In fact 44% of those polled chose event marketing over advertising at 18%, direct marketing at 15%, while other forms of promotion were very much less favoured. Its popularity is based on the simple fact that it works. In Asia especially, it seems to work particularly well.

A large proportion of events supported by sponsors, certainly those with a high public prople, are of course sports of one kind or another. Not surprisingly in Europe, football and motor sport are top of the sponsorship league with rugby union, athletics, golf, horse racing, cricket, tennis , snooker, rugby league and ‘others’ following in descending order.

Here in the Asia Pacific region events naturally refect local sporting traditions and the opportunities afforded by geography and climate. An outstanding example and a sponsor’s ‘dreamboat’ opportunity is the now long established Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, the biggest annual sailing event in Asia.

This is just one of the region’s events, thanks almost exclusively to its principle sponsor Raimon Land, that has benefited from a whole new approach to sponsorship, in a local market estimated to be worth around eight billion baht of a current total world sports sponsorship market totaling some US$ 40 billion. It is also an example of what I believe is an all too common failure of those involved in the stewardship of highly successful local and regional events of properly exploiting the full potential of professionally managed sponsorship.

Sadly this refects a reality that in spite of the proven value of sponsorship and its inescapable global presence, it is only recently that its true worth has been fully appreciated by some local companies and organisations. One reason for this, I believe is that sponsors were not being accorded the consideration they deserved. In return for providing the money for an event without which it would never happen, sponsors would often simply see their company logo on banners, and similar event related items.

I have been described as a passionate pioneer of well-chosen, strategically placed sponsorship, and certainly our company is passionate about being professional in everything we do. I strongly believe that well-planned sponsorship can be a valuable tool to maximize marketing effciency and reinforce the impact of a brand in the marketplace. Sports sponsorship in particular offers the marketing team an opportunity to be associated with noteworthy, high prople events that command a huge audience, often over an extended period. Our company has for example, long worked with both rights holders and brands for Phuket based events such as the Laguna Phuket International Marathon, Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, and recently acquired by Informa Yacht Group, the Phuket International Marine Expo.

During my more than 15 years working for top global brands including Wrangler, Levi Strauss & Co, Polo Ralph Lauren and Diesel before I moved to Thailand in 2005, professionally planned sponsorship marketing contributed hugely to the brand’s success and did so in a highly competitive markets. If I’m passionate about anything in particular, it’s to foster that same professional mindset in the local markets across the Asia Pacific region.

Part of what our company does is work with both rights holders and brands to act as a catalyst in bringing them together in a partnership that maximises their relationship to their mutual beneft. And the benefts from sponsorship can be substantial. It can without doubt be one of the most effective forms of marketing with measurable benefts that include a direct positive effect on sales, plus a host of less obvious but equally important advantages, including brand reinforcement, achieving community goodwill, driving awareness amongst primary and secondary audiences, creating customer loyalty, and doing what advertising does, but more effectively in achieving massive media exposure.

For sponsorship marketing to live up to its promise though, it needs to be approached professionally on a partnership basis by those involved, especially if the companies and organisations that provide the money and the many other forms of support that often include products and services, are to get real value for money and a return on investment.

Almost every event at any level will require some form of sponsorship if it is to achieve even modest success. Our job, indeed our mission, is to help ensure the highest level of commercial sponsorship & partnership marketing professionalism is applied to make that happen.

On a global level, particularly in the more mature markets, sponsorship marketing is now not only a huge industry but one that is constantly evolving with ever more imaginative communication channels and new opportunities for would-be sponsors. Today, it’s a sophisticated marketing discipline that can be quantified and segmented to provide a pre-determined set of measurable goals for all participating parties.

It’s this huge potential that excites me and my team every day. We want to ensure that local companies and event organisers both understand what well-planned sponsorship can do for them and why professional expertise is so important in helping them achieve success.

The opportunities for local professional sponsorship marketing are unlimited and present themselves at a time of unprecedented commercial and financial pressure to make sure that every promotional baht counts.

e-mail:paul@paulpoole.co.th
www.paulpoole.co.th