Research Claims Sports Sponsorship Misses The Mark
Sports fans do not differentiate between brands that invest millions of pounds in sponsorship and those that simply use advertising hoardings at sporting events, according to research from Sports Marketing Surveys.
The study, which was commissioned by communications consultancy, Edelman, shows that 52% of sport fans still believe that Natwest sponsors county cricket’s one day knock-out cup, even though the event was taken over by Cheltenham & Gloucester more than two years ago.
The majority of fans also feel that sponsors should play a more active role in the event, team, or player that they are associating themselves with, and should work to reduce the price of club tickets and merchandise.
Respondents were relatively apathetic to the activities of ambush marketers, with less than one in ten feeling that the activity should be banned and over 38% viewing it as a clever tactic by the company involved.
Commenting on the findings, Mark Cooper, said: “The real way to get value out of a sponsorship is to earn the respect of the fans involved in the game. You have to be seen to be making a real contribution to their enjoyment of the sport before you can really expect them to start altering their perceptions to whatever product or service that you are trying to sell to them.”
There was some good news for sponsorship companies, with 71% of sports fans showing awareness of Barclay Card’s current sponsorship of the Premier League. The research suggests that this is due to the fact that the brand is contributing £5 million to a grass roots football development programme.
Research released from Carat showed that despite the efforts of ambush marketers, official sponsors won the audience awareness battle during last summer’s World Cup (see Ambush Marketers Did Not Steal World Cup).
Sports Marketing Surveys: 01932 350 600 www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com
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