Most sports followers feel that despite the current problems, banks & financial institutions should continue their sponsorship programmes. In the current climate, any cutbacks should be on advertising rather than sponsorship.
In research carried out since the financial crisis amongst UK sports fans, a third of respondents think both sponsorship & advertising programmes should continue. This compares to only a fifth who want to see both reduced.
However, when choosing between advertising and sponsorship for promoting business and products, a quarter of sports fans wanted cutbacks on advertising. Less than 10% of respondents wanted to see sponsorship reduced.
It also confirms support for sponsorship rather than advertising among this group of consumers. Over 50% of adults classify themselves as regular or avid sports followers, and almost 80% of adults have watched sport on TV in the last 12 months. (Source: Sports Marketing Surveys – UK Player & Fan Survey 2007).
Commenting on these results, Stephen Proctor, managing director of Sports Marketing Surveys stated, “These findings are very encouraging for the sports sector and for sponsors. They also make perfect sense, as it is well established that sponsorships thrive on long term consistency and relationships, whereas advertising campaigns are based on shorter timescales and objectives. For companies to cut back on sponsorship, for short term considerations, does not appear to be a sensible marketing decision.”
The survey of over 900 sports followers was conducted by Sports Marketing Surveys 22nd – 27th October amongst their Sporting Insights panel.
Sports Marketing Surveys www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com