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Unit 4: Marketing and Promotion of the Event

Notes
Figure 4.1: Internal and External Event Marketing Model Event Sponsorship

In recent times there has been a noticeable shift in sponsor dollars away from sporting events
and toward arts events. The reason for this shift is that sponsors are seeking more highly
targeted upscale demographics and the arts’ audience delivers that market segment. Therefore,
those events that deliver the higher-income demographics are predicted to benefit most from
sponsorship dollars in the future.
From fairs to festivals to hallmark events such as a world’s fair, the role of the sponsor has
earned a permanent place in the marketing lexicon of events.
Following are typical types of sponsors for a variety of events:
Fair: Bottler, grocer, automotive, and bank

Festival: Department store and record store
Sport: Athletic wear manufacturer, bottler, brewery, and hospital or health care facility
School Program: Children’s toy stores, children’s clothing stores, and amusement park
Meeting/Conference: Printer, bank, insurance broker, and associate member firms
Use this list as a guide to begin to identify sponsors for your event.

Task Study the typical sponsors for a variety of events, other than listed in the text.

4.6 Sponsorship Needs Assessment

Although most events may benefit from sponsorship, not every event is appropriate for this
component. Sponsorship is a commercial endeavor and is extremely time consuming. Therefore,
unless you are prepared to enter into a commercial relationship with other parties and have the
time resources to devote to this activity, you may instead wish to solicit donations. Many event
managers confuse sponsorship with benevolence. A fundraising event where donors contribute
without any expectation of commercial benefit is a benevolent activity. Sponsorship, on the
other hand, is a commercial transaction in which two parties agree by way of an offer and

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