Monday, 7 December 2015

SPONSORSHIP (P.7,4,15)



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: