Publicity and Promotion
Your sponsor has invested in your organisation to gain publicity for his company or to achieve another specific objective. You should therefore obtain the maximum publicity for the sponsor. You should also find out what the sponsor is expecting and work with them to achieve it.
It is in your interest to provide good publicity for your project. It will encourage your sponsor to continue, will increase your public profile and will attract other potential sponsors.
The following tips might be helpful when thinking about the promotion of your scheme:
Appoint a publicity coordinator
The publicity coordinator does not have to do everything but they should be responsible for all the publicity and also act as the main point of contact for the press.
Draw up a publicity plan
Work out what press and promotional activities you will undertake. Draw up a task checklist detailing what the activities are, who is responsible and what the current status of the tasks are.
Announce the sponsorship and the award
Once you have received your award, you should announce the sponsorship and the award. There are a variety of ways to do this:
Press Release
This should be sent to all the local media, including newspapers, TV and radio. When writing a press release, remember to include all the relevant information a journalist will need to write a story about it. So ensure it answers all the following questions as soon as possible: WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? HOW?
Remember also to write the press release so it has an immediate impact on the journalist reading it and attracts their attention. And make sure that the essence of what the press release is about is communicated in the first paragraph, so that if the rest is unread or cut, the key information will remain.
You should also consider other ways to announce the award, such as a press conference or holding a photocall.
A photocall gives the chance for the press to take their own pictures and thereby avoids the problem that they might not find your own photographs interesting. A photocall can be done at any time - whether at the launch of the event, when announcing the sponsorship or at a significant moment during the project once it is up and running.
More publicity ideas
The internet
Many of the larger sports clubs and sports events have their own websites which are very useful in promoting their organisations, providing recruitment opportunities and expanding their fan base.
Setting up a website can be free or cheap and can act as a very effective way of promoting your organisation and your event. The internet can also act as a valuable information resource, allowing people to find out about your organisation and allowing you to collect information which may be of help in promotion and recruitment. You can also create links between your site and other interested parties.
Digital television
As digital television develops, there will be a host of specialised channels created that will be hungry for suitable and cheap programme material. Your organisation and event might be able to provide that. To find out more about digital television possibilities, read the general pres and specialist magazines, such as New Media Age and Marketing Week. Be careful though, some digital opportunities only materialise if you pay towards production costs.
Keep Sportsmatch informed of all your plans. It is vital to keep records of media coverage gained and to supply Sportsmatch with evidence of the coverage (eg press cuttings). The amount and quality of media coverage will be considered when new applications are made to the Panel.