Engaging consumers through sponsorships and event marketing has become a strategy of preference for the savviest of brand marketers. Everyday, more marketers are realizing measurable returns by aligning their brands with the passions of their consumers. From grass roots soccer to cancer walks, marketers are creating lifelong bonds with their consumers.

But as more marketers understand the benefits of sponsorship and event marketing, its very success presents a hurdle. It is almost the NASCAR effect. What went from a clean, uncluttered affiliation has become a sea of logos and diminished impact. Today there are bidding wars for sponsorship of key age groups, in youth soccer!

However, there is an approach that you can utilize to create a distinctive presence in the market and achieve OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategy, Measures) commitments. We call it Creating Ownable Properties.

Creating an ownable property is not a new approach, but it is one that many marketers have been reluctant to tackle due to perceived risks or perhaps uncertainty on how to begin. This is surprising given the opportunity for greater return on investment, stronger linkages to consumers, and truer brand integrity than traditional sponsorship.

In its purest form an ownable property is any event where the client is the owner and has complete control over locations, venues, scheduling, content, marketing, and sanctioning of the event. This could be anything from a proprietary concert series to a golf tournament to a fundraiser. In effect, the marketer becomes the league, the association, or the charity.

The concept of an ownable property can be expanded to include assets or affiliations with existing properties, it can be an event or activity which is proprietary to the client but lives within an existing sponsorship; not between periods contest or an in-game promotion, but rather something the client has developed and has the legal right to any venue.

To simplify let us think of ownable properties on three levels:

1. Proprietary: event is created and owned by the client with little or no external sanctioning or partnerships.
2. Affiliated: event is created and owned by the client but utilizing the assets of a sponsorship or association.
3. Programming: event is created and owned by the client but it lives within a larger event or sponsorship.

Examples of Proprietary events would include Nike’s RUNTO or Clean & Clear’s Best Friend Challenge high school basketball event. An Affiliated property would be the Esso Legends of Hockey which featured partnerships with the Hockey Hall of Fame, NHL, NHLPA and NHL Alumni; Family Channel’s Snow Days partnering with community Parks & Recreation departments, or BC Hydro’s Generation 2010 event that leveraged their association with the Olympic bid. Programming would be SuperPages proprietary Event Center which attends events ranging from the F1 race in Montreal to the Merritt Music Festival in BC or Powerade’s Thirst for Soccer which attends dozens of youth soccer tournaments from Halifax to Nelson.

In each of these cases the marketers listed have not simply spent money to buy a sponsorship and sat back to observe. Rather they have utilized a strategically disciplined approach to determine what interests and motivates their consumer and how to create an idea that capitalizes on that and builds their brands. Think of it as a “Platform” approach.

I use a pyramid model (see diagram) which is comprised of three levels. At the top we want to establish LEGITIMACY for the property. If we are developing a property that is an extension of a high profile sponsorship, that can provide legitimacy. If it is a stand-alone property we can either get legitimacy from the brand attributes or by utilizing authentic stakeholders to design or create the event.

With the second level we wish to create PROMOTIONAL ASSETS for the property. This ranges from the marketing of a property such as an event web site to potential retail promotional support such as tickets or merchandise prizes from the event. A key component of this strategy area is to build and implement a string PR campaign.

The third or base level is the GRASS ROOTS level. This is where you will get to your masses and could include promotional activities, regional qualifiers for events, the “stops” of a tour, etc.

As a marketer you need to assess whether you want to build a property or external an existing sponsorship or develop something completely on your own. Every situation will be different.

But at a minimum you need to build something ownable. If you are just sending your cheque and your logo CD off to a property, then you are wasting shareholder’s money. If you really believe it makes sense then I suggest the next time you buy 30 second ads on a national television network, you tell the station to do the creative for you!