(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/18/2023) Corporations have signed on as sponsors to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in the past, but 2023 is a bit different with sponsorships coming from local businesses, a conservative PAC and niche products.
The sponsors for the 2023 event under Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo include:
- Populist Cleaning Co, a Detroit Metro area cleaning company that started cleaning churches
- Value Ad Media, a Grand Rapids area billboard advertiser
- WAM, a printing and mailing advertiser in Grand Rapids
- Luebbe Hearing Services, a hearing doctor with three practices near Columbus, Ohio
- Numinar, a Virginia-based Artificial Intelligence data collector for political campaigns
- Turning Point Action, the conservative political action committee of radio talk show host Charlie KIRK
- Faraday Defense, a company that sells products to block out broadband radio waves and electromagnetic pulses.
It is a far cry from the prestigious sponsorships of yesteryear.
"The Mackinac Conference had always lost money and so I shifted around and figured out how to make it a moneymaker and in 2009 we made a substantial amount of money and then all the subsequent ones that I did, we did also," said former Michigan GOP Co-Chair Ron Weiser.
He said to do so, the party started sponsoring out all the events and all the swag-bag items, as well as looking at any place they could to turn income.
"So instead of taking a $100,000-plus loss, we hit a $100,000-plus profit," Weiser said.
He said that was on top of the expense of bringing in big-name keynote speakers. There were also vendors in the halls that had tables rented out.
"Every nook and corner we could generate revenue with that," he said.
He also said the biggest sponsorships would come from the more prestigious events, such as the porch reception and high-profile speakers.
"They were usually ones that we could get a six-figure donation to underwrite," said Jason Roe, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party.
Roe said those were the events that everyone was going to be at and would be positive for the companies to be associated with.
He said sponsors are looking for as much return on investment as possible. The more niche programming ends up being less money, but ends up being more targeted.
"It's kind of working within what your budget is and what the best opportunity for the best exposure and who your audience is," Roe said.
He said some may want the slightly smaller audience, but higher-caliber participants.
"When you talk about the programmatic stuff that's happening in the hotel, you're going to get more 'adults,' when the political hacks like me are usually bar hopping all day," he said. "We're not sitting in those rooms, but we're also not their audience."
He said those off-program events also end up getting sponsor names attached, which allows for a bigger impact from the lobbyists looking to draw the ears of politicians. He said those events usually end up being less money to host than a six-figure prestige sponsorship.
"You could probably spend five grand at the Pink Pony and then have everybody talking your name all day leading up to those couple hours of getting drunk at the Pink Pony," Roe said. "I think there's some value in that and I think those events are a lot more fun and you get a lot more interaction with people that show up."
He said he remembered a free pizza party being thrown by a lobbyist after the bars closed.
"I think right now you have a cleave between the party and the business community that isn't as attractive to business leaders that go up for the Detroit Chamber conference to stick around," he said.
Western Michigan University Executive-In-Resident for Advertising and Promotion Greg Gerfen said controversy scares off the larger corporations that don't see an upside to attaching their names.
Having controversial figures, such as Kari Lake, actor Jim Caviezel, and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D'Souza, attached as speakers can influence the sponsorship of the event. Those sponsorships can be a make-or-break proposition.
"I always want to know who else is sponsoring. Who am I going to be on the board with? Forget the fact there might be a very controversial speaker involved in the convention," Gerfen said.
He said if there are prominent companies that step up, sometimes it doesn't matter what the event is, because the smaller companies want their name next to the well-known logos.
He used the example of Howard Stern as being someone who wasn't afraid of controversy but still drew big advertising dollars.
However, getting those large companies involved with the controversial figures is a steep climb, but that is where the companies that have carved out a niche, like Faraday Defense, have a chance to step in.
"They may even be tailoring products they make towards that kind of a mindset of 'I don’t trust the devices and the waves that are being put off by those devices,'" Gerfen said.
He said it is about identifying the audience and where they are going to be. He said it is a matter of matching up how people think, feel and believe in certain products.
He said the conspiracy-theory platforms, such as D'Souza's conspiracy-theory movies or InfoWars with popular conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, were good at matching products with topics and whipping up a fervor to make that low-hanging fruit seem more appealing.
"If I have a product that is falling into or addressing whatever that very topical or particular theory is, 'Boom. Quick, give me an 800 number. Where do I sign up?'" he said.
He said advertising creates a very powerful bond and connection between a brand and people.
"I can feel like I belong to a group. We all want to feel like we belong to something and so I belong to this group that all believes the same way," Gerfen said.
