Abstract:

The central theme of this paper is the point that sponsorship is part of a total communications package and that, if wisely and correctly included, it can add synergy to the entire marketing communications efforts of a given company. As such, it needs to be undertaken on a well thought out, long-term basis, so that its effects are not only strong, but consistent as well. In research terms, this paper sets out to show that powerful research can be conducted to evaluate the intermediary effects of sponsorship (recall/association with sport), and that effects upon the total level of awareness of a company and upon its image are more difficult to achieve, and hence to research.