ABSTRACT
The development of sponsorship methods is equally notable at the strategic level, as well as at the operational level. In a little less than 20 years, the focus of sponsorship has shifted from the valuation of brand exposure (e.g. jerseys, boards, etc.), to the sponsor’s brand activation by focusing attention on the organization’s relationship with the people interested in the event. In this context, the target is to deliver a tangible benefit to the target group by providing them with enjoyment, information, entertainment, etc. According to the IEG (2004) sponsorship report regarding sponsorship and marketing expenditure in North America, companies spent 38.4 billion dollars (that is, 16 per cent of the total) in sponsorship operations and 191.6 billion dollars (83.2 per cent of the total) for marketing. In addition, if one considers the relationship between the expenditure directly linked to sponsorship and that linked to activation (e.g. television sponsorship, special operations, etc.), one notes that the latter was three times higher than the former (28.8 billion dollars compared with 9.6 billion dollars). Table 0.1 represents the breakdown of the spending allocations for sponsorship in North America in 2002. It should be noted that the contract now accounts for only 25 per cent of the total expenditure related to sponsorship operations. The sponsors have thus learned how to benefit from a sponsorship operation by enhancing it through advertising (35 per cent), publicity (20 per cent), hospitality (public relations) (10 per cent) and so forth.
