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Sports
Hospitality
By Michael Alan Hamlin
February 16, 2004
Sports Hospitality is not the latest
evolutionary manifestation of event marketing, but it's certainly
one of the latest - and most exciting. But what is it?
In Avaya's case, it's the chance to take an elite group of customers
and prospects behind stage at the Olympics. Avaya sponsors the Olympics
by providing advanced wire and wireless communication facilities,
which it has been doing since 2000. Its contract runs through the
2008 Beijing Olympics. The company also sponsors other sporting
events, such as American football, in its principal markets.
The Philippines is a reasonably important market for Avaya, thanks
mostly to the fast-growing contact center industry. I'm told anecdotally
that most of the equipment used in call center facilities here is
in fact provided by Avaya. If that's the case, there's a pretty
good chance executives working in the industry here will have a
chance to see the Olympics in four years.
For companies that can't afford the huge budgets an engagement like
Avaya's involves, the event industry has begun offering sports hospitality
services that provide similar thrills, if not the branding advantages.
One of these companies is a firm called smg. The company is part
of the MarcusEvans Group, a multinational offering a wide range
of event services ranging from high-end summits for multinational
CEOs to association congresses.
To understand how smg works, consider its involvement in the China
NBA Games in October this year. smg provides a VIP package for around
US$17,000 - plus an agency fee of 21 percent - that allows a company
to treat 10 guests to a series of exclusive activities associated
with the games. Or to be more accurate, the game, which will be
between the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings.
The action starts at 9:00 am, with a champagne buffet brunch at
the Kerry Centre Hotel in Beijing, complete with attractive prize
draws to make sure those valuable customers and prospects all go
home with something in their pockets. The brunch is followed at
10:45 am by limousine transfer to Beijing Workers Stadium where
the game will actually take place around noon.
Two hours later after the Rockets have trounced the Kings (Right?),
the merry group jumps back into the limousines to head back to the
Kerry Centre Hotel, where a post tournament cocktail reception carries
on until around 4:30 pm. Presumably the staggering guests then retire
to dinner and perhaps more drinks, but the sponsorship benefits
end with the post-game reception.
In all, the package includes the function room, reserved grandstand
seating, the gourmet champagne buffet brunch, the prizes, mementos,
"sponsor" signage in the function room, a table centerpiece,
the post-tournament reception, television coverage in the function
room, uniformed hostesses, and don't forget the premium open bar.
All this, I might add, for just $2,057 per guest, assuming that
the package allows for a couple of company executives to ride along
for free.
Why would a company choose to part with that kind of money for a
few hours of somewhat exclusive sports entertainment? Well, for
the very same reasons that Avaya spends much larger bucks to entertain
customers and prospects prepared to spend millions of dollars. The
company that chooses smg's pseudo-sponsorship probably isn't looking
for customers that will spend millions of dollars annually with
them, rather, likely a million or somewhat less, or a few million
at the most.
And apparently that classification of customers does find the offer
attractive, and appreciate it, and so the companies that foot the
bill feel the investment pays off. Which is why smg and its sister
companies offer these packages at some 250 sporting events around
the world. Here in Asia, aside from basketball, Formula 1 racing
seems to be a big hit. Races in Australia, Shanghai, and Malaysia
are all being marketed by smg this year.
Indeed, the smg formula demonstrates one of the principal beauties
of events, and that is that they can be designed to fit just about
any budget, and still get results.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is currently
at work on High Visibility: The Making and Marketing of Asian Professionals
into Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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