Since 1st January 2021, Faversham residents have been encouraged to capture how they lived, worked and played in Faversham. The variety and authenticity of the photos document the town’s life, its people, its buildings, the events that animate it and the businesses that energize it.
The community photography project will showcase 365 photographs, one for each day of 2021, in an exhibition at the Assembly Rooms in Faversham from 21st to 24th May 2022. A book will be released at the same time.
The project was designed to get people together to share their visions of the place they live in and create a collective memory. This year is particularly meaningful with the Covid 19 pandemic and the project helps keep a historical, social and cultural record of life in Faversham.
Partnerships with local businesses have been designed so they access marketing opportunities in return for providing resources and support to the project. So far, partnerships have been developed with:
The Faversham Eye, our local newspaper for Faversham
Optima Opticians, providing eyecare in Faversham for more than 30 years.
Roots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms, independent family business servicing homes of Kent since 1998.
Shore Way Marketing, a social media and marketing company based in Faversham.
Tassells Solicitors, a law firm.
To discuss opportunities and secure your place as a sponsor, please contact Nathalie at Kent Creative before 15th February 2022 www.kentcreative.org/project-365/
FOUR MYTHS ABOUT SPONSORING ARTS EVENTS
1. It’s a philanthropic donation
Possibly the most common misconception. Some businesses may be sponsoring arts events because they think that the arts are important and need to be supported, but most businesses are doing it because it is a powerful tool to meet their goals.
Sponsorship is a business transaction where businesses receive a service. They invest their money in sponsorship marketing, which is a financial or in-kind collaboration designed to reach targeted audiences and achieve business objectives.
Sponsorship is not a gift. It should be part of a marketing strategy, as a complement to other marketing activities.
2. It’s limited to logo display and signage
In fact, sponsorship is powerful precisely because it is not about the logo, but because it is an active and interactive marketing tool. It’s about meaningful engagement with audiences so they are more receptive to a message Sponsorship is determined by action. Instead of visual exposure only, it offers sponsors many opportunities – which can be customized - to get actively involved, meet their audience live and act directly with them to promote their company. As an event sponsor, you can get in front of audiences, create and develop relationships, speak at events, showcase products, demonstrate your skills and expertise, re-engage with staff and clients, etc…
3. There is no return on investment
Once you get exposure to audiences in a meaningful way (and act on it), something is likely to happen. It’s not guaranteed, but it is a lot more likely to happen than if you sit back and just look.
What you get out of sponsoring an event depends on what you signed up for and how it’s done. If your logo displayed on a flyer is what you want, you will get some exposure but the ROI is not going to be as significant as if there is engagement with audiences.
4. Only big companies can afford it
With sponsorship, even large events are available to small businesses with smaller budgets. Opportunities are so wide with sponsorship that there is something for everyone and for every budget.
Also, businesses can be involved by participating in-kind rather than with cash, showing off their skills, expertise or products directly to an audience. That is very powerful.
Conclusion An economic downturn may not seem the best for spending money on marketing, but at the same time businesses want their names out more than ever. Being where others are not makes a business more visible. In fact, as the economic situation gets challenging, businesses look for alternative ways to promote themselves.
Sponsorship marketing is one answer.
The key to sponsorship is the opportunity to directly access an event’s audience in meaningful ways. Through events that they like and enjoy, audiences have a positive perception of the businesses that help to make them happen, increasing loyalty to a company’s brand, leading to more sales.
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