Sponsorship activation: Turning money spent into money earned.

Abstract

This paper aims to understand why businesses are spending millions of dollars on brand association and how they utilise sponsorship activation opportunities. The study of sponsorship activation is a relatively unexplored area in academia and only in its infancy in the business world. This paper serves to discover how to make the most of sponsorship dollars. Through the use of interviews and a literature review of the research, the authors found that the secret does not lie in selecting the right property but in best leveraging that property. The people surveyed for this study included representatives from the corporate partnership departments of 24 National Hockey League teams, 23 National Basketball Association teams, 20 National Football League teams and 16 Major League Baseball teams. The method used for interviewing was by e-mailing team representatives with a ten-question survey about the current state and trends of sponsorship activation. Of the surveys sent out, 20 per cent were replied to in full and were useable surveys. Not only were these surveys filled out online, but many also gave their responses through telephone interviews with the authors. This survey was a follow-up to the initial literature review conducted over a period of six months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]