Sponsorship & Even management + Research & Evaluation

Sponsorship of events is something that we see all the time but do not really understand. A sponsorship is not the same as a donation, the key difference being that a sponsorship except a ‘return’. The ‘return’ can mostly come in the form of improving and enhancing the image and brand visibility of the company. The sponsorship can also serve to generate goodwill with the public.

Some of the more commonly sponsored events are those of a sport or music nature. The nature of the company or organisation sponsoring the event may or may not be related to the event. Take for example, major telecommunication companies sponsoring sports teams and events, or beer and alcohol brand sponsoring motorsports event. Although I personally do question the wisdom behind the latter, think drink-driving.

This led us to the idea of matching the correct event to the sponsoring company.
For example,
-Sports brand like Nike or Addias sponsoring sports event like a marathon.
-A motorsports event being sponsored by a car company or tyre company.

A sponsorship of an event can also coincide with the launch of a product; an example would be Nokia and the Mosaic music festival. Although not the only sponsor of the event, Nokia has its own ‘Nokia Music Station’ at the outdoor theatre of the Esplanade. Visitor can listen to the performances put up by local and overseas bands for free. There is also a Nokia booth where visitor can have their photos taken by the new Nokia 5800 phone and get a free print. I think this is a case where it makes sense for the sponsorship; because Nokia can showcase the capability of the new phone (one of the main strength touted is music) to the visitors, because they are likely to be music fans.

Research; therefore also play an important part in the equation.
Research itself can take several different forms,
-Input research, where research is done beforehand on the situation, public and strategies.

-Output research is where research is done as the plan is being implemented, so as to enable the PR practitioner to fine tune the plan.

-Outcome research is use to find out the effectiveness of the plan, and results can be used as references for future campaigns.

The two main approaches, qualitative and quantitative, provide a framework and basis for the research. Research techniques like interviews, focus groups and surveys are also useful in the data collection. Therefore, I am glad that I learned about these in another course on audiences studies.

Using the research’s results can most certainly help the PR practitioner at the different stages of the campaign.