The SAM Project brings together marketers, measurement providers, agencies and academic institutions to improve sponsorship marketing literature, establish standards, and address emerging sponsorship opportunities. All MASB members with an interest in the subject are invited to participate.
In May 2024, the team published “Sponsorship Accountability: A Roadmap for Sponsorship Marketing Success, recommendations to improve the accountability of sponsorships and identify practices that improve value, including a measurement approach that is independent, objective and marketer directed, along with guidance on mid-funnel ROO measures that make quantification attainable. Topics include: strategy and brand fit, business case and contractual considerations, activation & stewardship, measurement, eSports, and Name, Likeness & Image (NIL). ORDER FROM AMAZON (paperback and e-book available)
BACKGROUND
In late 2017, several marketers requested that MASB address an inability to quantify returns from sponsorship at a time when investments in sponsorship were growing, audiences were fragmenting, and robust measurement was lacking. The Sponsorship Accountability Metrics (SAM) Project began as a joint endeavor by MASB and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) to determine how sponsorships contribute to brand and business outcomes and to provide a “roadmap” for marketers to increase their return on sponsorship investments.
In early 2018, MASB and the ANA conducted a quantitative survey of current marketer practices and follow-up qualitative research with the responding marketers. The resulting report identified numerous areas in need of improvement in the current sponsorship state of the art.
Primary among these was the finding that little progress had been made in measuring sponsorship return on objectives and return on investment over the preceding decade. In addition, a two-dimension, three-stage maturity model was uncovered, delineating the path most marketers move along during their sponsorship accountability journey.
In one dimension, marketers progress from property-provided metrics (which may lack transparency and have bias) to independently verified metrics. The other dimension relates to the types of metrics used in making sponsorship decisions.
Most marketers begin with marketing equivalency – understanding how many impressions sponsorships are generating and how much those impressions would cost if generated in other channels. They then progress to measuring the quality of the impressions generated by their impact on awareness, attitudes, preference and other return-on-objective (ROO) metrics.
While still somewhat rare, some marketers have advanced to true financial attribution – measuring the return on investment (ROI) of sponsorships and how they compare to investments in other marketing investments.
Since the release of this research, MASB has brought together sponsorship experts to document sponsorship accountability best practices and help marketers on their journey. MASB’s marketing accountability experts are regularly engaged by marketers to benchmark their sponsorship practices.
CALL for PARTICIPATION
We invite marketers, academics, measurement providers, and other agencies to participate in this MASB-sponsored initiative.
The benefits are clear. Participants have access to the most up-to-date sponsorship accountability knowledge and will help set the sponsorship innovation agenda for the marketing industry. This includes the examination of emerging sponsorship opportunities and providing input on national and international standards.
To schedule a meeting to discuss participation, please contact MASB Executive Director Frank Findley, frankfindley@themasb.org.
The Original Sponsorship Accountability Series
Part 1: Elusive Dream or Quantifiable Reality?
Part 2: Sponsorship Strategy and Brand Fit
Part 3: The Business Case for the Business Case
Part 4: Driving Sponsorship Value with Stewardship and Strategic Activation
Part 5: Measurement
Part 6: eSports – An emerging sponsorship opportunity as great as the Super Bowl?
Part 7: Social Distancing – A Boon for eSports?
Part 8: Can Social Media Drive Accountable Sponsorship?
Part 9: Name, Image, Likeness AND Influence
Part 10: Name, Image, Likeness and Influence – What Have We Learned from the First Year of College Athlete Sponsorship?