Step into most trade shows and it is easy to spot the companies that ponied up lots of cash to plaster their names all over the events. Putting a brand in front of the wrong audience, however, can be a costly waste. SponsorHub in New York has stepped in with an online marketplace to eliminate some of the guesswork when it comes to matching sponsors with events, athletes, and entertainers they want to work with.
SponsorHub’s Web portal was first made available this April, letting marketers look up opportunities to be sponsors. Information posted on the site includes testimonials from prior attendees of repeating events. Event runners can list one event per month for free or pay subscriptions for multiple listings and additional services.
Listings on SponsorHub can range from local sports teams to professional events. Stadiums can also use the site to attract sponsors who may want to fund their activities in exchange for putting brand names in front of their fans. SponsorHub, founded in 2011, takes a percentage when deals are made through the portal.
“We’re trying to be the aggregators of sponsorship,” says co-founder and CEO Robert Johnston. He says the conference and trade show business is “really old school,” but SponsorHub wants to make it easier for buyers and sellers of sponsorships to find each other via the Web.
The event listings can include images and videos to give potential sponsors a taste of the audience they might reach. The sponsorship opportunities are organized into categories that include festivals, fashion, entertainment, and automotive. Companies such as American Express, Visa, General Electric, and Silicon Valley Bank use the platform, Johnston says. “We are doing classic marketplace matchmaking with brands that have money to spend,” he says.
Johnston is the founder of New York-based The Executive Council networking club for senior executives, and is also the former executive director of the New York Venture Capital Association. He says he is using his experiences in the events and sponsorship world to grow SponsorHub.
For example, Johnston says many sponsors want to be seen as thought leaders when they back business-to-business events. They also want to access to attendee lists for potential business opportunities. “They are looking for a return on investment around lead generation,” Johnston says. “If they sponsor a conference they want to
