Corporate backing of events has become a useful marketing tool, writes John Downes.

The closing ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games marked a fitting end to an event that was widely acknowledged to have been an outstanding success.

In between the closing speech by President Mary McAleese and performances by acts such as Westlife, Blue and Mickey Harte, thousands of volunteers and competitors celebrated the culmination of hours of preparation and training.

Yet behind the scenes, those responsible for the marketing of the Special Olympics could also be forgiven for congratulating themselves: it had succeeded in attracting levels of corporate sponsorship on a scale rarely witnessed here before. So, how was this done? Mr Julian Davis was one of those responsible for media relations at the games. He underlines the importance of sponsorship to the overall success of the Special Olympics in Ireland.

Had it not been forthcoming, he believes, the games simply would not have gone ahead on the same scale. Yet, when knocking on the doors of sponsors seeking their participation, he and his colleagues never took sponsorship for granted.

Key to their strategy was advance planning, he says.

From the outset, the sponsorship of the event was broken down into several well-defined categories: one premier sponsor, six partner sponsors and a larger group of about 25 "supplier" sponsors, who would primarily donate their services to the games.

"Over four years ago (when we started out), people had no idea what the games would be like," he says. "Fundamentally we had a very strong product, but the challenge was to communicate this. People knew about the All Ireland but not really about the Special Olympics."

Part of their approach included sectioning off key areas of the games to certain sponsors: for example, the premier sponsor, Bank of Ireland, was allowed exclusive sponsorship with regards to the "host town" element of the games.

As a result, it could be sure that for the €2.5 million it invested in the games as premier sponsor, it would be seen in nearly every town and city in Ireland.

"People at the highest level (e.g. premier and partner sponsors) got the most in terms of their brands," says Mr Davis.

"But when meeting with sponsors, everybody knew that if they were giving this amount of money, then they'd have a very clear idea of what they'd get... Very importantly, this allowed us to provide exclusivity."

Yet from the organisers' perspective, there was another, arguably more important reason why it was crucial for corporate Ireland to be involved in the games, Mr Davis believes.

"The whole point was to change people's opinions, including the corporate world, with regard to issues such as accessibility and employment." "We raised the bar in terms of awareness. All we can do is we can set the ball rolling. The challenge now is to keep it rolling."

As we have seen, corporate sponsorship of the Special Olympics World Summer Games allowed it to be the success that it was. But what do companies get out of sponsorship?

Ms Fiona Mulcahy is marketing manager with Danone Ireland. As the market leader in the yoghurt sector, it is no coincidence that it tends to sponsor events that promote healthy activity.

When Danone began in Ireland in 1997, it had a very clear strategy, according to Ms Mulcahy.

"We said Danone was all about health, and that yoghurts are not all the same. Obviously, advertising is a very strong part of that," she explains. "Participation in the community is extremely important to us - up to 10 per cent of our budget goes to participation in the community.

Clearly, then, association with a worthwhile cause can have real benefits for a firm trying to differentiate itself in the marketplace.

Ms Amanda Ratcliffe, lecturer in marketing at the Dublin Institute of Technology, agrees. "If a company gets its sponsorship right, it enhances the brand value and can lead to enhanced brand equity." It worth remembering, however, that the motivation behind corporate sponsorship of worthwhile causes is clear: any marketing initiative aims to increase turnover of the product in question.

"Obviously it is a very positive thing that a company would do it. But they realise there are definite benefits"," says Ms Ratcliffe. "It really is a subtle approach. It increases belief in the brand."