

by Steve McClellan , November 18, 2013

More than one-third of marketers are unhappy with techniques for measuring the return on investment (ROI) for sponsorship and event marketing activities.

That’s according to a new survey and report issued by the Association of National Advertisers. The report found that 38% of those surveyed are dissatisfied with their firms’ ability to measure sponsorship/event marketing ROI and about one-third (32%) said they were dissatisfied with their ability to measure Return on Objectives (ROO).

The survey found that the number of companies with dedicated budgets for such measurement is increasing -- 60%, up from 40% in 2010. And those budgets appear to be growing, although they are still relatively low, per the survey. As a percentage of the amount spent to acquire sponsorship rights, measurement budgets have on average risen from 2.3% in 2010 to 5% in 2013.

The metrics that are both highly used and highly valued for measuring return of sponsorship and/or event marketing include the amount of media exposure generated, social media, awareness of brand, awareness of brand’s sponsorship, attitudes towards brand, and lead generation.

Almost three-quarters of respondents feel it is “extremely” or “very” important for their sponsorship and/or event marketing partners to help in the measurement of the results, such as gauging recognition and recall.

Commenting on the survey on the ANA “Marketing Maestros” blog, Group EVP Bill Duggan wrote: “Marketers should ask all their sponsorship and event marketing properties for help with measurement, and write that requirement into contracts. It is important for properties not to just offer a menu of benefits, but to become true partners with marketers and work with them to establish, achieve, and measure business objectives.”

While sponsorship ROI measurement appears to be improving “there is still work to do,” Duggan wrote. “The middling satisfaction …is tied to sub-optimal standards and practices.” Companies should consider getting procurement departments involved, he added, while marketing mix modeling would also help isolate the impact of sponsorship. More on the survey can be found here.

brand marketing, marketing, recall, research, sponsorship

3 comments about "ROI Measurement For Sponsorships Found Lacking".

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Robert Barrows from R.M. Barrows, Inc. Advertising & Public Relations, November 20, 2013 at 12:42 a.m.
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Bob Johnston from SponsorHub, November 21, 2013 at 8:52 a.m.

Great piece. Helping marketers quantify their sponsorship budget deserves the same acute eye as digital and TV spending. Technology can definitely help. The sponsorship industry is deficient in good technology that has existed for years in other silos of marketing.

Dennis O'Malley from ReadyPulse, November 27, 2013 at 10:10 a.m.

At ReadyPulse we have worked with a lot of brand and team managers of sponsored athletes to come up with social ROI, both in terms of the athlete's activity and effectiveness of their social media contribution across platforms. While other medium's are more difficult to measure (TV, Print, In Store) for digital and social, there is no reason why brands can't get social benchmarks on their sponsored talent. A blog post on the topic by a pro triathlete...http://blog.readypulse.com/2013/07/15/top-10-things-every-athlete-should-be-doing-in-social-media/