John Fahy

This is the message from University of Limerick marketing professor John Fahy, who recently completed a project on global sports sponsorship trends in conjunction with Harvard University and Adelaide University.

His research involved interviews with 20 leading sponsors and marketeers, including Nike's Asian brand director, the British Football Association's marketing director, the global head of marketing for Visa and the head of the ATP tennis tour.

Right across the various territories, the message was the same, according to Fahy: leading companies no longer sponsor on a whimsical or ad hoc basis, nor do they do so as a philanthropic gesture.

They do so as part of a serious business plan, and they expect results."The message for those receiving the sponsorship going forward is that they are going to have to be far more sophisticated in the way they deliver value to sponsors," he said."It's a competitive market out there and you have to get your act together.

"Sponsorship is not just an aspect of marketing any more, it's a major relationship between two business entities."

In support of this claim, Fahy cites the fact that sports properties across the world are building in-house marketing teams to deal with sponsors.For sponsors, the trend is summed up with the phrase "less is more'‘.That means more money spent on sponsorship, but fewer vehicles chosen, and deals struck over five to ten years rather than one.

This trend applies largely to the biggest global players but it will spread here and it is just as applicable to small to medium sized companies, according to Fahy."Don't get distracted by loads of requests for sponsorship, pick an event and focus on that one," he said.

Close to home, Fahy cites the collaboration between Nortel Networks and the Galway Arts Festival as an example of a successful partnership.

His report refers to much bigger deals.

John Fahy, University of Limerick

Value-Added Public Relations: The Secret Weapon of Integrated Marketing

Professor John FahyUniversity of Limerick,

John Fahy University of Limerick Tel: +353-61-213126 Fax: +353 61 338171

John Fahy is Professor of Marketing, Dept. of Management & Marketing, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland 353-61-213126 (office), 353-61-338171 (fax) John.Fahy@ul.ie.