*It is important to understand that sponsorship is the purchase of specific rights and benefits associated with an event, organisation or individual -- unlike donations, sponsorship expects returns. However these returns are not necessarily focused on money as pointed out by Turner. Corporate partnering can be about sharing resources such as expertise and man power.
*Sponsorship not only benefits the sponsored subject but also the sponsor itself. Benefits such as generating goodwill and enhancing the reputation of a sponsor can lead to generating focal points for sales/ marketing through increased media coverage.
There are three main types of sponsorship:
- Philanthropic: Similar to a donation however generates community goodwill towards a company. E.g. providing money for research and education.
- Corporate: sponsorship of an event or activity not normally linked to the sponsoring companies general business. It links an organisation to a popular event or activity. E.g. Ford sponsoring the Australian Open tennis.
- Marketing Sponsorship: Offers cash and goods in return for tangible revenue-orientated results. It is used to promote products. E.g. Nike sponsoring a supreme athlete to market a range of clothing.
*When arranging events, excessive planning is essential. A successful practitioner will take time to not only organise the event itself, but also create a schedule, budget and risk management plan to handle possible problems such as ambush marketing.
*Tonge suggests there are four steps to creating a successful event:
- Feasibility: assessing if the event is worthwhile.
- Planning: formulating a list of duties such as sponsorship, budgeting, security (a committee may be formed).
- Execution: it is important that people involved in the event are aware of duties and deadlines. A critical path can be used to make sure the event is executed as planned.
- Evaluation: debriefing, event assessment and business activity assessment.
The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that:
*They reinforced the need for practitioners to be thorough and well planned when arranging events. They also furthered this point by suggesting that effective planning focuses on your ability to understand a potential sponsorship companies needs.
*The readings made me aware that when planning an event it is important to have a risk management plan in case the event doesn't run as smoothly as predicted or hoped.
*They helped me understand that sponsorship is not a one-way street but rather a partnership that can generate benefits for both the event and the sponsor company if they work hand in hand. An event can not only be a success itself, but it can be a catalyst for the future success of a sponsor.
2 comments:
The content of your blog all looks very familiar, we both concentrated on the exact same information, essentially. This is very comforting that a fellow student recognises the significance of the reading information in the same way as me. I thought the definition of sponsorship was very important because it redefined the way I understood the concept of sponsorship. I also regarded the four main steps to creating a successful event as integral for our public relations knowledge. It offers a great template for professional public relations practitioners and similarly for students to understand future expectations. Your final point is a great summary and reflection on the subject matter of this weeks readings, in particular how sponsorship is a relationship, not a one way street. All in all, a very thorough, insightful and easily understood blog. Keep up the great work!
Hi Luke. You have yet again summarised the key points for this week's reading exceptionally! I especially agree with your last point about sponsorship being a partnership and not a one-way street. This stood out for me also, and I think it's a really important point to remember. Sponsors aren't merely giving you money out of the goodness of their hearts, they need to be approached from a business perspective, giving them clear opportunities to promote and market themselves and their brand/product through their involvement. If a sponsorship relationship is successful then i agree, it definantly sets up a positive relationship between the organsiations for future involvement and gives something to pitch to prospective new sponsors too. Good work! :)
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