Overbranded

A reality check for all the old-school, rock’n’roll purists out there...the days of the sponsorship-free concert are over. Done. As finished as Charlie Sheen’s career. And contrary to what you may believe, its death was not the result of some corporate money grab (well, mostly, anyway...). It was a survival move. The increased cost of concert production, coupled with the ever-swelling guarantees demanded by many artists meant ticket and concession sales could no longer support the promoters bottom line as they once could. For concerts to continue being a worthwhile (i.e profitable) venture, producers needed to find new ways of generating revenue. Borrowing a page from professional sports teams, promoters and venues embraced corporate sponsorship with overwhelmingly lucrative results. Seeing the money that could be made by dropping their anti-corpo-itarian posturing, the artists soon followed suit. And the new face of rock became...Nike.

After years of fruitless resistance, the young punk in me has come to accept, even embrace, tasteful corporate sponsorship as a necessary part of the modern concert landscape. After all, with no profit, there’s no show. However, I do contend that there is a fine line between tasteful, effective branding and gross discourteous profit generation that should never be crossed.

Accepting that corporate sponsorship of concerts is a necessity (even a benefit) does not mean you should allow your client's marketing efforts to overwhelm your event. In fact, "overbranding" your event can actually work against your goals. People appreciate and respond to effective, tasteful integration of sponsorship into their event experience. Conversely, they will reject and resent efforts that scream in their face, rather than whisper in their ear or tug at their emotions. Sponsorship should enhance an event, not overshadow it.

Similarly, there is such a thing as too much sponsorship. Scarcity creates (and even raises) value...even if such scarcity doesn’t actually exist. Not only do guests have a limited capacity to absorb event marketing, too much sponsorship dilutes the marketing efforts of ALL your clients and decreases the overall value of participation.

Its the difference between allowing a dealership or local car stereo shop place a tasteful nameplate on your shiny new BMW after doing some work, and slapping bumper stickers all over the ass of your Corolla. One demonstrates that you have taste, and value quality and reward experience. The other will get you ridiculed and, contrary to your intent, almost universally ignored.

Given the choice, which would you want to drive?