Every business needs exposure. Even with the best product/ service
at the most competitive price a company cannot be successful unless its
target market know about them. Sales don’t come out of thin air and the
importance of a successful marketing campaign is paramount. There are
various marketing strategies, however, I shall focus here on just two;
namely promotional products and sponsorship. Promotional products are
personalised gifts given away to raise awareness of a company. On the
other hand, sponsorship links a company with a specific team or
organisation to make the company’s name associated with the
organisation or team, again to raise awareness of the company in
question. I have chosen these two marketing methods as the subject of
this article because they have many similarities but have important
differences. First I shall explain what features they have in common.
Take Virgin’s recent sponsorship deal with the new Formula 1 racing
team Brawn GP. Richard Branson has taken a liking to Formula 1 and
Virgin are now associated with Brawn GP. The Virgin brand will be seen
written on Brawn GP cars, merchandise and clothing, with the result of
raising awareness of the Virgin brand, as if it doesn’t need raising
any more! But when considering what TV package to upgrade to from
freeview, fans of Formula 1 may just choose Virgin over Sky because of
this sponsorship deal. The Virgin name on replica caps, on mugs, on
pens, on racing jackets, and on other merchandise has exactly the same
result that gifts of promotional products have. They all aim to raise
brand awareness. However, this is where the differences stop.
The ease of distributing promotional gifts
comes with the very fact that they are gifts- they are free! Take pens,
for example. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pen but there
are a fair few personalised pens lying around my house. No doubt I
acquired these for free. (I am not a serial pen stealer I promise.) If
I had to pay for a pen then I’m would have no branded pens at all. They
are more expensive than a pack of 10 biros from the local stationary
shop and during an economic recession I’m not going to be splashing out
on expensive pens I can tell you.
Sponsorship deals raise brand awareness by putting a company name where
you already look i.e. in association with a sporting team you follow
whereas promotional products are put in front of you because they offer
you some value, or are of use to you, for free. They both do a similar
marketing job. However, there is one important difference. Cost.
Sponsoring a sporting team of a reasonable size, for example, can cost
thousands whilst sponsoring a small organisation although may be
cheaper, may not yield worthwhile results. Also, there is a risk
associating your business name with that of another organisation. The
reputation of those you sponsor could affect the reputation of your
business. Using promotional products avoids this risk, and arguably
more importantly, a successful marketing campaign with promotional
products can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of a sponsorship
deal. Your business name will be out there, there will be no risk to
the reputation of your business and in two years when sponsorship deals
expire your promotional products will still be dispersed far and wide
because they will still offer free value. Ex-sponsors, however, will
have their name removed from every place their name is advertised and
will have to pursue alternative means of advertising.