Definition of sponsorship

The word ‘sponsorship’ first entered the English language at the turn of the nineteenth century, when it was used in a novel to describe those called to stand and witness church baptisms. Like so many other words, it has now come to represent something entirely different in the modern world of business and brand promotion – but its impact has been equally uplifting.

Clearly, sponsorship and sponsors have moved a long way from the Protestant interpretation nearly 200 years ago. The path was created primarily by a series of ‘patrons’ who, during the Victorian age, devoted enormous time and resources to supporting causes that set them apart, both as individuals and as business entrepreneurs.

One of the most gifted and successful patrons of his illustrious generation was Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the world-famous tea company that still bears his name. He was also the founder of what remains as the world’s most prestigious and famous ocean racing event, now known as the America’s Cup (so named after it was won at the first attempt by the American challenger off the Isle of Wight in 1851).

Sir Thomas was a true marketing genius who used his investment in an exciting new event to increase international awareness of his teas and expand the sales of his flourishing domestic grocery store chain. Just think what he might have achieved had his own yacht been successful in the choppy waters of the Solent!

Perhaps what Sir Thomas demonstrated most of all was a capacity to measure the level of risk involved (sinking boats and potential loss of life) against the degree of initiative required to deliver his main objective – to put Lipton teas on the map of the world.

In fact, combining risk with initiative is a common factor not only among successful entrepreneurs of the past, but also, I suggest, effective sponsorships of the future.

Sir Thomas was much more than simply a patron of ocean racing. He set out to gain commercial advantage from his investment and devised ways in which he could exploit the interest he created. His was a fresh approach that distanced him from numerous Victorian patrons of the arts.

Ironically, the origins of commercial sponsorship as we know it today are attributed to the arts. In 1931 the Philco company sponsored the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and established a trend that others were quick to follow.

But perhaps the boom period for sponsorship came 30 years later, when the tobacco companies found themselves increasingly restricted in the conventional areas of advertising and turned to sponsorship to create awareness for a growing number of different brands. It heralded the transformation of top class sport and entertainment, and set the blueprint for sponsorship for years to come. What marked the period for special attention was the extent of innovations introduced to distinguish one brand from another. Some visionary sponsorships, like the Rothmans Cricket Cavaliers, introduced a completely new dimension into the sport – in this case, Sunday cricket – that secured a commercial arrangement of mutual benefit.

At that time, sponsorship was seen simply as a cost-effective, legitimate alternative to traditional advertising; one that enabled the sponsor to stand out from the crowd and even shape the image it wished to portray; and one that gave the recipient sport a new status and source of income.

Today, sponsorship has its own rightful place in the marketing mix and is seen to offer specific benefits that neither advertising nor public relations alone can deliver.

Most important of all, sponsorship can bond a company or brand closer to its ultimate markets and create a climate for sales success that is beyond any other form of promotion because it works at several levels – branding, corporate hospitality, staff relations, community relations and sales development.

In some areas, like motor racing – the most heavily sponsored sport in the world – sponsorship actually dictates the role of other marketing disciplines, and brings global prestige and awareness.

The visionary Sir Thomas Lipton would surely approve.