At large, heavily-sponsored events, small businesses with limited budgets often can\u2019t afford to put their logos up with the big players. But the five-person team at Aerographics Creative Services found a different way to sponsor events without shelling out money \u2014 work for free.<\/p>\n
Aerographics \u2014 an Ottawa-based graphic design company \u2014 has been sponsoring local and national events for 35 years.<\/p>\n
Initially, the small business achieved sponsor status by offering advertising campaigns and branding services free of charge in exchange for exposure.<\/p>\n
When it comes to backing local and national events, the company still employs the same approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it does is connects us with everybody in the city,\u201d says Dave O\u2019Malley, the company\u2019s president and creative director. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work involved. It\u2019s difficult at times, sometimes you look around and everybody in the office is working on pro bono projects, especially around festival time.\u201d<\/p>\n
But O\u2019Malley says Aerographics\u2019 pro bono projects actually paid off when early discounted work evolved into future clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the long run, it has made us really connected with a network of people and we meet people at all levels as a result,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just a result of what we do, it\u2019s not a plan or anything. We\u2019ve always been part of this community and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s kept us alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Malley estimates the company sponsors 20 events per year, including local festivals like Ottawa Bluesfest, the Canadian Tulip Festival and national events such as Motorcycle Ride for Dad and Vintage Wings of Canada.<\/p>\n
He says the networking that he has done through his company\u2019s service-based sponsorship has introduced him to \u201cthousands and thousands of people in Ottawa\u201d and has been invaluable to the company\u2019s sustainability.<\/p>\n
Smaller is better: Customer base is key<\/span><\/p>\n Sponsorship is certainly one of the most effective marketing tools for promoting a company\u2019s image and product \u2014 but one that is usually reserved for big businesses with deep pockets.<\/p>\n While it may be hard for small businesses to make a splash, targeting sponsorship at large-scale events is not the only way to get exposure.<\/p>\n As with any marketing campaign, sponsorship is about targeting the right customer base, and sometimes smaller can be better.<\/p>\n Small businesses should shoot for sponsorship opportunities in the community where people might know the company\u2019s services, says Peter Stewart from the Ottawa Centre for Regional Innovation entrepreneurship centre.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing sponsorships, it\u2019s creating awareness,\u201d says Stewart, who offers guidance and mentorship to growth-stage companies. \u201cYou\u2019re not really going to increase sales, you\u2019re going to help yourself become more top-of-mind. You want your name wherever your customers are going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart says small businesses need to become more particular about sponsorship as they evolve.<\/p>\n Role reversal: Targeting sponsorships <\/span><\/p>\n Event organizers often seek out sponsors that support the theme or concept of the occasion.<\/p>\n Finding the right sponsorship clientele was important for Max Grootenboer, the co-founder and director of the first annual Winterfest \u2014 an Ottawa festival devoted to hip-hop culture.<\/p>\n He says it was a challenge to attract sponsors to an event that had no previous track record.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a product that\u2019s not yet stamped or not yet proven, it\u2019s hard to approach people and ask them for funding,\u201d says Grootenboer.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can provide not only a platform for the artists, but the businesses as well, to link with like-minded businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n But the 22-year-old Ottawa native adds that local community shops were eager to jump on and support the new two-day festival.<\/p>\n \u201cIt struck so close to the heart for many people,\u201d he says. \u201cInitially, we were just cold calling, looking for sponsorship here, looking for sponsorship there, letting them know what it was that we were trying to do. Most of these businesses really liked the premise to promote a culture that\u2019s looked aside at in many parts around the city and the country. So they hopped on and wanted to help this grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Winterfest had nearly 40 sponsors in its inaugural year. Grootenboer says local events are a great way to bring everyone together in support of a common theme.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can provide not only a platform for the artists, but the businesses as well, to link with like-minded businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At large, heavily-sponsored events, small businesses with limited budgets often can\u2019t afford to put their logos up with the big<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2416"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4455,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions\/4455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}