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.
Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property
(typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for
access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that
property. For example, a
corporate
entity may provide equipment for a famous athlete or sports team in
exchange for
brand recognition.
The sponsor earns popularity this way while the sponsored can earn
a lot of money. A particular form of specialized brand sponsorship
where a brand sponsors an unusual event or pastime that then
becomes synonymous with that brand (to the point where future
brands may be excluded from participation) is known as
'aboutsponsorship'. This provides a strong walled-garden
sponsorship relationship between particular events and the
brand.
Cause-related marketing
generally includes an offer by the sponsor to make a donation to
the cause with purchase of its product or service. Unlike
philanthropy, money spent on cause marketing is a business expense,
not a donation, and is expected to show a return on
investment.
When commercial radio stations began broadcasting in the early
1920s, the programs were aired
without advertising. Many radio stations
were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers and
programming was provided to sell radio transmitters and receivers.
This led to a system where radio and television programs were
financed by selling sponsorship rights to businesses. Eventually,
the broadcasters began selling smaller blocks of advertising time
to several businesses. Sponsorship is also becoming increasingly
important in education.
Many companies want their
logo on sponsored
equipment in return.
Formula One teams
for many years relied heavily on the income from
tobacco advertising, reflected in the
sponsorship
liveries of the teams. Other types of sponsorships revolve
around companies paying for parts of television broadcasts and
sporting events which bear their name. For example college bowl
games now contain the name of their sponsor.
Many times a company's motives for sponsorship are altruistic in
order to create goodwill in the community which increases their
good reputation. However, sponsorship is more commonly used to
derive benefit from the associations created for a company's
brand(s) or
image as a result of the
sponsorship.
People may sponsor an individual or group of people to undertake a
fundraising task, usually for a
charity or other cause requiring
funding.
Sponsorship belongs to the
promotional
tool of
Marketing.
In
Japan
, sponsorship is prevalent in television, as
evidenced by each Japanese television series (after its opening
sequence, its ending and subsequent episode preview).
With respect to neuroscience conferences, the term sponsor
designates the person financially supporting the research presented
at the conference.
Sponsorship in the traditional sense became less common is US
television over the years -- individual advertisements in many
different programs being the norm for commercial television these
days, with
product placement
becoming more popular -- with the exception of
Public Television, where sponsorship of an
entire series is still commonplace, usually with a subdued
announcement at the end, and optionally the beginning, of each
program. This is often referred to as 'underwriting'.
Sponsorship controversies
Recently, the sponsorship industry has been under scrutiny for
compliance issues, among others the alleged channeling of funds
("kickbacks"), invitations to lobbyists/politicians and taxation of
benefits such as free admission tickets and
hospitality.
An ongoing issue is the payment to intermediating sponsorship
agents and sports managers which are employed by many sportspersons
and teams to find sponsorship, but who are often reluctantly paid,
because of their high commissions (10-25%). The German initiative
S20 has been established in 2007 in order to define a stable
framework for the sponsorship industry.
See also
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