Marketing Communications

TARGET GROUPS 349

so forcing cultural and social organisations to look for fi nancial support from private companies.

Finally, legal constraints on tobacco and alcohol advertising are forcing the companies involved

to look for other communications strategies to get their message across. Sponsorship is an

obvious substitute to build awareness and image.

Apart from increasing expenditures, a number of other current developments in sponsor-

ship can be discerned:^24

z A changing perception of sponsorship on the part of company executives. An evolution towards

more professionalism can be seen and management practice is becoming increasingly

sophisticated.

z Changing expenditure patterns. A greater part of the budget is spent on relatively new forms

of sponsorship instead of on traditional sports and the arts. Broadcast or programme sponsor-

ship, popular music and cause-related projects are becoming increasingly important.

z Th e diff usion of sponsorship to an expanding range of industries. In the early days, sponsor-

ship was mainly used by tobacco, alcohol and soft drinks companies, and banks and car

manufacturers. Nowadays, retail groups and detergent manufacturers are joining the list.

z Th e proliferation of sponsorship activity. An increasing number of corporate sponsors,

combined with a shortage of quality events, are leading to a greater exploitation of their

properties by event owners.

z Some sponsored events are evolving towards global projects. Th e Olympic Games, Formula

One racing and worldwide sports sponsorship by Adidas are examples of this trend.

z Sponsorship is becoming relationship-based rather than transaction-based (structural versus

punctual sponsorship), implying a longer-term co-operation between sponsors and sponsees.

z Sponsorship is more and more broadcast-driven. What is not on TV is less attractive as a

sponsorship project.

Objectives and target groups

Given the fl exibility of sponsorship to achieve a number of objectives and the wide range of

sponsorable events and causes, sponsorship audiences are very diversifi ed. Like other instru-

ments of the communications mix, marketing and corporate communications target groups

can be distinguished. Since sponsorship is explicitly linked to an event, an extra dimen-

sion should be added. Indeed, audiences can be contacted as active participants in the event

(soccer players or musicians), as live spectators who attend events (fans or visitors of a museum)

and/or as media followers of the event. Figure 11.1 shows the sponsorship audience structure.

In Table 11.1 the results of a study on sports sponsorship in Canada are shown, illustrating

the wide range of audiences that are targeted and their relative importance.^25 Obviously,

Figure 11.1 Sponsorship audience structure

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