I believe in constant auditing of what you’re doing. The way we keep from being complacent is to constantly challenge what we’re building, creating, and putting out there in the world to connect with our fans.
It allows us to push to...
I held off on writing this because I really didn’t want to incite panic on what might happen and drive clicks if it wouldn’t actually bring value and was all based on the scare.
I also held off because of the seriousness...
At SQWAD we see a lot of digital contests, whether our own or others in the field. As you could imagine, we have seen some flop and some succeed.
What we are always in pursuit of is the perfect contest. With that...
It’s a part of sales…unfortunately.
We pitched, we got the head nods, we got the plan, we thought this one was game over and we had them closed…
Then we got a nice "NO" 4 weeks before the season starts.
This week on The...
(BONUS: An active worksheet your team can use to game plan your outreach…but first you have to read the article to understand & use it. It will be worth it…I promise)
I’m a fanatic about how to thrive in economic downturns. And...
We have no idea what sports will look like when we get back. How will our spaces change? Will the concourse still be a bustling corridor of energy & excitement? Or will it be empty and avoided with social distancing?
The reason...
I was in a sponsorship meeting the other day and heard a number that jumped at me like a linebacker seeing a fumbled football.
40%…this sponsor (brand) said that 40% of their sponsorship budget was reserved for digital campaigns & initiatives.
Wow…that is...
Bonus, there is an editable spreadsheet at the end to help you create your own checklist. Read through to the bottom).
Look, it’s been overstated…but you can’t operate the same way you did before the crisis.
For one thing, with the lost inventory...
In the modern sports landscape, fan attention is the ultimate currency. We’ve seen a massive shift toward "playing along" in real-time, highlighted by major leagues leaning into predictive markets and interactive second-screen experiences. Fans don’t...
More inventory doesn’t mean more value. It usually means less.
For years, sports sponsorship has operated under a quiet assumption: if revenue is the goal, inventory is the answer.
Add more signage. Create more assets. Open more...
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what sponsorships in sports have become...and what they were always meant to be.
Not from the perspective of inventory or impressions. Not CPMs, logo counts, or “media...
There’s a temptation in business—especially in sports sponsorships—to believe that reach is everything. The bigger the audience, the bigger the impact. The more logos, the better. The wider the net, the more fish you’ll catch.
But...
“The goal is not to fit in. The goal is to resonate.”— Rick Rubin
The Misconception of Attention
Most sponsorships start from the wrong place.
We assume the audience will care.We assume the logo is enough.We assume that...
In the world of sports sponsorships, creativity is often boxed into a role: something that belongs to the agency, the graphic designer, or the "creative team."
But what if creativity wasn’t a department—it was a mindset?
What...
In sports, perfection is often the illusion.
A perfect record. A flawless play. A pristine image on the jumbotron.
But in the realm of sponsorship, where connection matters more than control, perfection can be a liability. It...
In the high-stakes world of sports sponsorships, where millions are spent on visibility, impressions, and association, a powerful truth often gets lost: fans don't show up for brands.
They show up for the love of the...
I'm always interested in the exact definitions of the words we use. Sometimes, they can be powerful in understanding the meaning behind the everyday language we use.
The definition of the word Resolution is "a firm...
