The last decades sport sponsorship has grown into a massive industry. This has given marketers unique opportunities and challenges to develop their brand strategy in order to stay competitive. Although the increasing research made within sport sponsorship, marketing researchers is just in the beginning of understanding the full effects of it. There is still a gap within this research field in Sweden and the rest of Europe. Though, researchers have found common desired brand objectives for using sport sponsorships which are called the sponsorship portfolio. The purpose of this study is to investigate companies’ perception and use of sport sponsorship. The purpose will also be to investigate how well companies’ use of sport sponsorship match with their customers perceptions of it. This study is based on a qualitative multiple case study using a semi-structured interview technique. Two companies, Craft and Team Sportia, were interviewed with five different managers to investigate their perception of sport sponsorship. Two focus groups, one on each company, where conducted in order to compare the results of the interviews. The study will be limited to the Swedish sport sponsorship market. In the case of Craft, findings indicate that Crafts sport sponsorship strategy is in overall congruence with the most important brand objectives using sponsorship in the theory. Though are the focus group perception of Crafts sport sponsorship and their brand not quite as consistent as company want to reflect. Results from the case of Team Sportia reveal that they could be seen as a company with a positive brand image. The brand itself is perceived as less strong than their competitors by the focus group due to weak perceived brand awareness. New findings in this study are Crafts product development through sport sponsorship as well as the message of brand familiarity through Team Sportias sport sponsorship.

Today, sponsorship is an integrated communication tool used for the achievement of commercial objectives. As the marketing environment changes sport sponsorship has evolved into one of the fastest growing marketing sectors. Yet, research up to now has been somewhat limited to one dimension of the sponsor relationship, without further consideration of the other. Therefore, this study has assessed both sides of sponsorship arrangements. Relevant literature has been reviewed and a survey was carried out in order to answer the purpose within this thesis. Our findings show that identification and commitment to a sport team was positively related to attitudes and purchase intentions toward favorite team sponsors. Moreover, mean scores suggested that negative associations from rival teams could “rub-off” on sponsored brands. This was evident in forms of attitudes but not in avoiding sponsors products. The study showed potentials with sponsorship while at the same time described sponsorship as a complex business which one should treat with caution in order for it to not become a double-edged sword.   Key words: sport sponsorship, social identity, in-group, out-group, identification and commitment to a sport team

The underlying motivation of this paper is the investigation of the impact sport sponsorship has on a brand. As sport sponsorship is scholarly considered to be a powerful brand equity building method, this communication tool gains globally in importance by contributing essentially to business success. While the popularity increases, simultaneously the investments, necessary for an efficient realization, rise. Nonetheless even though sponsorship is frequently applied, the evaluation is mainly based on quantitative terms (e.g. media tracking), neglecting the qualitative impacts. In order to gain meaningful data, which allows generalization, the study is based on the sport sponsorship involvement of Löfbergs Lila AB at the hockey club Färjestad BK. A quantitative research strategy is applied by the conduction of a survey within the pre-defined target audience of hockey affine people. Three propositions from different perspectives are used to investigate the main research question and provide a broader picture of the topic. Therefore in order to answer the research question, Does sport sponsorship especially in terms of brand image and brand awareness in a particular target group affect the sponsor’s brand?, brand awareness, brand image and sponsor-fit are examined separately. The study has shown that brand knowledge (brand awareness, brand image) is directly influenced by sport sponsorship efforts. The findings state a positive impact and associations, whereby no direct effect in terms of customers’ brand loyalty can be observed. Nevertheless according to the in the paper developed conceptual model, an influence on brand loyalty building variables is not dependent on sponsorship efforts, rather on the brand’s underlying product attributes, satisfying customer needs and requirements. In general sport sponsorship is a meaningful tool, but requires integration in a diversified marketing communication-mix in order to tap the full potential.

During the 1980s and 1990s, commercial sponsorship grew with a rapid pace with an increase in worldwide spending from $2 billion in 1984 to $18.1 billion in 1997. Also, when the sponsorship market grew the interest amongst business researchers grew and finally became an own topic within business. Further, within marketing there was also a change occurring during the same time. It was an evolutionary paradigm shift from the marketing mix and the 4Ps to Relationship Marketing and the focus on long-term relationships. The marketing mix and the 4Ps had been the dominating model since the 1950s however when industries matured, market demand changed, competition increased and customers became more sophisticated and demanded more. Both the rapid growth within sponsorship and move to Relationship Marketing can mainly be explainedby the developments in Information Technology and globalization. However, despite the increasing interest sponsorship and relationship marketing separately,few researchers have tried to combine these two even though several researchers have challenged others. In 2003, Farrelly and Quester studied the relationships between the sponsor and the sponsored. The intentions of the researchers are to extend this research to the relationships between the sponsor and their customers. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how sponsors utilize sponsorship to build and maintain relationships with their customers. The intention is to create a foundation that can be later tested with the sponsors’ customers through a series of propositions. This study is done from the sponsors' perspective and in a B2B context. It is a qualitative research using six of the main sponsors as case studies for HV71, one of the largest ice hockey teams in Sweden. For the data collection the researchers used face-to-face interviews with managers from Husqvarna, Swedbank, Öhrlings PriceWaterhouseCoopers,Nybergs Bil, Ernst&Young and June Emballage. The researchers have identified four different ways how sponsors utilize sponsorship to build and maintain relationships with their customers. The sponsors use sponsorship to create meeting places outside the business office, increase communication, add value totheir offerings and predict customer needs. The goal is to increase trust and value because when they increase, the relationship between the sponsor and customer grows stronger.

<p>During the 1980s and 1990s, commercial sponsorship grew with a rapid pace with an increase in worldwide spending from $2 billion in 1984 to $18.1 billion in 1997. Also, when the sponsorship market grew the interest amongst business researchers grew and finally became an own topic within business. Further, within marketing there was also a change occurring during the same time. It was an evolutionary paradigm shift from the marketing mix and the 4Ps to Relationship Marketing and the focus on long-term relationships. The marketing mix and the 4Ps had been the dominating model since the 1950s however when industries matured, market demand changed, competition increased and customers became more sophisticated and demanded more. Both the rapid growth within sponsorship and move to Relationship Marketing can mainly be explainedby the developments in Information Technology and globalization.</p><p>However, despite the increasing interest sponsorship and relationship marketing separately,few researchers have tried to combine these two even though several researchers have challenged others. In 2003, Farrelly and Quester studied the relationships between the sponsor and the sponsored. The intentions of the researchers are to extend this research to the relationships between the sponsor and their customers.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to explore how sponsors utilize sponsorship to build and maintain relationships with their customers. The intention is to create a foundation that can be later tested with the sponsors’ customers through a series of propositions. This study is done from the sponsors' perspective and in a B2B context. It is a qualitative research using six of the main sponsors as case studies for HV71, one of the largest ice hockey teams in Sweden. For the data collection the researchers used face-to-face interviews with managers from Husqvarna, Swedbank, Öhrlings PriceWaterhouseCoopers,Nybergs Bil, Ernst&Young and June Emballage.</p><p>The researchers have identified four different ways how sponsors utilize sponsorship to build and maintain relationships with their customers. The sponsors use sponsorship to create meeting places outside the business office, increase communication, add value totheir offerings and predict customer needs. The goal is to increase trust and value because when they increase, the relationship between the sponsor and customer grows stronger.</p>

Authors: Niklas Hansson and Niklas Johansson Supervisor: Svante Andersson Keyword(s): Sponsorship, Sport sponsorship, Sponsorship fit, Sponsorship objectives, Sponsorship outcomes, Sponsorship approach Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe and explore how companies and sports teams decide to enter sponsorship agreements with each other. The purpose is also to explore the entire sponsorship process together with the specific relationships between sponsor/-s and sponsee/-s. This will be done in order to make a contribution to the research field of sponsorship in the context of sports teams. Research Problem: How does the sponsorship process form and how do sponsors/ sponseeswork with their sponsorship relationships? Method: The main methodological choice has been the abductive research method, where theories have been added and removed from the framework, in order to analyse data properly. A qualitative approach has been chosen and empirical data from eight organisations form two cases with three sponsors and one sponsee has been gathered. Primary data were collected from personal interviews and complemented with secondary data from websites and other material provided by the respondents. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework consists of classic sponsorship theories,in order to form a solid theoretical base for the concept of sponsorship. These classics are presented together with more modern theories regarding sponsorship in connection to certain aspects of the process and relationships and thus making the theoretical framework current and up to date. Conclusion: The process has been seen to take one out of two options, whereas a structured sponsorship process is one option and the other option is a rather unstructured sponsorship process. Sponsors and sponsees reported that they work increasingly with their networks and thus suggested that the network approach connected to sponsorship will grow more important in the upcoming years. Generally, it appears as if the main focus within sponsorship, in terms of fit, is how it works internally or within the agreement between sponsor and sponsee. Whether it signals something good or bad to the audience is therefore of no real interest or matter.

Darbo pavadinimas: Verslo įmonėms pateiktų Lietuvos sporto šakų federacijų paramos paketų vertinimas (The business companies evaluation of Lithuanian sport federations‘ sponsorship packages) Darbo objektas: verslo įmonėms pateiktų Lietuvos sporto šakų federacijų paramos paketų vertimas. Darbo tikslas: Išanalizuoti verslo įmonėms pateiktų Lietuvos sporto šakų federacijų paramos paketų vertinimą. Uždaviniai: 1. Atskleisti sporto paramos esmę ir investicijų raišką bei naudą rėmėjams; 2. Išnagrinėti sporto paramos paketo kūrimo etapus; 3. Ištirti verslo įmonėms Lietuvos sporto šakų federacijų pateiktų svarbių paramos paketo dalių vertinimą, svarbiausių ir mažiau svarbių dalių kontekste. Išvados. Sporto parama – tai mainų procesas, kai verslo atstovas už investiciją į sporto objektą turi galimybę vystyti savo prekinį ženklą, įgyti tiesioginių asociacijų su produktu ar įvykiu, perduoti pageidaujamą pranešimą, atskleisti socialinę atsakomybę tikslinę auditoriją pasiekiant per sportą. Rėmėjo teisės auga didėjant investicijai, todėl kiekvienas indėlis turi atsakomąją paslaugą. Formuojant paramos paketą pirmiausia reikia atrasti rėmėjų grupes, išsiaiškinti kokios bendros charakteristikos yra būdingos rėmėjui ir sporto šakai arba renginiui. Remiantis surinkta informacija pasirenkami konkretūs rėmėjai. Atlikus paramos auditą, pagal idealaus paramos paketo modelį paruošiamas paramos paketas, skirtas konkrečiai verslo įmonei ir pateikiantis sporto organizacijos siūlomas naudas rėmėjui... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of theses: to educe sport sponsor attitude forward sponsorship package Tasks of theses: 1. To reveal the essence of sport sponsorship and investment in the resolutionand the benefits to sponsors; 2. To examine the sport sponsorship package phases of development; 3. To investigate presented to business companies evaluation of Lithuania sport federation‘s sport sponsorship packages‘ important parts in the context of most important and less important parts. Conclusions. Sport sponsorship – it is a process of exchange, when sponsor changes investment for sport object to get possibilities to develop brand, to get association with product or event, transmit the desiredmessage and reveal the social responsibility of reaching the target audience through sport. Sponsor egislation increases with investment, so every input hasresponse service. In the formation of sponsorship package is first necessary to find group of potencial sponsors, to find out what the common characteristics are specific to sport or event and the sponsor. According to information collected sports organizations need to focus on specific sponsors. Following an audit of sponsorship, according to the model of the ideal sponsorship package prepared sponsorship package for a particular business enterprise and provides the benefits provides benefits offered to the sponsor. After analysis of business companies evaluation of sponsorship packages, the sponsorship package parts has been divided into two groups -... [to full text]

Background Football is the most popular sport in Sweden today, however the interest for women’s football is decreasing (Sponsor Insight, 2014, Appendix II). The development of women’s football in Sweden has been remarkable during the last decades. Although, the image and value of women’s football are still perceived to be rather low in today’s modern society if looking at the low attendance figures, low exploitation in the media and difficulties with acquiring sponsorship. Sponsoring is the biggest source of income for almost every women’s football club in Sweden in order for women’s football to develop there has been a shift in the way clubs acquire sponsorship from the commercial aspect to a more CSR related aspect. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model on how to increase the commercial value and total sponsoring of women’s football. Method This thesis is based on a qualitative research approach. The secondary data was collected through academic, peer-reviewed articles and the primary data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data was later on analyzed through a qualitative analysis. Conclusion Our study shows that CSR can be a contributing factor to increase the commercial value of women’s football. By using other values of women’s football than merely the commercial value, clubs can attract sponsors that want to brand themselves as contributors to society. The authors have developed a model for women’s football clubs on how to increase the commercial value and total sponsoring of women’s football in Sweden. Furthermore, the thesis contributes academically by providing empirical insights in the field of sport sponsorship and sponsorship relationship. The research expands the view on CSR in relation to sport sponsorship. The thesis also focuses on sponsorship within women’s football, which has not been extensively investigated in academia, hence, it contributes with a unique context.

Title: Effectiveness of advertising in Czech hockey league stadiums for the sponsoring companies. Objectives: Expression and evaluation of efficiency of advertising in Czech hockey league stadiums. Methods: Quantitative research among the Czech hockey league stadiums and comparison of acquired data within defined regional units. Used research methods are the descriptive analysis, qualitative polling, content analysis, calculation of media indicators and the comparison method. Results: Effectiveness of advertising in Czech ice hockey league stadiums was mathematically expressed, including statistic and graphic analysis. Index of effectiveness of stadiums and advert types was compared. Due to the low number of stadiums involved in research, the most and less effective advertising type and place was determinate only as a theoretical conclusion. Keywords: effectiveness, advertising efficiency, sport advertising, sport sponsorship

The thesis deals with the sponsorship in small sports organizations. The theoretical part of thesis specifies the term sponsorship, sports sponsorship and also defines the concept of a small sports organizations and their importance in sport. In the practical part, we used a mixed method approach. The first phase was qualitative survey and we conducted semi-structured interviews in 9 sports organizations. The second part is a quantitative survey among officials and members of sports clubs and fans (the target group of advert). The results reveal the level of sponsorship within the small sports organizations and define its importance for these organizations and the sponsors itself. The work provides useful advice for sports organizations in acquisition of new sponsors.