ESP’s Guide to Why Companies Sponsor

In its earliest days, sponsorship was almost exclusively the domain of sports properties. In 1984, 90 percent of all sponsorship dollars went to sports. While sports continues to command the lion’s share, the demand of corporations for a new and better way of communicating with their key audiences has benefited every type of sponsorship.

Companies do not use sponsorship to replace advertising, public relations or sales promotion. The benefits sponsorship offers are quite different, and the medium works best as part of an integrated marketing communications effort that includes the use of all marketing methods.

Below, ESP Properties analysts identify the most common reasons companies use sponsorship.