Increasing interest in the product as well as building and consolidating a positive image are the main goals of many enterprises. An effective tool that responds to this need is the marketing mix. One of its components is promotion, which is a mix of advertising, public relations and sponsorship. Due to the growing interest in less traditional ways of gaining consumer interest, PR sponsorship is becoming more and more popular.
What is sponsorship?
In some cases, sponsorship is confused with philanthropy, but this is not the case. Sponsorship refers to activities that bring positive effects to both parties. Charitable giving of funds to another person or company does not appear here. Instead, a business relationship is established between two independent partners.
Both parties should clearly define their goals and specify them at the beginning of the cooperation. The first and basic rule when implementing PR sponsorship is to define strategic goals and values. It cannot be based on individual beliefs, tastes or emotions.
Effective public relations requires specific plans and actions. The enterprise should carefully and consciously choose the entities it wants to support financially. Most often they are related to sports. However, this choice must be consistent with a given brand and business profile. You can also be interested in sponsoring entities in the field of culture, ecology or socially responsible activities. Sponsoring affects the image of the company due to the transfer of emotions from the entity to the brand. The chain of positive associations built in this way is a very effective marketing tool.
How is PR sponsorship manifested?
Depending on the company's profile, sponsorship can take various forms. The scope of funding may concern social activities, such as education and environmental protection, or entertainment - sports, culture and art. Sponsorship itself can be both one-time and long-term. Cooperation between the entity and the enterprise may be concluded for various periods. The geographic scope of the sponsorship is also unlimited.
Depending on the expected purpose, it can be used at the local level, but it is also possible to act nationwide or even internationally. An important feature of sponsorship is also its form. While direct funding is one of the most popular methods, it is not the only one. Under sponsorship, an enterprise may provide goods or services to a given entity. During the term of the agreement, the sponsor may actively or passively participate in funded or supported events. This may depend on the form of sponsorship and the brand profile.
What is PR sponsorship used for?
The most common reason to use sponsorship is to improve your brand image and communication. It allows you to effectively increase the range and reach a wider group of potential customers. Additionally, it builds a chain of positive connections between the sponsored entity and the brand. Thanks to these associations, the level of consumer confidence also grows and more people reach for a product or service of a given brand. PR offer tailored to the needs it also allows to shape and stabilize the company's image, which is particularly important in the event of crises.
When a company decides to implement sponsorship of a particularly popular entity, it can significantly increase the popularity of the brand, also among previously uninterested people. The wide audience obtained in this way allows you to reach consumers in line with your profile with your product. The selection of the entity and group of recipients is key - not always the scale is an advantage, sometimes it is important to reach a specific target group of customers. It will allow for effective interest in your brand or product.
Advantages of using sponsorship
The greatest and undeniable benefit of using well-thought-out sponsorship consistent with the brand's profile is the long-term improvement of the image. The positive effects of sponsorship are quantifiable and specific, usually based on the association of the sponsor with a given entity. Additionally, it fits well sponsorship offer becomes much more credible in the eyes of consumers than standard advertising. Companies that effectively use this tool while building a positive image create an atmosphere that inspires trust among customers and increase their popularity.
Thanks to the use of sponsorship, a company can significantly increase the prestige of its brand, thanks to its presence at events and initiatives important to consumers. PR sponsorship affects both current and future consumers. It also allows you to supplement traditional methods of promotion and advertising. The measure of the effectiveness of this tool is the increase in brand recognition, the number of positive opinions and, of course, the increase in sales compared to the previous period.
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Sponsoring in PR - examples
Sponsoring, although it often requires considerable financial outlays, brings measurable benefits. Today it is one of the most widely used PR tools. The effects of his actions can be easily observed in the case of large brands that have a lot of capital. One of the first associations with sponsorship is sport. Basketball star Michael Jordan signed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Nike, which increased the company's market share by 20%.
Sponsorship is not just about basketball. He is seen in football, where teams wear well-known brands, and banners from other companies appear in the stadium. It is present in cycling, volleyball and water sports. There are two sides to the benefits - the sponsor builds its image, works on recognition and reaches a larger audience. The team or player has constant financial support, which gives an opportunity to invest in the development and improvement of achieved results.
It is impossible not to mention the title sponsorship, which is not very popular with us, but very common abroad. Title sponsorship of sports facilities is a temporary gain by the sponsor of the right to a place in the name or of a stadium or sports hall. The cooperation most often takes the form of financing the facility. After all, many of them generate enormous costs, so the benefits are shared by both parties. In Poland, the PGE National Stadium is an example. Abroad, almost all sports halls have their sponsors in the names of them. Although this form of sponsorship is relatively young in our country, it has great potential, both for local sports venues and the largest arenas.
Sponsorship also appears for events and events. Concerts, celebrations, and outdoor events have their sponsors who can actually shape their image. This form of promotion has no local restrictions. It is a great way to work on small brands that mostly operate locally, as well as large companies reaching customers from all over the world. Sponsorship of celebrities or singers is no less popular, which in this case usually includes long-term cooperation.
Does PR sponsorship always bring benefits to the company?
As public relations agency With many years of experience, we have no reason to believe that well-conducted activities in the field of PR sponsorship can have a negative impact on the company's position on the market. There is some risk that sponsorship funds will not guarantee the expected results, although this situation can only occur in the case of a poor plan of action. Success is primarily influenced by a clear definition of the goals of the sponsor and the sponsored. If we don't make any mistakes here, and we define it accurately target audience - sponsorship always benefits the company.
Sponsoring allows you to evoke positive associations with target customers and those who may potentially become customers of the company. In this way, you can shape a positive image of the sponsor in the eyes of recipients, and significantly improve its credibility. Thanks to sponsorship, the company can gain a positive reception in the media and reach a much wider audience. However, it should be noted that it is good marketing strategy is not irrelevant here. When we want to be fully successful, we need to rethink not only the actions taken in the area of sponsorship itself, but also marketing. Importantly, these activities must be carried out in parallel and coherently.
Sponsorship can be a short-term activity. Then the company is ready to sell. The sponsor decides to distribute advertising materials, vouchers, focuses on presenting its offer or engages sales representatives.
Long-term sponsorship is the best way to build brand image and evoke positive associations with it. Actions of this type take time, but as a result they allow you to achieve two benefits. Ultimately, they also positively affect sales, but also give something much more valuable - emotions, and they are the driving force and create the added value of the company.
So, does PR sponsorship always bring benefits? If the company prepares well for it, thinks over the action plan and sets out the goals it wants to achieve with it - yes, sponsorship is a very profitable investment that will contribute to the company's development.
How do I choose an item or sponsorship?
If sponsorship is to be successful, you must first decide what event, initiative or place will allow you to carry out the action. Why is it so important? Well, the venture we want to choose must be in line with the values that the company wants to promote. Let's explain it with an example.
A company that sells organic products cannot establish sponsorship cooperation related to an event concerning a hunting club. Such action will not only be ineffective and will not reach the target audience, but will also turn out to be contrary to what the company would like to be associated with. Sponsoring must even reach customers who can thus decide to take advantage of the company's offer. That is why the very choice of the event or place is of great importance and translates into the success of cooperation.
The second criterion should be range. Many people think that the larger the audience, the better, which in turn allows you to think that it is profitable to invest only in cooperation that will give large ranges. Of course, in some cases this form of action may work, but it is important not only the number, but also the exclusion of random people who will not be among the recipients anyway. The local ISP will not benefit from sponsorship if its services reach residents outside of the area where it is able to provide its services, even if it is the main sponsor of the event nationwide.