Building relationships through sponsorship

Sponsorship is a fantastic–and often-overlooked–marketing channel that allows small businesses to form relationships with potential customers via a personal connection.

It is not enough for a company to offer a product to the market - even if it is an excellent one. The brand must now "stand" for something - honesty, loyalty, transparency.

Consumers are informed and discriminating and there is ample evidence available that they will change their purchasing habits based on how they perceive their relationship with a product/company.

Sponsorship offers the opportunity to connect with people when they are experiencing or participating in an activity that they enjoy and have chosen to be involved in - much like their relationship with you. If they perceive that your involvement is a positive one for them they will return the loyalty.

Imagine for a second the Mum dropping off her child to football and finding out that the local cafe has sponsored the team's uniform. If that Mum were me, you know what I'd be thinking? I'd be thinking that cafe just saved my family $100, because now I don't have to pay for the full cost of my child's uniform. I would be very grateful for that sponsorship and that cafe would be first place I'd turn when the afternoon coffee hit was required. Not only that, but I would certainly be telling my friends about it.

Now, how many kids on a football team? That's how many parents? And how many friends do those parents have?

Relationships. They add up.

If you'd like to explore the marketing possibilities of sponsorship for your business, and if you're not sure how to find the right sponsorship property or if you're not sure whether a particular sponsorship is a good fit for you, please call me on (08) 8224 3300 or email me at kelly@chillichocolatemarketing.com. I'd love to help!

--Kelly @ccmkelly