How to manage sponsorships and collaborations in the organization of a festival
Persona muestra una bola de discoteca tras una cortina plateada
Foto perfil autor artículo: Álvaro Martínez González
Marta Nogueira
April 6, 2023

How to manage sponsorships and collaborations in the organization of a festival

The search for funding to organize a festival is not an easy task, it is quite a challenge. Generally all these events need to look for different channels to be financed and become viable projects.

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Since 2017 the celebration of festivals in Spain has been increasing and there are many investors who are interested in the profitability offered by festivals. This indicated that institutional aid and sponsorship by some companies and brands can be the key to finance festivals.

An investment in sponsorship of such events can bring with it a great media and social impact, both for the festival and the artists who participate in it. It is also a great benefit for the city where the festival is held.

Sponsorship is a powerful marketing tool to generate business opportunities and that is why getting sponsors for an event is a great challenge for any company or agency. We must take into account which are our potential sponsors, write a complete summary of the project and communicate what are the objectives we want to achieve the return on investment.

Sponsors play an important role in any event, as in this case, a festival. Generally, they seek to generate new business opportunities and establish new contacts, in addition to publicizing the products, services or brands they offer.

Each event has a type of sponsorship associated with it. Sponsorship is usually done to reach a specific target audience and obtain greater visibility among that audience. We must also take into account the type of companies we are going to choose, because they will be an important part of the image of our event, that is why we must choose the right sponsor.

It is important, before venturing to choose a sponsor, to define what kind of impact you want for your event according to your project and objectives. The most important steps are:

  • Objectives: establish the type of objectives we want to achieve, be they marketing, economic, etc. This will help us to determine the benefits that the collaborating companies will obtain.
  • Target public: detect which is the public that is more related to our type of event and from there define the companies that interest you for sponsorship.
  • Potential sponsors: it is important to investigate which potential sponsors best suit the type of event. Analyze and look for information about each company, see the events they have previously sponsored, if there are any…
  • Anticipate the needs of the sponsors: know how they manage communication, demographics, business model and their own objectives. We must ensure that the requirements of future sponsoring companies do not hinder the objectives of our event.
  • Prepare a brief: define the characteristics and mission of the event or business. It is also important to report a series of clear information: objectives, purpose, benefits…

The importance of sponsors in events

Event sponsorship drives brands to engage directly with consumers. Within the organization of events, having sponsors is essential to achieve the objectives. Some of the benefits of including sponsors in our events are the following:

  • Increase consumer loyalty: with the exposure that the brand has with the sponsorship strategy and the experience it generates, loyalty and trust can be generated.
  • Improve brand positioning: it is a good way to improve branding and positioning within the same target audience.
  • “Word of mouth”: if someone has not been able to attend the event sponsored by a certain brand, he/she will always know from someone else the involvement of that brand in the event.
  • Increase sales: sponsorship helps to increase sales of the brands involved.
  • Improves communication with the target audience
  • Generate B2B marketing: not all attendees at events are final customers of the brand, but there is a possibility that other companies may attend with the intention of generating new business relationships with other sponsors.
  • Make the consumer feel that they are part of the company: make them identify with the brand and its preferences and make them stay. It is important that everything that is done by the sponsor not only generates engagement for the customer but also that the same arises within the company and that the feeling of belonging is transmitted to our target audience.

Technology, your best ally to manage the organization of a musical event

Technology is part of our daily life, it is a very important part of the world of events. It helps us to keep attendees interested and focused on the event and to get them involved in the event in an exciting way. It can also be used to improve events and find new ways to promote products or brands.

Some of the best uses of technology in the event world are:

Artificial intelligence

Chatbots can help engage your attendees online, answer all the necessary questions, collect existing feedback and give attendees the best possible experience. These chatbots will allow staff to have more free time for those more productive tasks.

Hybrid events

Make events that allow for digital attendance. This will help to have a larger audience, which in the end is the goal of any event. This way if someone can’t attend the event in person, they can use any device and connect via online.

Gamification of events

More and more people attending events or festivals are only looking at their cell phones instead of enjoying themselves and having a good time. That's why you can use technology to take advantage of the fact that attendees are on their cell phone. Make interactive games, quizzes related to the event or speeches and presentations

Event planning automation

Use tools that allow us to automate events so that coordinators can free their time from time - consuming and repetitive tasks. These types of tools allow planners to take control of the event.