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Cause Marketing's Power Shown in MediaLab Study
If you want to achieve sponsorship success, find a cause. This would appear to be the key learning from the latest Sensor study conducted by Mediedge:cia's MediaLab.
The study, which polled 13,200 people in 20 countries, examined consumer attitudes to the sponsorship of global events, sports properties (events and individuals), TV programmes and good causes. It was commissioned in the light of the explosive growth of the global sponsorship market, which has increased by 220% over the past ten years and now accounts for $25 billion of marketing expenditure worldwide.
Commenting on the results of the Sensor survey, Andy Richmond, MediaLab Director, Mediaedge:cia, says:
“The growth of sponsorship has, in part, been driven by the declining effectiveness of traditional advertising media (especially television) in the face of excessive commercial clutter. Ironically, the Sensor survey would suggest that the sponsorship industry faces similar challenges, with almost half of the people surveyed (46%) believing that global events are far too heavily sponsored, rising to 50% in the case of sports properties and TV programmes.”
Yet this is not to say that sponsorship is no longer effective. The Sensor study also tells a very positive story, with sponsorship appearing to deliver, in terms of its ability to raise awareness and influence consumer attitudes towards brands – particularly sports brands. In the study, 45% of people claimed to notice the companies and products that sponsor events (51% in the case of sports); 42% believed that the companies and products that sponsor events are of high quality (44% in the case of sports) and 28% claimed that they would buy products from the companies that sponsor these events (30% in the case of sports).
This pattern was repeated when the Sensor study turned its attention to broadcast sponsorship; despite 50% of consumers believing that TV programmes are far too heavily sponsored, 47% of people claimed to notice the companies and products that sponsor TV programmes; 32% believed that the companies and products that sponsor TV programmes are of high quality and 24% claimed that they would buy products from the companies that sponsor TV programmes.
The case for ‘good causes’
The Sensor study looked at consumer attitudes towards links between brands and good causes, which has been a growth area in recent years. As might be expected from a relatively immature and therefore uncluttered discipline, compared with the other forms of sponsorship, far fewer consumers believed that causes are too heavily sponsored. Only 25% believed this to be the case, compared with 46% for sponsored events and 50% for TV sponsorship.
The case for sponsoring good causes was further underlined when the effectiveness of this type of sponsorship was analysed. In the Sensor study, 56% of people claimed to notice the companies and products that sponsored good causes; 43% believed that the companies and products that sponsor good causes are of high quality and significantly and 53% claimed that they would buy products from the companies that sponsor good causes.
While it appears that these trends are evident across the globe - particularly for clutter - we can see some variations regionally:
Global Events:
Asia, South Africa, South America and Canada are all passionate about global events, reporting high ‘all agree’ figures for awareness, high quality brand, and intention to buy from the companies involved in global events.
• Europe, Australia and North America report ‘high noticeability’ scores (45%, 49% & 43% respectively). However, they show lower figures than other regions for ‘favourable perception’, as ‘high quality brands’, and particularly, ‘intention to buy’. This lower ‘intention to buy’ figure may indicate cultural differences. Relevant leveraging at a local level can help global brands bond with the consumer and harness the country's passion when competing in global events
• Spain, Holland and Finland buck the European trend and score highly in all areas, particularly Finland with an ‘intention to buy’ figure of 53%.
Sport teams and individuals
• Sponsorship of sport teams & Individuals consistently perform well across the globe in terms of ‘awareness’ and ‘favourable perceptions’
• There is a close relationship between ‘notice’ and ‘high quality’ which can be most naturally explained as the consumer's positive emotional attitude towards the property being sponsored, and hence towards the brand sponsoring it - for example football mania or F1 excitement.
• The only countries that fall below 40% for ‘awareness’ or ‘high quality’ are the Nordics (excluding Finland), Germany, Poland and Hong Kong
• The 'intention to buy' findings vary more by country, but still the global average of 30% remains higher than for global events (29%) and TV programmes (24%)
• The success story for sponsorship of sport teams & individuals appears to be within the Americas. Brazil and Mexico have by far the highest global scores in all areas, and feature very strong ‘inclination to buy’. In the USA and Canada there is little or no difference between ‘awareness’ and ‘high quality’, with figures indicating favourable perceptions towards this type of sponsorship, although their intention to buy figures drop in a similar way to European countries.
TV Programmes
• TV programme sponsorship also scores highly with above 40% agreeing that they notice the brands. Exceptions to this global figure are Hong Kong, the Nordics, Germany, and Poland who all attribute this to disaffection or recent commercialisation of TV programmes
• Countries that are susceptible to TV sponsorship do not necessarily consider the product/company of ‘high quality’.
• The countries that are quite passionate about their TV programme sponsorship are the UK, South Africa, China, Singapore, Brazil and Mexico. Although there are issues about clutter in these countries, they score highly on the three measures of ‘notice’, ‘high quality’ and ‘propensity to buy’.
• TV sponsorship suffers from the highest scores for clutter. If TV programme sponsorship is not connecting with the target audience in a relevant and appropriate way it is adding to the clutter problem that already exists on TV
Good Causes
• Good causes appear to be the most well-received type of sponsorship across the globe, with the highest ‘notice’ and intention to buy’ average scores. However, even if savvy consumers are swayed by the ethics of brands sponsoring good causes, they do not automatically agree the brand will be a high quality one.
• The regional variations are the opposite of those reported for global events. In Europe, North America and Australia the scores are generally slightly higher than South Africa and Asia across all measures. South America scores the highest of all the regions, which is true in all types of sponsorship
• In the mature markets (Europe, North America and Australia) the ‘intention to buy’ ranges from 48% and 62%. Good causes sponsorship whether environmental, community or charity focused is working at the ‘intention to buy’ level in these markets like no other type of sponsorship measured.
Summing up, Andy Richmond, MediaLab Director, Mediaedge:cia, comments:
“The sponsorship industry is certainly facing stronger resistance as increasing levels of clutter and intrusion begin to heighten consumer rejection, but used effectively sponsorship will still have the ability to raise awareness and influence consumer attitudes. As long as there are fans, affinity groups and clear brand associations, sponsorship is still uniquely effective
NO PART OF THIS RESEARCH MAY BE USED WITHOUT REFERENCE TO MEDIAEDGE:CIA MEDIALAB
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