Sponsorship Essentials Part 5: Q&A w/ Jason Smith, VP of Corporate Sponsorships & Events at Mountain America Credit Union

By: Claire Lingley 

Jason Smith is the VP of Corporate Sponsorships & Events at Mountain America Credit Union, a Utah-based credit union that is making big waves in the sponsorship industry.  In this week’s edition of “Sponsorship Essentials” he speaks towards his experiences on both the property and corporate sides, the assets that a company should fight for to have a successful sponsorship, and the skills that have gotten him to where he is today.

Q:  You made the transition from the property side, being with BYU and IMG and the like, to the corporate side with Mountain America Credit Union.  Did you find it was an easy transition? 

A:  The transition has been interesting, and it’s been a matter of trying to understand the products and services.  That was especially true right when I came on board, but now I’ve been doing this for a while so I can speak to it very well. 

Overall, it’s been really fun to see both sides of the fence: the property vs. the corporate side. Both sides are focused on helping the company achieve certain marketing goals, but the overall business models are different.  On the property side you’re focusing on new companies to bring onto the property through sales efforts, etc. On the corporate side, working for a credit union for example, you have to understand different products and services, like checking and savings accounts, loans, and you have to understand how you can be successful with your sponsorship assets with the company as it relates to the sponsorship.  On the corporate side, you’re really focused on how you build the business through the sponsorship, rather than on the property side, you’re thinking, how can we add more revenue to the property through sponsorships?

My mindset has changed a little bit with the transition, but ultimately the goal of both sides should be to make sure the sponsorship is successful for the company.

Q: Can you give me one thing you’ve learned sitting on the corporate side, and one thing you’ve learned on the property side?

“That universe that we live in is small, and everyone talks.  It’s important to do what you say you’re going to do. ”

A:  On the corporate side, you’ve got an overall marketing strategy, however what may be the right marketing mix or asset mix in one area or region or state, may not be the same mix in another.  You have to be flexible in your sponsorships.  That being said, you do have to be consistent and have the right brand, and focus on the overall marketing strategy, but whereas you maybe focused on more branding in one market, you may be more focused on more activation in another market. The corporate side taught me that flexibility is key.

On the property side, there are two main things I have learned:

The first is relationships. The most effective way to be successful on the property side is to ensure you’re building the best relationships that you can, because they are the bloodline of your success.

The second is fulfillment.  I don’t think that gets talked about too much in sponsorship.  Properties that just focus on signing an agreement to hit the numbers, and who don’t really worry about the assets that were promised to be fulfilled, those are the properties and the individuals that wont be very successful.  There’s an element of integrity that must be given to make sure the assets are effective for a company.  When you show that integrity, you’re able to retain clients, maybe even increase their spending.

The sponsorship world is a very niche world, as we know; that universe that we live in is small, and everyone talks.  It’s important to do what you say you’re going to do.  If you’ve built a great relationship with someone, and you’re doing an amazing job on the fulfilment of what you’ve promised, then you’re going to be very successful on the property side.

Q:  In terms of credit unions as a whole, why do you think there’s been such large-scale growth in business over the last decade? And where do you see credit unions headed in the future?

“The future is bright for credit unions. ”

A:  People love the personal and community feel of credit unions.  We are doing a lot of good in the communities, and I think people are starting to recognize that. One thing we focus on at Mountain America is helping members achieve their financial dreams.  That’s our vision.  When a whole company garners that vision and has the same goal, you see a lot of really amazing things happen.   We’re not for profit, and we are created to serve and help people save money.  By helping the members save money, our members are able to put that money back into the community.  That’s why you’ve seen that growth because of what and how a credit union can influence the community.  We are able to help our members, enable them to save money, and help them truly achieve their financial dreams. 

As far as where they are headed, credit unions really have to maintain growth.  That growth is needed to provide the best rates, the best technology, the best products and services, and ultimately the best member experience that we can.  The overall credit union philosophy is people helping people.  We talk about that a lot here at Mountain America. We are the number one credit union in the western region, and number two nationally for business share accounts. We provide a vital role in helping the economy grow through what we do for our members.  The future is bright for credit unions. 

Q:  What would you say are the three most fundamental sponsorship assets that you look for when procuring sponsorship?

A:  #1 would be Media. Traditional media helps support a lot of the sponsorship assets, so making sure (if it’s available), that we have radio, TV, and some of those traditional media outlets is necessary because those are the elements that really help drive traffic.

#2 would be Assets with Repetitive Exposure.  In the world of sponsorships you have to separate yourself from the rest of the noise, and in some cases, there’s a lot of noise.  You have to make the decision, is there so much noise that maybe we shouldn’t even be there? But in order to stand out, it’s important to have consistent repetition of the brand.  You need to tie your name to something that repeats throughout the event that has a positive connotation to it, something that people can latch onto.

And really, the #3 most fundamental asset I look for is some sort of Community Outreach Program.  If you link a sponsorship with a cause, that makes it that much more powerful.  For example, with our Utah Jazz Sponsorship, we sponsor all the three-pointers: For every three-pointer that the Utah Jazz makes, we donate $50 to the Huntsmen Cancer Foundation.  With that you have a repetitive feature that’s tied in with a cause.  The fans see your brand consistently, and they have a positive association with it because you’re giving back to cancer research.  It helps tie your brand in with the community and really shines a positive light onto what you’re doing as a sponsor.

Q:  What is a sponsorship asset that would be a deal-breaker if you couldn’t include it within a sponsorship deal you were negotiating?

 A:  It would have to be ownership or an element with exclusivity. This goes back to what I was talking about before, with the increase in property numbers to hit.  There’s more and more sponsors, and the clutter can get higher and higher, and you have to be able to carve out at least some elements of exclusivity to separate yourself. Even if it’s not a full exclusivity, you definitely want to create some sort of type of ownership with your assets that you don’t have to necessarily share with someone else.  Make sure you have that separation.

That being said, some of the properties are going to want to split things up.  For example, if there’s 4 quarters of basketball and there’s replay sponsors, a lot of properties will separate it and say, “Okay, 4 separate replay sponsors”.  The more you can say, “No, I want to be the replay for the whole time, “ the better.

You have to really try and find those types of elements where you can carve out your exclusivity and own it.

Q:  Obviously, one of the reasons you’ve gotten to where you are today is because of your skills in negotiating.   What is the one piece of advice you would offer someone who is stepping foot into that boardroom?
 

A:  You have to do all your homework beforehand so you can be educated going into the discussion.  If you haven’t done your homework on what’s being discussed, then you’re really at a huge disadvantage.

“You don’t have to create things, you don’t have to make things up, you just have to use the truth. ”

The most important principle in negotiation is using the facts.  Being educated with the facts is, as I like to call it, your sword and your shield in negotiation.  Your sword, because you can use the facts to justify additional assets, and your shield, because you can explain and defend a fair and reasonable investment.

You don’t have to create things, you don’t have to make things up, you just have to use the truth.  The facts will always help you in negotiation.  It’s always been that way for me.  It takes a little bit more time and effort beforehand going into a negotiation to really get all your facts straight, but if you understand all the facts of the situation you will be so empowered to be able to negotiate effectively.

Q:  What is the greatest piece of advice you’ve ever received?

A:  I had a church leader tell me once that if you are kind to others, then any negative efforts towards you will be disarmed.  Treating people with respect and having integrity is probably the most important quality you can have in any business.  That’s really the greatest piece of advice that I’ve ever received from someone.

Q:  A lot of people have room to take that to heart, I imagine.  Lastly, what skills have been the most valuable in getting you where you are today?

A:  That is a good question.  The successes that I’ve been able to have are because I have been able to build strong relationships with people.  People like to do business with people they like, and being able to connect with others has always been a strength of mine.  It takes work and it takes effort.  You have to reach out and ask questions to people. You have to try and find out about who people are and also care about who they are.  It can’t be fake, you have to be real and genuine about it.  That’s the most valuable skill that I’ve been able to develop, just being able to connect with people.

There was a time where I wasn’t as outgoing as I am today.  It just takes having uncomfortable conversations and stretching yourself a little bit and then it becomes easier and easier.  Now, building those relationships is what matters most to me, and it is the thing I look forward to the most.

5 Quick Q’s

Favourite sport to watch?

College Football

Favourite sport to play?

Basketball

What was the last book you read?

The Greatest Salesman in the World

How do you take your coffee?

I don’t drink coffee.

What 2 things would you want if you were stranded on a tropical island?

That is a tough one, I would want to be able to watch sports, and I want to make sure… well… I should probably flip flop those around!

I want to have my family with me, and I want to be able to watch sports!

Sponsorship Essentials Part 2: Q&A with Dan Dillon, CMO of Arizona State University

By: Claire Lingley

Dan Dillon is the CMO of Arizona State University with an extensive marketing background in the restaurant and consumer world. In Part 2 of “Sponsorship Essentials”, he speaks towards how he got his start, his experience in this industry, and how ASU is changing the way collegiate properties look at branding and sponsorship. With ASU, it’s not merely a transaction, but a deeper partnership.  Looking at the way ASU’s branding and marketing is going, other universities may want to follow suit.

Q: I understand you got your start in the restaurant/consumer side of the industry.  What drew you to the academic world?

A:  The opportunity at ASU was a unique opportunity. I don’t know if I was as intrigued by the industry as I was intrigued by what’s going on here at ASU, the role that marketing could play, and the role that brand management needed to play in terms of the overall mission of what is trying to be accomplished here. I was persuaded by President Crow (ASU President), that marketing could be a difference maker for the university, that it could add value, and that what he wanted to build was the capacity to do brand management, which is something that wasn’t currently here and available for the university, and quite frankly isn’t prevalent in a lot of universities.

It was the opportunity to do something different, to build something that didn’t exist, and to try and add value to a university that felt like it needed marketing to help it get where it wanted to be.

Q:  What is it about your experience in the restaurant and consumer industry that made President Crow approach you, and has helped you in your position at ASU? 

A:  The principles of marketing apply regardless of sector.  In the case of what my background has that was interesting to President Crow was a lot of variety, so with that variety, there was a belief that I could draw on that experience to solve unique problems at the university, despite not having higher-ed experience.  Quite frankly, the problems that we were trying to solve, or the main issues and opportunities that existed at the university, were getting awareness of, and credit for, a lot of what was going on here in a way that defined the brand, the reputation of the brand, and the quality of the brand.  That’s marketing.  That’s generally trying to impact people’s perceptions of a brand in order to have some favourable outcome.

Enrolling, applying, donating, buying tickets or advocating for the brand or participating in events; those are all outcomes that are impacted by marketing and branding. I think President Crow just looked at my background, and because of the number of categories and sectors I had been in, felt that I had enough of experience to drive those types of favourable outcomes here at the university.

Q:  Speaking towards that, you led the creation of the ASU Enterprise Marketing Hub. Can you speak a little bit towards that? What are your goals with it heading into the New Year and beyond?

A:  I arrived at ASU in 2013.  There wasn’t an enterprise marketing hub function; there wasn’t a centralized marketing department.  There were over 400 people with marketing or communications in their title not reporting into one area, not taking direction from one area, but if we were going to operate as we decided we were, as a branded house, not a house of brands, then it was necessary for somebody to manage the branded house, and that’s ASU.

We quickly came to the conclusion that trying to centralize the marketing intake and getting everybody to listen to one leader or report into one area was culturally going to be difficult to implement.  Rather than to go down that path of a command and control approach, we went with a more consulting approach.

We created the Enterprise Marketing Hub as an internal marketing agency that would provide a select set of services and consulting advice on how to manage and build brands at the school level, and the same time, with the belief that in doing that, we could start to manage and control a little bit more of the look and feel and projection of the ASU brand.  If you were a unit and wanted access to that in the form of research or financial resources, or creative resources, or tools that were being used at the enterprise level, then you had to agree to follow some governance and follow some guidance, and that’s a franchised model.  You’ve got the benefit of being a part of a larger organization, but in return, you have to follow and adhere to some guidelines and principles that we were trying to put into place.

The Enterprise Marketing hub has continued to evolve into a stronger unit because of this franchised model approach. 

Q:  Have you experienced difficulty in convincing outside brands joining in to invest in the University outside of the traditional Athletics-focused sponsorship? 

“Later in your career, you’re going to be as successful as your experiences that got you there.”

A:  We’ve changed the model to more of a partnership model.  Sponsors, yes, they get the ability to brand physical assets or put signs up in our stadiums, but we’ve also made ourselves more accessible from other areas of interest other than just building brand awareness through signage. 

So in talking to Adidas, or Coke, or Starbucks, or Mayo, or all these different brands that we are partnering with, what we’re offering is a deeper relationship than just a transaction, whereby you give us a sponsorship check and we give you a certain amount of signage in our athletics venues.  Instead, we are co-founding research and giving these brands access to either our alumni or our students in ways that are beneficial for them in that they drive their revenue, or drive their brand perceptions, or drive their brand awareness. 

We’ve got ways and assets that are not just about logos on billboards or logos on signs, they are much more sophisticated marketing tools and tactics that we are making available.  And that’s a change in the way that we are approaching sponsorships and partnerships, in that we are trying to build a deeper relationship that isn’t just a transactional one or isn’t just about the more traditional, “Name this building; Name this stadium; Put your name on this sign up here” type stuff, because what we’re finding is that the need of these bigger brands that have large budgets is not necessarily brand awareness. 

You know, Coke putting their logo up all over the stadium doesn’t really help them that much.  What helps them is the ability to create experiences that drive affinity.  Allowing them to create events, and to sponsor events, and to participate with our students and alumni in a unique, memorable, engaging way, provides much more benefit to Coke, both in brand affinity and ultimately revenue, than just putting their logo up on our scoreboard.

Q:  Speaking of that, the ASU-Starbucks partnership, that seems like a really unique relationship, can you give me a short history of how that came to be?

A:  It’s pretty simple and I think it goes to the university and the leadership’s propensity to be innovative and creative and solve problems.  Really simply, President Michael Crow and Howard Schultz were at a foundation gathering that they both are board members on.  In the course of conversation, Howard explained that Starbucks had 150,000+ baristas and over half had started post secondary education but not completed it.  Howard and President Crow both agreed that completing a college degree would not only help the individual but also Starbucks.

President Crow gathered a group of us at the university and said, “Okay, how are we going to design a program that enables Starbucks to be able to offer this?”

His desire was to offer the opportunity to get a college degree for free, as long as you’re an employee at Starbucks working more than 20 hours a week, and so we designed a program in such a way that Starbucks could afford to offer that benefit to their employees, and their employees could get high quality degree options available online and be able to complete their degree.  In the beginning, it was complete their degree, and we since have evolved to actually obtain a degree.  Even if you haven’t started, even if you’re a first-time freshman, you still can take advantage of that benefit: as long as you are working 20 hours a week at Starbucks, you can take an ASU-Online program, enter your degree and obtain it.

Q:  Going to switch gears just a little bit here, what is the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

A:  Early, early, early on in my career, it was get as much different experience as you can and in as many different places, brands, and companies.  Don’t ever say no to opportunities.  Fundamentally, this was unique advice at a time where people were starting at companies and staying for 30 years.  Getting a lot of experience at a lot of different places, or getting to a place that offers you a lot of experiences, doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to move companies, but it’s important to seek out those opportunities so that later in life you’ve got a wide variety of experiences to draw from to help solve problems and create opportunities.

Later in your career, you’re going to be as successful as your experiences that got you there.

Q:  If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

A:  That’s a tough one. You know it’s funny, my wife would say this, I am not star struck or enamoured by individuals per say, I find a lot of people really very interesting in very unique ways, but if I had the opportunity to have dinner with anybody, and it sounds really silly, I’d rather go out to dinner with my dad than someone I don’t know.  Primarily, because I find him to be more interesting than a lot of people who I go out to dinner with. 

Dad, if you are reading this, I’d say the same thing!