Sponsorship can be an effective way of reaching your audience in a relevant manner. The most important thing is doing it in the right way.

Unfortunately, many companies never manage to climb up from the first and less effective steps of the sponsorship ladder. Master the art of Sponsorship by watching our videos and climb the ladder to effective sponsoring methods, says Woltti Group CEO Jyrki Aittola.

Why is sponsorship worth it?

Today’s audiences are fragmented over many different channels and media. No single marketing channel is capable of covering all target groups any more.

Sponsorship can be an effective choice in this situation. In sports, culture or any other field, the subject of sponsorship is something that its followers are passionate about. Through sponsorship, a brand can reach precisely the right audience, at the moment when it is at its most passionate.

What can go wrong?

Sponsorship is too often based on the brand’s own logic, and the message disrupts the passionate relationship between the sponsored subject and its audience. Even though it may achieve a good level of visibility, this method does not create impact, but rather annoys the audience.

Effective sponsorship is not just about financial support and visibility. Presence, logo visibility and ads are easy to buy and measure, it is true, but they don’t make for effective sponsorship.

What is the key to effective sponsorship?

The key to effective sponsorship is the joint creation of something new by the sponsor and subject, something that would not be otherwise created. Sponsorship that creates effective added value requires commitment and participation by the brand being sponsored.

But what does the creation of effective added value actually mean? Here are five examples of new and impactful things built in collaboration by sponsoring companies and the subjects of sponsorship.

1. Dutch financing company ING and Microsoft collaborated to bring the skills of 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn to life by digitally creating a new Rembrandt painting. Watch the video:

2. American soft drinks giant Mountain Dew and star skaters sponsored by the company created an unique VR experience, in which fans could experience skating through the eyes of their idols. Watch the video:

3. Finnish insulation pioneer Paroc and Woltti Group brought a portable sauna experience to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti, for which Paroc was one of the sponsors, letting people watch the games from the comfort of the sauna. Watch the video:

4. Dubai’s national airline Emirates and it’s footballing air hostesses entertained the fans of HSV, sponsored by the airline, with their fancy footwork before the start of the game. Emirates has used the same entertainment concept for a variety of sponsored sports events and clubs. Watch the video:

5. British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline joined forces with Formula 1 team McLaren to study and improve the team’s performance through data collection and analysis. Watch the video:

Effective sponsorship is a brand alliance

To achieve effective sponsorship, two brands must ally to build something new. Watch the presentation given by Tango Brand Alliance’s Anders Lindén on the subject at Woltti Group’s inspiration day:

Want to hear more about effective sponsorship methods? Contact us: jyrki.aittola@wolttigroup.fi