No, not Strottarga Bianco caviar! It’s reportedly a 30 second Euro 2024 half time slot for the England final, with a commercial broadcaster. Commanding this sort of fee, makes it feel like you’re negotiating with the cards stacked against you. It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot over the years. In this type of situation my top tips are as follows:
Think big picture
Whilst it seems a lot of money, the key question is – is it really worth it? Historical data (audience numbers/advertising performance etc.), competitor activity, state of the target economy etc., should all help to inform you. Use this information when setting your negotiating boundaries, specifically for the fees before you engage. Develop a realistic ‘pitch’ position (if you’re asked what the rationale is, you need to be able to give it), plus a walk away position. Make them both specific, so everyone’s clear where the parameters are. Be mindful that if your counterpart comes out with new information when you engage - you may need to review your position and adjust accordingly.
Power
In this case, it may be that the broadcaster holds the power for this event (but remember the trend for conventional TV advertising revenue continues to fall.) You can help to mitigate their power in this situation by packaging proposals which include elements that may help to sustain continued revenue streams over the longer term – for example advertising of other sporting events. If the price remains too high despite your best negotiating efforts – consider your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA). In this situation it might be better to go for more digital (or other) advertising media, increased brand endorsement or maybe point of sale promotions.
Get Creative
Time should always feature somewhere in your negotiating strategy. Firstly, think about when you should make a proposal – in this situation, if the school of thought is that the team may well make the final, the broadcaster may decide to slow the process down to incite a bidding war. As an advertiser it may well be in your interest to submit an early proposal. People are often risk adverse, preferring to take the lower safe offer, over the risky unknown future one.
If you feel confident of the footballing outcome, it might be worth suggesting the option of an over-rider/under-rider. Agreeing a fee which can later be increased or reduced in comparison to a predicted or actual outcome. For example, predicted semi-final fee versus actual quarter-final or final. Alternatively, this could be set in a similar way against predicted and actual viewing figures.
Finally, go into your discussions ready with a lot of potential gives and gets outside your main goals, if the broadcaster won’t move on fees, can you leverage any other negotiating collateral – pundits in TV adverts, accessing maximum legal data analytics or other brand/celebrity introductions?
It could always be worse, paying the bill of a dinner for six with Strottarga Bianco!
Sam Macbeth, 18th July 2024
If you'd like to receive occasional email updates from Savage Macbeth with useful, actionable insights into commercial conflict resolution and negotiation, sign up here.
Comments