Using Partnerships Opportunities to Drive Brand Awareness and ROI
Cornell McGee, SVP of Marketing at LendingTree, discusses how marketers should be approaching their sponsorship opportunities.
If you’ve ever flipped on an NBA game in the last few years, you’ve probably noticed one small little detail embroidered on the left shoulder of your favorite NBA superstar. A logo. Sponsorship opportunities are plentiful in professional sports, and the relationship between a team and the community in which it plays is a critical aspect to take into account when it comes to their jersey patches and what brand gets that prime real estate. The Orlando Magic partner with Disney, the Milwaukee Bucks stay true to their roots and have a relationship with Harley Davidson. For the Charlotte Hornets, which are owned and operated by basketball’s biggest star, Michael Jordan, the partnership it has with LendingTree is rooted in the brand’s history in the community.
“Sponsorships are more of an investment in the greater good of the community and the long-term relationship with your consumers,” Cornell McGee said. “You make the investment with the understanding that you’re going to get unaided awareness and aided awareness. Aided awareness is seeing the logo on your chest. You see the benefit and aided awareness from that logo being on their chest, and when they’re on television. When you see those jerseys in there, it’s spread across the country. The unaided awareness, that’s a bit slower. And we’ve just determined that the value of those points over time, coupled with the things that we’re going to do offline is where the value lies.”
McGee is the SVP of Marketing at LendingTree and he knows that community and brand association are two valuable components of any successful sponsorship opportunity. He also notes, though, that marketers must constantly be thinking about both the immediate and long-term prospects of every partnership. And while a successful partnership can go a long way, it’s equally as important to know your consumer and the type of content you need to be feeding them in order to get the most long-term value out of the relationship you build with your customers.
“Consumers, they’re starving for [financial] information,” McGee said. “They want to know about things like what are good financial decisions? When should they make those decisions? How do they fix the poor credit situation that they’re in today? What products and services are good for them right now, based on what their needs are?”
On Marketing Trends, McGee opens up about the company’s long-standing relationship with the Charlotte Hornets, how marketers need to be thinking about partnerships and how every marketer can deliver high-value content to their consumers.
To hear the conversation,, check out the full episode of Marketing Trends here.
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