ABSTRACT
Sponsorship has become much more cost-effective, largely as a result of innovation within the industry that allows a prospective sponsor to get closer to its desired audiences, customers, clients, supporters and employees without having to empty its bank account in the process. It also reflects a growing confidence in the use of sponsorship as a sales and marketing tool as well as the relatively long-term nature of a sponsorship agreement. Ethics in sponsorship has never been more important and is often the subject of intense media scrutiny. Expectations in terms of the performance of sponsorship have also dramatically changes over the last decade, largely as a result of behavioural economics and 'big data', which means that results from major sponsorship campaigns can be tracked and measured with a higher degree of accuracy. Technology is intertwined in nearly every aspect of business today, with information technology fast becoming a primary driver of market differentiation, business growth, and profitability.
