<p>There are countless methods for companies to use as marketing tools and one method that has become more and more popular is sponsoring. Reasons for companies to use sponsoring as a marketing tool is to be exposed and associated in connection with the sponsored item. Companies also use sponsorship to create relationships with the company's target audience. The use of Internet and Internet marketing has also increased during the last years and this paper examines the combination of these two areas, sponsorship and Internet marketing. A survey that examines the websites owned by companies who also are sponsors, answers the following problem:</p><p>How do companies communicate their sponsorship on their own homepages?</p><p>The purpose of this study is to describe how companies use their homepage to communicate their sponsorship. This paper also has two purposes:</p><p>1. To describe how companies are using their rights to associate with the sponsored item.</p><p>2. To describe how companies utilize the opportunity of making relations with the visitor of the website.</p><p>The study used a quantitative method. By using a survey, the websites of “Sweden's 50 largest sponsors in 2008” were examined. The questions were based on the theoretical framework. All 50 sites were examined and analyzed.</p><p>The survey shows that 92 % of the companies communicate their sponsorship on the website and utilize their right to associate with the sponsored items. The most common ways to do this are by publishing the name, a description of the sponsorship, a link, an image and a logotype of the sponsored item. 30 % of the companies use the opportunity to build relationships with the visitors of the homepage through their sponsorship. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are the most common ways to interact with the visitor and to create a long-term relationship with the visitor. Other common relationship-building activities are competitions and interactive multimedia games in connection with the sponsored items.</p><p>26 % of the companies publish their sponsorship policy on the homepage. Although the majority of the companies did publish information about their sponsorship on their homepage, the information is not easy to find. The information is often placed several clicks away from the front page, under the heading "About us".</p><p>The paper ends with a list of items designed to inspire sponsors to use their homepage when communicating with their target group. For example, it is suggested that companies should place the information about their sponsorship on a strategic place on the site and use the opportunity to sustain the dialogue with the visitor.</p>

There are countless methods for companies to use as marketing tools and one method that has become more and more popular is sponsoring. Reasons for companies to use sponsoring as a marketing tool is to be exposed and associated in connection with the sponsored item. Companies also use sponsorship to create relationships with the company's target audience. The use of Internet and Internet marketing has also increased during the last years and this paper examines the combination of these two areas, sponsorship and Internet marketing. A survey that examines the websites owned by companies who also are sponsors, answers the following problem: How do companies communicate their sponsorship on their own homepages? The purpose of this study is to describe how companies use their homepage to communicate their sponsorship. This paper also has two purposes: 1. To describe how companies are using their rights to associate with the sponsored item. 2. To describe how companies utilize the opportunity of making relations with the visitor of the website. The study used a quantitative method. By using a survey, the websites of “Sweden's 50 largest sponsors in 2008” were examined. The questions were based on the theoretical framework. All 50 sites were examined and analyzed. The survey shows that 92 % of the companies communicate their sponsorship on the website and utilize their right to associate with the sponsored items. The most common ways to do this are by publishing the name, a description of the sponsorship, a link, an image and a logotype of the sponsored item. 30 % of the companies use the opportunity to build relationships with the visitors of the homepage through their sponsorship. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are the most common ways to interact with the visitor and to create a long-term relationship with the visitor. Other common relationship-building activities are competitions and interactive multimedia games in connection with the sponsored items. 26 % of the companies publish their sponsorship policy on the homepage. Although the majority of the companies did publish information about their sponsorship on their homepage, the information is not easy to find. The information is often placed several clicks away from the front page, under the heading "About us". The paper ends with a list of items designed to inspire sponsors to use their homepage when communicating with their target group. For example, it is suggested that companies should place the information about their sponsorship on a strategic place on the site and use the opportunity to sustain the dialogue with the visitor.