Chris Baylis is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Sponsorship Collective.
After spending several years in the field as a sponsorship professional and consultant, Chris now spends his time working with clients to help them understand their audiences, build activations that sponsors want, apply market values to their assets and build strategies that drive sales.
Chris studied at Trent University and Mohawk College before he began his sales career in high tech and insurance. After several years in the sales industry, Chris decided to make the move to sponsorship.
The reason for Chris was simple:
“Sponsorship means you have to be an expert in sales, marketing, experiential, lead generation, account management and strategy. This challenging blend of skills is what makes sponsorship so fascinating but also incredibly complicated.”
Chris has been active in the sponsorship industry since 2007 selling sponsorship for a variety of organisations and every type of sponsorship opportunity as an employee, department leader, board member, consultant and volunteer.
After five years as a consultant with international consulting firm IFC out of London, England Chris decided to launch what is now The Sponsorship Collective. And the rest is history.
And it all began with a blog.
The problem, according to Chris, is that there was simply no information about best practice sponsorship when he began in the industry. Everyone was guarding their secrets and there was nothing by way of blogs, publications, or networking groups. And this is exactly what Chris decided to change.
When it was first launched, the goal of the blog was simple: to share sponsorship best practice with the world. Today, The Sponsorship Collective has been featured in countless publications, podcasts, websites, blogs, magazines, webinars and books. The Sponsorship Collective has also produced hundreds of YouTube videos, webinars and hundreds of thousands of words on the blog (at last count, enough to fill five business books on the topic).
In addition to speaking at conferences and stages across North America, a sample of publications featuring Chris Baylis include in Hopin, Blackbaud, several articles and references in Eventbrite, Inside Sponsorship, Cause Talk Radio, CSAE, The Partnership Conference and The Selling Show to name only a few.
Sponsorship is, at its heart, a marketing practice and marketing is nothing without audience experience as the main focus.
This is exactly how Chris thinks of sponsorship.
“Everything has to start with audience data and experiences focused on creating value for audiences. Most people think of sponsorship as simple logo placement, which could not be further from the truth” says Chris.
Because of Chris’ focus, The Sponsorship Collective takes an “audience first” approach to sponsorship. Starting with audience data, then moving to creating engaging activations before moving to valuation, sales material and then a “discovery based” approach to sales.
Here is a sample of the most recent articles written by Chris:
Today’s post is inspired by a video I made two years ago just when the worldwide pandemic known as COVID-19 was beginning. Here we are, some years later, and while COVID hasn’t disappeared from our lives entirely, for the most part, events have resumed. Yet that...
Organizations often limit their sponsorship marketing opportunities to the events they hold throughout the year. However, events and conferences are very costly, especially new events that have yet to establish their usefulness in an industry. If you are looking to...
Before you dive in, if you are interested in charity sponsorship, check out these titles in our “sponsorship for charities” series: Resource Page for Charity Sponsorship Cause Marketing versus Corporate Sponsorship 7 More Sponsorship Mistakes Charities Should Avoid...
Corporate Philanthropy is one of those terms that sounds much more complicated than it actually is. The Business Dictionary defines corporate philanthropy as: “The charitable donations of profits and resources given by corporations to nonprofit organizations....
Cause Marketing Best Practices: Everything You Need to Know About Cause-Related Marketing Before you dive in, if you are interested in charity sponsorship, check out these titles in our “sponsorship for charities” series: Resource Page for Charity Sponsorship...
Did you know that Forbes reported that some $68 billion will be invested in sponsorships? While big brands make up a huge portion of this astronomical figure, this doesn't mean small businesses shouldn't turn to a sponsorship program. Rather, it shows how valuable of...
Before you dive in, if you are interested in conference sponsorship, check out these titles in our “sponsorship for conferences” series: Resource Page for Conference Sponsorship How to Plan a Conference: A Step-by-Step Guide How to Market a Conference: Everything You...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEEU9qieZxQ&t=1s Sponsorship is a two-sided opportunity, bringing sponsorship “properties” and sponsor brands together to create meaningful experiences for their shared audience. When done properly the sponsorship property gains the...
Nothing provides a better source of sponsorship than the ones you already have. When you look to the future to plan the same, or new events, past sponsors provide an existing relationship hungry for nourishment. While consideration must be given to content and...
We see the finish line; athletes with arms raised in triumph, audiences cheering, towels wrapped over shoulders, and above it all a massive banner complete with sponsors’ logos. This is a common sight to most people, whether they are a fan or not. Events such as...