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Introduction

Introduction to sponsorship Sponsorship is an important marketing tool for many organisations & is an important element of the promotional mix. Sponsorship involves the support of an event, activity, person, organisation or product by an unrelated organisation that may exchange money, services or goods in return for the association that the sponsorship provides. Sponsors choose events that attract their target market to enhance their brand reputation & awareness. A method of shaping brand identity, sponsorship can improve company image, raise company profile & generate awareness of company values. An integral part of marketing strategy, sponsorship is useable either as a single marketing activity or alongside other marketing tools such as advertising, public relations & promotion in order to leverage the sponsorship & increase the impact. Sponsorship originated in sports in the 1960's and has been the fastest growing form of marketing spreading to the arts, media, charities, education & broadcasting as a result of globalisation, technological advances & recognition of the value & revenue that can be earnt from sponsorship. A universal medium, few sports or arts events are now without sponsors looking to broaden their competitive advantage. Some forward thinking sponsors now plan long term, using grass roots sponsorship to form a bond with their target market early in their development as a consumer. Previously used only as a PR tool, sponsorship it is now a separate component of the promotional mix, playing an important role in the whole of the marketing mix. ...read more.

Middle

Canon Electronics who sponsored the Football League for 1984-86 were rumoured to have pulled out of their sponsorship because of the very bad image of football caused by the Bradford & Brussels disasters Ethical Issues in Sponsorship. With consumers demonstrating increased concern about the environmental impacts of businesses there has been increasing need for businesses to consider their image & demonstrate social responsibility. This in turn has led to growth in social & environmental sponsorship which is now favoured as a way of obtaining recognition for charitable gestures. Sponsorship & Social Concerns Sponsorship is an important element in the promotional mix & involvement with an organisation or event is a way of promoting corporate image & demonstrating social responsibility. It is good for an organisations image to be linked with a healthy pastime like sport or to be seen supporting something worthy. Sponsorship of social concerns is supported by government initiatives such as 'Business in the Community' (BitC), which promotes 'Cause Related Marketing', whereby companies benefit a cause, and in return, gain benefits from the marketing opportunity. Positive examples of large organisations demonstrating CSR & helping the community include * Nikes sponsorship of football & their launch of an anti r****m campaign with host of world football stars * O2 sponsoring the England Rugby Team, developing schemes to promote rugby among young people * Standard Life sponsoring the Children's Classic Concerts in Edinburgh, generating awareness of music in socially excluded schools. ...read more.

Conclusion

The company has linked with research specialist Millward Brown & evaluation company Sponsorship Science (SSI) to launch "The Sponsorship Effect" which isolates the impact of sponsorship campaigns on brands by combining qualitative & quantitative data with the measurement of media efficiency. It says this allows brand owners to direct activities to reach their target audiences more effectively Conclusion Sponsorship has become one of the major sources of funding for both local & international events involving sports, the arts, the environment, media, humanitarian and community projects, education and various other fields. Successful sponsorship benefits all the concerned parties, including sponsors, organisers, media, performers, spectators and the general public. To avoid the dominance of certain types of sponsorship, organisations such as The Institute of Sports Sponsorship (ISS) endeavour to retain a balance, encouraging sponsorship of minority sports and grass-roots participation through joint funding schemes, such as England's Sportsmatch. The equivalent body to the ISS for the arts is Arts and Business, who's Pairing Scheme is similar to Sportsmatch encourages sponsorship of the arts The sponsorship market will continue to increase with the Internet providing a new platform for sponsorship. The ban, however on tobacco sponsorship & advertising will force many major sports (and some arts organisations) to look for new sponsors such as financial services, computing companies & telephony companies such as Vodafone in order to fill the gap. Organisations will continue to use sponsorship as a way of demonstrating CSR & to create the image of a company that cares. ...read more.

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