ISBA Sponsorship Conference
Yesterday the ISBA 14th sponsorship conference entitled “Sponsorship – The Extra Dimension” was held at the Hilton Hotel in London.
The conference was chaired by Kenneth Miles, Director General of ISBA. First to speak was Sean Jefferson, Brands Public Relations Manager of Bass Brewers. He was reponsible for the biggest ever sports sponsorship deal in Britain, the £12m four year deal with the FA Carling Premiership.
Measuring Sponsorship Effectiveness – 3 Key Factors To Take Into Account – Sean Jefferson.
Jefferson explained how Bass measure the effectiveness of their sponsorship. The first thing necessary in order to evaluate success is to decide the brand and corporate objectives, then evaluate whether they have been achieved.
Jefferson believes there are three key factors in calculating effectiveness.
* MEDIA VALUE
At Bass they measure each single coverage achieved in different sections of the media by branded items; ie the coverage of perimeter boards in the media, photographs showing the product, television coverage etc. Editorial coverage is also quantified. All these exposure factors are then collated. Although the Media Value is not a definitive guide, Bass find that it is effective. It does not however, qualify the tone of exposure.
* CONSUMER ATTITUDES
Consumer attitudes to both the sport and the brand are monitored for changes both before and after sponsorship. Their research has proven that sponsorship can shift consumer attitudes.
* TRADING BENEFITS
Sponsorship is only effective if it is properly targeted and employed. It causes awareness and is therefore more likely to be chosen above rivals. The ultimate objective of Bass Brewers is to achieve loyalty among consumers.
Tracy Long, Sponsorship Director of Classic FM spoke about Classic FM’s experiences; The Lessons Learnt and The Way Ahead.
Classic FM tailors all its promotion to its audience, and is committed to only outputting 4.5 minutes of advertising time every hour maximum. The nature of classical music means that it does not divide easily for commercial breaks so for them programme sponsorship is the ideal medium.
Long explained Classic FM’s philosophy towards sponsorship; they do see it as a form of advertising, unlike later speakers from the broadcasting medium. She also sees sponsors as programme enhancers; they can provide research and information. The policy they have developed is for an uncluttered sound aimed at their predominantly upmarket audience.
The abiding principle which they follow is that the most important thing to remember is to always entertain the audience.
Following Tracy Long was Charles Jackson, from Howard Jackson & Co Ltd, a sponsorship agency. He spoke about Broadcast Sponsorship – As a Marketing Tool.
He began by reminding the delegates of when Powergen sponsored the ITV weather in 1989 and expectancy was high for the success of sponsorship on ITV.
According to Jackson, one reason for the non-explosion is the fault of the ITC Sponsorship Code. He says it is not very flexible towards sponsorship compared to the regulations controlling commercials.
Unlike Tracy Long, Jackson believes that broadcast sponsorship is NOT advertising. It is not possible to make a qualitative statement about the brandso therefore it can not be considered as advertising.
The second reason for the lack in expected growth in the sponsorship area according to Jackson is the price of sponsorship. He believes that over- pricing has impeded the sectors growth.
He believes the greatest advantage to a sponsor is the increase in share of voice which can be obtained. This allows the smaller company not to be swamped in the market by a larger competitor. He cited the case study of Barclaycard to show that sponsorship delivers a dominating share of voice while at the same time specifically targeting an audience.
Stewart Butterfield, Director of Advertising sales and Marketing at Channel 4, then spoke on Sponsorship – The Channel 4 View.
He began by outlining C4’s position on sponsorship as enthusiastic, but protective. It is seen as a bridge between the commercial and editorial output. Care needs to be taken because the sponsor borrows the value of the programme (and also the programme can become linked with the brand, for this reason C4 will sometimes reject an unsuitable sponsor.)
Butterfield then went on to justify C4’s slightly stricter attitude towards sponsorship than ITV. He summarised the ITC Code of Sponsorship (currently being revised) and then summarised C4’s own interpretation of the code.
Butterfield believes that sponsorship should be more widely exploited than it currently is; as a medium he called it “dramatically under-used”. There should be promotional books, videos, T-shirts, posters, all available for sponsorship.
The future of sponsorship on Channel 4 he sees as much more stable; C4 is now at ease with the idea although he believes there is a need for clearer approval guidelines.
He sees it as a real marketing alternative, but believes the creative side needs better research and work so that opening credits appear more part of the programme, and hopes that better long-term working relationships can be achieved between sponsor and broadcaster.
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