Assignment (MComm)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sponsorship marketing, as part of the integrated marketing communication programme, is a relatively new field of application. There is still a lack of research in many areas of this field, especially in respect of the measurement of the effectiveness of this communication instrument. Although its roots could be traced back to ancient Greece, substantial growth and development in the field of sponsorship marketing have taken place over the past three decades. More recently the concentration of sponsored events has moved away from sports and has been divided between a number of other areas, notably art and entertainment and also charity events. With the increase in sponsorships, an increase in literary research has also been detected. The analysis of the sponsorship strategy of a German insurance company - Cosmos Direkt - has shown that in practice many companies are still not fully exploiting the potential of their sponsorships. This became even more obvious when it was compared to the approach to sponsorships of some of South Africa's largest insurance companies. The comparison indicated that some of the insurance companies had achieved satisfaction with their sponsorship, while others were still battling to establish the right formula for success. The inconsistency of the success of sponsorships could often be ascribed to a large number of companies being uncertain about sponsorships and reluctant to fully integrate these into their marketing strategies. Sponsorships could only be effective when they are supported by other marketing communication tools, rather than being viewed as a completely separate activity. Sponsorships should be used in synergy with the other communication instruments, so that the company may project a uniform message to its customers and the public. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Borgskappe, as deel van 'n geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie, is 'n redelike nuwe veld van aanwending. Navorsing in baie gebiede van hierdie veld is nog uitstaande, veral waar die meting van hierdie kommunikasie-instrument van belang is. Oor die afgelope drie dekades het wesenlike groei en ontwikkelinge op die gebied van borgskappe plaasgevind, alhoewel die oorsprong teruggevolg kan word tot na die antieke Grieke. Meer onlangs het die fokus van geborgde gebeurtenisse wegbeweeg van sport af en is nou meer versprei oor 'n aantal ander gebiede, byvoorbeeld kuns en vermaak, asook liefdadigheidsorganisasies. Met die toename van borgskappe het daar ook 'n toename in literêre navorsing plaasgevind. Die analise van die borgskapstrategie deur 'n Duitse versekeringsmaatskappy - Cosmos Direkt - het aangetoon dat baie maatskappye in die praktyk nog nie die volle potensiaal van hul borgskappe benut nie. Hierdie bevinding is bevestig nadat dit met die benadering tot borgskappe van verskeie Suid-Afrikaanse versekeringsmaatskappye vergelyk is. Die vergelyking het aangetoon dat sommige versekeringsmaatskappye tevredenheid met hulle borgskappe bereik het, terwyl ander nog steeds op soek was na die regte formule vir sukses. Die teenstrydigheid ten opsigte van die sukses van borgskappe is dikwels die gevolg van maatskappye w~t onseker is oor hulle borgskappe en huiwerig is om dit ten volle met hulle bemarkingstrategieë te integreer. Borgskappe kan egter net effektief wees wanneer hulle ondersteun word deur ander bemarkingskommunikasie-instrumente, en nie as iets heeltemal afsonderliks beskou word nie. Borgskappe behoort in sinergie met die ander bemarkingskommunikasie-instrumente gebruik te word sodat 'n maatskappy 'n eenvormige boodskap aan sy klante en die publiek sal stuur.

This investigation accepts that art is a term of western culture and that advertising is a creation of an historical and social process firmly linked to the economies of western industrialised nations. A cultural niche theory of the visual arts is employed to define the various visual art forms and it is in this context that the development of the notion of fine art, which had its origins during the Renaissance, is investigated with a view to how this led to the commodification of art. The phenomenon of art as a commodity accelerated throughout the nineteenth century and was moulded by the same political, cultural, social, economic and technological forces that gave rise to advertising when, during the second half of the century, the capitalist system of production became geared towards mass production of products for consumption. This was also the period of significant European colonial expansion in southern Afiica and consequently the development of both art and advertising in the region was cast in a colonial, European mould, the effects of which are investigated throughout this research project. This body of research also seeks to explain how the meaning and the value of the art object and its reproduced image, changed and became exchangeable as technology developed. Significantly this occurred at a time when the needs of advertising shifted from a simple system of proclamation and announcement on the periphery of the national economy during the nineteenth century to become a sophisticated system of communication which acts as an influential social institution at the end of this millennium. That this appears to have occurred at a time when the influence of fine art began to decline as a cultural force is significant as it is in this context that advertising has become a primary carrier of meaning in society. This research project works within this paradigm to investigate the history and motives of business support for the arts, particularly the visual arts, in the form of sponsorship with particular reference to a culturally diverse and politically dynamic South Africa. In addition, specific rhetorical devices that advertising employs, as a strategic tool of marketing, to appropriate and (ex)change meaning from the value laden visual art object is investigated with reference to contemporary advertising in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal,1998.