Major Sponsorship Decisions

Making sponsorships successful requires choosing the appropriate events, designing the optimal
sponsorship program, and measuring the effects of sponsorship.80
CHOOSING EVENTS Because of the number of opportunities and their huge cost, many
marketers are becoming more selective about choosing sponsorship events.
The event must meet the marketing objectives and communication strategy defined for the
brand. The audience must match the target market. The event must have sufficient awareness,
possess the desired image, and be capable of creating the desired effects. Consumers must make
favorable attributions for the sponsor’s engagement. An ideal event is also unique but not encumbered
with many sponsors, lends itself to ancillary marketing activities, and reflects or enhances
the sponsor’s brand or corporate image.81
DESIGNING SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMS Many marketers believe the marketing program
accompanying an event sponsorship ultimately determines its success. At least two to three times the
amount of the sponsorship expenditure should be spent on related marketing activities.
Event creation is a particularly important skill in publicizing fund-raising drives for nonprofit
organizations. Fund-raisers have developed a large repertoire of special events, including anniversary
celebrations, art exhibits, auctions, benefit evenings, book sales, cake sales, contests, dances,
dinners, fairs, fashion shows, phonathons, rummage sales, tours, and walkathons.
More firms are now using their names to sponsor arenas, stadiums, and other venues that hold
events. Billions of dollars have been spent over the past decade for naming rights to major North
American sports facilities. But as with any sponsorship, the most important consideration is the
additional marketing activities.MEASURING SPONSORSHIP ACTIVITIES It’s a challenge to measure the success of events.
The supply-side measurement method focuses on potential exposure to the brand by assessing the
extent of media coverage, and the demand-side method focuses on exposure reported by
consumers.“Marketing Memo: Measuring High Performance Sponsorship Programs” offers some
guidelines critical to issues of sponsorship measurement from industry experts IEG.
Supply-side methods approximate the amount of time or space devoted to media coverage of
an event, for example, the number of seconds the brand is clearly visible on a television screen or
the column inches of press clippings that mention it. These potential “impressions” translate into a
value equivalent to the dollar cost of actually advertising in the particular media vehicle. Some
industry consultants have estimated that 30 seconds of TV logo exposure during a televised event
can be worth 6 percent, 10 percent, or as much as 25 percent of a 30-second TV ad spot.
Although supply-side exposure methods provide quantifiable measures, equating media
coverage with advertising exposure ignores the content of the respective communications. The
advertiser uses media space and time to communicate a strategically designed message. Media
coverage and telecasts only expose the brand and don’t necessarily embellish its meaning in any
direct way. Although some public relations professionals maintain that positive editorial coverage
can be worth 5 to 10 times the equivalent advertising value, sponsorship rarely provides
such favorable treatment.83
The demand-side method identifies the effect sponsorship has on consumers’ brand knowledge.
Marketers can survey event spectators to measure recall of the event as well as resulting attitudes
and intentions toward the sponsor.