Grizzlies Host Inaugural Sponsorship Summit
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Marketing and business professionals in Memphis and the Mid-South joined international sponsorship expert Kim Skildum-Reid for the Inaugural Grizzlies Sponsorship Summit. Nearly 50 business professionals gathered in the Draft Room on the Club Level at the FedEx Forum. Kim Skildum-Reid spends the afternoon sharing knowledge on how to leverage sponsorships. To leverage sponsorships means that you are getting the most out the relationships with your sponsoring partners.
Anthony Macri, Grizzlies’ Vice President of Partnership Marketing, put this event together. “We want to always provide best practice content to our partners” says Macri. I asked Mr. Macri why do an event like this, and why do it for free. “Anyone can bring a speaker in and charge some dollar amount. Our partners are already invested with us and they’ve already shown a commitment to being great partners. We want to be great partners back. A really good partnership is investing in each other.” Bringing in Ms. Skildum-Reid, is a win win win solution. Those that partner with the Grizzlies win by receiving this valuable information. The Grizzlies win because their partners learn more effective ways to partner with them in the future. The last but not least winner in the equation is the fan. When both sides are able to better partner with each other, it improves the fan experience. The win win win concept was explained in more depth during the seminar. Macri provides his partners with expertise that can be used to help them improve their marketing message and ways they can partner with each other in the future.
One of the interesting things that Ms. Skildum-Reid encouraged is to sit in the cheap seats some times. Most marketing professionals and sponsors have the luxury of experiencing a game from an executive suite. The average fan doesn’t have that luxury and unless you can relate to the fan in the cheap seats you will not be able to reach that fan. So, she urges sitting in the cheap seats so you will know from a first hand experience how to improve their game experience.
I had the privilege of speaking with Milton Howery, Promotions Managager at Bass Pro Shops at The Pyramid. “I am learning how to better leverage sponsorships for organizations to help the brand. So I’m learning how to use our partners more wisely.” Levarging sponsorships is a term that was used a lot during the seminar. I asked Mr. Howery to explain excactly what does it mean to leverage a sponsorship. “It’s making sure you are connecting with your target audience to do things that work for your brand and partners.”
Click Here for more information on working with Kim Skildum-Reid. Stay tuned to WeDontBluff.net for information on the next Sponsorship and Branding Summit and other similar events.
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