We like to think ASN is a pretty intuitive system to analyse the complexities of the Asian Sponsorship/Content marketplace. But if you need some clues as to how our users it – the tips & tricks if you like – here is a quick run-down of advanced user cases:

Sell-side strategies:
– check the seasonality of a brand’s investment
Chart 1 of the Analytics dashboard will show if a brand has a clear, time-based spending pattern (by quarter). For your sales planning, there’s no point trying to sell a Q4 platform to a brand that only buys in Q2; you clearly don’t fit their Sponsorship strategy or budget cycles. You can always ignore the data, but be prepared to move the timing of your platform

– see if a brand has money in their back pocket
On the Deals Listing tab, look for a ‘Withdrawal’ tag which signals that a brand has not spent money with a particular platform. This could be because the Sponsorship has reached its natural term (and therefore it could be a good time to approach them) or due to more negative reasons (in which case, leave them alone!). Only a phone call will uncover this

– pitch to a sponsor in advance of a contract renewal
If you have targeted a brand – maybe because it is already sponsoring a similar platform – again on the Deals Listing tab, check the Expiry Date column and sell in advance of that date. You can of course filter the Deals Listing by date to be more targeted with this strategy

Buy-side/agency strategies:
– in which markets should I focus my Sponsorship spend?
Chart 2 on the Deals Listing shows you where the competition is spending. Notwithstanding other business factors, this could give you direction as to where the green-field opportunities lie

– audit your local markets’ spend
Either on an aggregated or an individual basis, see what’s happening at a hyper-local level with Chart 2 on the Analytics dashboard

– how long has the competition blocked me out?
On the Deals Listing tab, you can now see the future – 5 years in advance – and the Expiry Date gives you the published contract expiry date

– do I need to shift the timing of my investments?
In Chart 1 of the Analytics dashboard, you can check if the competition is executing deals at the same time as yourself. If yes, they are cannibalising column inches and social conversations with the same audience. That’s counter-productive. So if you have the flexibility to move a Sponsorship campaign/platform… then our Analytics can show you quieter periods