WEEK 9- Sponsorship & Event Management

Readings- Chapter 9 ‘Sponsorship and Event Management’

I have always been interested in event management. Before starting my major in PR at Newcastle University I came across a third year event management course at Griffith University, which is a core subject of the PR major. The reading for this week gave me an overview of what event management involves.

I know there is a wide range of events, from promotions to conferences, and obviously depending on what you want to achieve depends on the event you would chose. From my own experience the events that went well were the ones that I did not complain about and the events that did not were the ones that I picked out what went wrong. Boyd discusses that a successful event has to have full commitment of all members. I think this is a very important point because it is the events that do not go well, which are the ones that lacked teamwork and made it obvious that things were going wrong (Boyd 2004:356).

Boyd points out the things that equate to an event being unsuccessful and the most important being poor time planning. This is important because time plays a huge factor on an event in all areas. It is also critical that a comprehensive PR strategy is needed specifically for the event (Boyd 2004:357). Who knew that PR strategy could apply to so many areas from campaigns to events?

Richards points out that media coverage is also an important factor of an event. Richards outlines recommendations such as media releases, media functions, event handbooks, event tickets and making them available to the media. This is something I have learnt as if I were a PR practitioner planning an event I would think the media would just come to my event. Richards point about giving the media tickets made me realise its not the medias job to know every event, but instead to be the one to let them know so the media can promote your event (Boyd 2004:357).

Boyd also discusses other aspects such as product demonstration, client entertaining and revenue generation. Tonge outlines four steps that should be followed when planning a successful event. First is feasibility, this means undertaking some research and asking questions, such as how much the event would cost, effect of the event and best time to hold the event. Second is planning, Tonge makes a point to work backwards from the date the event is due to take place and determine the time it will take to organise this is done by formulating a list of duties and a time management plan for implementation. I think the point about working backwards is strategic in the sense that it makes you work in the time frame you have rather than think, I’ve got three months till that event with plenty of time. Finally execution but in order for execution to be successful the planning phase has to be successful. Tonge points out that preparation of a critical path details exactly what should happen at anytime, it is effective management of an event (Boyd 2004:360-361). I think the key point to take from this reading is that for a PR practitioner time management is crucial for the preparation and running of an event. You need to know what time frame you are working within in order for things to run smoothly and on time.

Sponsorship was the first section of the reading and after reading this section I discovered there are various aspects to sponsorship. I assumed that sponsorship was just a company or someone being kind by giving money or products to an event, organisation or person. I never thought of the ulterior motives that are involved. Boyd stated that sponsorship is the most expensive tactic that can be chosen by an organisation (Boyd 2004:346).

Boyd also discuses that sponsorship should be not be confused with donation as sponsorship expects a return. Sponsorship is very popular with many organisations because it generates goodwill and provides opportunities to enhance the image and reputation of the organisation. This makes me think that in practice when my campaign or event is receiving sponsorship from a company I must think of why they are sponsoring and what their motives are, whether the are positive or negative. For instance a cigarette company sponsoring a lung caner event isn’t the best choice as they obviously are not supporting the cause and just wanting to promote their brand/product. Gerald and Sinclair outline benefits of sponsorship image associate, product sampling, and media coverage (Boyd 2004:347).

I also never knew there were different types of sponsorship. Philanthropic sponsorship is a sponsorship that is as close to a donation as sponsorship can get, it generally community based (Boyd 2004:347). Corporate sponsorship is a sponsorship of an event or activity not normally linked to the sponsoring company’s general business (Boyd 2004:348). Marketing sponsorship is the most popular and common form of sponsorship as it is cost effective and promotes the company/product. It is used primarily to promote products and services to the targeted market which inturn reinforces product brand and promotes sales activities. Marketing sponsorship made me think of sporting individuals I know that are sponsored by Nike. I always thought Nike was just being supportive of upcoming talent and showing their goodwill. Even if Nike does something bad like using child labour to produce their products (don’t quote me on child labour as I do not know how true this is), Nike will still look positive in the publics view.

Boyd discusses important points when writing a proposal for sponsorship, ‘a generic sponsorship document will not generate support.’ This makes me think that in practice I need to be creative and strategic in my sponsorship document because if my sponsorship document does not stand out from the rest mine will not be chosen. Best advice is to sell and sizzle short and relevant (Boyd 2004:349-351). For me, this piece of advice is a key point to remember from this weeks reading, as to be noticed amongst other PR practitioners, my work has to stand out from the rest to be the best!

Another crucial area discussed in Boyd’s reading is Ambush marketing. It ‘occurs when a company misrepresents itself as being associated with an event when is has no official or legal or moral rights to do so.’ Ambush marketing is also term I had never heard of or been aware of. I think the key point to take from this weeks reading is that, sponsorship and events are a major area of PR that results in public attention due to strong media coverage. Therefore it is critical that organisations/clients are represented in a positive light due and also sponsorship a two way street (Boyd 2004:364).


References:

Boyd, S. (2004). Sponsorship and Event Managment. In Johnston,J. & Zawawi, C.(2004).Public Relations: Theory and Practice. (2nd ed). (pp. 75-103).Sydney: Allen & Unwin.