Sample Sponsorship Proposal – Client First!

Below is a presentation that I worked on with two classmates in the ASU Sports Business MBA program.  The exercise was to pitch GM on the title sponsorship for the BCS National Championship.  We had two days to put the presentation together, and here was the result:

One of the biggest takeaways from this exercise was the primary focus on the client rather than the property.  Too many sales presentations focus completely on the value of what they are selling.  We knew that even though the BCS Championship is clearly a valuable property, we needed to first focus on GM’s business and the connection to the property.  That is why we started with emphasizing the high number of vehicle purchases in the AZ market (remember, the BCS Championship was in AZ two years ago).  We then highlight multiple ways the property fits with GM’s business and marketing strategy (slide 6).  Finally, we offered creative ways for GM to leverage and activate their sponsorship that were directly related to their brands and business (slides 11-14).

Now this was just an exercise, so the presentation is missing a lot of details.  Even so, we learned a lot about the different elements that go into a sponsorship deal and the importance of understanding both the client’s business and the integration of the property with their business strategy.  Hopefully this exercise can be used as a nice template for others.