Significance of sponsorship

Improving the Performance of Sponsorship by Ardi Kolah. Published in 2015 by Routledge, 2, Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN, UK. Pp: xvii + 320. Price: Not mentioned.

In the early days sponsorship was often treated as being akin to a donation or a fund-raising/public relations effort where monies doled out by a company were based mostly on subjective standards or ‘gut feel.’ There were no scientific studies. Today, without any doubt, sponsorship has become one of the most powerful promotional tools we have in the business of brand creation, brand recognition, and ultimately increasing brand sales. Moreover, brokering sponsors is a significant business in itself, something that was often overlooked in the total marketing mix. Considering sponsorship is a $ 50 billion a year market, and growing, marketers and students of business can no longer ignore its potential. These days, advertisers who invest vast sums of money to establish their brand image would not risk missing out on hugely creative and lucrative opportunities that sponsorship provides them with. To fail to understand sponsorship is to fail to understand marketing itself. No wonder, of late, we see recent fledgling marketing enterprises plunging headlong into the deep waters to forge direct associations through various TV shows and serials; not only to gain better visibility but also superior celebrity endorsements for their brands.
Improving the Performance of Sponsorship by Ardi Kolah (pictured, pg 35) has application for people who work in the product sector, public sector and the charity sector — senior managers and marketers in the business of sales and marketing, advertising, public relations, marketing research as well as those involved with or related to finance and law.
It will give them a comprehensive inside overview of the general principles of sponsorship, how it works and its growing importance in the marketing mix.
Kolah is a senior visiting lecturer on sponsorship, sales, marketing and public relations at Henley Business School, Kingston University Business School and the London Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law, UK. He has been working in the sponsorship industry for over 20 years and holds the prestigious UK Sponsorship Award (formerly Hollis Sponsorship Award).
The story goes that while Kolah was already working on his book on How to Improve The Performance of Sponsorship based on the application of the ‘Sponsorship Six Steps’ methodology that has been used extensively by many rights holders and brand owners in the measurement and evaluation of sponsorship programs globally, he was fortuitous to be shortlisted and identified for a similar task, based on his expertise in teaching marketing students, his extensive research and practice over 20 years. He was chosen by the Secretary of State for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), UK, as the right person to write, and thus commissioned to undertake an authoritative book on the subject, almost a year before the superlative success of the 2012 Olympic Games held in London. It was named Improving the Performance of Sponsorship as it afforded him the unique opportunity to have an exclusive insider’s look. He made an in-depth study of the whole issue of sponsorship related to the Games. This allowed him to present a detailed investigation of data on the sports marketing in the consultancy services sector and even predict growth opportunities right up to year 2022.
Till then most books were providing for an introduction to this topic of sponsorship. They addressed sports sponsorship: the largest section of the market perhaps, but by no means the only one. This book is, therefore, miles ahead.
Kolah’s book is an informed and insightful guide that examines all types of sponsorship, clearly explaining and defining its mechanics, advising on how to select the right properties, how to sell sponsorship; ethical issues; measurement and key legal principles. It is a complete compendium that all keen marketers will need for a thorough understanding of how sponsorship works. Hence, this book is timely as it has arrived when it is needed most to help reduce guesswork and plug all possible doubtful moves one could make in what was hitherto mostly uncharted waters. It helps us to carefully examine a vast amount of data, based on which we can take a proper, scientific approach to make more informed moves into the vast gamut of sponsorship-related opportunities that keep cropping up every day. Besides, the author also makes an attempt to introduce actionable insights through-out unveiling informed decision-making possibilities in the entire process, including celebrity endorsement and all kinds of sports sponsorship. He also addresses the existing gaps and evolving nuances in this fast growing industry. Kolah allows for both qualitative and quantitative learning of the celebrity social sphere and related opportunities, giving a deeper and more refined comprehension of their multifarious influences that need to be taken into account vis-a-vis the various social interactions possible.
The main aim of the book is to assist, in every way, the rights-holders and brand owners to reach deeper appreciation of the intrinsic value that sponsorship provides. It shows how both sides of the same coin can work together and exist as part of the total marketing mix helping each other drive sustainable and profitable growth for their businesses and organizations.
Non-linear readers can easily cherry-pick the chapters that they think are more relevant for them at that given point in time, namely those that reflect their immediate interest and experience.
All this boils down to an entirely complete guide to the many facets of the sponsorship industry. It is also an ideal reference point for all types of practitioners whether experienced or new comers, whether buyers or sellers.
DARA S. ACIDWALLA

An advertising professional, Acidwalla was the founder of RAKA Advertising and secretary general of the Advertising Agencies Association of India.