Download Why would Cheerios sponsor a NASCAR race?

Embargoed Release: October 18, 2006
Contact: Suzanne Wu / 773-834-0386 /[email protected]
Why would Cheerios sponsor a NASCAR race?
New study shows how marketers can use sponsorship of seemingly unrelated events
Why would brands like Sue Bee honey and Cheerios cereal sponsor a NASCAR race? While most
people can quickly see the relationship between a sponsor that makes tires or motor oil, not all
corporate sponsors “fit” NASCAR in such an obvious way. In the first study to research the
benefits of event sponsorship for brands that don’t seem to fit with a particular event –
forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Research – researchers from the University of Queensland
(Australia) reveal a relatively easy way for marketers to overcome a tenuous connection and
improve people’s memories of an event sponsor.
“It is becoming increasingly important for a brand to establish a clear link with the event it is
sponsoring, not only to reduce consumer confusion, but also to send out a clear signal of what the
brand represents,” explain Bettina Cornwell and her coauthors.
The researchers found that simply articulating the connection between sponsor and event
increased recall for incongruent sponsor-event pairings, a finding that should be of increased
interest as more and more brands undertake sponsorship as part of their marketing strategies.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that the presence of competitor brands significantly
decreased recall of a sponsor.
“The results of our research suggest that marketing managers for any organization (profit or nonprofit) could benefit by putting effort into clearly explaining or “articulating” the relationship
that exists between the brand and the event,” write the authors. “Moreover, they should use
every opportunity to build this understanding in the mind of their audience.”
Bettina Cornwell, Michael S. Humphreys, Angela M. Maguire, Clinton S. Weeks, Cassandra
Tellegen, “Sponsorship-Linked Marketing: The Role of Articulation in Memory.” Journal of
Consumer Research: Dec. 2006.