Search

Purpose: Corporations often benefit from associating their brand(s) with a sports property; in some cases, the property is owned or supported by a not-for-profit organization (NFP) championing a cause. Title sponsorship of such a sport event has received limited research attention but is important to a NFP for raising funds and in-kind contributions to support their cause. The purpose of this paper is to investigate title sponsorship of cause-related sport events. Design/methodology/approach: This research examines the title sponsorship of a cause-related sport event and its effectiveness in relation to the event, the organization, the cause and other sponsors of the NFP. Specifically, this study examines these questions in the context of a specific annual event, Sports Day in Canada organized by ParticipACTION, a national Canadian NFP and whose title sponsor is Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Findings: Results show that title sponsorship has significant potential value for the sponsor and the cause, perhaps to the detriment of other (lower tier) sponsors of the event and the NFP. Originality/value: This research has value to sponsors and cause-related sport events alike. In the case of sponsors, it provides insight into the value of title sponsorship vs other categories of sponsorship, for a brand considering sponsorship of cause-related sport property. For cause-related sport events, the research informs about the importance and possible revenue generation opportunity linked to the title sponsor category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explored the use of Twitter for sponsorship activation by the The Olympic Program (TOP) sponsors during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Using NCapture, a total of 7,519 tweets and retweets of all ten TOP sponsors around the Games were captured from the 1st of January (pre-Olympic) to the 3rd of April, 2014 (post-Olympic). The data were analysed with the aid of Leximancer analytics software. Results show that there is no regular pattern of Twitter use for activation that was identifiable amongst the TOP sponsors; all were found adopting different strategic approaches. Notably, the TOP sponsors differ in terms of the number and types of tweets they produced, retweets they broadcasted, hashtags they rerun, and the registered growth of their followers from pre-games to post-games. The results also show three possible sponsorship objectives communicated by TOP sponsors, namely promotion (of services, products, and company's image), customer appreciation, and athletes' encouragement. Potential theoretical and practical implications will be discussed, including suggestions for future research. The work encourages continued investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Little research has examined sponsorship within the context of mega-event and related host images. This paper seeks to explore the relationships among country, destination, mega-event and sponsor images through the evaluations formed of each entity. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data collected from 291 Canadian consumers two months after the Beijing Olympics, a SEM model examines the relationships among consumer evaluations of the host country, the country as a destination, the mega-event itself and sponsors. Findings – Results support the hypothesized model and present a paradoxical situation for the Olympics hosted by China. While the overall country evaluation was found to have a strong and positive effect on its evaluation as a tourist destination and the destination evaluation has a subsequent positive relationship with Olympic evaluations, a direct and negative relationship between the evaluation of the country and of the Olympic Games was also supported. Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine the relationship among country, destination, mega-event and sponsor images in other mega-event and country contexts. In addition, the pattern of these relationships should be assessed longitudinally. Practical implications – This study provides evidence to show that the Olympic Games image is resilient and can thrive in challenging contexts. Further, sponsors can be assured that they are receiving value from Olympic sponsorships. Originality/value – These results extend previous literature on sponsorship evaluation into the large, global sponsor context. In addition, this study examines the role of the host country in understanding the influence of the mega-event on sponsor images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Olympic Games are well established as a global event with vast marketing benefit. Two major benefits from the Olympics derive from sponsorship and tourism. In terms of sponsorship, The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship programme is widely recognized as one of the most successful, profitable and effective sponsorship arrangements, if not marketing relationships in general. The purpose of this research is to explore these special TOP sponsor–International Olympic Committee relationships, as a case study, to explore the ‘sponsor–mega-event’ relationship as an example of a business-to-business (B2B) tourism marketing relationship. Indeed, a variety of perspectives on key attributes of the relationship are explored, including the nature of the relationship, key elements of the sponsorship (e.g. evaluation) and the specific location (e.g. the impact of the location of the host city/country of the Olympic Games). As exploratory research into a new area, the paper reviews relevant literature and reports on an expert interview with a TOP sponsor to support conceptual and empirical development of the concept. Results of the interview are assessed in to the context of existing literature and summarized in a proposed B2B marketing relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the construct of trust as a key variable in the relationship between sponsorship and customer loyalty in the mobile phone industry. Results indicate that corporate sponsorship is correlated with the level of trust customers place in a sponsor, and that trust plays a significant role in stimulating customer loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponsorship is a growing tool of promotions and marketing, however, its future is threatened by a lack of effective evaluation and consideration of return on investment in the evaluations that do take place. This paper discusses the issues and current practices in terms of the methods and metrics available to researchers and practitioners in sponsorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As society is constantly changing its expectations of corporations and their broader role, citizens are looking for demonstrations of good corporate citizenship and evidence of positive social change. Engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be a powerful marketing tool that can build and shape a corporation's reputation and provide for differentiation in a crowded marketplace, thereby providing a competitive edge. This paper identifies the potential of the 'marriage' of sport and CSR to exert change starting with a grassroots event. The study utilises an in-depth, qualitative case study approach to develop a conceptual framework that rationalises how a gender-based grassroots sponsorship can be adopted as a method of cause-related CSR. Directions for future research and practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the inaugural landscape study of the sponsorship industry in Canada. As the literature on sponsorship expands and practitioner interest grows, the time was right for such a study. A detailed methodology and ambitious data collection plan were implemented to acquire a representative sample of sponsors, sponsees and agencies from across Canada. The results outline the key aspects of sponsorship in Canada -- its size, its growth and its important metrics -- as well as noting the spending patterns of sponsors, the revenue-generation successes of sponsees and the billing amounts of agencies. Industry size, leveraging/activation ratios and spending growth were calculated. Benefits for future research and managerial implications for practitioners were outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 30 years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has adopted marketing as a key focus of its operations. In turn, the organisation has developed a variety of sophisticated and widely acclaimed marketing practices such as its TOP programme. It has also supported a large number of studies on Olympic marketing. One important observation resulting from these studies is that corporate managers' and consumers' perceptions of the Olympic brand differ from each other's views on a number of areas. The current research seeks to understand this dichotomy and to provide the Olympic brand with insightful direction. We offer specific recommendations to the IOC and their partners, as well as suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research highlights the need for sophisticated measurement tools to allow sponsors and sponsees to evaluate sponsorship achievement against specific goals and its performance relative to other promotional tactics. Two high-profile in-stadium sponsorships of a mega-sponsee, the Grey Cup, are evaluated. Some evidence appears to supports and the effectiveness of the sponsorships; other observations raise questions about the accuracy of the evaluation process. The paper provides direction for practice and future research in sponsorship evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]