SPONSORSHIP
To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or
organization financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group
that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.
These consist of given financial or
other support to government bodies or other non-profit organizations by
businesses or individuals; sometimes for altruistic reasons, but usually to
gain some public relations advantage.
There are many kinds of sponsorship,
though, the most common are in the area of sports, music and culture. Other
types are: books and other publications i.e roadmaps, exhibitions, literature
and theatre, local and civic events.
Sponsorships are planned as
investments to gain desired positive results in the area of marketing,
advertising and public relations.
In marketing, sponsorships can be
used for positioning a product; supporting dealers; establishing a change in
policy; launching a new product; encouraging product use, etc.
In advertising, sponsorship can be
used: as a medium where other traditional media are banned e.g. cigarettes; to
promote a product, etc.
In PR, sponsorships are useful for
goodwill, corporate image and identity, hospitality and publicity.
The result of sponsorship can be
evaluated through monitoring of media coverage or through other marketing
research methods.
These days, sponsors want more than
television exposure. They want creative ways to develop a relationship with
current and potential customers. They want to connect more strongly to their
customers. Ideally, the way to start doing this is to use market research to
find out about the composition of the target audience. Sponsors want to
integrate the sponsorship into their customer relationship and marketing
programs. The sponsorship is used to enhance the audience’s emotional
connection to the sponsor's brand through their experience with the event or
activity.
Sponsorship is the financial or
in-kind support of an activity, used primarily to reach specified business goals.
Sponsorship should not be confused advertising. Advertising is considered a
quantitative medium, whereas sponsorship is considered a qualitative medium. It
promotes a company in association with the sponsee.
A large number of events these days
use sponsorship support to offer more exciting programs and to help defray
rising costs. Sponsorship allows you to reach specifically targeted niche
markets without any waste. In addition, it is a powerful complement other
public relations activities, in addition to having a dramatic influence on
customer relations.
Benefits/values of Sponsorship
Sponsorship offers the possibility of
achieving several goals at once. According to Schmader and Jackson in their
book, Special Events: Inside and Out, a company can benefit from sponsorship in
the following ways:
- Enhancing image / shaping consumer
attitudes.
Often companies are looking to
improve how the are perceived by their target audience. Sponsoring events that
appeal to their market are likely to shape buying attitudes and help generate a
positive reaction. Coca Cola, for example is always looking to generate a
positive influence of their products in the minds of their consumers and as
such regularly support events they feel can influence consumer opinion.
- Driving Sales
Sponsorship geared at driving sales
can be an extremely potent promotional tool. This objective allows sponsors to
showcase their product attributes. Food and beverage companies often use
sponsorship to encourage sales.
-Creating positive publicity / heightening
visibility
Every sponsor is seeking wide
exposure in both electronic and print media. Positive publicity helps create
heightened visibility of products/services. Various media covering the event
may include sponsors names and/or photos. In addition, the kind of media
coverage a sponsor may get is often unaffordable if the company were to think
of purchasing it, and if it were available. To maximize this objective, it is
important for the sponsoring company to have a comprehensive media campaign to augment
the regular media coverage promoted by the organizers. Sponsorship can often
generate media coverage that might otherwise not have been available.
- Sponsorship promotes the corporate
image and reputation of the sponsoring organization.
Small businesses may
achieve community visibility by sponsoring local events like sports. Sponsorship
builds relationships and provides your organization with a unique opportunity
to create and enter into dialogue with opinion formers and policy makers
Our marketing resources will promote
your organization to a wide audience via a pre-conference direct mail (minimum
mailing per conference is 15,000 named contacts, but generally 20,000 or more) Media
exposure generated by the event provides excellent public relations opportunities
and will provide a corporate portfolio of photographs of the event for your
corporate literature. It creates an excellent opportunity for internal
marketing by using the event you sponsor as a "training/information
seminar" for relevant internal staff. Sponsorship intensifies brand
awareness, provides high profile exposure leading up to, during and after the
conference and maximizes advertising and PR opportunities within your chosen
sector. By hosting lunch or cocktail receptions, your company profile will be
raised and will benefit from informal networking with existing and potential clients
in a relaxed environment. Located in prime delegate traffic areas, our
exhibitions are an ideal platform to profile to, and network with key potential
or current clients.
Forms of Sponsorship
Sponsorship or donation can take any
of the following forms;
ü Money
ü Materials
ü Equipment
ü Property of significant value i.e.
real estate
ü Endowments
Difference Between Sponsorship and Advertising
Sponsorship is different from
advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship cannot communicate specific
product attributes nor can it stand alone. sponsorship requires support
elements such as advertising, public relations and marketing
Another major difference between the
duo is that while advertising messages are controlled by the advertiser,
sponsors donot control the message that is communicated but the consumers do.
No comments:
Post a Comment