The Power of Spider Webs in Sponsorship
Nov 1, 2010
The spider web has long been known to be one of the strongest materials on earth. One strand on its own does not serve much of a purpose, but when hundreds and thousands are woven together, the true strength emerges.
That strength is the key ingredient to a spider’s food supply and thus existence. The webs of the C. darwini spider found in Madagascar contain 80-foot-long anchor lines and can cover a 30-square-foot area. Once fully woven, the structure is “10 times better than Kevlar,” wrote University of Puerto Rico zoologist Igni Agnarsson in Public Library of Science One. That’s strength!
My IEG Consulting Group colleague Shelley Fasulko recently transferred this principle to sponsorship. She theorized that many sponsors have a portfolio of hundreds of small to large sponsorships of various properties. Budget and staff time typically cause each deal to be executed or activated in isolation. Like the spider’s one strand, this type of execution does not provide the basis of full strength. However, when say 10 deals are woven together around one communication platform, the combined strength of assets and messages conducted through various media will maximize strength.
ROI is such an enormous aspect of sponsorship these days, and both sponsors and properties alike need to maximize all possible avenues to achieving true return. Sponsorship spider webs could hold the key. Sponsors need to execute strategic brand messages across their portfolio and not simply in deal-by-deal isolation. Properties need to be open to having sponsors marketing around several partnerships under one branded message. I am not suggesting that these sponsorships will then become “10 times better than Kevlar,” but maybe, just maybe, we can give spiders a run for their money!
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