Sponsorship for the Architecture Industry

What is sponsorship & is it important, valuable even, to our industry?

I recently undertook a sponsorship agreement between our Gold Coast studio at Buchan and the SONA (Student Organised Network for Architecture) through the Australian Institute of Architects QLD Chapter. They were looking for a small financial investment as well as a couple of speakers to attend 2 x Gold Coast Student events.  

Here’s my experiences and opinion on the value of such initiatives for our industry.

Firstly, what is sponsorship?

Sponsorship is a material exchange of goods, services or cash in support of an event, activity or organisation with the sole intent to provide mutual benefit to both parties. This usually includes things like advertising, brand placement, speaking opportunities and other brand awareness initiatives to promote the sponsor within a particular industry.

Sponsorship Is:

•      Financial support of an event, activity or organisation
•      Specifically targeted to a desired market, infiltrating it from the inside
•      A great way to build brand awareness, generating preference and loyalty
•      A mutually beneficial agreement between two parties with an agreed ROI (Return on Investment)

Sponsorship Isn’t:

•      Sponsorship is not an act of charity.
•      Donation without agreed/expected outcome
•      Standalone advertising, it usually comes with other commitments  
•      Join venture or partnership
•      A research project, grant, gift or prize giving initiative

Before sponsoring an activity, you should always do your research into the organisation providing the opportunity and ensure they’re able to fulfil the desired response. Then, choose an event or initiative you feel will successfully reach your target market, has a proven track record, good prospects and generally be aligned with your brand and business objectives.

In our case, this was easy. I have had a long standing, close affiliation with the AIA Qld chapter for many years. I participate in their awards program each year, I attend many events with them and I know most of the staff or have met them in person. Besides being the peak body for our industry, I knew their reputation was ship-shape.

Sponsorship Proposals

Read this carefully and ensure your intended/agreed outcomes are in black and white.

For this event, SONA had promised to provide branding opportunities on all marketing material related to the specific events, opportunity to display further signage at the events and first-invite opportunity for staff to present on both nights.

As we like to support the industry wherever we can, we felt that this was a good initiative for Buchan. We also hope that by exposing our practice to students this way will return a high quality batch of applicants joining us later.

All in all, our decision to sponsor SONA was based on these basic Sponsorship principles:

     Raise brand awareness and create preference

By supporting SONA now, we believe we’ll receive a high number of quality candidates later.

    Create positive PR and raise awareness of the organisation as a whole

Promoting a positive image for Buchan as a SONA supporter within the industry and wider general public.

     Provide insight for a range of internal improvements

We gained insightful knowledge on what students are looking for and how to assist with the application process. We should have taken more photos and displayed on our social media!

Sponsoring an event can be well worth the investment if you are clear about your goals and you follow up on your requirements to participate. A well-planned event presence can generate quality outcomes such as client, (in our case, prospective staff), deliver great ROI, increase your brand reach and exposure, put you in front of your target market and best of all, build your brand’s authority as a leader in the field.

I do believe a lot of this comes back to ensuring your own commitments are upheld, such as providing the organisation with the correct logo, artwork or brand guide, ensuring you have staff to participate, and importantly, attending, take photos and displaying on your own social media to truly capitalise on the message.

If you do all of this, you'll be guaranteed success!