Evaluate Seasons, Not Shows

Back when I was selling venue sponsorship packages, we'd perform a ritual before any big pitch or client renewal meeting. The morning of the meeting, we'd place a call to our talent buyer, and proceed to beg, bribe, or otherwise cajole him into giving us an approved list of potential talent that would be performing at our venue that season. This necessity of this dance was to due to scheduling - we were tasked with securing our sponsorships well before we had anything closely resembling a season to work with. Without having a few big names to hang our hat on, it was often impossible to get a sponsor to commit their marketing dollars to us. But if we could dangle a name like "Dave Matthews Band" in front of a marketing director, you'd nearly hook them. After all, THEY loved the band, knew that they sell out virtually every show, and who knows, maybe they'd even get to see the show themselves under the guise of "auditing their program". They'd write the check right there if they could...

Unfortunately, to their own detriment.

Just as I mentioned in a previous post (regarding talent booking), the fascination with the "big name" act can often work counter to your purposes. In sponsorship, this tension is almost exclusively due to money, and who receives it. Most large acts usually have their own roster of "tour" sponsors, which at minimum will have to co-exist with your venue sponsorship. However, with some of the most coveted acts such as the aforementioned Dave Matthews or Jimmy Buffett, your house sponsorship will often be compromised to accommodate the tour sponsor, or in extreme cases deactivated for the event all together. Likewise, you may be struck from venue advertising related to the event, have your signage covered, and your presenting status disregarded This will usually only be the case with competing sponsors (automakers, beverages, etc), but has occurred with all house sponsors at one point or another. After all, why would the artist want to make the sponsors that paid THEM compete with those who haven't, when one line in a contract can simply make that competition "go away" for the night? Most talent buyers worth their salary fight like hell to get such clauses removed from local contracts, but the fact remains that if it comes down to your sponsorship program or the concert, you'll likely be the one home watching re-runs that warm summer evening.

The takeaway is this - when evaluating whether or not to sign on to a venue sponsorship program, you're best bet is to completely drop these "large shows" from your assessment altogether. Look at the core of the season's shows (either as established or through the venue's past history), and look at these large shows as "outliers" to the model. If the core programming fits with your marketing plan, then go for it..the big acts may simply prove to be a cherry on top of a (hopefully) successful sundae. However, if the rest of the season doesn't fit with your marketing direction, don't sign on to a questionable season for the promise of those “big nights” to balance things out. All to often, they shine less brightly than you've imagined, if at all.