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Sponsors , why ?

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Doley50

Sep 4, 2005
166
9
#1
I play in a cover-band, we play mostly pop dance stuff, with a good amount of the standard cover band rep.
We have been talking with a national beer company about sponsoring our band. Everyone else is totally excited about it. While I feel it could be an opportunity, I don't think I get it.
I thought the purpose of getting sponsored was helping the company promote their product and for the band to get some backing to help with equipment and other band related expenses?
We are meeting with the sponsor to discuss how we can help each other and the rest of the band wants to go in and ask for swag with the company's logo on it!!!
What?!!! I may not understand this but I always thought that being sponsored was advertising a company's brand and in return we would receive some type of monetary payment.
I am not trying to be the bad guy in the band and destroy their excitement, but if all they are going to ask for are bottle openers and blow up beer bottles what's the point ?
Please can someone set me straight?


P.S
I don't drink beer so free beer is not going to get me excited either.

Thanks
John
 
#2
around here, sponsorship (at the local cover band level)
consists allowing their logo on your website,
maybe getting a banner with your name on it,
and they'll send a bevy of beauties to certain shows
to hand out drink tokens, merch, play drinking games & show their assets.
 
#3
You might get a band banner ... maybe. You won't get equipment or help with expenses. Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Corona spend millions on TV, NASCAR, MLB, NBA, NFL already ... they certainly don't need to spend their money on your unknown band.

There's no harm in it, really, it isn't exploitative. I think the OP's skepticism is well placed.
 
#4
Doley50 said:
I play in a cover-band, we play mostly pop dance stuff, with a good amount of the standard cover band rep.
We have been talking with a national beer company about sponsoring our band. Everyone else is totally excited about it. While I feel it could be an opportunity, I don't think I get it.
I thought the purpose of getting sponsored was helping the company promote their product and for the band to get some backing to help with equipment and other band related expenses?
We are meeting with the sponsor to discuss how we can help each other and the rest of the band wants to go in and ask for swag with the company's logo on it!!!
What?!!! I may not understand this but I always thought that being sponsored was advertising a company's brand and in return we would receive some type of monetary payment.
I am not trying to be the bad guy in the band and destroy their excitement, but if all they are going to ask for are bottle openers and blow up beer bottles what's the point ?
Please can someone set me straight?


P.S
I don't drink beer so free beer is not going to get me excited either.

Thanks
John
Click to expand...

Good question. For example, usually they pay racers money to put their logo on their race car (the car, trailer, leathers, etc are like a rolling billboard that rents out logo space to sponsors).

Sponsor? Sponsor how? Just ask the company that wants to sponsor the band what all they have in mind. For example, what do they want form the band and what are they willing to give for it.
 
#5
This sort of thing was much more common back in the last century. The idea isn't for the band to get "stuff" from the beer company, it's to engage in cross-promotion.

Remember that everything is negotiable but the beer company has done this plenty of times with other bands so they know already exactly what they're willing to offer. Go into the meeting with a mindset of wanting to come up with a deal that's beneficial to everyone.

They're essentially offering to make your band more attractive to talent buyers at clubs and festivals because of the extra promotional capabilities that you'll have attached. Your booking rates should go up. That's the goal.
 
#6
Pretty common thing for the party bands around here to be "sponsored", usually Bud Light or Coors Light. They should pay for you to have a new banner made up with their logo on it, maybe you can get them to pay for some poster printing as well. The best thing is what your band mates are into - the free swag to throw out to your fans. One caveat though - you'll be required to drink their beer all night.
 
#7
RustyAxe said:
You might get a band banner ... maybe. You won't get equipment or help with expenses. Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Corona spend millions on TV, NASCAR, MLB, NBA, NFL already ... they certainly don't need to spend their money on your unknown band.

There's no harm in it, really, it isn't exploitative. I think the OP's skepticism is well placed.
Click to expand...

Unknown !!!! We're big in Japan!!! Lol
 
#8
Thanks for clearing this up for me, I was hoping we could get a trailer out of the deal, or be featured in thier next commercial. I can see the value in it , especially were booking gigs are concerned.
Keep the comments coming, I have found very little information like this on the web, sure there are a lot of articles telling you how to approach a company but nothing I found really goes into how these deals work out for each of the brands involved.
Great Stuff.
 
#9
marmadaddy said:
This sort of thing was much more common back in the last century. The idea isn't for the band to get "stuff" from the beer company, it's to engage in cross-promotion.

Remember that everything is negotiable but the beer company has done this plenty of times with other bands so they know already exactly what they're willing to offer. Go into the meeting with a mindset of wanting to come up with a deal that's beneficial to everyone.

They're essentially offering to make your band more attractive to talent buyers at clubs and festivals because of the extra promotional capabilities that you'll have attached. Your booking rates should go up. That's the goal.
Click to expand...

YUP
 
#11
It's usually an advertising agreement. You agree to advertise their product (by putting it on your website, ads, posters, etc) and they agree to pay for those materials. The bands I'm in that are sponsored get free banners, posters and ad time on the radio. We have had to agree that we'll drink their beer on stage, or rather NOT drink competitor beer.
 
#12
This is where having a business manager would help.

What I'd do? Talk to some other bands in the area that they work with, or work with other beer companies. Heck, ask the beer company to give you some names. This will give you an idea of what others have gotten.

It will probably be a progressive relationship, which is fine... in other words, as your band gets more popular, beer company offers more "value." Not sure that free banners would do it for me as an opening position though.

Beer company wants exposure for their brand... this is ideal, b/c it's at a place ppl drink. They want their brand associated with other brands (your band, in this case) that have a high-quality associations. So, they'll ask for things that help them associate your band name with theirs, and/or increase signage / promotion at the event.

Your ultimate goal should be to increase the size of your pie. So, they should be able to tell you that, as a result of this relationship, you'll get:
- Higher booking rate
- More bookings
- Bigger crowds

I see direct support e.g. cash money (or your dream trailer), from them, as probably the least valuable and least likely thing you'll get from them at early stages in the relationship. But who knows.

Really, if you want free gear, get sponsored by someone that makes gear they want promoted, b/c it's cheap for them to offer something they already buy a lot of. What do beer companies buy a lot of? Advertising. They can buy it cheaper than you can... so let them. What relationships do beer companies have a lot of? Bar / venue owners. So leverage them.

Have fun.
 
#13
My friend's wife was a Bud Lite girl in the late 90's to make some extra money in college. A few times a month she would go to a bar show and look cute in her short-shorts and tank top and hand out swag. The bar would usually have a Bud Lite on special that night.
 
#14
I would at least insist that they do some radio ads for your show. They could do a "Bud Light proudly presents Stinky Finklestein and the Toilet Paper Blues Band and Fat Freddy's Saturday night" and then roll on with a beer commercial. If you don't get any REAL advertising out of it (or money) then what is the point? Do your band members think there is some sort of credibility to be "sponsored"? Or, do they all drink beer? If they are beer drinkers and want the beer, just go along with it to keep everyone happy (so long as they keep the stage drinking under control).

But I'm like you, OP. What's the point for a banner and some free stuff with THEIR name on it (not yours)? What do YOU get out of the deal really?
 
#16
Well, the banners usually DO have the band name on it.
The bud lite/coors lite/miller lite girls show up at certain shows to promote, & hand out stuff.
Always best to push that fact when it's scheduled.
MLG--copy.gif
 
#18
If it's anything like the stuff I was involved in, don't get too excited either way.

One of my bands was sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drinks, when they were first starting out, and Porn Star clothing. Got tons of free shirts, a few cases of energy drinks, and a banner. We were listed on both companies web sites along with the other acts they had a similar arrangement with.

Before big shows we'd get a box of shirts to give out from Porn Star, and a few cases of Rockstar to drink.

Basically, just assume you'll get some free swag, possibly some girls with Miller/Bud/whatever shirts at your shows, and maybe a banner. No more, no less.
 
#19
tbz said:
If it's anything like the stuff I was involved in, don't get too excited either way.

One of my bands was sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drinks, when they were first starting out, and Porn Star clothing. Got tons of free shirts, a few cases of energy drinks, and a banner. We were listed on both companies web sites along with the other acts they had a similar arrangement with.

Before big shows we'd get a box of shirts to give out from Porn Star, and a few cases of Rockstar to drink.

Basically, just assume you'll get some free swag, possibly some girls with Miller/Bud/whatever shirts at your shows, and maybe a banner. No more, no less.
Click to expand...

True, but just the fact that you're sponsored tends to add a bit of legitimacy to the band. Or at least it used to.
 
#20
fastplant said:
True, but just the fact that you're sponsored tends to add a bit of legitimacy to the band. Or at least it used to.
Click to expand...

Oh it did, at least amongst the fans/crowds. I'd assume the beer one would as well. Our fans loved the fact that they would occasionally end up with a free shirt from Porn Star. At the time it was a fairly hot brand, and our crowd was clearly the target demographic (white suburban kids, between 17 and 25.)

Industry folks don't really rate that stuff, as they understand it's a pretty casual relationship.

Not trying to knock it, just trying to say that these sponsorships are usually very very casual relationships, so it's not the kind of thing to worry about too much. You know?
 

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