A sponsor once walked away from us after a single show. On paper, they’d had a great package: strong branding, solid visibility. So I asked them straight up. “What happened”?
Turns out, nobody had ever asked what they actually wanted out of it. Including them, if I’m honest. They’d simply taken the opportunity and hoped it would work itself out.
They had a specialised health product. Broad brand exposure sounded good, but it wasn’t what they needed.
What they needed was to get the product into the hands of the specific people it actually helped. And there was another problem hiding underneath: their trial samples only covered one month, but the product needs three months to show results. Even the right customer never stuck around long enough to feel the benefit.
So we scrapped the “more eyeballs” approach entirely. We built a tightly targeted activation instead – the right customers, a proper runway to feel the product working, and ongoing follow-up to keep them engaged well after the show ended.
A logo on a banner isn’t a benefit. Getting the right product to the right person, for long enough to matter, is.
The best sponsorship conversations aren’t about inventory. They’re about asking what “success” actually looks like for that sponsor before you build the package, not after it’s failed to deliver.
What’s the best sponsorship reframe you’ve seen turn a “this didn’t work” into a win?
Paul Mathers
Paul is a highly experienced commercial event executive with more than 30 years’ experience building, launching and growing successful consumer event brands across Australia, the United States, United Kingdom and Southeast Asia. His career spans business leadership, P&L accountability, strategic partnerships, sponsorship, revenue growth, brand development and team leadership. Paul has led multidisciplinary teams across sales, marketing, operations and event delivery, while developing commercially successful events in the automotive, lifestyle and pet sectors.
His achievements include leading some of Australia’s foremost consumer events, delivering multiple EEAA Award-winning exhibitions and building internationally recognised brands in highly competitive and diverse markets globally. Connect with Paul through LinkedIn HERE
