TheEighth

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings are that, in the world of corporate marketing and public relations, sponsorship and events run hand in hand and although sponsorship doesn’t come cheap, the goodwill delivered to the organisation/business is worth the price.

In marketing sponsorships, businesses usually look into events which has similar interests or are of relevance to what they’re dealing with which will promote its products and services to the target audience and in turn, generate profits and heighten sales activity. An example would be ‘Moet & Chandon’ which has forged a fashion profile and has become the official champagne sponsor at major fashion weeks in the fashion circuit.

With corporate/ marketing sponsorship a burgeoning trend now, you’ll find a long list of brands/ organisations supplying their services/sponsoring an event. Take the upcoming Singapore Fashion Festival for example, most of the products and services are sponsored by brands ranging from Mastercard to Audi, to Samsung, to Lee Hwa Jewellery, to L'Oréal Professionnel, to Haagen Dazs, to Evian, to Novita(lifestyle products). Some find it rather ridiculous that businesses dealing with ice-cream, mineral water and even garment steamers wants a piece of the action(sponsorship)!

The popularity of corporate sponsorship has been on a rise amongst the renown and bigger organisations. Take the annual Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon for example, Standard Chartered is the ‘title sponsor’ for the event. The title of the marathon itself directly shouts out the name of the sponsor, gaining attention and increasing its public profile.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory and practice in that PR practitioners should be meticulous with details and should take effort in careful planning, execution and evaluation for an event. Practitioners must also be tactful when dealing with ambush marketeers.