Transcript Relationships: Community, Sponsorships, and Stewardships

Reaching New Heights . . .
Relationships: Community,
Sponsorships, and Stewardship
Chapter XIII
Integrating Marketing in the Leisure Industry
Value of Relationships
• Fundamental to effective marketing plans
• Provide the insight needed to address specific needs
• Help gain buy-in to delivering the quality that is
expected and deserved
• Create long term communication between board
members, employees, volunteers and consumers
which result in achieving agency objectives
Partnerships
Partnership relationship is between at least two agencies
that combine efforts or resources for some type of
mutual benefit.
Value of partnerships:
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Addition or expansion of resources
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Reduction of service duplication
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Increase in an organization’s visibility and credibility
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Enhancement of relationships
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Increase in networking opportunities
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Development of friendships among staff in different
organizations
Elements for Effective Partnerships
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Leadership support
Target market
Workforce
Cultural fit
Goals and mission
On-going communication
Formalization of partnership arrangements
Cross Promotion Partnership
(Co-branding)
Two or more agencies leverage their resources to
ultimately attract and better serve target markets.
Co-branding partnerships can be used to:
• Gain access to each others’ consumer base
• Provide more to existing consumers experiences and
keep them loyal
• Expand the consumer base to reach those with
additional offerings
• Use promotional/marketing dollars more efficiently and
effectively.
Community Relations
Community relations is developing partnerships with
local “public service” (community, service and social)
agencies to communicate with targeted markets.
• Gaining free coverage or exposure from any number of
community sources where the agency is viewed as a
positive contributor to the local area, industry and
profession
• Example: Involvement and volunteerism in related
professional and industry associations
Sample Community Relation
Activities
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Community service columns
Community service presentations
Organization membership (and participation)
Service on advisory boards
Information booths at other events
Attending and planning community events
Attending and planning charitable events
Volunteering/providing leadership for local,
professional and industry agencies/associations
• Cause related support activities
Cause Related Marketing
Agencies invest marketing resources in cause-related
issues and activities
Benefits:
• Enhanced brand awareness
• Enhanced brand loyalty
• Consumer brand switching
Sponsorship
Sponsorship is a cash or in-kind fee paid to an agency
in return for access to the exploitable commercial
potential associated with the agency (McKnight,
2003).
Agencies solicit sponsors or become sponsors to:
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Achieve broad agency objectives such as
enhanced image
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Achieve specific target market objectives
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Leverage media and marketing communication
exposure with target markets
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Align themselves with a partner to be perceived as
one verses two separate agencies
Types of Sponsorships
On-site sampling
On-site signage
Event partnership
On-site usage partnership
Brand awareness in promotional literature
Agency privatization partnership
Value of Sponsorships
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Expanded marketing efforts when associated with a
positively viewed brand
Enhanced image and reputation with targeted markets
Altered or enhanced public perception
Build business trade relations and good will
Greater agency awareness, revenue, market share
and participation
Improved employee morale and relations
Agency differentiation from competitors
Improved stakeholder support
(Bennett, 2002; Clark, Cornwell & Pruitt; Verity, 2002)
Approaching Sponsorship
Relationships
Sponsorships are like any dating relationship (Bunting,
2004):
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Grab the sponsor’s attention
Court the potential sponsor
Ask the potential sponsor for a date
Get to know the sponsor first
Follow up after the date
Commit
Do what you say
Long term relationship
Identifying Successful Sponsors
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Identify a target list of potential sponsors
Learn everything about the potential sponsor
Understand how the sponsors and the agencies
are similar
Identify potential mutually beneficial opportunities
where each can have a win-win situation
Stewardships
Stewardship represents the agency’s specific decisions
designed to protect and preserve long-term
relationships with targeted markets and achieve
marketing objectives.
External Stewardship
Internal Stewardship
Sample of Stewardship Related
Activities
External (Consumers)
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Loyalty programs
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Consumer gifts
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Consumer notes (e.g. thank you, etc.)
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Verbal compliments
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WOW – do something unexpected!
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Host a consumer appreciation event
Sample of Stewardship Related
Activities
Internal (Employees)
• Employee incentives tied to performance
• Employee gifts
• Employee notes (e.g. thank you, etc.)
• WOW – do something unexpected!
• Host an employee appreciation event
• Host annual employee get-togethers
Stewardship Examples
Target market:
• Ask a community member to conduct a mystery
shopping experience to better learn of what a particular
market segment experiences
• Develop comment cards and make them available for
visitors
• Call a patron after he/she has visited to see how they
enjoyed his/her experience
• Mail random surveys community members to identify the
quality of the department
• Do something special for people . . .WOW THEM
Stewardship Examples
Employees:
• Provide employees incentives for good performance
• Send a thank you to an employee for providing great
guest service
• Give an employee an extra day off for superior
performance
• Mail employee birthday/work anniversary cards
• Conduct an exit evaluation for employees that are
leaving your employment
• Empower staff to handle guest situations
• Provide staff the training necessary to be experts at their
jobs
• Ensure employees are easily identifiable (nametags,
uniforms, standards for appearance, etc.)