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Purpose: Framed by nostalgia marketing, this research draws upon lessons from ParticipACTION, a Canadian non-profit health promotion organization, to examine one of their most well-known campaigns, Body Break with ParticipACTION, in order to assess the potential role for nostalgia-based marketing campaigns in sport participation across generational cohorts. Design/methodology/approach: Exploratory sequential mixed methods involving two studies were completed on behalf of ParticipACTION, with the authors developing the research instruments and the collection of the data undertaken by research agencies. Study 1 was the secondary analysis of qualitative data from five focus groups with different demographic compositions that followed a common question guide. Study 2 was a secondary data analysis of a pan-Canadian online survey with a sample (n = 1,475) representative of the overall adult population that assessed awareness of, and attitudes toward, ParticipACTION, Body Break, physical activity and sport participation. Path analysis tested a proposed model that was based on previous research on attitudes, brand and loyalty. Further, multi-group path analyses were conducted to compare younger generations with older ones. Findings: The results provide direction and understanding of the importance of nostalgia in marketing sport participation programs across generational cohorts. For instance, in the four parent-adult focus groups, unaided references as well as frequent and detailed comments regarding Body Break were observed. Similarly, Millennials reported that Body Break was memorable, Canadian and nostalgic, with a mix of positive and negative comments. The importance of nostalgia was supported sequentially via results from the national survey. For example, while 54.1% of the 40–54 age-group associated ParticipACTION positively with Body Break, so did 49.8% of the 25–39-year age group, most of whom were not born when the promotion ran. Further, brand resonance was found to explain 4% more variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), the proxy for sport participation, for younger people compared to older people. Practical implications: Results provide direction to brands, properties and agencies around the use of nostalgia in sport marketing campaigns and sponsorship efforts. For brands seeking to sponsor sport properties to alter their image with potential consumers in a new market, associating with a sport property that many view as nostalgic could improve the impact of the campaign. On the sport property side, event managers and marketers should both identify existing assets that members or fans are nostalgic about, as well as consider building nostalgia into current and new properties they develop. Originality/value: This research is valuable to the sport marketing and sponsorship literature through several contributions. First, the use of nostalgia marketing, and nostalgia in general, is novel in the sport marketing and sponsorship literature, with future research in nostalgia and sponsorship recommended. Second, the potential to adopt or adapt Body Break to other sport participation and physical activity properties is empirically supported. Finally, the finding that very effective promotions can have a long-lasting effect, both on those who experienced the campaigns as well as younger populations who only heard about it, is notable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an accepted tool in the promotional mix of organizations, sponsorship and sport sponsorship have become everyday marketing practice, in which sponsors invest in sponsees in return for marketing value. The implementation, or fulfillment, as it is often called in practice, of a sponsorship involves three main activities: activation, evaluation and servicing. While the literature has investigated both activation and evaluation, work in the area of servicing is limited. Guided by a sponsorship-linked marketing lens, a longitudinal study of sponsorship organizations was undertaken followed by a best-worst scaling experiment. Longitudinal results inform us that sponsees are underservicing sponsors; however, the best-worst scaling experiment finds a reduced gap. Results illustrate that although gaps between importance and performance perceptions are relatively small for sponsors, sponsees and agencies, a mixed pattern of agreement and disagreement exists between each of the three respondent groups in relation to the specific importance and performance dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful sponsorship activities in sport often rely on the integration of relationship marketing, internal marketing, external corporate promotion, and strategic management. Although traditional marketing objectives such as brand integration and consumer targeting remain key components of promotional activities in sport, the use of sport sponsorship in today's environment increasingly implicates personnel issues in the both the sponsor and the sponsee. In fact, sport sponsorship has become a useful tool for some sponsors and sponsees who seek to motivate and involve their employees more in company activities. Therefore, the focus of this commentary is on the internal-communication and human-resources management functions involved in sport sponsorship decisions. The use of mini-case analyses and a dual-perspective (external and internal objectives) approach allows for informed discussion, and suggestions are made for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mega-special-event properties (sponsees) have the ability to attain significant resources through sponsorship by offering exclusive promotional opportunities that target sizeable consumer markets and attract sponsors. The Super Bowl, one of the most watched television programs in the world, was selected as the megaspecial- event for this study as it provides a rare environment where a portion of the television audience tunes in specifically for the purpose of watching new and entertaining commercials. A longitudinal analysis of consumer opinion related to the 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 Super Bowls provides empirical evidence that questions the ability of Super Bowl sponsorship to influence the sales of sponsor offerings. Results pertaining to consumers' intent to purchase sponsors' products—one of the most sought after metrics in relating sponsorship effectiveness to sales—demonstrate that levels of intent-to-purchase inspired by sponsorship of the Super Bowl is relatively low and, most importantly, that increases are not being achieved over time. These findings have implications for both mega-sponsees and their sponsors as well as media enterprise diffusing mega-special-events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With one of the most sophisticated and successful sponsorship programs in sports, the Olympic movement generates billions in revenues. The IOC has therefore mandated host countries and cities to enact new laws (i.e., event-specific legislations) that offer supplementary protection against ambush marketing. Through a qualitative case study, this research explores the perspective of the National Partners of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on the subject of anti-ambush marketing legislation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted reporting that: 1) event-specific legislation may contribute to sponsors' confusion around ambush marketing; 2) sponsors showed only moderate awareness of the legislation suggestive of a lack of consultation; 3) sponsors recognised both positive and negative impacts of anti-ambush marketing legislation; 4) sponsors perceived a level of powerlessness to stop ambush marketing and a need to focus on activation for true protection and increasing the remedies available through such measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Social marketing organizations are embracing sponsorship as part of their external communications strategy. Like commercial sponsorships, these relationships may terminate early. We develop a case study of drink driving transgressions by professional footballers that underpinned the termination of their team's sponsorship with a road safety organization. The ensuing model links corporate credibility, reputational interdependence, and exchange theory to sponsorship. Accordingly, we assert these social marketing sponsorships are susceptible to player behaviors that contradict the key messages of the social marketing organization. Through an explicit analogy development and mapping process, we show this process is analogous to at least one form of ambush marketing. The validity of the model and ambush marketing analogy is confirmed by an international sample of practitioners and academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Sponsorship sales in professional sport is an area of increasing attention and growing investment, but the sport management literature offers only limited research about sales strategies and tactics. As a result, practitioners and academics alike have called for investigation in the area. In response to this need, the purpose of this paper is to empirically explore sponsorship sales in professional sport.Design/methodology/approach Sponsorship sales professionals working for sport properties in the four major North American sport leagues were surveyed on a variety of sponsorship sales-related variables and factors.Findings A total of 92 sponsorship sales professionals responded to the study, for an estimated 15.3 percent response rate. At the time of the data collection, the 92 respondents worked in the National Football League (NFL) (37), Major League Baseball (MLB) (16), National Basketball Association (NBA) (18), and National Hockey League (NHL) (21). A series of practical, conceptual, and comparative results are presented, highlighted by turnover as a problem, the importance of activation/servicing in sponsorship sales, and the high level of investment clubs are making in sponsorship sales.Research limitations/implications First, on “coverage,” the authors acknowledge that variations in the data can be linked, to a large extent, to reporting issues due to the nature of the study, the data, and the sample. Variations in sponsor number or training, for example, are not necessarily indicative of weaknesses in the industry, but occur because of strategic differences among properties. Second, it is important to note that not all properties had personnel respond to the study. Consequently, the figures presented in this study might be a function of the individual personnel who responded rather than a true average figure for a particular league. Third, in terms of the sample, this study deals with a very specific context in the four North American major sport leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL). Thus, one should be careful in generalizing to minor professional, collegiate, Olympic, or other sport contexts.Practical implications The finding of this paper states that the turnover of sponsors may be a structural issue and is certainly related to the demand for the particular property (Seaver Marketing Group, 2010). Driven by a number of factors, including technology shifts to digital channels and increased sophistication by the sponsorship sales departments of professional sport properties, a shift in the activation and service paradigm is reported and extended to the specific context of sponsorship sales.Social implications Results show that sport properties in the North American major sport leagues have a strong commitment to sponsorship sales by the organization (commitment of resources), by sport personnel (who support the business side), and by their sponsorship sales professionals who report satisfaction, motivation, and support from their property.Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical research study specific on sponsorship sales in professional sport, thus providing direction for practice and future research on an issue of high importance to the sport industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years, sport properties and corporate sponsors have struggled to develop strategies to activate their expansive partnerships, particularly those without high-ranking national media coverage. This case analyzes a successful, multilayered sponsorship activation tied to the 2012 retirement of Philadelphia Eagles star Brian Dawkins. The Eagles, in partnership with AAA and Marvel, created and promoted a unique weekend around Dawkins' retirement that included a NASCAR race, an NFL Sunday Night Football Game, and a meet-and-greet with Dawkins; this weekend was marketed extensively across various modes of media. The partners' goals were to engage 7 million regionally-based Eagles fans, not just the 70,000 fans who would witness Dawkins' retirement ceremony inside Lincoln Financial Field during the game. This case illustrates how the partners came together to achieve common goals, using Dawkins' image, presence, and positive affinity with Eagles fans. The case details sponsorship and activation trends, the activation ratio, and other examples of sponsorship activation tied to athlete retirement. The case asks students to take what they have learned about sponsorship activation and analyze the Dawkins retirement, discussing what was successful, what was not, and what could be done for future sponsorship activations in similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study presents seven challenges regarding the implementation of a National Sport Organization (NSO) loyalty program. Drawing on relationship marketing and sponsorship, the case traces the evolution of the Club Hockey Canada loyalty program, managed by Hockey Canada, a large and successful NSO. The case describes the following seven challenges for managers: resource allocation, process management, branding, rules and regulations for a key element of the program (i.e., Puck Bucks), risk management, sponsorship, and cost recovery. Targeted to upper year undergraduate and graduate students in sport finance or sport marketing, the case is based on information provided by Hockey Canada and secondary research. In completing the case, students will be able to learn about the seven challenges in building a successful loyalty program. [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 companys 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]

This paper seeks to build understanding of the evaluation of sponsorships involving high human mortality risk. Examples of risky sponsees are presented, with two assessed as in-depth case studies. Based on this research, a sponsorship evaluation framework for sponsors is presented that includes: sponsee selection, risk management, strategic tactics, contingency planning, contract elements and post-contract tactics. [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]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically test O'Reilly and Madill's (2012) process model to assess social marketing elements of a multi-year partnership between Coca-Cola Canada and a physical activity microgrant program, known as Teen Challenge, managed by ParticipACTION, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that champions sport and physical activity participation. ParticipACTION's Teen Challenge is a multi-year initiative that was developed in 2008 and involves over 5,800 community organizations (COs) and over 500,000 Canadian teens across the nation (ParticipACTION, 2016). Design/methodology/approach: A series of ten hypotheses related to the evaluation are tested using longitudinal data from event participants over a five-year period from 2009 to 2013. Findings: The study revealed that sponsor and sponsee shared objectives around sport participation, including the three found in this study. Practically, this is a positive result for sport participation properties who might now consider this as part of a sponsorship sales strategy. The research found that both Coca-Cola Canada and ParticipACTION have the following shared objectives in this particular sponsorship: motivate and support youth to get active and live a healthy life; remove barriers that youth face in getting physically active; and encourage more COs to be involved in the program. Conceptually, this finding extends the discussion of shared social marketing objectives in sponsorship proposed by Madill and O'Reilly (2010). Research limitations/implications: The findings support the sponsorship literature, in suggesting that shared objectives among sponsorship partners are important for the sponsorship to achieve successful outcomes (Cornwell et al., 2001). Shared sponsorship objectives can be utilized as a strategic tool for the sponsee to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program and to build a long-term relationship. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicate that COs which viewed partners' collaboration as positive agreed that the Teen Challenge program made physical activity more accessible and affordable for youth. Practical implications: This study provides several important implications for non-profit organizations that aim to establish an effective social marketing campaign. One way for non-profit organizations to build a strong relationship with sponsors was through positive collaboration where the two partners work together (e.g. activation) to maximize the sponsorship's effectiveness. First, it increased youth participation in the Teen Challenge program and made it affordable for teens to participate in other physical activity programs. Second, it enhanced Coca-Cola's image as supporters of active lifestyle in the eyes of COs. Finally, it affected the likelihood that COs would recommend the program. Social implications: Results of the survey of COs that are registered with the program provides us with another important finding that positive partner collaboration is only one component of overall effectiveness. Another component would be to take action to communicate to COs that positive collaboration indeed took place in the sponsorship. One way to achieve this goal is to demonstrate to COs the importance of funding that the sponsor provides as well as the impact of sponsorship partners' positive collaboration on the overall program. The authors also found that sponsorship partners' positive collaboration in the delivery of the Teen Challenge program played an important role in whether COs recommend the program to others. Originality/value: The results of this research contribute to the evaluation of the sponsorship of a health-oriented social marketing sponsorship of a sport participation property or sponsee (ParticipACTION) and a major brand as sponsor (Coca-Cola). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on sport sponsorship. He highlights the observations of the Commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL) on sponsorship in major professional sport. The Commissioner notes that sponsorship is important to NHL. He emphasizes the importance of community involvement and engagement in sport sponsorship.

The author discusses the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study, which involves more than 500 organizations involved in sponsorship in Canada in 2009. The study found that the global recession had minimal impact on sponsorship in the country which totaled 1.43 billion Canadian dollars. It also revealed less sport sponsorships.

The author comments on the sponsorship of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. He notes that sponsorship for the event will come in the form of The Olympic Program (TOP). He adds that the nine TOP sponsors would spend millions of dollars in acquiring the exclusive rights to their respective categories and more in trying to maximise the benefits of being an Olympic sponsor. He mentions that host nation Canada has exceeded its budget of 600 million dollars intended for the event.

The article presents a research paper that examines the status of sponsorship in the marketing strategy. A study was conducted in KMAC, a sports marketing agency specializing in sponsorship, to analyze sponsorship as a subset of advertising and as a distinct member of the promotional mix. It has been found that sponsorship is a legitimate member of the promotional mix, both in terms of marketing theory and business practice.

A large-sample survey of general public consumers in Canada, France and the United States during the 2000 Olympic Games supports previous research on ambush marketing, provides evidence that purchase decisions are affected by ambush marketing reducing the value of sponsorship partnerships, and purports that the International Olympic Committee and its partners need to develop specific strategies to combat ambush marketing country by country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]