Sponsorship Is Part Of The Programme

Viewers feel a sense of ownership towards their favourite programmes, and any sponsorship intruding on this has to act respectfully. This is one of the findings of a new independent qualitative survey from the Bloxham Group into programme sponsorship on commercial television.

Conventional advertising is seen as a “take it or leave it affair”; if viewers dislike what they see they can easily ignore it, but this option does not exist with sponsorship; it is part of the programme, so viewers are a captive audience by the time the sponsorship appears onscreen.

One aspect of the survey reveals strict “guidelines” which viewers themselves impose on sponsors, and which they use to judge acceptance or rejection of the sponsorship:

These are:

• The sponsored product must fit the programme – this is the most important criterion and the way in which sponsorship is judged. Any irrelevant connection and the sponsorship is ignored or rejected.
• The sponsor should be a brand rather than a company/corporation – consumers trust a brand more than a company and find it easier to relate to them.
• The sponsor should be known – this obviously helps in trust and familiarity
• Intrusion should be kept to a minimum – this should also never detract from the programme’s style.
• Some programmes are unsuitable for sponsorship – this includes news and current affairs.
• No crossing over into the programme
• No influence on programme content – one respondent commented, “I can’t see any harm in it, so long as they stay in their place … If Pop Larkin starts asking for a cup of Tetley, then that’s not right”.
• No selling – anything perceived as more than a credit is not well perceived.

The survey was conducted among twelve focus groups, with discussions lasting ninety minutes. More general comments from respondents included “I know the name PowerGen as well as I do Persil or Heinz, but I still haven’t got a clue who they are or what they do. A more positive comment was, “Every time it comes on my son starts shouting ‘It’s the Frosties show!’

Richard Orgill, Marketing Communications Manager at Clydesdale Bank Plc and a member of the ISBA Sponsorship Committee, commented of the survey: “It provides practical guidance about the pitfalls and opportunities in an area of which few advertisers have any real experience.”

‘The View From the Couch’ is available from the Sponsorship Research Company £500 per copy:

Tel 0171 379 3939