By Jeff Blumenfeld;
Reprinted with permission from You Want to Go Where? (Skyhorse Publishing)

Consider the typical golf or tennis sponsorship: the savvy marketer can sample products, entertain customers, present their latest advertising campaigns over a gourmet, alcohol-infused lunch or dinner, and distribute goodie bags brimming with imprinted polo shirts, ball caps, stress balls , and other swag. Traditional sports sponsorship is a no brainer. A slam-dunk.
But occasionally, a sponsorship opportunity arises that steps outside the box, way outside. To the ends of the earth, in fact. It takes some corporate fortitude to sponsor a mountain climbing expedition by a blind climber, an Antarctic crossing by two women, a freedive to 500-plus feet on a single breath of air, or circumnavigation of the globe by hot air balloon.

Yet if planned correctly, these adventure marketing projects can yield substantial returns: blind climber Erik Weihenmayer lands on the cover of Time magazine after climbing Mount Everest, generating exposure for Allegra in the process; polar explorers Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen capture visual identification for Volvo, Pfizer, and Motorola during an interview on the NBC Today Show; and Dr. Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones land the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon — named for their watch sponsor — on the cover of nearly every daily newspaper on the planet.

Adventure marketing opportunities have their own unique set of advantages:

• For makers of outdoor gear and clothing, energy supplements, automobiles, high-tech communications equipment, and a host of other products and services, adventures and expeditions provide an opportunity to demonstrate product performance in dire conditions. These projects bestow the adventure version of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. If that waterproof/breathable laminate works on top of the world, the thinking goes, it will likely perform well for average human beings en route to the local grocery store.
• The public has an insatiable appetite for well told adventure stories; consider The Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air, and the movies, books, and museum exhibitions surrounding Sir Ernest Shackleton. A sponsored explorer can tour the country for years presenting talks and PowerPoints, conducting retail sales clinics, visiting company factories, and attending trade shows. Dr. Beck Weathers almost froze to death on Mount Everest in 1996, yet he retells his tale at corporate meetings. His is a story of inspiration and survival that leaves an audience spellbound.
• Adventure marketing is cost-efficient. For typically $25,000–$100,000, expedition sponsors can receive exposure in major print and electronic media valued at two to three times their investment, or more. Some adventurers and explorers offer even greater value by accepting a combination of cash and in-kind products and services.

Years ago, the apocryphal reason for deciding what to sponsor was based on the CEO’s personal interests. Golf, for instance. That policy doesn’t fly any longer. In today’s difficult and competitive business environment, sometimes you have to climb a few mountains to get attention.

Placing a sponsor logo on a dogsled is a bit more complicated than buying signing rights to the umbrellas at a celebrity golf tournament. But with proper planning, and some due diligence, adventure sponsorships can yield a mountain of positive exposure.