Sponsorship Effectiveness Fundamentals

A two-day, in-person course for people who work on sponsorship at brands, agencies and rights holders. You’ll learn how to set objectives a CMO and CFO recognise, build rights, activation and creative around them, measure what a partnership does for the business, and make the case for investment or renewal.

  • Work through a real partnership of your own
  • Leave with finished plans, not just theory
  • Led by Rory Natkiel, the UK’s leading authority on sponsorship effectiveness

You know effectiveness is in demand. Knowing where to start is harder.

Sponsorship budgets are growing faster than many traditional marketing channels, and so is the scrutiny. CMOs want to know what a partnership does for the brand. CFOs want to know what it does for the business.

The rest of marketing has decades of effectiveness thinking to lean on. Sponsorship grew up around deal-making, so effectiveness comes without a manual. It can feel abstract, technical and hard to apply to the deal in front of you.

This course is the manual: one method, from objectives to renewal, that you can use the week you get back.

After two days, you’ll be able to

  • Set objectives for a sponsorship in the business language CMOs and CFOs already use
  • Build rights and activation around those objectives, rather than an inventory list priced on a media rate card
  • Apply the evidence of what works to creative and channel planning
  • Design measurement that answers the objective: brand tracking, incrementality testing and econometrics, without falling back on AVE
  • Make the case for investment or renewal on commercial contribution rather than media exposure
  • Talk about sponsorship the way the rest of marketing talks about effectiveness

Brands

Sponsorship and marketing managers

Prove what a partnership does for the business, brief your agencies and rights holders with confidence, and make the next deal work harder.

Agencies

Partnership, strategy and activation teams

Plan and measure sponsorship the way the best advertising is planned and measured, and give clients advice grounded in evidence.

Rights holders

Commercial and partnership sales

Sell marketing solutions rather than inventory, speak the sponsor’s language at pitch, and renew on results.

How the two days work

A mix of short presentations, tutorials and working sessions. Bring one sponsorship you work on. You’ll develop it across both days, from a complete objective hierarchy to a creative brief, measurement plan and KPI framework.

Day one The foundations of effectiveness

09:00–09:30The sponsorship effectiveness gap
09:30–10:45Speaking the CMO’s language
11:00–12:15Marketing effectiveness 101: from Binet & Field to Byron Sharp
12:15–13:00From selling inventory to building marketing partnerships
14:00–14:45Integrated objectives: business, brand, behaviour and sales
14:45–16:00Working session: set integrated objectives for your partnership
16:00–16:45Common failure patterns and what to fix first

Day two Activation, measurement and renewal

09:00–09:15Recap, and what goes wrong downstream without objectives
09:15–10:30Creative effectiveness, channel planning and the brand-integration maturity ladder
10:45–12:00Working session: a creative brief and channel plan for your partnership
12:00–12:45Measurement that serves the objectives: tracking, incrementality, econometrics
13:45–15:30Working session: the measurement plan for your partnership
15:30–16:00Evidence-led reporting, and what it means for renewals
16:00–16:30What to put into practice the next morning

Working sessions on your own partnership

Your trainer

Rory Natkiel

Rory Natkiel, founder of Box Count and co-founder and chair of the Sponsorship Effectiveness Forum.

Rory spent more than 15 years in senior strategy roles at Iris and Sid Lee Sport before founding Box Count. He is the author of The Sponsorship Effect, an analysis of 92 global sponsorship case studies; Sponsorship Measurement: A Best Practice Guide; and All To Play For, a landmark sponsorship effectiveness study and the first report on sports sponsorship ever published by the IPA.

  • IPA Advanced Effectiveness Practitioner
  • Member of the European Sponsorship Association
  • Strategic lead for sponsorships including Lidl × UEFA EURO 2024 (Partnership Award, Leaders in Sport 2025) and Tommy Hilfiger × F1 The Movie (3 × ESA Awards 2026, 2 × UK Sponsorship Awards 2026)

“Rory took the time to understand the challenges our partnership team faces. He brought new stimulus, insight and brand-side ways of thinking and measuring impact. It immediately developed the team’s understanding of what partners want and how to deliver it.”

Sarah KendallCommercial Director, The Football Association

“Rory is bringing some much-needed rigour to an area that’s had too little for too long. His synthesis of advertising’s research approaches with sponsorship case study data is a game-changer, and is already shedding new light on how to plan and optimise sponsorships.”

Andrew TindallChief Growth Officer, System1

“What Rory is creating is the best out there - this is what is needed to channel all the creativity and passion that’s pouring into sponsorship in a direction that will create way more positive impact for rights holders, brands and fans.”

Sul AhmadStrategy Partner, FIFA, BMW, Just Eat

Questions

When and where is it?

Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th November 2026, at Beyond, Fox Court, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1R. Joining details are emailed to everyone who has booked.

How much does it cost?

£795 + VAT (£954 in total) per person for both days, including the printed toolkit. You’ll get a VAT invoice with your receipt.

How do I pay?

By card, through Stripe’s secure checkout. You’ll get a receipt straight away. If your organisation needs to pay by invoice, email rory@boxcount.co.

Do I need to know about effectiveness already?

No. The course starts with the foundations and builds from there. It suits anyone who works on sponsorship and wants a method they can apply with confidence.

What should I bring?

One sponsorship you work on, whether you buy it, sell it or run it. The working sessions use it, so you leave with plans for a real partnership.

Can my whole team come?

Each person books their own place. For several places on one invoice, or an in-house version tailored to your partnerships, email rory@boxcount.co.

Book your place

  1. 1Your details
  2. 2Secure payment
  3. 3Confirmation

Order summary

Sponsorship Effectiveness Fundamentals16 and 17 November 2026 · Beyond, Fox Court, London WC1R£795
Printed toolkitIncluded
VAT at 20%£159
Total£954

Payment is taken on Stripe’s secure checkout. Box Count never sees your card details.

Your details