What on earth is the point of sponsoring?

What springs to mind when you think of sponsoring? 

Maybe it’s something your friends and colleagues constantly ask you to do. Like Bob walking the South Downs Way on his knees, or Sally sitting in a bath of cold porridge for 6 weeks? 

Is it a term that you automatically assume belongs to the likes of companies such as Coco-Cola, who apparently sponsored the international Olympic Committee in 2012 to the tune of £64 million?

In actual fact, us regular business owners don’t tend to have sponsoring in our toolbox of marketing ideas.  There are literally dozens of ways that businesses can sponsor – from an event, to a person, to a charity. You can sponsor yourself if it comes to it – like running the Brighton Marathon with your own business logo on your t-shirt. Or dressed as your logo itself. Though most of us (arguably sane) people would prefer to dip into our pockets and sponsor someone else!

It is a widely recognised phenomenon these days that networking is the way forward for making solid business friend relationships, raising your brand awareness and even making some sales. However, it is also widely accepted that those of us who insist on directly marketing at most of the current plethora of networking events will come unstuck. It’s Brighton and Hove – we want to get to know each other first and foremost.

If you cannily sponsor an event, you can get your company right in the spotlight. Sponsoring is like standing on a table at the front and telling everyone that you’re there. The difference being that rather than being ignored, or worse still rugby tackled off the table, everyone there will notice – in a good way!

As with any marketing, you want to ensure that you sponsor the right thing for your business – for instance if you choose to sponsor an event, think in terms of:

• What is it you are actually sponsoring, eg who is running it, why and where – do all those aspects suit your business?
• Who will see that you have sponsored it, eg how is it being marketed and who attends?
• What exactly will be your presence as a sponsor, eg your trusty pop up stand (pride of place?), logo, space for a short presentation?
• How much is it, eg what negotiation to suit you both can be made?

I’ve just spotted this piece about sponsoring a supper and I’m going to give it a try!


By Susi Doherty, Brighton Togs