Want, want, want…. but what’s in it for me?
Return on investment. That’s what everyone wants. In fact, we even heard it from a politician once. It’s the value you get from your spend or your time.
But what is becoming increasingly obvious is that not all people, or all businesses, view value as meaning the same thing.
Be Bold Media sponsors Nova United Under-8s. A bunch of several rowdy boys and one pony-tailed girl who run on to the pitch every Sunday as if they were competing in the Cup Final at Wembley.
Our branding is loud and proud on their green and black shirts, and I’m sure, with their superior ball skills and immense capacity for silliness in goal celebrations, not that many people even notice it.
And let’s face it, a group of primary school children aren’t exactly what you’d call our target market for new business. But that’s not why we do it. We do it because we can.
The Newport-based club is run by volunteers, it is the largest youth football club in Shropshire and hundreds of youngsters train at Shuker Field every Saturday instead of staring at the television or the PS4.
Most of these volunteers are parents and many of them live and work in the same business community as we do in Shropshire, Staffordshire and the Midlands.
So have we secured more work for our company on the back of it? Nope. Well, not yet anyway.
Have we achieved ‘brand recognition’? Probably not.
Would we do it again? In a heartbeat.
Why? Because the value of the sponsorship to that club is way more than the value of the deal to Be Bold, and that’s fine by us.
Actually, what sparked this blog was yet another email from a financially secure company asking if Be Bold wanted to be a sponsor (read, help pay for) an event.
I wouldn’t mind so much, but it’s got to spamming stage and there’s not even a share of the sponsorship going to charity. No thanks.
Celebrating 40 years this year, Nova United is a beacon of community sport. The value of the club to the Newport community, across generations, should not be under-estimated. The commitment of the committee and coaching staff is unquestionable. And the passion of the 300 or so players, aged between six and 18, is infectious.
If the club was a company, the committee was the board and the coaches, managers and players the workforce – that would be a pretty phenomenal enterprise.
That being the case, maybe the value to businesses, including ours, is being part of a success story where goals are achieved without thinking “what’s in it for me?”.
P.S. They could do with a new club house too. Let me know if you can help out 😉
