Business-to-Business Relationships and Sport: Using Sponsorship as a Critical Sales Event

Clark, John Spencer; Lachowetz, Tony; Irwin, Richard L.; Schimmel, Kurt

doi:10.1108/ijsms-05-02-2003-b004

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Specifically, those corporations that are new to a certain global market may think that media exposure is the most crucial factor due to the fact this exposure generates brand awareness in the consumer's mind (Keller, 1993). Brand awareness is undoubtedly important because brand awareness generates positive attitudes toward a sponsor’s products or brands (Alexandds et al , 2007; Apostolopoulou and Papadimitriou, 2004; Koo et al , 2006a, b; Thjomoe et al , 2002; Meenaghan, 1983, 1991; Ruth and Simonin, 2006; Sandler and Shani, 1989; Speed and Thompson, 2000) and also increases the likelihood of purchasing a sponsor’s products or brands (Clark et al , 2003; Dees et al , 2010; Irwin et al , 2003; Miloch and Lambrecht, 2006).…”

Section: Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sport sponsorship decision making in a global market

Lee

Ross

2012

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the decision making factors of sport sponsorship in the global market context using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).Design/methodology/approachTo facilitate AHP hierarchy construction, three criteria level factors and a total of 13 sub‐criteria level factors were identified though literature review, expert panel review and pilot test. A total of 410 email accounts from global corporate sponsors were contacted three times to request on‐line survey participation.FindingsAHP local weights showed that sport team factors were far more important decision making factors than the country factors and environment factors. AHP global weights showed that media exposure opportunity was the most influential factor followed by sponsorship fit, team image and fan base strength.Originality/valueThis study, the first to utilize AHP in sport sponsorship literature, examined sport sponsorship in the global market context by contacting corporate sponsors.

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Section: Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sport sponsorship decision making in a global market

Lee

Ross

2012

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal

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Section: Defining the Scope: Csh In Belgian Footballmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the guest's experience is crucial (Walzel, 2011(Walzel, , 2014. New technologies such as smartphone apps with virtual and augmented reality become available and involve an opportunity to offer new and exclusive experiences to customers, which are vital for successful CSH (Clark et al, 2003). Emerging consultancy companies such as iXpole (2017) in Belgium aiming at helping clubs to deal with the slowly emerging CSH innovations, aid to convert an industry in decline into a steady growth industry.…”

Section: Defining the Scope: Corporate Sports Hospitality In Belgian Footballmentioning

confidence: 99%

A strategic managerial approach to corporate sports hospitality: the case of Belgian football

Balliauw

Verlinden

Croocq

et al. 2020

JBIM

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Purpose Corporate sports hospitality (CSH) is a relationship marketing tool whereby customers and other stakeholders are invited by a company buying CSH from a club to attend a sports event. The CSH product involves premium seating and optional services such as catering. This industry has been perceived to be in decline, especially in times of economic downturn. The purposes of this paper are a quantification of the CSH industry’s value and the development of a formal CSH management process for both companies and clubs. Design/methodology/approach A case study from the highest division in Belgian football (soccer) is conducted, involving interviews and quantitative data collection as the primary data source, in addition to secondary data and insights from the literature. As opposed to literature, this paper uses a holistic approach, combining the perspective of the club and the CSH buying company with attention for customers. Findings CSH returns account for an important share of club revenues (>10%), despite the smaller market compared to the American major sports leagues. Since a club experiences the strongest competitive impact from substitutes and other clubs in the league, and CSH is often managed on an ad hoc base, disposing of a formal management process is crucial for both clubs and companies. For companies buying CSH, not only return on investment but also return on other objectives matters. Moreover, CSH is at least as effective to deepen existing business relationships as to create new ones. Research limitations/implications The paper provides clubs and companies with a theoretic background and practical key performance indicators (KPIs) to base their managerial decisions on. Although external validity to other Belgian venue-based sports can reasonably be assumed, translating the findings to other countries or non-venue based sports requires caution. Originality/value Little academic research about the CSH industry is available. Specific KPIs to define objectives and measure output, as well as feedback loops for clubs and companies, are developed. The proposed CSH management process follows the same high-level steps, but with different specific actions per actor, leading to a better understanding of similarities and differences of both processes, and a better co-creation of the CSH event.

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“…Clark et al (2003) examined the use of sponsorship to move B2B customers through the relationship life cycle; however the focus of this study was very much concerned with sales as a direct outcome of business relationships. A study in the USA by Levin, Beasley and Gamble (2004) found greater brand loyalty towards NASCAR sponsors among fans of the sport, but this study did not extend to examining the relationships built between sponsors and fans through the sponsorship arrangement.…”

Section: Sponsorship Leveragementioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging sponsorship to achieve consumer relationship objectives through the creation of ‘marketing spaces’: An exploratory study

Donlan

Crowther

2012

Journal of Marketing Communications

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This paper explores the emergence of sponsorship-linked events as a strategy to leverage relational outcomes through sponsorship investment. The growing use of sponsorship-linked events reinforces the need to understand the potential of such leverage strategies, thus the findings contribute to the body of literature on effective sponsorship practices. Findings from semi-structured interviews with Sponsorship and Marketing Managers suggest a shifting orientation among sponsors towards the pursuit of relational objectives. The privileged access to consumers afforded through sponsorship allows sponsors to manufacture opportunities to create intimacy with customers through sponsorshiplinked events in relaxed, comfortable environments; thus sponsorship-linked events are positioned as a rich environment to add value to consumer-brand interactions and achieve relational objectives.Hosting specifically designed events affords sponsors an increased modicum of control over consumer-brand experiences in sponsorship environments characterised by a lack of control over sponsored property actions. However, this control may be eroded by social media technologies, which facilitate consumer-consumer communication around sponsorship-linked events. Social media, however, is proposed as a useful tool to elicit consumer feedback, addressing the misalignment between current sponsorship evaluation practices and emergent relational objectives revealed in the empirical findings. Therefore, successfully activating the sponsorship-linked marketing space demands an integrated and strategic approach.

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Business-to-Business Relationships and Sport: Using Sponsorship as a Critical Sales Event

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

Sport sponsorship decision making in a global market

Sport sponsorship decision making in a global market

A strategic managerial approach to corporate sports hospitality: the case of Belgian football

Leveraging sponsorship to achieve consumer relationship objectives through the creation of ‘marketing spaces’: An exploratory study

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