Aarhus School of Business
Master of Arts in Corporate Communication
3/1/2012

Table of contents
Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………..…. 5
Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………………9
Part 1
I Sponsorship – general aspects ………………………………………………………. 10
2 Legal dispositions of sponsorship ………………………………………………… 16
II Sponsorship as a part of corporate communication strategy ……….… 20
1 Communicating through sponsorship ……………………………………..…….. 20
2 Sponsorship objectives ………………….……………………..…………….………… 22
III Sport sponsorship ………………………………………………………………………… 29
1 General aspects ……………………………………………………………………………. 29
2 The risk of sport sponsorship ………………………………………………………… 32
IV Measuring the efficiency of sport sponsorship …………………………….. 38
1 Key efficiency factors ……………………………………………………………………. 38
2 Efficiency measurement indicators ………………………………………………. 42
Part 2
1 Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………. 45
2 Empirical study ……………………………………………………………………………. 48
Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………….. 61
Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………. 64
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 68
2

Summary
When referring to sports, “sport sponsorship is a communication strategy that aims to persuade the assisting public of the existence of an in-width connection between the event and the sponsoring company, in order to attain visibility and increase popularity.” 1
The objective is to transfer the values of the sporting activity in question towards the company’s image (as an institution) or towards some of its products and brands to make them more attractive and gain market efficiency.
The purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding on the use of sport sponsorship in the communication strategy. To reach this purpose, research questions focusing on the objectives of sport sponsorship have beet stated. In particular, does sport sponsorship strategy represent a decisive communicational advantage for the company or on the contrary is it seen as a typical communicational tool alongside the others? To what extent did sports sponsorship and especially sporting events have now become essential for the company’s communication strategy?
Based on these questions, a review of the relevant literature was conducted resulting in a conceptual framework that guided the study. In order to collect data, a qualitative case study has been used, using interviews and relevant internal information analysis. The findings of the study indicate that image, customer awareness, level of exposure and financial feedback are important objectives for a company involved in sport sponsorship. Furthermore, the company will evaluate its sponsorship campaign efficiency based on these objectives. Finally, after analyzing the theoretical and empirical aspects I concluded that sport sponsorship is an efficient corporate communication tool.
1 Tribou G., Sports sponsorship, Ed. Economica, 2002, p. 65
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Introduction
Sponsorship is nowadays one of the most rapidly growing marketing activities 2 . Widely used by compnies, it has become one of the most powerful tools of communication 3 . According to the
IREP (Institute for Research and Advertising Research) in 2010 it accounted for 2.6% market share in advertising only in France. At a more global level, the International Event Group (IEG) announced that only in 2009 companies over the world invested 30 billion dollars out of their advertising budget into sponsorship 4 .
Although researchers launched different interpretations, the generally accepted definition sees sponsorship as an investment, in cash, in an activity, a person or an event (sponsoree), in return for access to an exploitable commercial potential associated with the sponsored activity, person or event by the investor (sponsor) in order to raise its profile, improve its image (corporate image or brand of a product) and possibly to increase sales 5.
Although sports are the usual choice when it comes to sponsorship 6 , companies now commit to other areas, such as arts, culture, charity and humanitarian domains, or even to sponsoring television programs 7 .
There have been many suggested interpretations in order to explain the origin of such a commitment. First of all, sponsorship may appear as a response to the European Union
2 Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions. Psychology &
Marketing, 18 (2), p.5.
3 Grey, A.M., et and Skildum-Reid, K. (2003). The sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit. Sydney, Australia: The Mc Graw-Hill
Companies, Inc, p.33.
4 http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr.aspx
, accessed on the 3rd of July 2011
5 Meenaghan, T. (1998). Current Developments and Future Directions in Sponsorship.International Journal of
Advertising, 17 (1), p. 3-5.
6 Farrelly, F., Quester, P. (1997). Sports and Arts Sponsors: Investigating the similarities in Management practices.
AMA Conference, Dublin, p. 133-146
7 Meenaghan, T. (1991). The Role of Sponsorship in the Marketing Communication Mix.International Journal of
Advertising, 10, p. 35-47.
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restrictions regarding the advertising of tobacco or alcohol 8 , or even to budgetary restraints due to the increase in the prices for advertising space, and the congestion of the classical media 9 .
This impulse may be equally justified by the paradoxical phenomenon of expansion of all sorts of events and of their popularity 10 , even though local governments reduce the funds intended for this kind of activity. The sponsors have therefore become “substitutes” for governmental support and represent a major challenge to the financial success of an event or festival.
Finally, we can attribute the increase in operations of sponsorship to the changes in market trends. Indeed, anxious to meet the increasingly demanding consumer expectations 11 , companies need to react to their growing indifference towards traditional advertising techniques 12 . By participating in the role of citizenship 13 , sponsorship is a “great way for companies to become a social actor in the public eye.” 14 .
Sponsorship has become an instrument of communication more appreciated among customers who remain skeptical to classical communication techniques (such as advertising), viewed as manipulative, and having a low social value 15 . As a result, the message delivered by a sponsor at an event is much better integrated, as the potential clients are in a favorable environment and share enjoyable moments. Sponsorship also stands for real opportunities to interact with the clientele and it gives the opportunity to establish relationships that endures over time 16 .
8 Quester, P., Thompson, B. (2000). Evaluating sponsorship effectiveness: The Adelaïde Festival of the Arts.
ANZMAC Visionary marketing for the 21st century: facing the challenge, 1263-1268, p. 45
9 Arthur, D., et al. (1998). Sport Sponsorship Should… A Process Model for the Effective Implementation and
Management of Sport Sponsorship Programs, Sport Marketing Quarterly, 7 (4), 49-60.
10 Meenaghan, T. (1998). Current Developments and Future Directions in Sponsorship, p.103
11 Grimes, E., Meenaghan, T. (1998). Focusing Commercial Sponsorship on the Internal Corporate Audience.
International Journal of Advertising, 17 (1), 51-74.
12 Otker, T. (1988). Exploitation: the key to sponsorship success. European Research, 26 (2), 77-86.
13Parker, K. (1991). Sponsorship: the Research Contribution. European Journal of Marketing, 25 (11), 22-30.
14 Cegarra, J.J. (1987). La promotion par l’action – Analyse du parrainage de la course de l’Europe à la voile par la
Commission des Communautés Européennes. Thèse de Doctorat en Sciences de Gestion, Université Jean Moulin,
Lyon III, France, p. 177
15 Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions, p. 201
16 Cornwell, T.B, Chien, P.H.M., and Stokes, R. (2005). A Theoretical Framework for Analysis of Image Transfer in
Multiple sponsorships. ANZMAC 2005 Conference: Advertising/Marketing Communication issues, p. 17
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Moreover, the sponsoring of an event may represent a unique chance for the companies to market its products and/or services. This may allow them to get in touch with their specific customers, at a much lower cost than through radio, television, press or other kind of media 17 .
In fact, sponsorship acts as an element that carries a global advertising strategy 18 that gives the opportunity to get in touch with a large public made of spectators (who represent potential customers), the partners but also the employees.
Certain companies have understood the fact that an event may be a real opportunity to improve and develop their image and they even choose to create their own events 19 . However, according to the specialists, companies no longer have the same expectations as they used to have when organizing an event in the past. According to Grey and Skildum-Reid, companies used to get involved in the organization of an event “for harmless reasons” 20 . Now, they are
“lead by the possible benefits brought by such a financial or material participation to an event” 21 . In fact, they seek a tangible benefit from their investment. In spite of the high stakes involved, the functioning and the influence of sponsorship on the customer’s attitude are still partially unknown 22 .
There are two major questions involved in the decision of sponsoring: “who to support?” (the selection criteria that leads companies to supporting a specific player, team or event) and
“what’s in it for me?” (measuring the return on investment and the profitability of the sponsoring campaign) 23 . The situation of having to choose between several alternative solutions is a typical strategic management situation. It leads decision-makers to anticipate returns on
17 Grey, A.M., et and Skildum-Reid, K. (2003). The sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit. Sydney, Australia: The Mc Graw-
Hill Companies, Inc, p. 56-58.
18 Derbaix, C., Gérard, P., Lardinoit, T. (1994). Essai de conceptualisation d’une activité éminemment pratique : le parrainage. Recherche et applications en marketing, 2, p. 43
19 D’Astous, A., Bitz, P. (1995). Consumer evaluations of sponsorship programmes. European Journal of Marketing.
29 (12), p.6
20 Grey, A.M., et and Skildum-Reid, K., The sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit (2003). p. 36
21 Ibid, p. 39
22 Walliser, B. (2003). An International Review of Sponsorship Research: Extension and Update. International
Journal of Advertising, p. 22
23 Lagae, W. (2008), Sports sponsorship and marketing communication : A European example, Prentice Hall, p. 33
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investments considering the limited and often biased information they dispose of and the constraint of budget which urge them to optimize their choice.
The objective of this paper is to investigate on the sport sponsorship is an integrating part of the company’s communication strategy. In particular, to what extent did sports sponsorship and especially sporting events have now become essential for the company’s communication strategy?
Thus, the following issue emerges: “is the sponsorship of sports an efficient means of communication for the companies?”
To answer this question, in the first part of the assignment I will concentrate on presenting the theoretical dimension of the subject, while in the second part I will enlarge upon the methodological approach I chose to adopt as well as details of the study . Finally, I will present the results of my analysis and critique of the approach.
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Methodology:
In order to answer to the imposed question, an exhaustive analysis of a part of the empirical and academic work was made.
First, I focused on presenting the contributions of various authors on the subject, then, subsequently, confronted their ideas. The sources used for this paper are of various types: they are, mainly, articles belonging to the international literature that focuses on the subject such as
Europeans Research, International Journal of Advertising, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of
Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, International Marketing Review, The academy of
Management Journal, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Sport Management etc.
Regarding the French literature discussing the local situation, I analysed mainly articles published in the Revue française du marketing, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, the
Revue Française de Gestion, and Marketing Magazine.
The consulted works deal with the concepts of sponsorship in all its facets, advertising, corporate communication strategy, image, sports.
Parallel to this, in order to validate the assumptions made in the theoretical works, a case study was done on the Carrefour Group and its participation in the annual Tour de France sporting event. In this demarche, I used internal analyses made by the company’s strategic department and presented annually to the Group’s CEO, Lars Olofsson. For a thorough understanding on the subject, I interviewed Patrique Rouvillois, Carrefour Group Marketing Manager, Florence
Baranes Cohen, Carrefour Group Communication Manager and Virginie Fougerey, Carrefour
Group Communication Coordinator.
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PART 1- THEORETICAL APPROACH
I. Sponsorship – general considerations
1. Definition and general presentation
1.1 Definition of sponsorship
Researchers developed several different definitions for sponsorship through the years.
According to Walliser 24 , there is no generally accepted legal definition. Still, after studying the work of Meenaghan and Derbaix, there are several common elements that most specialists agree on.
Meenaghan defines sponsorship as a financial (in 92% of the cases according to the poll made in
1998 by the ADMICAL organisation 25 ), or material (according to the same poll, 53% of companies give a material aid or services as well) investment in an activity, a person or an event, and having as benefits the access of the investor (sponsor) to a potential “image lifting” associated to the activity, the people or to the event 26 . In his study, Derbaix state that
“sponsorship is the financial or in-kind support of an activity, used primarily to reach specified business goals, though marketing objectives 27 .
Therefore, used as a form of advertising that doesn’t necessarily include mass media, sponsorship leads to a commercial gain for the sponsor 28 .
Nevertheless, in spite of these definitions, it seems that certain characteristics of sponsorship are still to be debated and that the line between sponsorship and other means of advertising remains difficult to define 29 .
24 Walliser, B. (2003). An International Review of Sponsorship Research: Extension and Update, p. 33
25 ADMICAL. (Association pour le développement du mécénat industriel et commercial – Industrial and commercial sponsorship development association) http://www.admical.org/default.asp?contentid=54 , accessed on the 4th of
December 2011
26 Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions.
Psychology & Marketing, 18 (2), 191-215.
27 Derbaix, C., Lardinoit, T. (2001). Sponsorship and recall of sponsors. Psychology and Marketing, 18 (2), 167-170
28 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.). Milton, Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia,
Ltd., p. 235
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In his book “Sponsoring sportif”, Tribou explains the connection between two entities that intervene in the sponsorship process, as he illustrates it in the figure below.
Figure 1: The logic of sponsorship 30
Source - Tribou, G. (2002). Sponsoring sportif. Paris, Economica
This diagram describes the exchange that takes place between the sponsor – who contributes with financial, material and intellectual support to the event- and the feedback in image, reputation and promotion the sponsorship will reflect. Nevertheless, the diagram doesn’t take into consideration, the audience, an essential element of the dynamics of advertising of events.
As Copeland, Frisby and McCarville state it, sponsorship brings the intervention of 3 main players: the sponsor, the event agency and the consumers 31 . The audience is, therefore, an integral part of the sponsorship process (Figure 2).
29 Walliser, B. (2003). An International Review of Sponsorship Research: Extension and
Update, p. 56
30 Tribou, G. (2002). Sponsoring sportif. Paris, Economica (2002), p.89
31 Copeland, R., Frisby, W., and McCarville, R. (1996). Understanding the Sport Sponsorship Process from a
Corporate Perspective. Journal of Sport Management, 10 (1), 32 - 48.
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Figure 2: The Sponsor, Event and Audience Trilogy
Source - Copeland, R., Frisby, W., and McCarville, R. (1996). Understanding the Sport
Sponsorship Process from a Corporate Perspective
Nevertheless, Lena Ukman draws the attention on the idea that sponsorship should not be confused with advertising. In fact, advertising is considered to have more quantity related goals
(bound to the increase of sales) while sponsorship seeks to achieve more quality related goals
(awareness and image-wise). It promotes the organization at the same time with the sponsored entity.
32
The results of Meenaghan’s comparison of consumer’s perception of sponsorship in direct relation with advertising, shows that sponsorship is better perceived and accepted than advertising, which is considered to be a “forced means of communication” 33 . This way, the advertising messages are received by the consumers with “skepticism and doubt” 34 .
According to a study made by the “Journal of Advertising Research”, 75% of the questioned individuals have perceived the sponsors of the Olympic Games of 1992 as having a social function. Sponsorship appears to them as a proof of “enterprise citizenship” 35 .
32 Ukman, L. (1999). IEG’s Complete Guide to Sponsorhip. IEG, Incorporated. Accessed online on the 20. 12.2011
(http://www.sponsorship.com/products/004_product_index.asp)
33 Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions.p.209
34 Ibid, p. 237
35 Fleck-Dousteyssier, N. (2005). La congruence dans le parrainage: définition, rôle et mesure. Institut d’administration des entreprises. Actes du XXIè congrès AFM, Nancy, p. 22
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For the companies, the advantage of sponsorship resides mainly in the “double-way communication“ 36 : direct advertising through exposure, and indirectly, by assuming the event’s image.
Meenaghan identifies the “goodwill” (or confidence), the”image transfer” and the “involvement of fans” as being the three variables that differentiate sponsorship from advertising. The following table describes the differences between these two means of corporate communication 37 :
Comparative factors Sponsoring Advertising
Interest
Objective
Beneficial
Indirect/ Suggested
Selfish
Direct/ Forced
Persuading intention Disguised
Defense mechanism Low
Open
High
Figure 3: Sponsorship vs. Advertising comparison
Source - Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions. Psychology & Marketing, 18 (2)
In the same analysis, Meenaghan describes the main advantages and disadvantages of sponsoring (Figure 4). These elements will be discussed further on in the next chapters.
Advantages
 Quick creation of notoriety due to a multiplication of press coverage

Positive impact on the image if the
Inconveniences


Speculative with the effects that may be negative
Difficulty to measure effects that are
36 O’Reilly, N., et Harrison, M. (2005). Sponsorship management: a status report. The Sports Journal
37 Idem 32, 100
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operation is well chosen
(communicated value transfer)
 Personal contacts with various partners potentially not manageable

Actions are often punctual, not enough long term vision
Figure 4: Sponsorship advantages/Inconveniences
Source - Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions. Psychology & Marketing, 18 (2)
1.2. The types of sponsorship
As described earlier, the field of action for sponsorship is almost unlimited. However we can classify the various areas of sponsorship as follows:
 Sports – the most representative area in terms of sponsorship
 Culture – not as highly represented as sports, but it remains an interesting opportunity for sponsors
 Scientific, technical and educational events – mainly explored by companies having the same profile
 Social and humanitarian causes - a “must do” in every corporate sponsorship strategy 38
1.3. Corporate sponsorship overview
According to an IEGS report 39 , worldwide corporate expenses on sponsorship raised up to more than 60 billion dollars in 2010, having the United States of America on top of the ranking with
38 Védrine, JP., et al. (2005). Les Fondamentaux de l’entreprise. (3ème ed). Paris, France : Editions d’Organisation, p. 82
39 International Event Group Sponsorship Reports Network 1997. Glossary Ambush Marketing. Accessed online on the 27.11.2011 (http ://sponsorship.com/forum/glossary/html)
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17.1 billion dollars invested in sponsorship, then Europe with 13.4 billion dollars. (These numbers do not take into consideration «intellectual property rights” costs. It is estimated that the collateral expenses to those costs, would double the amount in average). More locally, according to a study of the IREP, in 2010 sponsorship represented 2.6% of advertising market share in Europe, having a 2.7% progression compared to 2006 40 .
Figure 6: European company’s advertising expenses in 2009 (in billions of Euros)
Source - Institut de Recherche et d’Etudes Publicitaires. (2009). France Pub 2009. Le marché publicitaire européen.
Also in 2010, in an annual study made for The Echos, TNS Sports state that at a global level, 15 billion euros have been invested in the sponsoring of sports 41 . However, still in 2010, reports show that the sponsoring of sports activities should have represented only 8.5% of brand advertising expenses 42 . Although sports represents the main focus area of sponsoring activity 43 , a study made by Cowan in 2005 proves however that the companies start getting involved into
40 Institut de Recherche et d’Etudes Publicitaires. (2009). France Pub 2009. Le marché publicitaire européen.
41 http://www.sponsorshop.fr/sponsoring-les-chiffres-tns-sport.htm
42 Michalowska, A. (2004). L’important n’est pas de participer mais de gagner. Marketing Magazine, 87, 30-35.
43 Meenaghan, T. (1998). Current Developments and Future Directions in Sponsorship.
International Journal of Advertising, 17 (1), p3-28.
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other sectors such as the arts and festivals. The study goes even further by declaring that arts will soon touch a larger audience that the sports 44 .
Figure 7- Arts vs Sports audience forecast
Source Cowan, D., (2005). An Evidence based case for arts sponsorship. London: Arts and business.
2.
The legal dispositions of sponsorship
2.1
Legal rules and regulations
An event may be the source of a wide range of opportunities for the sponsors. However, a major event, such as the Tour de France, or the Football World Cup might be too expensive for a one sponsor to cover individually. Thus, organizers offer various packages with different legal rights and similarly, several degrees of “quality” in their event/sponsor associations 45 .
The range of different packages therefore extends with designations such as “official sponsor”,
“partner” or even “official supplier of a certain product”.
44 Cowan, D., (2005). An Evidence based case for arts sponsorship. London: Arts and business.
45 Meenaghan, T. (1998). Current Developments and Future Directions in Sponsorship. International Journal of
Advertising, 17 (1), p3-5.
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The multitude of these different opportunities is driven equally by the fact that all the rights related to an event are rarely the property of the event organizer. Meenaghan takes the example the NFL (American Footbal League) to emphasize that beyond the rights of the federation, mainly everything (such as the rights of the athletes) can be sold to the sponsor 46 . In addition, the rights of retransmission of the media after covering the event, the licenses related to the merchandise, or even more, the ticket-promotions, prizes, they can all be the object of a sponsorship contract.
Consequently, the existence and the diversity of all these property rights might sometimes generate conflicts within the competing companies, which have legitimately paid for private rights. The IEG in its 1995 report, explain through the example of the 1994 Super Bowl event in the USA the difficulty that sponsoring companies had to create a brand identity as havins Coors as the sponsor of NFL Super Bowl, Miller as the official beer of the Super Bowl while Budweiser as the sponsor of NFL 47 . Although all of these activities attest to the conviction of companies towards the potential and value of sponsorship, the result is nothing more than the congestions of sponsors 48 and the conflicts that follow. Furthermore, that generates a certain mixture in the spirit of the consumers and the proliferation of “ambush marketing”. (IEG Sponsorship Report).
2.2 Focus on the “ambush marketing”
The ambush marketing or the ambush sponsorship is “ a marketing technique which involves riding on the coattails of a major event without paying sponsorship fees, essentially using the event as a free promotion.” 49 . Sandler and Shani 50 as well as Fuchs 51 explain that the objective is to turn the inner values of the event into their own profit, and all that without paying the charge
46 Ibid, p.308
47 http://www.sponsorship.com/documents/SR_Promo_Issue_01-07.pdf
, accessed on the 30th of December 2011
48 Mazodier, M. et Quester, P. (2006). Un cadre d’analyse de l’efficacité du pseudo parrainage. Institut d’administration des entreprises. Centre d’études et de recherches sur les organizations et la gestion, p. 768.
49 Lehu, J.M. (2004). L’encyclopédie du marketing. Editions d’Organisation, p. 84
50 Sandler, D.M., et Shani, D. (1998). Olympic Sponsorship vs. “ambush” marketing: Who gets the gold? Journal of
Advertising Research, p. 9-14.
51 Fuchs, S. (2003). Le Pseudo-parrainage : Une autre façon de faire du parrainage ? Décisions Marketing, 31-39.
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to the organizer of the event. They add that the main purpose is to create a misunderstanding among the consumers regarding the identity of the sponsor and therefore, to obtain the associated benefits to that sponsorship, or to weaken the impact of the main competitor as an exclusive sponsor to an event. Moreover, the intention of the “ambusher” would be to make the other consumers believe that they sponsor the event 52 .
The most common ambush marketing strategies are described below 53 :

The non-official advertiser associates with the most important media to get media coverage

The pseudo-sponsor takes all the available space around the event and exploits them aggressively
 The ambushed brand associates with an indirect entity, such as an actor in the event
 The company gets an advertising campaign that coincides with the sponsored event and which misleads a suggested association to the event
 The advertiser organizes a counter-event taking place during the manifestation.
Thus, during long periods of time, ambush marketing was considered to be a non-ethical activity and an unjust marketing practice. However, recent works have recognized this new marketing strategy as legitimate. Meenaghan points out that these tactics, perceived in the past as transgressions, have nowadays become “legitimate sponsorship opportunities” and that marketers are pushed to use a wide variety of means to associate themselves to the event 54 .
52 International Event Group Sponsorship Reports Network 1997. Glossary Ambush Marketing. Accessed on the
30/01/2012 (http ://sponsorship.com/forum/glossary/html)
53 Meenaghan, T. (1998). Current Developments and Future Directions in Sponsorship. P. 311.
54 Meenaghan, T. (1996). Ambush Marketing: A threat to corporate sponsorship. 103-113.
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Graham adds that the professionals of marketing reach to the limit of the legal frame and make sure legal aspects are always taken into consideration even though ethical ones are completely neglected 55 .
According to Sandler and Shani, these tactics coming from sponsors are certainly confusing for the audience, as the concept of “official sponsors” fades away, but they also draw attention on the fact that this demarche can also be an initiative of the event organizers. Quoting, for example, the 1996 Olympic Games, where ambush marketing is very present, Sandler and Shani explain that ambush marketing was practiced by the organizers themselves by continuously adding and changing the event’s sponsors as well as their associated rights, and all that without informing or educating the consumers.
56 They believe, thus, that it is the organizers’ responsibility to inform the audience about the delimitation of their official sponsors.
55 Graham, J.P. (1997). Ambush Marketing. Sports Marketing Quarterly, 10-13.
56 Sandler, D.M., et Shani, D. (1998). Olympic Sponsorship vs. “ambush” marketing: Who getsthe gold?, p. 14.
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II. Sponsorship as a part of corporate communication strategy
1. Communicating through sponsoring
Corporate communication represents “the total of a corporation’s efforts to communicate effectively and profitably” 57 . Depending on the organization, corporate communication can include “such traditional disciplines as public relations, investor relations, employee relations, community relations, advertising, media relations, event communication, sponsorship, labor relations, government relations, technological communications, training, employee development”. 58
Several researchers believe that sponsorship may be a part of two strategical orientations: it is either developed in the brand communication strategy, or it is integrated in the global corporate strategy of the company 59 . However, Farrelly and Quester believe that, as it is a communication tool, sponsorship strategy is never directly developed in the global corporate strategy, as it is a procedure that requires a large understanding of the phenomenon from a communication angle. They take the idea even further by saying that sponsorship is a part of the company’s marketing mix 60 . A study made by the UDA (“Union des annonceurs”, a French advertising organization) in 1998 reveals the fact that 84% of European companies consider sponsorship as being an important part of their company’s communication strategy 61 .
Tripodi underlines the same idea by declaring that sponsorship in itself represents a simple corporate communication tool. “In order to have a greater impact, sponsorship must be integrated in the company’s marketing mix” 62 .
57 Goodman M.B. (2001). Corporate communication: theory and practice. State university of New York Press,p. 3-5
58 Ibid, p. 15
59 Boistel, P. (2004). Quelle place à la communication évènementielle dans la stratégie de communication ? 1ère journée thématique du Nord-Est de la France sur la communication Marketing, p. 56-88
60 Farrelly, F., Quester, P. (1997). Sports and Arts Sponsors: Investigating the similarities in Management practices.
AMA Conference, Dublin, p. 36
61 http://www.uda.fr/communication-responsable/observatoire-de-la-communication-responsable/edition-2008/ , accessed on the 30/06/2011
62 Tripodi, J.A. (2001). Sponsorship: A Confirmed Weapon in a Promotional Armoury. International Journal of
Sports Marketing & Sponsorship. March- April, p. 68
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In fact, several studies underline the idea that when sponsorship is efficient only when it is mixed with other means of communication 63 , advertising in particular 64 .
Furthermore, Koschler and Mertz (quoted by Walliser) adds that isolated sponsorship operations have only a weak influence on the notoriety, even if “they are in for the long-run” 65 .
.
Figure 9- An ideal mix of communication tools for sponsoring
Source: Tripodi, J.A. (2001). Sponsorship: A Confirmed Weapon in a Promotional
Armoury. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship.
2. Sponsorship objectives
According to Turner, the expected outcomes of a sponsorship policy can be achieved only if the negotiation between sponsor and sponsoree is based on a “win-win” model 66 . Thus, even if the objectives of the two parts differ, the success of the operation resides in the appropriate
63 Crompton, J.L (1993). Understanding a business organisation’s approach to entering asponsoring partnership.
Festival management & Event Tourism, 1, 98-109.
64 O’Reilly, N., et Harrison, M. (2005). Sponsorship management : a status report. The Sports
Journal, p.15
65 Walliser, B. (2003). An International Review of Sponsorship Research: Extension and
Update. International Journal of Advertising, 22 (1).
66 Turner, M. (2001). Critical funds Sponsorship in Australia and how to get them. Ringwood,
Australia: Penguin books Australia Ltd.
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character and the involvement of both parties 67 . The figure above illustrates the relation between the two sponsorship negotiators and their reciprocal objectives:
Figure 10 – Sponsor – sponsoree common objectives
Source: Allen, J., (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.). Milton, Australia: John Wiley
& Sons Australia, Ltd.
2.1 Sponsor’s objectives
According to a UDA study, sponsoring companies have, in general, similar goals: image awareness, reputation, financial feedback and employee motivation.
68
2.1.1 Image and reputation
The most “haunted” objectives for corporate sponsors thus concern image improvement and the increase of the company’s reputation and customer awareness. 69
67 Grey, A.M., et and Skildum-Reid, K. (2003). The sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit. Sydney,
Australia: The Mc Graw-Hill Companies, Inc., 385-398
68 http://www.uda.fr/communication-responsable/observatoire-de-la-communication-responsable/edition-2008/ , accessed on the 15.08.2012
21

However, these goals differ depending on the type of sponsorship, the type of event (artistic, sports, humanitarian event) or on the size of the corporation 70 . By associating to the event, the sponsor hopes to engender in the mind of its target audience, a transfer of values between the event’s identity and the company. When established in a favorable environment, sponsorship may become “a valuable tool for the development and the valorization of brand capital” 71 .
Cornwell, Chien and Stokes also express the following position: “sponsorship can help in associating a brand to a specific event or to an experience, which allows it to transcend its
physical attributes and to establish new definitions and values” 72 . According to these authors, several studies have shown that the image of an event can be transferred to the sponsoring during an event.
In order to better understand how sponsorship affects the image of the brand, it is suitable to carefully study the work of Fleck-Dousteyssier on the effects of congruence between event and the sponsoring brand in sponsorship. Although surprising, this study points out the fact that the impact on the brand image will be superior in a case of moderate incongruence (relevant yet unexpected sponsor/sponsored association) compared to strong congruence (relevant and expected association) or weak (unexpected and not relevant association).
73 In fact, when dealing with a moderate incongruence, the unexpected part of the sponsor/sponsored couple is highly stimulating the attention and the curiosity of the spectators and gives them the desire to approach the message in a more intense way.
69 Walliser, B. (1996). Le rôle de l’intensité des émotions éprouvées par le téléspectateur dans la mémorisation des parrains. Recherche et Applications marketing, p. 6- 9.
70 http://www.uda.fr/communication-responsable/observatoire-de-la-communication-responsable/edition-2008/
71 Edwards, A. (1991). Sports Marketing: How Corporations Select Sports Sponsorships, The
Coaching Director, 6 (3), 44-47.
72 Cornwell, T.B, Chien, P.H.M., and Stokes, R. (2005). A Theoretical Framework for Analysis of Image Transfer in Multiple sponsorships. ANZMAC 2005 Conference: Advertising/Marketing Communication issues, 17-25.
73 Fleck-Dousteyssier, N. (2005). La congruence dans le parrainage: définition, rôle et mesure.
Institut d’administration des entreprises. Actes du XXIè congrès AFM, Nancy.
22

Finally, according to Gregory, the emotional content of the sponsored event embellishes the image of the company, if the latter has previously achieved certain awareness 74 .
However, the visibility of the sponsors may be questionable when too many sponsors participate to an event. Allen and al.
75 reveal the results of the study made by MEC MediaLab10 in 2006: on a study made in twenty countries, 40% of the questioned people think that the sports events have become over-sponsored. This phase of sponsorship maturity forces companies choose their strategies very carefully in order to obtain a good visibility on the market and avoid too much exposure. Thus, companies seek to collaborate closely with the organizers of events, requesting exclusivity for the rights of ownership, access to databases and an accurate visibility 76 .
Given the expectations of companies and of the competition between the events, event organizers have to propose an attractive offer in order to attract sponsors and to acquire contracts. In this matter, they have to respond to a certain number of criteria. In his work,
Crompton has developed a frame of objectives event agencies set as goals when negotiating with potential sponsors. He uses the <<CEDAREEE>> acronym and defines it as follows:
 Customer audience (the audience comprising the consumers)
 Exposure potential
 Distribution channel audience (audience comprising the distribution network)

Advantage over competitors

Resource investment involvement required

Event’s characteristics
74 Gregory, P. (1996). Sponsoring: the miracles of institutional communication. Revue Français de Gestion, translated by George Prusac, p.163
75 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.). Milton, Australia: John
Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 88
76 Grey, A.M., et and Skildum-Reid, K. (2003). The sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit. Sydney, Australia: The Mc Graw-
Hill Companies, p. 356
23


Event’s organization reputation

Entertainment and hospitality opportunities 77
2.1.2 Increase of motivation
It is commonly admitted that the action of communicating through an event reaches towards a variety of targets. The field of action of sponsorship recovers thus the internal targets of the company (staff, shareholders, subsidiaries, suppliers) and the external targets (partners, consumers) 78 . Even though the primary targeted public remains mainly “outside” the company, with 80% of importance given to customers, Grey and Skildum-Reid prove that the employees should be informed, motivated and consulted when setting up a sponsoring strategy, since they are considered an essential resource to the company’s success 79 . In fact, sponsorship causes and reinforces a feeling of pride and of belonging from the employees 80 and the integration of staff in all the phases of sponsorship management will generate important results on their morale, and on their productivity 81 . Sponsorship thus becomes a vector of internal motivation that joins in the company’s demarche.
2.1.3 Increase of sales
The increase of sales seen as a motivation for sponsorship is a highly debated subject. Authors developed several controversial theories based on the relationship companies associate to the concept of sponsorship and the increase of sales.
Thus, several tendencies of thinking have been illustrated:
77 Crompton, J.L (1993). Understanding a business organisation’s approach to entering a sponsoring partnership
Festival management & Event Tourism, p.98.
78 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.). p. 394
79 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.)., p. 396
80 Cegarra, J.J. (1990). Sponsorisme et mécénat. Direction et Gestion. 124-125, p.73-80.
81 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.), 399
24


Edwards 82 , Cadet, Charles and Galus 83 believe that the increase of sales cannot be considered as an objective per se of event sponsorship as it is impossible to correctly calculate in advance the impact the event might potentially have and the ratio of sales that is in direct connection with this action.

Several authors believe that the increase of sales might generally be considered as one of a company’s objectives when involving into sponsoring:
In their work, Sandler and Shani identify, three main objectives researched by the companies through sponsoring: “corporate” objectives (related to the image), marketing objectives (brand promotion and the increase of sales) and media objectives (reaching out to the target groups) 84 .
Furthermore, Abratt, Clayton and Pitt underlines the fact that “an increase of sale is always the ultimate objective of a sponsoring company” 85 and gives the example of certain French companies such as Peugeot or France Telecom who reciprocally state that sponsorship aims to promote sales and increase market share as well as the attendance of the sales points.
However, Meenaghan derives from these statements and states that the increase of sales is not a major short term objective 86 . As for Tripodi, he accepts the theory according to which the increase of sales is a part of the reached objectives, but points out that it is only a secondary aim by far leaded by the desire of awareness increase and image improvement 87 .
82 Edwards, A. (1991). Sports Marketing: How Corporations Select Sports Sponsorships, The Coaching Director, p.
44
83 Cadet C., Charles R., Galus J.L (2003)., La communication par l’image, Paris, Nathan, p.34
84 Sandler, D.M., et Shani, D. (1993). Sponsorship and the Olympic Games: the Consumer Perspective, Sport
Marketing Quarterly, 2 (3), 38-43.
85 Abratt, R., Clayton, B., Pitt, L. (1987). Corporate Objectives in Sports Sponsorship. International Journal of
Advertising, 6, 299-311.
86 Meenaghan, T. (1991). The Role of Sponsorship in the Marketing Communication Mix.
International Journal of Advertising, 10, 73-98.
87 Tripodi, J.A. (2001). Sponsorship: A Confirmed Weapon in a Promotional Armoury. International Journal of
Sports Marketing & Sponsorship.
25

The relationship between sponsorship and sales remains controversial. According to Boistel, both visions can be accepted: “by the use of sponsoring companies primarily seek to reach the customers in order to prove them that their products are the best, which will finally transform into generating sales.” 88
2.2 The objectives of the sponsored entities
In order to achieve their personal objectives, companies have to reach a “win-win” negotiation.
In this demarche, it is necessary to keep in mind what sponsored entities set up for goals.
2.2.1 Financial, material or service related objectives
The main goal event’s organizers set up for themselves is to a financial input that companies can provide. If we keep in mind that sponsorship is not, according to some authors, a donation
(philanthropy) nor a subvention (assistance), the companies have to integrate sponsorship as a professional partnership which is based on financial issues 89 . Michalowksa defines it as an activity completely based on a financial exchange (seen for the eye of the sponsorees) by giving the example of the Festival of Arts from Adelaide, where organizers communicated on the fact that the sponsor’s financial investments allowed them to cover the salaries of the artists, the maintenance and infrastructure expenses, the production costs such as costumes or even the costs of administration 90 .
Equally, sponsored entities wish to benefit out of the sponsor’s area of expertise in terms of logistics, media relations and services. According to O’Reilly and Harrison the beneficial support of the sponsors also consists in the service providing potential 91 . They give the example of different international festivals, where sponsors such as hotel chains (for the free hosting of
88 Boistel, P. (2004). Quelle place à la communication évènementielle dans la stratégie de communication ?,
Galimard, p.30
89 Allen, J., et al. (2005). Festival and Event Management (3rd ed.)., p. 408
90 Michalowska, A. (2004). L’important n’est pas de participer mais de gagner. Marketing
Magazine, 87, 30-35.
91 O’Reilly, N., Harrison, M. (2005). Sponsorship management : a status report. The Sports Journal, p. 147
26

artists), restaurateur establishments (for the catering services) or media channels (for the media coverage) represent a real value-added for sponsored entities.
2.2.2 The image related objectives
More than a financial input, the sponsored entities also understand that sponsorship can bring them another major advantage: that of a potentially positive image transfer generated by the association with the sponsor. “Transfers are two-sided and so image associations are generally done between representatives of the same level.” 92
This idea of transfer of associations is consistent with Eaton’s idea that a sponsoring company’s
(brand) image will transfer to a sponsored event’s (or person) image 93 . Eaton also suggests that
Kahle and Homer were among the first to empirically examine and propose a "match-up" hypothesis in the context of sponsorship. These authors argued and found support for the idea that sponsored advertising effectiveness is increased when sponsored entities build their image relying on the sponsor’s identity 94 . Specifically, they found that if physically attractive celebrity is endorsers of a beauty enhancing product (and company) it will have a positive influence not only on consumer's brand attitudes or purchase intentions, but also on the consumer’s attitude towards the celebrity.
92 Otker, T., et Hayes, P. (1988). Evaluation de l’efficacité du sponsoring : Expériences de la
Coupe du Monde de Football de 1986. Revue Française du Marketing, p.13
93 Eaton, J. (n.d.), Building Brand Image through Event sponsorship: The Role of Image Transfer, accessed online on the 08.01.2012 (http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/advertising-related-services/392122-1.html)
94 Ibid
27

III. Sports sponsorship
1. General aspects
Since the appearance of modern sport, during the second half of the 19 th century, companies have quickly understood the communicational power of this social phenomenon. Sports essentially have a strong emotional impact deriving out of the uncertainty of sports results and out of the commitment of its participants and publics 95 .
The first recorded example of a corporate communication attempt based on sports, more precisely based on sponsorship, dates back to 1861 when a British catering company, Spiers and
Pond (whose major activity does not relate to sports) sponsors the first tour of the national cricket team in Australia, arrogating a return of investments of £11.000
96 . In 1887, the French magazine “Velocipede” had sponsored a car race, and it’s about that time that the French company Michelin, tire manufacturer, started providing products for the cyclist runners, in order to benefit from the usage of their products. One and a half century later, McDonald’s, one of the world’s largest chain of fast food restaurants, associates its brand to bigger international sports events such as the Olympic Games or the World Cup in football.
Today, companies understood that sport event’s visibility is an important resource that “can and should be explored” 97 . This merger was made possible by two major factors: the growing media coverage of sports and companies’ increasing awareness of the importance of sport’s potential in a communication strategy.
98
1.1.
An increasing presence of sports
95 Lemaire, C., et Foster-Walker M. (2005). Start and Run an Event Planning Business. Bellingham, USA:
International self-counsel Press Ltd.
96 www.question-sponsoring.com/l’histoire du sponsoring, accesed on the 13.01.2012
97 Kirmani, A. (1990). The Effect of Perceived Advertising Costs on Brand Perceptions. The Journal of Consumer
Research, 17 (2), p. 160
98 Rouzaud, P., Piquet, S., et Arcan, J.C. (1994). Une action de Mécénat humanitaire exemplaire : la collecte de radiographies périmées. Revue Française du Marketing, p.147
28

On the one hand, several authors believe that with the arrival of mass media (television, radio, press and more recently the Internet), sports, in all their forms, have known continuously increasing media coverage. Each major competition is nowadays the subject of a broadcast negotiation 99 .
Why such confrontations between medias? According to Otker and Hayes two factors can explain this tendency. The first one is directly connected to advertising benefits that the transmission of such events can generate. The second one is more institutional, and is defined with the idea that, by associating its image to a sporting event, a media agency can benefit of a
“transmission of common values” the event might generate and become a “secondary sponsor” for the event through the broadcast 100 .
According to J.F. Bourg, since 1850, there have been three identifiable main periods that have lead sports to the market economy 101 .
The first is marked by the appearance of the first Olympic Games under the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin to relaunch this worldwide sporting event. According to the authors, that was the historical moment when sports started to gain an important place in the western market economies.
Between 1918 and 1980, sport competition starts to occupy a greater place in people’s life, “a proof is that in 1948, fifty-nine countries participate to the Olympic Games (…) by the 1970’s, the sports competitions became sellable and became internationalized.” 102
It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the image of sports took another turn: that of a true profitpromising investment field. Sports became a commercial activity. More than 700 media covered sports manifestations are reported around the world 103 . According to Bourg, this process of
99 Pope, N. (n.d). Overview of Current Sponsorship Thought. Cyber Journal of Sports Marketing .
100 Otker, T., et Hayes, P. (1987). Judging the Efficiency of Sponsorship: Experience from the 1986 Soccer World
Cup. European Research, 15 (4), p3-8.
101 Bourg J.F. (1998), Analyse économique du sport, Paris, PUF, p.12
102 Ibid, p.18
103 Ibid, p. 22
29

“sports internationalization” will favor the appearance of new sports-related partisans, such as multi-national companies which belong to the sports branch (Nike, Adidas or Reebok).
On the other hand, different studies show that, while sports generate viewers, they are still not the main center point of attention of the media. If we take for example the report published by the Sports Marketing Magazine its December 2008 issue in France we can observe that out of the 45902 hours of TV programs recorded by the national French TV channel in 2008, only 3.9%, that is 1785 hours, have been dedicated to sports. As expected, the broadcastings of events represent the major part (62% of broadcasted sports), while sports news are mainly relayed in sports magazines (31%) and, in a smaller part, in national TV news journals (7%), as shown in
Figure 11.
Media
Total TV
Sports
Sports
Total number of broadcasting hours %
45 902 : 45 100%
1 785 : 46
1 785 : 46
4%
4%
117:57:00 7% News Journals
Sports Magazines 556:45:00
Event broadcast 1111:04:00
31%
62%
Figure 11 – Sports visibility on French television in 2008
Source : Sports Marketing Manazine (NTS Sports et Médiamétre) – December 2008 issue
Based on these results we might conclude that the visibility of sports on national TV broadcast is relatively small. However, we have to keep in mind that the continuously imposing presence of private, niche channels, that are exclusively oriented towards sports, such as EuroSport started generating the migration of sports viewers towards these types of media and that when analyzing the visibility of sports we must take into consideration the presence of these networks.
2. The risk of sports sponsorship
30

As Edwards states it, “sports sponsorship is a means of communication comprising numerous advantages” 104 . However, this tool is not perfect and certain factors limit its efficiency.
2.1 Congestion
The idea of congestion in sports sponsorship may be comprised in the expression “too many brands kill the brands” 105 . In his studies on sports and the way these influence today’s economy at the University of Limoges, Frederic Bolotny states that “if you have seven sponsors on the same t-shirt, you can be sure that the impact is practically nil” 106 . He believes that this affects the quality of the notion of sponsorship (brand image, awareness). Therefore, “since a couple of years the ability to spontaneously name a company associated to a sport is declining (…) we are witnessing an effect of trivialization which makes the public harder and harder to reach” 107 .
Thus, companies are facing the risk that the public finds itself somewhat saturated with information.
2.2 Event sponsoring
Regardless of the communication campaign, sponsoring a sporting event is in itself subjected to certain risks. Therefore, before associating its image to a sports event, “companies must be aware of the risks associated to the event. This can have more or less unfavorable consequences for the corporation, and indirectly, on its sales.” 108
104 Edwards, A. (1991). Sports Marketing: How Corporations Select Sports Sponsorships, The
Coaching Director, 6 (3), 44-47.
105 As a refference to Arthur Laffer’s expression (‘’Too many taxes kill taxes”)
106 http://www.lexpansion.com, article « L’été record du sport-business » of 23/06/04, accessed on the
15/08/2011
107 Idem 98
108 Farrelly, F., Quester, P. (1997). Sports and Arts Sponsors: Investigating the similarities in Management practices. AMA Conference, Dublin, p.188
31

Risks or limitations can be categorized into two types: endogenous (connected to internal causes of the event) and exogenous (related to uncertainty, external to the event by definition) 109 .
2.2.1. Endogenous risks

A poor organization of the event
There are several aspects event organizers have to keep in mind when organizing an event. “The preparation of an event requires a serious and rigorous amount of work: employee qualification, necessary legal authorizations, participant’s comfort, compliance with the security policies, tools, devices, planning (…) organizers must be conscientious and aware of everything.” 110 When an event is poorly organized and if incidents occur, the event’s advertising potential diminishes. Lardinoit believes that it is preferable not to communicate about an event that has not been a success. Moreover, he states that prior to deciding whether to associate its image to an event a company must implement an “event background check-up” 111 .
 A negative advertising of the event:
In his thesis, Larindinoit develops on the idea that in order to achieve the full set of objectives established, a company must not rely strictly on the event’s visibility, but it has to develop its own parallel communicational strategy. This way, in case the event turns out to be without any incidents and is therefore a success, the company will have the possibility to associate that success to its brand, “coming as an overlay to its own communicational strategy” 112 . However, if the event reveals a negative advertising, “a proper personal communication campaign will come as a protecting helmet.” 113
109 Irwin, R. L., et Asimakopoulos, M. K. (1992). An Approach to the Evaluation and Selection of Sport Sponsorship
Proposals. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 1 (2), 43-51.
110 Lardinoit, T. (2001). Reconstruction de la proximité avec le consommateur : le cas du parrainage de la Coupe du
Monde 1998 par Coca-Cola. Stratégie des entreprises dans le sport. Acteurs et management, Ed M. Desbordes.,
Paris, Economica, p. 31
111 Ibid, p.44
112 Ibid, p.47
113 Ibid, p.49
32


Financial affairs:
Another risk, that according to Larindinoit may directly affect the credibility of a sponsoring company, concerns the financial affairs. He believes that when entering the “sponsoring race”, companies must face the risk that the targeted groups might interpret this as a dishonest way of gaining visibility and assure financial presperity and that this might have a contrary effect on the company’s image. “Financial issues may always generate a doubt on the honesty of the sponsors, and consequently, have repercussions on the company’s image.” 114
 The activity of the sponsor and the lack of legitimacy:
Finally, Lardinoit thinks that the sponsor’s field of activity must be integrated in the reflection of the future choices of events to be sponsored. He develops on the idea that as the activity sector determines the company’s identity, its values and belief, involving into an event that is not in line with its identity could be considered as “corporate suicide”. “As I see it, when deciding on the choice of event, a corporation must communicate according to its own values (…) when a corporation decides to sponsor this or that sport, the conveyed values by the chosen sports activity must correspond to a minimum of the activity of its sector.” 115 .
2.2.2. Exogenous risks
According to Lardinoit, although exogenous risks are less frequent and have less of an impact on the image of the sponsor, nevertheless, incidents will remain associated with a failure in the mentality of the spectator.

Bad climatic conditions, fire, faulty equipment
The climatic conditions and fire are obviously not controllable by the organizer or sponsors, but
“if an event is cancelled due to bad weather conditions and because its organization is noncompliant with the security regulations, it will always have a negative perception in the eye of
114 Ibid, p. 51
115 Idem 102, P. 51
33

the spectator.” 116 The possibility of having faulty equipment may equally be a threat to the image of the sponsor.
2.3. Sponsoring a team or a sportsperson
As a particularity, the risks of sponsoring a sportsperson or a team are more of human nature, as they are connected to the value and the behavior of the sportsman. Once again, Irwin and
Asimakopoulos rank these risks into endogenous or exogenous. As it is determined by external factors, exogenous risk would have, as previously stated, a less important impact on the image of the corporation than endogenous risks, which are internally controlled.
2.3.1. Endogenous risks

Sporting result:
Irwin and Asimakopoulos think that the risk tied to the uncertainty of the result is particularly present for a sponsor supporting a particular sportsperson or a team. “The impact of sports sponsorship is random. It reposes on the uncertainty of sports results and on the commitment of the participants and of its publics.” 117 According to them, a company’s sponsoring campaign success or failure is closely related to whether the sponsored person or team has a good performance or not.
 Negative behaviour (doping) :
According to Laridinoit, the rumours related to the doping of a sponsored entity may be fatal to the the image of the sponsoring company. “Just as sports events, sportspersons communicate on a certain number of positive values related to sports and supported by the brand. When a
116 Idem 102, p. 88 - 93
117 Irwin, R. L., et Asimakopoulos, M. K. (1992). An Approach to the Evaluation and Selection of Sport Sponsorship
Proposals. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 1 (2), p. 50
34

doping case is revealed, both the image of the sponsor and of the sponsored is in danger and will suffer a critical damage.” 118
Nevertheless, if we analyze the “Festina affair”, one of the most significant cases of doping in the history of the Tour de France in 1998, we might conclude that a good recovery strategy is capable to overpass negative advertising related to doping issues. Although advertising on the case was constantly negative as investigations revealed a systematic doping and the suspicion that there may have been a widespread network of doping involving and organized by the
Festina Team in the Tour de France, the company built itself strong crisis communication action which lead to an efficient recovery strategy. Not only did the company not give up on cycling, but it actually became the Tour’s “official timer”. The renewed sponsoring operations helped them avoid the necessity of leaving the world of cycling and gave them the opportunity to rebuild a stronger image sealed from the scandal of 1998.
2.3.2 Exogenous risks
 Injuries:
The injury of a sportsperson, just as his physical performances, are not predictable and do not depend, in any case, on the will of the sponsor. In Laridinoit’s view, poor performance related to any kind of external factors will still have an impact on the sponsoring company’s image. He develops on the idea that in the case of particularly poor performances and on the long term, sponsor may revoke the partnership with the sportsperson when they consider that the partnership does not allow them to valorize its brand 119 .
 Supporters’ behavior:
118 Lardinoit, T. (2001). Reconstruction de la proximité avec le consommateur : le cas du parrainage de la Coupe du
Monde 1998 par Coca-Cola. Stratégie des entreprises dans le sport. Acteurs et management, Ed M. Desbordes.,
Paris, Economica, p. 68
119 Idem 109
35

Just as injuries, supporter’s behavior cannot be controlled by sponsors, but it may contribute to lowering the value of an event and at the same time the established partnership connecting a company brands and an event 120 .
120 Idem 109, p. 73
36

IV. Measuring the efficiency of a sports sponsorship campaign
According to Turner, the organization of a sports sponsorship operation follows a logical development, and its efficiency relies on three major aspects: communicational, legal and economical factors.
As already presented, in order to optimize a sponsoring partnership potential, a company should build its own parallel communicational strategy to complement the “strategy of event” 121 and “tend to maximize the initial investment” 122 .
Legal obligations symbolized by the sponsorship contract, “will have itself a predominant place, as it will very clearly define the obligations for both parties” 123 as well during the event as afterwards.
Then, as for all corporate communication campaigns, its impact will be analyzed not only in in terms of image and awareness but also in terms of sales and economical turn back. “The main goal of an event is to put you in the customer’s mind, first stage towards buying, occasionally then regularly, of your products.” 124
1. Key efficiency factors
As Turner said it, sponsorship as a communication strategy must comply with the imperatives of profitability, which basically has to be managed as a regular communication campaign. Michel
Desbordes defines it “as a traditional communication initiative, where costs must be minimized to obtain maximum efficiency” 125 .
121 Lardinoit, T. (2001). Reconstruction de la proximité avec le consommateur : le cas du parrainage de la Coupe du
Monde 1998 par Coca-Cola. Stratégie des entreprises dans le sport. Acteurs et management, Ed M. Desbordes.,
Paris, Economica, p. 31
122 Turner, M. (2001). Critical funds Sponsorship in Australia and how to get them. Ringwood, Australia: Penguin books Australia Ltd, p. 35
123 Ibid, p. 48
124 Ibid, p. 49
125 Desbordes M. (2004), Stratégie des entreprises dans le sport, 2 nd edition, Economica, p.455
37

In that view, it is imperative to choose the sponsored activity properly (the event, the team, the sportsperson) and set well defined targets and objectives from the beginning, in order to ensure and facilitate to measure the desired results 126 .
1.1.
Planning
The success of a communication campaign based on sponsorship requires a “comprehensive and thorough analysis beforehand” 127 defined in order to choose the most adequate operation according to the target, the field of activity and the objectives of the corporation. The sponsorship operation is equally chosen under constraints of costs, time and competition 128 .
 The constraint of costs leads to choosing the best possible action according to the sponsorship budget that the corporation has.
 The constraint of time forces the sports timetable to be coherent with the company’s timetable (the release of a new product for example)
 The constraint of competition is considered the riskiest ones, which “forces companies to take quick decisions under the pressure of other potential sponsors” 129
Sponsoring a sport reveals a strategic communication choice. Stipp and Schiavone explaines that it requires a heavy investment placed on the long term, generating a potentially important economical risk. Therefore, they believe that the main issues companies have to consider when entering a sponsoring campaign is budget, audience, the image of everything related to the sporting event and exclusivity aspects.
130

Budget
126 Stotlar, D. (1993). Sponsorship and the Olympic Winter Games. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 35
127 Ibid, p.38
128 Ibid, p. 42
129 Tribou G. (2003) « Sponsoring : le retour symbolique sur investissement », travail réalisé à l’occasion du quatrième congrès de la Société Française de Management du Sport, décembre 2003, p.3
130 Stipp, H., Schiavone, N.P. (1996). Modeling the impact of Olympic sponsorship on Corporate Image. Journal of
Advertising Research, 36 (4), 22-28.
38

Cost represents one of a company’s focus points when entering a sponsoring campaign. Stipp and Schiavone underlines the idea that in order to point out both direct and indirect costs it is mandatory for the company to make an analytical review of all the activity and their costs, which “would allow obtaining a general overview of the budget situation”.
131 The study should include four main aspects:
 Direct costs - such as the contractual amount defined with the sponsored entity
 Technical and communicational expertise costs – advertising, Public Relations, website development
 Costs related to logistics – in case of events it concerns transportation, equipment, catering etc.
 Indirect costs 132
 Audience
Although several scientists believe that a non-congruent assimilation between sponsor and sponsoree might be beneficial in a sponsoring campaign, Stipp and Schiavone point out the idea that “success in the sponsoring operation means also to choose a sport that reaches the target group that the corporation aims for.” 133 Worldwide sports events have the benefits of gathering a larger variety of public and, therefore, participating in such an event may induce reaching several levels of public.

The image of the event
In the same line of thinking, Pope describes the necessity that all sponsorship campaign must take into consideration the corporate values the company wants to employ. Target audiences must find the presence of the brand at the event as legitimate, “that is to say that the expertise
131 Ibid, p. 45
132 Ibid, p. 50
133 Ibid, p.78-82
39

of the company brings something positive to the progress of the event or to the sports movement in general” 134

Exclusivity
In order to avoid confusion in the mind of the public, most sponsorship contracts have an exclusivity clause so that there is one sponsor belonging to a sole field of activity that associates its image with one sporting event. In fact, if we take the examples of multinational companies, we can notice that companies belonging to the same area of activity do never participate in the same event. We will therefore never see Coca-Cola and Pepsi (in the area of soft drinks), or
Adidas and Nike (in the area of sportswear) as sponsors of the same sports event.
Westphalen believes that exclusivity aspects are important when it comes to sponsorship mainly because companies need to have a maximum control over the targeted customers. “It is a two-bladed knife: if the competition’s brand is stronger, it will have complete monopole on the customer; if the competition brand less imposing, it can negatively influence your message by generating confusion.” 135
1.2. Optimization
Once the sponsoring campaign has been implemented, the company has to provide a series of
“actions and practices that will ensure the credibility and bring force to the sponsorship operation.” 136 In the eye of Westphalen, the sponsorship communication strategy has to exist both before and after the main event. He also identified that in order to ensure the efficiency of the campaign, the company has to focus on the following (considered secondary) aspects:

Long – term thinking – As an event sponsoring operation is limited (due to short exposure and the presence of the competitors), the sponsoring company has to plan its strategy on the long term, in order to build on the event’s outcome.
137 Moreover the
134 Pope, N. (n.d). Overview of Current Sponsorship Thought. Cyber Journal of Sports Marketing, p.23
135 Westphalen, M.H. (2005). Le Communicator: le guide de la communication d'entreprise (4th edition). Paris,
France : Dunod, p.176
136 Védrine, JP., et al. (2005). Corporate fundamentals. (3rd edition). Paris, France, p. 284
137 Ibid, p. 183-184
40

company has to offer a constant image (and message) in time, by “staying loyal to the same sport type” 138 . (example: BNP Paribas only sponsors Rolland Garros)

Visibility during the event – through communicational tools (banners, advertisements, products)

Communicate before and the event

Develop media and public relations
2. Efficiency measurement indicators
Just like in the case of any other type of communication campaign, sponsorship efficiency has to be measurable. In this demarche, Quester and Thompson points out the importance of the initiative to separate the two types of objectives a company has to have when entering a sponsorship campaign: image objectives (brand, awareness, visibility, advertising) and economic objectives (sales, financial comebacks) 139 as measuring the efficiency in sales should be separated from the initiative to measure the efficiency on the brand.
In addition, companies will be able to realize the impact of their sponsorship in-house, or for reasons such as size or lack of industry experience, use an external measure of the effectiveness of the operation.
2.1. Measuring sponsorship economical efficiency
For economists, efficiency is the relationship between ends en means. “Economic efficiency is measured not by the relationship between the physical quantities of ends and means, but by the relationship between the value of the ends and the value of the means” 140 .
According to Piquet 141 , there are three main economical efficiency indicators:
138 Ibid, p. 192
139 Quester, P.G., et Thompson, B. (2001). Advertising and Promotion Leverage on Arts Sponsorship Effectiveness.
Journal of Advertising Research, p. 33
140 http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Efficiency.html, accessed on the 30th of December 2011
141 Piquet, S. (1985). Sponsoring et Mécénat : La communication par l’évènement. Paris, France, P.34
41


Sales and General turnover – Piquet developed a matrix that emphasizes the idea that sponsorship campaigns generate direct increase/decrease in sales up to a period of 24 months, depending on the success of the campaign
T = date of event
T + 3 months
T + 6 months T + 12 months T + 24 months
Turnover evolution 25% 20% 15% 10%
Figure 12 – Turnover evolution after sponsorship campaign
Source : Piquet, S. (1985). Sponsoring et Mécénat : La communication par l’évènement
 Stock exchange rating – Piquet thinks that a successful sponsorship company can largely influence the sponsoring company’s stock rating. In May 2007, the French magazine
“Les Echoes” published an article on the economical effects the participation in the
2006 World Football Cup has had for sponsoring companies in terms on stock share.
Figure 13 – Stock share evolution of the 2006 World Cup official sponsors
42

Source : Les Echos “Quel est l'impact boursier du Mondial ? “of 04/07/07

Productivity indicators – In the author’s view, a successful sponsorship campaign can be translated into a motivation demarche of the company’s personnel, which can directly influence the company’s productivity, the quality of work, delivery timing and product pricing 142 .
2.2
Measuring exposure
In order to reach the objectives related to corporate image, a sponsoring company has to gain exposure through the campaign. In this aspect, Pham and Johar identify three level of exposure:
The 1 st level relies to the direct participants to an event (sportsmen, sports teams, juries, organizers) – “They often represent the sponsor’s main communicating tool, as they benefit of a direct exposal to the company’s image” 143
The 2 nd level is represented by the people assisting directly to the event (the spectators) - These persons are, by definition, less involved in the practice of sports, but still interested by the event, as they assist 144 . They are the basic target group of the sponsors.
The 3 rd level refers to the media spectators, divided in three types:
 The live spectators-They watch the event live, through television, radio or internet; therefore they are in the sports ambiance of the event, which allows the creation of a level of complicity with the sponsors.

The “late bloomer” 145 spectators – “Spectators that are attached to the event and very involved in sports manifestations” 146 . They don’t participate in the event, but follow sports abstracts, and are considered usually, as being almost live spectators.
142 Ibid, p. 55
143 Pham, M.T., et Johar, G.V. (2001). Market Prominence Biases in Sponsor Identification: Processes and
Consequentiality. Psychology & Marketing, 18 (2), 123
144 Ibid, p. 133
145 Ibid, p. 138
146 Ibid, p. 144
43


The sports news readers - These individuals have a very high degree of involvement in the sport, but their approach is less passionate and more analytical.
Tracking
Once we took into consideration the type of exposure a company attains through an event, according to Pham and Johar, the method of calculating a company’s exposure is by tracking 147 .
Tracking represents the”identification, analysis and monitoring of a brand’s presence” 148 in an event.
Direct tracking concerns in measuring the presence of the company’s image on the event. It can be translated into recording the number of times a brand name is mentioned during an event, the length of the exposure and the positioning.
Indirect tracking is carried out by measuring the company’s exposure in the press. This is developed on by information concerning the number of articles the company appeared in, the determination of the written surface length, type and the calculation of a pagination coefficient, by a photo coefficient and by a signature of the article coefficient (according to the awareness and the legitimacy of the journalist). It must also be multiplied by the number of readers, also by the rate of circulation of the support. In case of TV exposure, the principle is almost similar: the company must take into account the airing time, the TV chain’s coefficient of power (audience), the time of airing 149 .
Moreover, classic advertising campaigns use the GRP (Gross Rating Point) indicator in order to measure exposure. “It is the product of the percentage of the target audience reached by an advertisement; times the frequency they see it in a given campaign” 150 .
147 Ibid, p.184
148 Ibid, p. 186
149 Ibid, p. 192-203
150 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_rating_point, accessed on the 20.12.2011
44

PART 2- METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
1. Methodology
The complexity of the three previously presented aspects, sponsorship, sponsorship as a communication strategy and sport sponsorship efficiency represent an interesting analytical challenge. This paper aims to better understand the way sports sponsorship interferes in a company’s communication strategy and the influence it has on its image.
By investigating these aspects, this paper is focused on demonstrating the validity of the following statement: the sponsorship of sports is an efficient means of communication for companies.
In this process, the second part of this thesis will focus on a case study based on Carrefour
France participation in the Tour de France.
1.1 Methodological tools- Case study
In order to decide upon the validity of the previously stated hypothesis there were used two sources of information: direct information and an interview guide.
The study took place in three stages:
 Participant observation- observation of the company’s communication strategy and the way sponsorship is impacted inside Carrefour. It takes place during my internship at the
International Communication department of Carrefour France between September 2010 and December 2011

Internal documentation analysis- I tried to collect all the relevant information published inside the company, such as the ‘’Company Handbook’’, ‘’Corporate Communication
Book’’, ‘’The Objectives Book’’, the “Yearly turnover report”. As these documents are directly addressed to Carrefour employees and therefore are partly confidential, I was able to use limited but relevant information from these sources.
45


Interview- it constitutes the main part of this study, permitting to better understand the results of the observation made within the company. The interview guide took place in several stages. First, several issues related to the subject were defined and have been grouped by theme. Then, they have been translated into French and English. Finally, the first interview gave a very first overview of the problematic and helped bring new themes into the subject and prepare different, more specific questions for the following ones. The interviews were conducted among the employees of Carrefour in a special order, according to the hierarchical position occupied by these employees.
1.2 Interview guide
During my analysis, I conducted three interviews with three Carrefour employees that have a strategic position in the company and a relevant job for the subject of this paper.
Patrique Rouvillois, Carrefour Group Marketing Manager, has joined the Group in 2008 and is in charge of the company’s global marketing operations (and therefore in charge of the marketing actions connecting Carrefour to the Tour de France).
Florence Baranes Cohen, Carrefour Group Communication Manager, is working at Carrefour since 2001, but became a Communication Manager in 2004. She is in charge of the company’s corporate communication strategy (and assures the Group’s partnership with the Tour de
France).
Virginie Fougerey, Carrefour Group Communication Coordinator. is under the direct responsibility of Florence Baranes Cohen and working on the company’s corporate communication strategy since 2007 (and is therefore in direct relationship with the Tour de
France representatives).
The interviews were directed in French and the main discussed points were the following:

Introduce the topic of the assignment

The choice of cycling for Carrefour
46


The perception of sponsorship

The history with Tour de France

The visibility of Carrefour through Tour de France

The efficiency of the campaign
Due to confidentiality issues, no recording of the interview has been allowed. Moreover, the notes taken during the interviews are not to be published per se, as the company’s confidentiality rules do not allow it. All the information related to the interviews used in this thesis are direct citations of the interviewed persons and have been individually validated by each of them.
2. Empirical study
2.1 Tour de France – general aspects
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that takes place in France and in the neighborhood countries. The competition was created in 1903 by Henri Desgrange and “L’Auto” newspaper. As it is considered as “the world’s best known and most prestigious of cycling competition” 151 it attracts participant and spectators from all over the world. The event takes place every year in
France, in the middle of July and it consists of daily segments called stages with a total of 3000 kilometers. It is currently organized by the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) , a French local media group, involved in the organization of several cycling competitions.
“The Tour” or often called “The Great Loop” has been consequently voted the most prestigious cyclist event in the world by a study realized in 2011 by TNS Sofres 152 . Regarding media coverage in 2011 organizers declared that the Tour de France has been broadcasted by 78 television networks in 170 countries.
2.1.1. The Great Loop in numbers
151 http://www.velowire.com/article/509/fr/tour-de-france-2012---les-rumeurs-sur-le-parcours-et-les-etapes--
.html, accessed on the 23.01.2011
152 http://www.tns-sofres.com/notre-offre/etudes-collectives/?f=Sponsoring+%26+Sport, acces sed on the
23.01.2011
47

The turnover of the Tour de France has grown from 100 million Euros in 2006 to almost 130 million Euros in 2011, representing 70% of the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) Group’s activity, its mother company. The benefits are estimated to be around 15 million euros 153 .
According the Group’s declaration, the budget comes half from television rights and around
45% from sponsorships 154 . The remaining of revenues come from the cities stages are held, as every town that takes part in the Tour has to pay between 100000 and 200000 Euros to the organizers, for usage of the name, the logo and media coverage.
The presence of the main sponsors is pointed out by participating in the prizes offered to winners:
Stage winner – Powerbar: The Tour de France honors the rider that is the first to cross the finish line in each day.
Yellow Shirt – LCL: It sets apart the leader of the general standings, who is decided by adding the recorded times in each stage.
Green Shirt –PMU: Worn by the leader of the sprinting stage.
Dotted shirt – Carrefour: Goes to the winner of the mountain area. Since 2010, the first ten riders to pass the peak of a climbing disregarding the category are also rewarded.
White shirt – Skoda: The best placed rider in the general standings of the age of 25 or less is awarded to white shirt.
Team standings – Digital. It is decided based on the results of the best three riders from each team, on each of the stages. The riders of the best ranked team wear a yellow jersey.
2.1.2 The advertising caravan of the Tour de France
153 http://www.strategies.fr/info/Groupe%20Amaury , accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
154 http://www.strategies.fr/guides-annuaires/nominations/167626W/isabelle-andre-directrice-de-la-strategie-etdu-developpement-du-groupe-amaury.html, accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
48

Official reports publish the fact that the potential audience of the advertising caravan of the
Tour de France is of 15 million spectators 155 . The advertising caravan was launched in 1930, and is one of the Tour’s main attractions. Isabelle André, the Amaury Group’s manager declares that the caravan reports around 20% of the total revenues of the partnership of the Tour and, after the race itself, it is the second reason for the presence of the spectators 156 .
The Tour de France advertising caravan consists of an advertising slot that is presented daily and which assists the spectators of the Tour all along the competition. Composed of 219 vehicles for
48 brands, it is “the moment of maximum visibility of sponsors” 157 , consisting of: decoration of cars, animation of floats, music, gifts (estimated to 12 million euros 158 ) and also an ‘’odorous ambiance’’ 159 . “This dramatization is orchestrated by professional comedians, that keep the public on fire.” 160 explains Arnaud Peyrolles, CEO of the Ideactif agency, in charge of the Tour’s advertising campaign. The objective is to create a show around a sampling operation. Later, when shopping, the people will remember that moment.” 161
2.2. Carrefour background
Carrefour represents one the world’s largest hypermarket chains, the leader of the European market but the 2 nd worldwide after Wal-Mart. With a revenue over 90 billion of euros, the
Carrefour Group is present on all the continents and in all the formats (cash&carry, hypermarket, supermarket, proximity).
The company was created in 1959, by the opening of the first supermarket in the south-eastern part of France. It’s founders, Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey and Jacques Defforey quickly transformed the business into a chain and brought the concept of hypermarket in the country in
155 http://www.strategies.fr/etudes-tendances/dossiers/161314W/bilan-presse-les-groupes-au-bout-dutunnel.html, accessed on the 3.09.2011
156 http://www.strategies.fr/info/Groupe%20Amaury , accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
157 http://www.strategies.fr/etudes-tendances/dossiers/161314W/bilan-presse-les-groupes-au-bout-dutunnel.html, accessed on the 3.09.2011
158 http://www.strategies.fr/info/Groupe%20Amaury , accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
159 http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/fr/caravane_publicitaire.html, accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
160 http://www.caradisiac.com/Minuit-chicanes-Les-communiques-de-presse-d-Arnaud-Peyroles-Un-regal-
Morceaux-choisis-58648.htm, accessed on the 3rd of February 2012
161 Ibid
49

1962 (first hypermarket appeared in 1962 in the Parisian region of Sainte – Genevieve de Bois).
Soon enough, in 1972, the company started expanding abroad, with the first Spanish subsidiary.
Since the beginnings, the company has built its image on two aspects: innovation and pricing.
Starting with 1985, Carrefour decides to launch a Private Label products line in order to strengthen its image and increase its margins. In 1997, the company launches a more
‘’luxurious’’ line of products, such as “Reflections de France” and a line of biological food, called the Bio Carrefour line.
Since the year 2000, the company decides to involve into a technological evolution and creates its online shopping websites (Carrefour.fr, Carrefour.net, Ooshop.com), mobile applications and web analytics tools.
What differentiates Carrefour for large distribution groups is its speed of expansion abroad. The group currently operates in 32 countries and has over 9500 stores. This transforms Carrefour into the first international distribution company in terms of hypermarket format (757 hypermarkets in the world) but second in terms of turnover.
In order to demonstrate the rapidity of development of the Carrefour Group, it must be said that a Carrefour hypermarket opens every 2 months in the world nowadays. The hypermarkets have 221 000 employees and bring 60% of the sales of the group.
All this information come from internal sources. The company’s confidentiality requirements forbid to publish the documentation. Nevertheless, all the information has been validated by the company.
2.3. The choice of cycling
The information regarding the company’s decision to choose cycling as core orientation in the sponsorship strategy has been largely discussed throughout the three interviews conducted with the three Carrefour representatives in marketing and communication.
50

Florence Baranes Cohen explains that the company became the Tour’s official sponsor in 1992.
The reasoning behind this decision was that at the time being, the company was not very well performing in terms of communication and as cycling and the Tour de France is a part of the country’s identity, the previous management decided to invest in it. “It was and continues to be a sport in which the gains in term of awareness are very strong. Its large coverage by the press gives us a significant visibility” 162 . According to Bolotny, an expert at the Center of law and sports economy in Limoges, and his study published in 2010, The Tour de France is the worldwide sports event that has the strongest live audience (15 million live spectators in the last year), compared to the World Football Cup, which brings together 3 or 4 million people on the stadiums 163 . Thus, it has a very strong proximity to the public that increase its attractiveness. Its power resides also in the memorizing. A “reminiscence” says Frederic Bolotny, that remains in the memory of people over the years. According to the author, “the sponsoring business will always be extremely flourishing” 164 .
Florence Baranes also declaires that the new management decided to hold on to the partnership with the Tour de France, as “it bring numerous advantages both for the company’s image and sales”.
Regarding future perspectives, according to Baranes, “cycling will always be a very attractive sport, due to the good return that it generates to the investments and brand image and
Carrefour certainly counts on continuing its collaboration ” 165 .
2.4. Carrefour and the Tour de France
In February 1992, Carrefour made its entrance in the club of the major partners of the Tour de
France. For a contribution of 4 to 4.5 million Euros (amount mentioned by Marylene Rofidal during the interview on the 15.08.2011), the group joined after its merger with Champion, the
162 Florence Baranes Cohen, during interview on the 03.09.2011
163http://www.lemonde.fr/cgibin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=11
84038
164 Ibid
165 Florence Baranes Cohen, during interview on the 03.09.2011
51

Credit of Lyon, Fiat (replaced by Skoda nowadays) and Nestle as an official sponsor. Optimism was set at the beginning of the collaboration: “Carrefour is an international brand having local history. I am sure that this will be a very important step for the business and strategy in the
future of the European market” 166 , declaired Jeff Caso, former General Marketing Director, at the beginning of the partnership with the Tour de France.
“Carrefour is not a partner of cycling, but one of the Tour de France”, states equally Florence
Baranes-Cohen, “The event surpasses the mere sports facts.”
With a potential of 28 vehicles, including the 11 event floats, Carrefour distributes 1 million promotional products along the 3 weeks of the Tour de France. The particularity of Carrefour is that it can participate to the event with its own products, creating a strong exposure. Therefore,
Carrefour is present at the event not only by exposing the corporate identity, but also through the presence of private label products. These products are being offered to participants and spectators in different strategic points, previously determined. According to Marylene Rofidal, around 500 000 bottles of water and 250 000 other food products bearing the Carrefour logo are directly distributed to the public, the participants in the contest and to the followers of the
Tour. Miss Rofidal thinks that, “Carrefour products are familiar and fit perfectly in the event of the Tour de France. Mainly at the public’s level, that often comes along with their family, for the whole show. The public comes, in fact, to see the riders but they do not want to miss the passing of the caravan. In addition, at the advertising level, this liveliness is unique in the world, bearing a message in front of 14 million people on the side of the tracks.” 167
2.5. The Carrefour caravan and its evolution from 1992 to 2011
Since 2001, their first year of partnering with the Tour de France, Carrefour worked in collaboration with Publicis, an event marketing and advertising specialized agency, to completely deal with company’s image and develop the corporate communication strategy in the Tour de France caravan. In total, since the beginning, the Carrefour team participated every
166 http://www.e-marketing.fr/Marketing-Magazine/Article/-L-avenir-appartient-aux-marques-produiteslocalement--7754-1.htm, accessed on the 13.01.2012
167 Marylene Rofidal, during interview on the 15.08.2011
52

year with 60 people and 11 vehicles in the road show. ‘’With its banners, its decorated panels, its vehicles and its various animations, Carrefour sets its goal in dividing the emotion on each stage, right to the finish in Paris.’’ 168
Moreover, according to internal strategy documentation, every year the company works in collaboration with the regional daily journal “L’Est Republicain” in order to build an exposure plan for Carrefour in the newspaper. “This is a very efficient collaboration. If we take for example last year, during the 3 weeks, the newspaper made a special 12 page daily edition with the logo of Carrefour. All the papers were freely distributed in 30 000 copies and the company often appeared in articles (example: The Carrefour of champions)” 169 . The content of the media collaboration is customized for each stage, including a presentation of the stage of that day, feedback from the backstage of the Tour, interviews of riders, etc. Games and audio-telephone competitions also allowed the public to win invitations to the final stage on the Champs Elysees.
In parallel, an official website has been created since 2004, in order to get a full covering of the event online and to explore the relationship between Carrefour and the Tour de France even further. http://www.c-letour.fr/ promotes the partnership of Carrefour with the Tour before, during and after the event. It is mainly a visual website, where organizers and even spectators have the possibility to upload photos, videos, any kind of information of the event.
Internal reporting systems keep track of all the information concerning the company’s relationship with the Tour. At the beginning of every year of partnership, the communication department establishes a set of objectives and expectations to be achieved through the collaboration.
The Carrefour caravan from 1992 to 2007

Context: between 1992 and 2005, the group takes part in the Tour de France caravan under the name of Champion, before the complete merger of the two. The merger was announced by the sports partnership, as an alternative to the limitations of the media
168 Ibid
169 Marylene Rofidal, during interview on the 15.08.2011
53


Mission: Overcome the poor results of the media launch, generate exposure, visibility and potential sales. Create an identity as Carrefour after the merger.

Target: The family

Concept/scenario: Create an innovative Carrefour identity, potentially non-traditional image. Introduce actors, singers, other celebrities in order to communicate with a strong message
 Remarks: Between 1992 and 2005, Carrefour has been systematically accredited 4 of the
6 official prizes given to the sponsors and was awarded the “Grand Prize of the Tour
Caravan”, the “Animation Prize” for its vehicles dressed as bottles, the “Prize of the caravans” given by the contesting participants and the “Public’s Prize” awarded by the press.
The Carrefour caravan in 2008
 Context: The completely merged group extended its partnership with the Tour de
France and renews its trust in Publicis for the management of its advertising caravan on the Tour de France
 Mission: To optimize the plan by taking into account the poor results of 2007. Obtain brand awareness.

Target: The family

Concept/scenario: The concept has not been renewed.
Between 2009 and 2011

Context: Carrefour renews its partnership with the Tour de France for its 18 th and 19 th consecutive year. The worldwide economical crisis seriously affected the company’s sales.
54


Mission: Strengthen the relationship of the company with the customers, regain customer trust, build on the image.

Target: All publics

Concept/scenario: The caravan is completely renewed, composed of 6 event floats including costumed celebrities as firemen, clowns, doctors, married people, market and the grocery store representatives. 4 distribution vehicles in the beginning of the cycle and 3 vehicles at the finish line distributing promotional products.
According to Patrique Rouvillois, since the very first participation in the Tour de France,
Carrefour built on developing a continuously up to date monitoring of the strategy of development of the concept used to mark its presence in the event. “We are completely aware that our large investments will gains it’s expected feedback only if we build on a serious and efficient strategy from the beginning.” 170
2.6. Carrefour, the Tour de France and the issue of doping
If we think about the main numbers that surrounds the Tour in terms of participation, 15 million spectators, 530 media and 2300 journalists that broadcast the event in 170 countries 171 we might agree on the fact that “the Tour de France caravan is the ideal place to become well known.” 172
But, as Pham and Johar points it out, “while awareness is one thing, the reputation is a different one” 173 . And in the universe of cycling, reputation is a very sensitive issue. The several examples of issues related to doping might quickly have a negative effect on a company’s reputation. If we take as an example the 2006 and 2007 editions and the fact that Skoda, the Czech automobile manufacturer and also one of the four main sponsors of the Tour de France, pointed out, several days after the arrival on Champs Elysees, that it doping scandals determine them to
170 Patrique Rouvillois, during interview on the 13.09.2011
171 http://efficacitepublicite.free.fr/les%20grands%20medias.htm, accessed on the 13.01.2011
172 Pham, M.T., et Johar, G.V. (2001). Market Prominence Biases in Sponsor Identification, p.188
173 Ibid, p. 190
55

seriously reconsider their participation into the Tour de France, we might conclude that doping is one of the highest image risks in this competition.
Yet, doping didn’t seem to scare all the sponsors throughout the history. Although Coca Cola’s decision to stop its partnership with the Tour after a doping scandal worried several sponsors,
Carrefour estimated at the time that not in all the cases of doping partners of the event are directly associated to the scandal. Negotiation with the Amaury Sport Organization “gave the company the reassurance that in case our company received any measurable negative feedback, our contract may be immediately cancelled with the possibility to request for a fine”, confirmed Patrique Rouvillois.
As already discussed, certain brands, such as Festina, have even profited, in fact, of the scandals, especially during the Tour de France 1998, in order to boost their image. Their strategy consisted, at the time, of presenting themselves as a “citizen sponsor” 174 , one that fight against doping. “In a sport that is strongly touched by the issue of doping, such a demonstration is useful in convincing a very skeptical public. The sponsor must make himself an example and fully assume its role to the public, to the lost young people. That example would show their social commitment.” 175
In fact, Patrique Rouvillois believes that a sponsor that “acts out” in this fight, even at the expense of his economical objectives, will always be well perceived by the public. Finally, the brand image would be associated to the fight against doping. “That very act would be a strong message. And we know very well that the strong messages are always well conveyed by the media.” 176 According to him, this is the direction Carrefour wants to follow in its attitude towards doping.
“Doping always employs a bad image. It is more and more difficult. For the communication departments it is almost an impossible mission. We must always foresee this in our contacts.
174 http://www.linternaute.com/sport/cyclisme/dossier/les-derapages-du-tour-de-france/festina-la-plus-grosseaffaire-de-dopage.shtml, accessed on the 03.01.2011
175 Patrique Rouvillois, during interview on the 13.09.2011
176 ibid
56

Few leaders admit that doping bothers them” confesses Marylene Rofidal. She also ads that in her opinion, cycling still remains an efficient advertising vector, as it is popular, a family activity, tied to the European culture. “For Carrefour, it has been a perfect solution to certain advertising problems. The public can differentiate between the brands and the sports. The danger comes from the sponsor, who himself becomes a player in the competition. And when it comes to doping, everybody is disqualified”.
2.7. The efficiency of Carrefour’s sponsoring campaign
According to the yearly analysis made by the Communication department regarding the efficiency of the company’s corporate communication strategy, last year the Tour de France translated for Carrefour into a sponsorship event that gathered visibility, exposure and brand
awareness. These conclusions are based on confidential internal survey and studies. Moreover, the Tour de France assured:
 127 hours of live transmission. Only in France, spectators have averagely consumed
5h30 of live Tour de France in 2011
 4 million viewers per day along 3 weeks before the live stage, that represents 46% of the audience

The final stage attracts on average 5.3 million spectators, that is 56% of the audience
Moreover, 2011 has been the first year Carrefour benefited of the opportunity to sign a partnership with the local national television and the France Televisions Group. Therefore,
Carrefour is also the official sponsor of two daily live shows on France 2 with an investment of
700 000 Euros gross per advertiser. According to statistical information coming from the
Strategy department, two hours after the diffusion of these TV shows, sales grew up to 35% each day.
Florence Baranes Cohen confirms the fact the the Carrefour group was able benefit of a large media coverage throughout its participation in the Tour de France. When joining the Tour de
57

France caravan in 1992 the main objective was to participate to this event in order to take advantage of the strong cyclist culture of all the countries where the competition was broadcasted and strengthen brand awareness.
In order to quantify this exposure, Carrefour requested TNS Sofres to conduct a series of studies and understand the way the partnership impacted the brand awareness in numbers. The results 177 show that the company’s awareness grew from 34% before the event to 57% after the event.
In 2006, Carrefour extended, by 6 years, to the end of 2012, its partnership with the Tour de
France. “We wished to become the image of the most present hypermarket in Europe in 2010”, explained Florence Baranes Cohen. “The Tour de France has been a major strategic event, and our objectives have been reached. Today Carrefour is the number one retailer in Europe.”
According to the Head of Communication, the company’s global communication strategy was built around this sponsorship. “We were confronted with serious credibility issues. We were not satisfied with the mobilization of our teams, nor of the efficiency of our advertising. The Tour de
France represented an opportunity and a challenge.” (Florence Baranes Cohen)
According to the Group reporting, the company immediately saw the positive results, based on
TNS surveys. “In 2002, the rate of awareness of the brand after the Tour went from 25% to 50%; on the three months of summer, the sales went up by 67% between 1994 and 2009” 178 . And therefore, the challenge turned into a true development strategy.
Today, Carrefour reveals a positive balance for its investment. “The benefits are directly
connected to our objective”, states Patrique Rouvillois. In total, Carrefour estimates to “have
doubled its awareness and confirms its legitimacy to be great brand”.
In 2010, Carrefour published a management report of the sector of large distributions and communicated on the results.
177 http://www.tns-sofres.com/notre-offre/etudes-collectives/71CD636D6C01466A80D5E366E2E1C353.aspx, accessed on the 30.09.2011
178 Patrique Rouvillois, durin interview on the 30.09.2011
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General considerations:

Organic growth of 8.6%; good performance of Carrefour products

Catalyzer: in South America, an organic growth of 16.5%

Carrefour hypermarkets – strong in a weak European market
 A 19.8% organic growth for the rest of the world
‘’Our group image, Carrefour, has seen a very strong growth in most of the countries we are present. The visibility of the brand has increased thanks to partnerships made with medias in
Europe, as well as due to the sponsoring of the cyclist Tour de France. We have sponsored as well important cyclist competition in Portugal and in Spain. The impressive development of the image of our group in Eastern Europe has to be emphasized, the turnover having almost doubled from the openings. The Group uses the existent production capacity, offering both logistical advantages and a better usage of the invested capital. It is currently available in 14 countries in Europe.’’ 179
Sponsoring of the Tour de France:
‘’Carrefour has sponsored the Tour de France in cycling for the first time in 1992. By attributing a big part of the advertising budget to the sponsoring and subsequently to packaging for promotional activities, the group has progressed quickly in terms of popularity and market share. The Tour de France generates shares of television audience of 30 million per day in
Europe and attracts 15 million spectators on the length of the course. It is a perfect occasion to distribute samples and sell our products, and to provide the nutrient energy to the riders that participate in it. The market of the wide distribution has seen a strong competition, especially in
179 Carrefour : management report 2010 (source : www.intragourp.carrefour.com)
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Europe. In that context, and thanks to the advantage of a multiple supplying ability in order to keep its costs as low as possible, Carrefour has shown an organic growth of up to 20% in 14 countries.’’ 180
Perspectives
‘’The sector of the large distribution must remain the category with the fastest growth.
However, the evolution of the growth per region would be uneven: if we consider the current consumption tendencies, South America should show a stronger growth than in 2009. The growth in Western Europe would be little, sometimes negative, the sales having been especially strong in 2009. In the big picture, Carrefour must continue to progress, but with an inferior rhythm to the one of the last three years. The growth must come firstly from South America and from Asia.’’ 181
180 Ibid
181 Ibid
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Conclusions
The main focus of the project is to analyze the concept of sport sponsorship, its importance in the corporate communication strategy the way companies calculate the level of efficiency a sponsorship campaign has reached. After several months of observation and a series of interviews among the employees of Carrefour I could confront this problematic with the reality I found inside the company .
An overview of the main theoretical aspects has been made, developing the concepts of sponsorship seen as a corporate communication means, legal aspects related to sponsorship, sports as a choice of sponsoring, companies’ expectations and objectives when involving into a sponsorship campaign, the risks and limitations and efficiency aspects.
The case study focused on analyzing the process of sponsorship within the Group Carrefour
France throughout the campaign within the annual Tour de France event. We developed on the way decision is being taken at a management level, the tools the company uses to involve in the event’s sponsoring and the level of efficiency the sponsorship campaign has reached according to internal information.
Both theoretical and practical observations and analyses done within this thesis lead us to conclude that the main hypothesis formulated in the beginning of this analysis, “the sponsorship of sports is an efficient communication tool for companies” has been validated.
Study limitations
The first critical issue of this study is that it might have not been interpreted from a completely neutral perspective. On the one hand, this is because by analyzing the observations made at
Carrefour I might have not made completely objective interpretations, being influenced by the fact that Carrefour is the company I work for. On the other hand, subjectivity might be an aspect that could deform the interpretation of the situation inside the company within the interviewed people.
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Also, the fact that the information I treated were considered as sensitive and that the company’s confidentiality rules are strict, limited my view on the subject and also limited me in the demarche to present the proof of my statements.
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Appendixes
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1.
Interview guide – and validated answers only in French (and therefore to be published in
French)
1. Quels sont les objectifs que vous souhaitez atteindre lors d’une opération de sponsoring ?
=>Image
=>Appartenance
=>Caution
=>Notoriété
=>Commercial dans une moindre mesure
2. Comment mesurez-vous ces impacts ? Quels outils disposez-vous pour mesurer les impacts du sponsoring ?
=>Interne les panels distributeur et consommateur (Nielsen, SVP)
=>Etudes ad hoc
3. Quel est l’impact d’une action de parrainage sur le volume global des ventes en comparaison avec la publicité ?
=>Une action de parrainage s’inscrit plus dans le long terme et dans la construction de l’image de la marque, les retombées sont nettement moindres que de la publicité TV ou autre média qui a un impact direct.
=>Par exemple, l’impact d’un sponsoring peut être de l’ordre de 2,5% comme développement des ventes quand de la publicité atteint les 5%
4. Quel est l’impact en terme d’image et de notoriété ?
=> Cela dépend de la campagne, mais il construit la caution de la marque. (les valeurs de la marque, des signes de reconnaissance d’appartenance à une communauté…)
5. Le sponsoring a-t-il selon vous un impact sur la motivation du personnel ?
=> Oui tout à fait, par exemple pour Volvic, DEF a mis en place un partenariat avec l’Unicef et le
Niger, pour construire des puits d’eau potable. C’est un symbole fort pour les employés qui participent à une action humanitaire à travers la marque.
6. Les effets du sponsoring sont-ils mesurables à court terme ou à long terme ?
=>Oui tout a fait via des études quantitatives et qualitatives.
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7. Intégrez-vous d’autres moyens de communication tels que la publicité ou les relations publiques lors de la mise en oeuvre de votre politique de sponsoring ? Dans quel but ?
=>Oui les médias doivent relayer, couvrir l’événement, c’est essentiel de communiquer. Le but est d’associer la marque à l’évènement.
8. Comment choisissez-vous le « bon » évènement ?
=> Le bon évènement est celui qui symbolise les valeurs de la marque, qui va toucher le cœur de clientèle.
9. Investissez-vous plutôt en terme financier ou en apport de biens et de services ?
=> Tout dépend de l’action, mais l’un est rarement dissociable de l’autre pour les gros évènements.
10. Avez-vous déjà refusé un sponsoring pour cause d’image non adaptée à votre entreprise?
=>Nous allons chercher les sponsorings le plus souvent et non l’inverse. Nous choisissons avec très grande minutie nos partenaires qui doivent s’engager à respecter les valeurs morales de notre entreprise.
11. Comment mesurez-vous le retour sur investissement d’une action de sponsoring ?
=>Toujours par les études modèles type AWAQS (Nielsen), qui nous calculent un indice court terme
(ICT) et un indice moyen terme (IMT) à relier à l’action de sponsoring.
69