RBC Invests in Sponsorship Evaluation

So partnerships are being formed and managed, but very little tracking or measurement of performance took place. Something needed to be done.

During a meeting with Sponsorium, a few key issues were raised as initial steps to be taken to begin shifting how this very visible and very major player in sponsorship could reorganize.

Step 1 – Through the PerforMind™ tool, an overall audit could be conducted. The RBC field teams and relationship holders could send a batch automated correspondence to their partners so that details of the sponsorships could be entered in one central place. This put the bulk of the work on the properties that were being sponsored.

Step 2 – A link could be created to streamline and filter all the proposals that RBC receives of
all levels. This would allow the company to work with one voice going forward and all employees
company-wide could direct promoters to one customized portal.

Step 3 – RBC knew the issue went beyond data collection, but also measurement. The corporate sponsorship team worked very closely with their sports marketing agency partner (Wasserman Media Group) and had them create scorecards so that each sponsorship could be evaluated consistently in PerforMind.

Outcome

In only a few short months, RBC started to experience real change, and it really was enterprise-wide. Central coordination was critical to their success. The corporate marketing team communicated to the entire company what new procedures were being put in place. Teams of RBC staff from around the world were trained on PerforMind™ so that they could manage their own portfolios, but still have the corporate team have a view into everything for brand alignment, budgeting and best practice sharing, especially collaboration across business units.

Result 1 – RBC’s sponsorships (of all dollar amounts) were entered into their system, mainly by the properties/promoters/rights holders. The company finally had everything in one place, online, and easily sorted by geography, business line and other filters they created.

Result 2 – Those seeking sponsorship from RBC can now come to their website to do research as well as submit a proposal online. The scorecard application is configured in a way that it works in multiple languages (English, French, Chinese), currencies, and routes appropriately to the proper internal staff based on dollar amount requested and geography. Multiple people are able to review and provide feedback in the system, and because of the weighting system, use documented justification for their sponsorship decisions.

Result 3 – PerforMind™ has allowed RBC to report in on-going fashion how well each sponsorship meets its specific goals and objectives; down to a percentage point. They periodically update the scoring seamlessly in the tool to reflect evolving strategy. Additionally, even their sponsorships of individual athletes (Olympians, etc) are able to be adjusted with contractual commitments being fed into the system.

Overall, RBC is acting like the enterprise it always intended to be. They have improved many key areas to showcase their leadership in sponsorship and have become more responsive to the communities they serve.

• Internal communication and collaboration
• Streamlined and centralized proposal process with automated routing assignments
• Budgeting management and allocation amongst all business lines
• Consistent measurement process and justification
• Overall view of their portfolio along with targeted objectives
• Real time access to reporting

This was some of the feedback recently shared with Sponsorium :

“PerforMind™ has truly been a game-changer. Our entire company, which ranges from local retail bankers to wealth management specialists across the globe, has been able to shift procedures and create measurable results because of this tool.”