The creation of top-of-mind brand awareness has become an important aspect of any branding initiative and marketing campaign. Yet, what separates those businesses that do well in this from those who don’t? It’s called effectiveness. One way to step-up one’s impact is by looking at creating partnerships with like-minded organisations, events or initiatives to promote your business while supporting them.
Sponsorships and especially naming rights can build brand presence like no other and this is key for effective growth of brand awareness. It allows you to penetrate a broader market, strengthen brand awareness and speak directly to potential buyers. Securing naming rights also opens doors to almost unlimited brand exposure without the usual high cost of advertising.
And, since brand association builds trust with any audience, naming rights can grow a large populous of brand-aware future customers, meaning such sponsorships can increase sales over time and for time to come by establishing your business as a leading brand in the marketplace.
Now, let’s look at this in action with a couple of great examples…
Adina Watches took out the naming rights of the Polocrosse World Cup to be held in Australia in 2019. The company, an Australian watchmaker, is pairing their attributes of innovation for design, craftsmanship and durability with the similar qualities of the unique and likewise Australian-born sport of Polocrosse, making it a perfect match. Lending its name to the Adina Polocrosse World Cup provides exposure to viewers, participants and sports enthusiasts from across the world right throughout the lead-up months and the event itself. This allows these extensive audiences to appreciate the similarities, values and qualities between the sporting event and the sponsor.
Adina Watches general manager, Grant Menzies, said, “Polocrosse is an exciting skills-based sport for both horse and rider, but it is also uniquely Australia’s own. This made it an obvious choice to take on the naming rights for the event and to support not only the world cup but to help grow the Aussie sport itself.”
Similarly, Kennards Hire’s naming rights for the Kennards Hire Rally Australia showdown on the Coffs Coast held later this year and the World Rally series Down Under has translated into a strong brand presence. Kennards Hire had already been supporting the event with everything from safety barriers to portaloos, kilometers upon kilometers of fencing and even the erection of tribune seating, but partnering with the event as naming sponsor has taken it to a whole other level and has allowed to create further brand activation.
However, it such coverage doesn’t have to be on a national or international level. Smaller community events are a great way to get started if your business happens to sit at the smaller end of the spectrum. For instance, sponsoring grass roots football clubs, minor championships or the like, is a great way to get your company logo noticed on jerseys or event banners. Local events and charitable causes can be an effective way for businesses to get noticed and be seen to be supporting local initiatives.
“At the end of the day, sponsorships and naming rights make for a wise decision if you are looking to boost your business profile and want to give back,” Menzies said.
This articles was first published in Inside Small Business by Erik Bigalk, Brand Marketing and Communications expert, www.erikbigalk.com.au
