Festival Sponsorships | No more face-to-face payment

There are years when you have to be more original than others. Talk to festival organizers! For the past two years, they have been juggling new ways of giving value for their money to their sponsors as well as to festival-goers.

Isabelle Massé
Press

With and without interposed screen

When the pandemic arose in 2020, the shows and activities broadcast on virtual platforms were a lifeline for the organizers of major cultural events in Quebec. Fortunately, in many cases, partnerships with sponsors have remained frozen, ensuring a budget for the organizers. “Budgets have changed little in the first year of the pandemic,” notes Jay Hébert, partner of the agency specializing in sponsorship Elevent. Everyone understood. “

However, businesses were less receptive the following year. “There were accounts to be held, continues Jay Hébert. Could we put budgets elsewhere? Sometimes there were no losses on the agreement, but over one year, because the money was shoveled into the following year. ”

“In 2020, there was money, out of solidarity with businesses,” confirms François-G. Chevrier, General Manager of Events Attractions Québec (EAQ), which represents 250 festivals.

At major festivals, we note a 40% drop in sponsorship revenues from the summer of 2020, according to EAQ. On the one hand, because some advertisers have turned their eyes elsewhere. On the other hand, because those who continued to support events negotiated lower rates. “Posting in the field and posting on Facebook is different,” explains Jay Hébert.

Sponsorship represents, year in and year out, from 15% to 20% of the total revenues of organizations, whether they are a small or a large festival. In this regard, and thanks to the public subsidies which have not weakened, the management of Fierté Montreal says it has done well for two years with its hybrid programming, even if it is suffering loss of income. “We were able to count on the support of most of our partners for both the virtual edition of the festival in 2020 and the hybrid edition in 2021, explains Simon Gamache, General Manager of Fierté Montréal, in an email sent to Press. However, others passed their turn since the virtual or hybrid format did not suit them. As for the partnerships that have endured, the support varied according to the partners’ own capacities. ”

Sales have been sharply down in the last two editions. “But since the organization’s total expenses were lower than in previous years, we did well overall,” continues Mr. Gamache.

“The pandemic has forced us to explore new avenues,” says Jay Hébert. The money was spent elsewhere or otherwise. As for advertisers, the majority paid less for their sponsorships. In people’s heads, we can go virtual on a phone. It’s wrong. You have to set up a TV control room, for example. ”

The broad definition of virtual

If only there was a winning recipe for a virtual or hybrid event. “’Hybrid’” has a very broad meaning, notes François-G. Goatherd. Is it an event presented simultaneously? A capture? There are many strategies. The organizers are exploring what they will keep from the hybrid. They also wonder about the business model. Will it be profitable? The public is interested, but will pay less. ”

Already, EAQ notes that the phenomenon of scarcity plays favorably on the interest for a virtual event. “I could have seen the Bleu Jeans Bleu group ten times last summer, if I had wanted to, observes François-G. Goatherd. Those that are more successful are the nested festivals like the Festival western de Saint-Tite, Montreal completely circus and Mutek. A carte blanche show, for example, is unique, but more expensive in a program. “

Because we can try everything, the sinews of war is the interaction with the spectators. We are no longer satisfied with a show “presented by”. “The advertiser wants to have something engaging and to bring the sponsorship to life,” says François-G. Goatherd. And a festival remains an important place of activation, one of the most beautiful playgrounds for a sponsorship. “

Bonhomme is doing well

Variant Omicron which hovers or not, should we expect a return to normal in 2022 in the sponsorship of festivals? Not before 2024, according to Jay Hébert. “We did several surveys,” says the associate of Elevent. The majority of spectators want to come back. But 15% to 20% say they won’t come back. Difficult to predict what the health measures will be. “

There is also the fact that sponsors have turned their eyes elsewhere. “We are seeing a shift towards professional sport,” notes Jay Hébert. For the Montreal Canadiens, sponsorship sales are going well. It is a safer value. “

“The hybrid business model is not yet profitable,” adds François-G. Chevrier, General Manager of Events Attractions Québec. And a portion of that commitment has gone into social engagement and sports marketing. “

Pride Montreal hopes for a return to normal in 2022. “But everything is not yet tied with our partners”, wrote to Press the general manager Simon Gamache.

For its part, the management of the Quebec Winter Carnival speaks of a return to normal… in quotes, in 2022. “We still have ABC scenarios,” admits marketing director Marie-Eve Jacob.

Any constraint brings creativity, philosopher M^me Jacob. “And it’s the very nature of a festival to be in the management of change,” she explains. The difficulty with the pandemic is that the constraints came from outside and that we had very little predictability, while an event is being prepared months in advance. It was difficult to gauge the scenarios. ”

Like others, on the edge of the pandemic, all of the major Carnival partners followed, “even if the conditions were difficult,” recalls Marie-Ève ​​Jacob.

Then, in 2021, the organizers developed a route through the city, rather than the construction of the traditional Bonhomme Palace. They opted for seven ice towers erected in different districts of Quebec to distribute the crowd and avoid gatherings.

Loto-Québec has been associated with the Palais for years. But the visibility of the sponsor has been ensured, thanks in particular to a digital component.

The organization has found a way to go digital, by clinging to something concrete. “The mission of Carnival is to get people outside, not leave them in front of their screens, notes M^me Jacob. The virtual enhances the experience. ”

The organization was even enriched by a new sponsor, Scotiabank, with whom it created “The Scotiabank Sculpture Spree”. With their cellphones, festival-goers could earn points in front of a hundred sculptures on the ground. The colder it was, the more points we accumulated. More than 70,000 sculpture “scans” were taken in 10 days.

Another must-see, the St-Hubert Snow Bath has been remodeled into a snow bath for everyone at home. Each family was invited to post photos of their private activity on social networks.

Despite everything, the Carnival, which usually relies on $ 3 million in sponsorships (or 32% of its budget), saw its sponsorship revenues decline by 40% in 2021 (to 1.8 million). “The drop is largely linked to properties that no longer existed, such as Pepsi Hip-Hop Night. But they’re back in 2022 and a lot of things stuck in 2022, like the Scotiabank Sculpture Spree. The impact is less than it seems to us, because there has been less expenditure. “

In 2022, the Carnival returns to a more normal situation with sponsorships of around 3 million out of a total budget of 9 million. Only the big parade is absent again this year. “Because we cannot manage the vaccination passport,” explains Marie-Eve Jacob. Sponsors will be displayed on a Bonhomme Mobile, as in 2021. “

Throughout the process over the past two years, the marketing team has taken care not to distort the Carnival mission and to combine every virtual effort with activities on the ground. “100% virtual is not the way of the future for us”, concludes M^me Jacob.