ABSTRACT
The process of selling sponsorships is not all that dissimilar from other selling processes. It is similar to selling media (e.g., radio and TV advertising), as corporations are considering sponsorships among competing media vehicles in their overall media and marketing plans. Successful sponsorship salespeople often start their careers in media sales, giving them a deeper understanding of how sponsorships integrate into an overall corporate marketing communications plan. What makes sponsorships different is the high need for creative selling—in the truest sense of the word. The needs of corporate sponsors may require you to sell something that you hadn’t even thought of before, let alone sold before. Creative selling in sponsorships might include the creation of a live marketing event such as the Red Bull Flugtag, wherein participants strap “themselves to totally outrageous home-made, human Source: Courtesy of Red Bull Flugtag USA. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080468211/16eb9605-da0f-44ed-9092-88db02bce58a/content/fig22_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> powered flying machines and launch themselves off a 30-foot ramp into the wild blue yonder, or alternatively straight into the water” (https://www.redbullflugtagusa.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">www.redbullflugtagusa.com). Conversely, other corporate sponsors may be pleased with a large sign on the outfield wall at a baseball game. But not very many.
