Marketing and Sponsoring in Sports

Absztrakt (kivonat)

Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration Thesis Summary Marketing and Sponsoring in Sports Prepared by: Christos Arkoumanis Supervisor: Nadasi Katalin Marketing and Sponsoring in the Sports industry plays a very important role in our days. This is the major topic that I have analyzed in my thesis, looking from the perspective of the companies, how much and how they benefit from this wide spectrum and free market, and what they have done in order to improve the image of the clubs and their entire surrounding environment. I chose this topic because I find it interesting how the companies choose teams and events to sponsor and what effects these marketing activities can have. Another interesting thing that I saw when I was preparing my paper is that those companies that choose to participate are not directly sport involving companies, they vary from banks like Barclays or airline companies like Emirates. This variation of the companies shows that sport and especially Football and the Formula One races attract the attention of people and companies too. One very important element of this relation is that sport sponsorship has grown to be an important part of the marketing communication mix for companies over the past decades and it is also an important source of income for sports entities. My thesis work aimed to look at sports sponsorship as marketing communication tool, regarding the issues of the objectives with the sponsorship, selection of sports entity to sponsor and effect measuring of the sponsorship. The reasons why companies choose sports to advertise themselves are: Numbers: Significant amount of people are involved in the sports and especially sports men and women Media Coverage: Both in terms of volume and quality, is significant for sport. In this case the market has created a need for private sport television that allows them to project the games to many countries abroad Emotions: It is possible through the medium of sport to bond emotionally with consumers, and sport is unique in the extent to which this is possible. Caring for the community: By sponsoring sport, a company is at the same time showing that they care about the community and those things that are important to their consumers. two of the biggest evolutions that sponsoring has brought about in the sports and especially in the football industry is the “Kick Racism Out Of Football” first stared in England and then it spread all over Europe and the other campaign is the Lance Armstrong (six times world cycling champion that was infected by cancer) anti cancer campaign “LIVESTRONG” having its marketing roots to Nike. It motivates the sales force and creates sales opportunities for the companies that choose to sponsor sports and through that procedure advertise their brand name and products. Sponsoring offers an ideal platform for launching new products or moving into new market lines. It is also the ideal medium for experimental marketing. That is to create experiences, which customers will remember to the company’s benefit. A more targeted approach is possible. Specific target audiences to be influenced can be selected. Sponsored events provide a platform to showcase products in a selected environment. Through a carefully selected sponsorship a company can change or enhance their corporate and social image. Considering these facts and taking into consideration the most important marketing technique, Ambush Marketing which is an attempt by a third party to associate itself directly or indirectly with a sports event or the event's participants without their sanction, thereby depriving official sponsors, suppliers and partners of much of the commercial value derived from the 'official' designation I have chose to focus on some of the biggest multinational companies that participate in this market. Companies such as Vodafone (sponsoring football teams, Formula One team and Personalities), Siemens Mobile (also being in the same line of activities as Vodafone), Credit Suisse and Barclays bank that sponsor sport events and teams and finally Emirates Airlines that have made blockbuster move by constructing and sponsoring sport venues have attracted my attention and have also created my basis for analysis in my paper. To back up my arguments I have developed a SWOT analysis that shows clearly the market conditions and the current situation. Finally in the end I have outlined some reasons that might hinder the sponsoring activities such as legal systems that exist in some European counties and also some external factors such as hooliganism and alcoholism that might create a negative profile towards the community and the companies that might choose in the future to get involved in this field. Concluding I hope that you will like my thesis work and that it will be an interesting and easy readable paper covering the general outlook of this market and the market participants.