BOASTS AND TOASTS ~ Making the Most of a Sponsorship Opportunity

I’m happy to say that I’m still learning.

Like many in PR, I consider sponsorships as a tool to get my company’s (or client’s) name before an appropriate audience. Now I see I've been short-sighted about making the most of the opportunity.

Getting your name as a sponsor on the program, into advance materials, included in press releases and on the website is the standard approach. Providing some simple promotional materials to put on a side table or into gift bags in another layer (though I remain convinced that 98% of recipients toss the literature in a gift bag). But with some creative thought much more is possible, as I saw at the PR Woman of the Year award luncheon recently.

PRofessional Solutions, LLC is the Washington area’s only PR temp service and we sponsor programs and scholarships through Washington Women in Public Relations, the Public Relations Society of American National Capital Chapter and the Association for Women in Communications DC Chapter to reach our target clients and prospective temps. In addition to the name placements above we’ve found it helpful to include a useful promotional item in the gift bags of events we sponsor; our post-it notes, which include our contact information and a list of services, have triggered client calls over the years.

While I love getting good pens and highlighters (and this year a really excellent ice scraper!) in gift bags, I toss much else and almost nothing from the bag stays on my desk to remind me about the sponsor who donated it or what they could do for PRofessional Solutions, LLC. (That useful ice scraper is under the seat in my car now.) When I ask colleagues they describe similar scenarios. (A notable exception, I’m happy to report, is the business card cases which The Capital Buzz donated to the WWPR PR Woman of the Year gift bags last year; I’ve met at least half-a-dozen people using them since then.)

But this year I was impressed by a display on the side table for literature from sponsors at the Woman of the Year luncheon. I stopped providing materials for the table from PRofessional Solutions, LLC and we Boss Ladies’ stopped bringing stuff when we sponsor a Capital Buzz table because we never see people visit the table or pick anything up. Now I realize we could and should re-think the materials table.

Fletcher Prince had the good sense not to put flat literature on a flat table, but to create a large, standing display and sign that could be seen across the room. With it they included a gift basket of goodies and a way to participate in a drawing for that basket in exchange for agreeing to be on their mailing list. Simple, and brilliant!

This display gave Fletcher Prince a chance to show off the talents they want prospective clients to know about -- their ability to generate a creative buzz, use of good design, finding ways to drive people to their or their clients' services, establishing two-way communication.