Lifestyle SponsorshipsSocial Change through sports sponsorship

Dr Stephen DannThe Australian National University

Background to the research

Sharrod Wellingham, a Collingwood rookie, was charged with drink-driving having recorded a blood alcohol content reading of 0.13, he lost his license for a year. Collingwood announced they were cutting ties with the TAC sponsorship shortly after. It was the third serious traffic infringement for a Collingwood player during the period of the safe driving sponsorship.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_rules_football_incidents http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23028065-948,00.html?from=mostpop

My other scandal was sponsored by a Mercedes

AFL star fined for driving on tram tracksJanuary 12, 2006The 26-year-old Collingwood midfielder was driving his

BMW…

Cousins quizzed over booze bus incidentFebruary 17, 2006West Australian police spoke to the footballer today after

officers chased two men who fled from Cousins' luxury Mercedes Benz…

Ben bolted in `fit of panic‘February 17, 2006Westpoint Star Mercedes dealership manager Jason

Novatsis confirmed he leased a four-wheel-drive to Cousins.

Sponsorship Framework

Lit.Review in Shorthand

Alexandris, Tsaousi and James, 2007; AMA 2007; Amis, Slack and Berrett, 1999; Barros, de Barros, Santos and Chadwick, 2007; Bauer, Sauer and Schmitt, 2005; Bennett, Ali-Choudhury and Mousley, 2007; Bloom, Hussein, and Szykman, 1995; Boyle, 2007; Bush, Bush, Clark and Bush, 2005 Fahy, Farrelly and Quester, 2004 Farrelly and Quester, 2003; Farrelly, Quester and Mavondo, 2003; Grohs Wagner and Vsetecka, 2004 Gwinner, 1999; Gwinner and Swanson, 2003; Kent and Campbell, 2007 McDaniel and Mason, 1999; Olkkonen and Tuominen, 2006; Polonski and Speed, 2001; Pope and Voges, 1997; Pope, 1998; Quester and Farrelly, 1998; Roy and Cornwell, 2003; Shannon, 1999; Thomson, 2006; Ukman, 1999 and Weinreich, Abbott and Olson, 1999.

Lit.Review Illustrated

Sport and Social Change

Social Marketing Sport Sponsorships

Social marketing“The adaptation and adoption of commercial

marketing activities, institutions and process as a means to induce behavioural change on a temporary or permanent basis”

Lifestyle Sponsorships“the provision of financial assistance, or in-

kind assistance to an activity by an organisation for the purpose of promoting lifestyle or behavioural change objectives”

Lifestyle Sponsorships

• leverage and activation of the sponsorship through the actions of the individual employees – sponsored property employees have to engage

in the sponsor endorsed lifestyle or behaviours

– Relevance is the critical factor in social marketing lifestyle sponsorship

Gwinner (1997) framework

• Sponsorship relevance– direct relevance

• functional based similarity• occurs where the sponsors products are used in

the event

– Indirect relevance – • “image-based similarity” • match between the core values of the consumer

and the values represented by the sponsors and sponsorship event

Relevance of Lifestyle Sponsorship

Event Non Event

Relevance

FunctionalSimilarity

Image Similarity

?

Event Image / Team Image

Celebrity Association

Sponsee's personal life

Relevance of Sportspeople for Sport

Event Non Event

Relevance

FunctionalSimilarity

Image Similarity

Sport

Sport team Sports team membership

Sports training

Relevance of Sports People For Sex / Alcohol / Any other Scandal in a standard work environment

Sports Event Non Event

Relevance

FunctionalSimilarity

Image Similarity

NONE

NONE “Celebrity” Association

Sponsee's personal scandal

Summer’s non-sport related scandal

Adapting to the Lifestyle Sponsorship Model

The Model as it stands…

Lit.Review Adapted

Relevance

The Issues

• Social Marketing products are uncertain outcomes– Certain prohibited behaviours + Specific

proscribed behaviours = Uncertain benefits + Certain detriment for the players

• Increased commercialisation of the player-participant’s personal life

Commercial Protection

• Commercial contractual protection of the personal life of the player-participant– Legal restrictions on ambush marketing

– Limits on the capacity to be declared a “role model” without appropriate compensation

– Restricted capacity to donate their reputation and personal life to non-sponsoring charity?

From here…

Future Research

• Cyclical Sponsorship Model– Incremental Model

• Year 1 to Year 2 to Year 2+n to Year Review

– Cyclical Model• Iterative Learning Process

• MegaMetaModel– B2B model – sponsorship-sponsored underway

Evolution of the idea

History of the Lifestyle Sponsorship

• Dann, S (2007) "Lifestyle sponsorships and player lifestyle breaches: Opportunity, not loss" Monash Business Review [Full Paper online at http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/gsb/mbr/full-papers.php]

• Dann, S & Dann, S (2005) "Lifestyle Sponsorship and Player Lifestyle Breach: Opportunity, Not Loss?" Second Australasian Nonprofit and Social Marketing Conference, Melbourne, 25 September 2005.

Four Step Recovery Model

Step 1: Assessing the impact of the breach

Step 2: Reaffirm the purpose of the Lifestyle Sponsorship Message

Step 3: Use schema mismatch as a basis for continuing the sponsorship in breach

Step 4: Endorse the lifestyle message with the sponsee who was in breach.