Download Advertising and Sponsorship

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MARKETING INFORMATION RESOURCE FOR STEP MEMBERS
Essential Top Tips: Advertising and Sponsorship
Introduction
Advertising can be a highly effective method of communicating with a target audience. As with many aspects
of marketing it is important to have defined objectives for a campaign for it to be effective.
Once the objective has been clarified it is then a case of considering the precise target for the advertising and
identifying the ideas, images and words that will prompt a response from a buyer.
The choice of advertising media needs careful thought. There are a wide range of outlets for advertising and
all have some strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately the decision to advertise needs to be based on how well
the media will reach the target audience and also how that audience will react to advertising.
Those organisations that are keen to promote their services into a wide consumer market a mass media
approach, such as general news publications, broadcast media, radio, well visited web sites and search engines
could be appropriate. Poster advertising can also be highly effective. Well located street poster sites, perhaps
near traffic hot spots, can prove highly effective, whilst train station sites often have considerable high net
worth commuter traffic passing through them and as such can be an attractive prospect.
There may well also be some highly targeted publications that may offer opportunities for organisations. This
could include parish news, sports club communications, professional association news broadcasts (electronic
or in print) or interest group communications. The circulation of these publications is often small but the
audience could be very attractive.
Creativity
Advertising in all its forms needs to stand out and should attract attention. Many organisations make the
mistake of skimping on creativity and assume that booking advertising space in itself will produce results. This
is clearly not the case and unless an advertisement is able to grab attention it is largely wasted marketing
budget.
The creative considerations should not only cover the design of an advertisement but also relate to the
messaging itself. Badly crafted copy can severely constrict a campaign and poor execution could actually
damage the perception of an organisation.
It is unlikely that smaller organisations will have in-house professional design skills and as such external
agencies should be used. An advert needs to convey a sense of professionalism and if it is badly designed this
could actually damage the reputation of an organisation, or simply not work as well as it could in the available
space.
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Buying Advertising
Advertising is sold aggressively across all media. Typical tactics include last minute discounted rates,
suggestions that competitors are advertising and an organisation may miss out if they are not represented,
special editorial features with limited advertising space available, suggested endorsements from well known
organisations and so on. As a general rule these tactics should be resisted. Advertising should be planned and
embarked upon in a focused manner with clearly defined objectives. Approached in this way it is quite
possible that a multi layered campaign can be designed covering a variety of media with a selection of
different focused messages. This approach normally allows the organisation to book the advertising space in
advance and for some in bulk. This approach should open up the possibility of a series discount and thereby
reduce overall costs.
There are advertising agencies that specialise in buying advertising in bulk. Because of their buying power and
even taking into account their margin, it is possible they may be able to secure advertising space at better
rates than those obtained by small buyers of space.
SUMMARY ACTION POINTS
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Determine the objectives of a campaign before buying advertising space.
Analyse the audience reach of any advertising outlet.
Ensure any advertising is capable of demanding attention creatively and in terms of message.
Avoid reactive advertising campaigns and attempt to buy space in advance.
Use specialist agencies as required to ensure good quality output that works in the media being
used.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship can play a valuable role in raising the awareness of an organisation however, for many the
opportunities that sponsorship provide are not fully exploited. For some, sponsorship of charitable causes,
sports or arts clubs or other bodies is an emotional, not corporate, decision with little or no benefit expected
in return for the support. This type of donation is perfectly reasonable but there may well be communication
advantages that can be achieved by even the most low key sponsorship.
Large organisations often have defined policies for Corporate Social Responsibility whereby they see their role
in society as being wider than a profit making enterprise and that they have an implied responsibility to the
society which hosts them as well as to the local and wider environment. Smaller organisations are not
expected to have as advanced policies in this area however there are opportunities available to even the
smallest organsations.
Marketing Opportunities & Sponsorship
The following scenarios are provided as examples of how creative thought around fairly common sponsorship
activity can result in marketing benefit.
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Support for a sports club. At rugby, football and cricket grounds advertising boards are often provided
by sponsors. Sponsors can reasonably work with a club to explore ways in which their sponsorship
could be further rewarded. This could be through mailings to members, through meeting other
sponsors, through branding with click through links on the clubs web site, by hosting hospitality events
at the club and so on.
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Charitable fund raising. Charities are often willing to maximise the benefit a donation may bring for a
corporate organisation. This could be through a simple cheque hand over photograph for the
organisations’ web site or through working together to identify mutually beneficial ways in which the
organisation could support the charity. Examples could include golf or sports events where a fee is
paid to take part which includes a charitable donation, seminar events where the fee paid goes to a
charity or dinner events again where a fee is paid. These type of events often help raise awareness of
an organisation and it is quite possible to run an event at no cost to the organisation and still make
money for a charity.
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Community based initiatives. Local groups tasked with improving the environment or furthering the
arts often attract the interest of local newspapers. Often the stories are heart warming and may result
in interesting photography. As such commercial organisations can partner with these bodies to
organise events that could be used for hospitality and in the process raise money for the cause and
may well also generate some free, positive, press coverage for the organisation.
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Web Sites. Organisations could devote part of their web site to updates on various sponsorship or
community based initiatives. This could involve an agreement with a sports club or charity that they
provide regular copy for the web site as to progress. There could also be mutually beneficial links
established between web sites that could enhance the visitor numbers to both web sites.
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Employee sponsorship. Many people decide to embark upon a personal challenge to help raise funds
for a cause close to their heart. This may involve a sporting endeavour or some other form of personal
challenge such as a mountain climb. Often employers contribute to the fund raising with little
expected in return. However, a short blog about training progress, preparation for or thoughts shortly
after, the event can make useful news letter or web copy. This information may also attract the eye of
news editors at trade or local press publications, all of which could result in good coverage for an
organisation at no extra cost to the organisation.
SUMMARY ACTION POINTS
1. View sponsorship and donations as a marketing opportunity.
2. Look creatively at what benefits sponsorship or donation can bring.
3. Work closely with sponsored bodies to see how they can further enhance the benefit a
sponsor can obtain.
4. Good quality interesting photography supplied at a resolution to suit the publication it is
aimed at will enhance the chances of coverage.
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For more information, or to give your feedback on STEP’s Essential Top Tips, please contact the
STEP Marketing team:
Artillery House (South),
11 – 19 Artillery Row,
London,
SW1P 1RT, UK
+44 (0)20 7340 0500
[email protected]
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