SIOBHAN O'CONNELL MEDIA & MARKETINGCORPORATE SPONSORSHIP is very much in evidence at this week's Punchestown racing festival, where big brands like Kerrygold, Guinness, Land Rover, Newbridge Silverware, Paddy Power and Volkswagen are among the race meeting's 41 sponsors.
For these brands and many others, sponsorship is an important part of the marketing mix. With advertising and public relations, there are measurement tools in place - such as cost per thousand, ratings points and column inches - to point to concrete results. With sponsorship, it's more difficult to gauge the return on investment.
Jim Kelly, who is in charge of sponsorship at AIB, concedes that in the old days company sponsorship was often determined by the whims of the chairman or some other senior executive.
"But that has all changed. The chairman's wife syndrome has disappeared," he says. "We have won the battle in making sponsorship accountable and it is now recognised as a medium that works. Sponsorship works because, when you are a sponsor, people can touch your brand, and advertising and direct marketing doesn't deliver that."
In Kelly's view: "Sponsorship activity can create multi-layered emotional connections. Of course, it is important to keep a tight rein on expenses, and it is true to say that some sponsorships give a limited return. I believe this can happen where companies ignore the changing environment because they are stuck with the perception that sponsorship is about awareness for their brand and has no specific objectives linked to their business.
"These sponsors are missing the point of how sponsorship has changed and they are definitely wasting money. Right now they need to ask themselves is sponsorship a luxury and cut their losses, or make the most of this powerful medium."
Kelly argues that brands have been telling "stories" for years, typically through mass advertising in an attempt to impress as many consumers as possible.
"Consumers are now asking us to be relevant and different. Experiences are taking over from physical status symbols. Consumers will have to tell each other stories to achieve a 'status dividend' from their peers."
Kelly says the biggest mistake marketing people make is not establishing a set of sponsorship objectives in advance.
"If your company agrees to sponsor a local event which will allow the boss to meet all his or her customers, and that is the objective, that is a successful sponsorship. I would advise potential sponsors to negotiate hard for the benefits that you want, and walk away if it looks too expensive."
The AIB sponsorship strategy is rooted in local community activity, which facilitates the interaction of all the bank branches. So, on the sporting front, AIB partners the IRFU and GAA at club level, not at the top level where the television cameras are.
One exception was the bank's link-up with the Ryder Cup when it was staged in Ireland. "The sponsorship built a lasting association between golf and AIB, and research confirms this," he said.
Dozens of sponsorship proposals cross Kelly's desk every month and he turns most of them down. "A typical pitch I will get is a seven-page letter with the first three pages telling me how great the people writing the letter are, the next three pages telling me how great the event will be, and finally on the last page, what benefits AIB will get if they sign up as sponsor. At the very least, they should explain the upside for the bank on page one."
For those Punchestown sponsors, Kelly says it's the little things that can make all the difference. "Why not have all your guests' car windscreens cleaned and leave a little 'Compliments Of" card under the wiper." In the dustbowl that is the racecourse car park, that could be the tip of the week.
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