The Marketer's Handbook: Reassessing Marketing Techniques for Modern Business

SPONSORSHIP

Application: Sales Support, Marketing Communications, Brand Positioning

The Concept

Sponsorship is the support of sporting, charity, and artistic events for commercial advantage. It is such a substantial means of marketing that some organizations thrive through it. Sponsorship is, for example, an important revenue source for sports clubs. There are sponsors of players, kit, stadia, leagues, and whole clubs.

Some marketers see it as a useful and different mechanism to extend their footprint and reach. For instance, in July 2010, P&G announced a ten-year sponsorship of the Olympic Games. They say that they reach 4.2 billion consumers and see this as a way of reaching five billion.

Sponsorship has many uses. It can be used, for example, when building the awareness of a brand. Brands need fame to succeed. The wide knowledge in the general population of what these brands stand for enhances their appeal to those that buy them. In this context, sponsorship is a cost-effective means of helping an intended group of people to become familiar with a brand name. It makes business sense when it is based on a clear case and has defined objectives. The sponsorship has context. It can be part of a well articulated, long- term brand strategy.

Another valid use of sponsorship is in areas where there are restrictions on other forms of marketing. Cigarette companies, for example, now have ...