Range of materials for an event - Essay Example

Range of materials for an event. Introduction The best form of raising money for any charitable cause is to get the money from the society, for the society. For these purposes only charitable and fundraising events take place. “Community events are used by government to provide a focus for society, in order to rejuvenate communities and provide and provide the basis for social and economic regeneration” (Wood, 1982). These community events also need funding which is either donated by volunteers or sponsored by corporations or companies.

Not only these sponsors fulfill their obligation towards the society but they also get a lot of positive publicity. Quester (P.G., 1996) has stated “the tacit nature of the message and the emotional involvement of the audience in the sponsored activity suggest that sponsorship may exercise an emotive rather than cognitive influence on consumer behaviour”. (Charles Bal, 2004). This fact maybe used to convince the sponsors about sponsoring the event. The event: The event that is going to be staged is the Youth Athletics Championship organized by the councils of South London Boroughs including Croydon, Sutton and Bromley.

The mission of the event is to raise funds for the regeneration of the area of South London. Youth Athletics Championship is a local public event for the secondary schools of the three boroughs of south London. It will be held on the weekends of 14th - 15th and 21st-22nd of May 2001 in the Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium located in zone 4 of London. 30 students from each of the 36 secondary schools would have a chance to take part in the competition. Objectives: The South London area is known to be one of the poorest areas in London that is lacking good sporting facilities as well as any good extra curriculum teams.

One of the main objectives of this event is to encourage students to take part in activities, for example, such as sports. Sometimes parents tend to dedicate very little time to their children, and this problem is strongly pronounced in big families, families with low income and families with dysfunctional backgrounds, all of which can be found in the South London area. Therefore, another objective of this event would be to try to involve parents into their children’s lives and try show their interest and support.

The Youth Athletics Championship will provide a great opportunity to bring the community of the 3 south boroughs together and with mutual cooperation help benefit the lives of their children by raising funds for regeneration of the South London area, more specifically for the development of sporting facilities. This topic is very relevant at this time as the Olympic and Paralympic Games are about to take place in London in summer of 2012. Commercial outcomes: The main mission of the event is to raise funds for regeneration of the area.

One of the ways to raise funds is through selling merchandise with the Youth Athletics Championship logo on it, for example, t-shirts, stickers and other. Another way to raise the funds would be through selling goods such as water, sandwiches. The main target is to raise funds through donations from the parents, the visitors and the community. Tickets will go on sell for the price of ?6 pounds per person and will also become a significant part of the raised funds. Budget: Expenditure ? per unit amount ?overall ?Total Equipment rent ?

5,000 Merchandise ?3.1 per t-shirt 4000 ?12,400 Bottled water ?0,5 per bottle 14,000 bottles ?7,000 Food supplies ?1,5 per unit 13,000 ?19,500 Advertising (flags) ?37 per unit 40 ?1,480 Extra costs (emergency) ?10,000 ?55,380 The budget is kept to a minimum by the use of a centralized method to coordinate and promote the activity. This is done by uniformly producing and packing the materials required for the activity at a place where costs are low to reduce the costs to ease the finding of the sponsorship and funding.

Gaining sponsorship “Sponsorship has become a critical element in the integrated marketing communication mix of many private and public sector organizations. Among different types of marketing communication sponsorship is said to be one of the most powerful mediums now used to communicate and form relationships with stakeholders and markets (Grey and Skildum-Reid, 2003). Thus companies are willing to sponsor events which will bring positive publicity and bring better positioning of the brand and its product.

As it has been said before Youth Athletics Championship is a local sports event that will be held by the three South Boroughs of London, therefore our target sources of income would be the companies that have a reference to the sports market. The first choice would be to target one of the biggest sport apparel makers such as Adidas that has been a sponsor to many sport-related events. During a sport event competitors are always in need of water; which allows the event to seek for sponsorship from such brands as “Harrogate Spa water” or “Vittel”.

Another target sponsor would be the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012 (LOGOC 2012); the main goal of the committee is to stage events and make change in the community benefiting all London boroughs from the Games in some way. The main goal of the Youth Athletics Championship is to raise sufficient funds for regeneration of the area of South London; thus UK supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s who are famous for working for the benefit of the community, sponsorship with this event can help them deliver the mission and integrate with the crowd.

Samsung is one of the biggest electronic companies in the world who is also a current sponsor of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, therefore working hand by hand with the LOGOC this brand can be interested in sponsoring the sport events around London. Rationale: Adidas is a worldwide sports brand that has existed since 1948 and through the time has gained the trust and proved its brand loyalty to the customers as a result of which it is now on of the biggest sports apparel in the world with a steady income.

Adidas has been sponsoring sport events in the UK for a number of years, for example The Flora London Marathon. In 2011 the brand will launch adiStars in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust (YST) as part of the Young Ambassador Programme to encourage young people to connect with sports. Teenagers aged between 13 and 19 will be given adiStars missions that will test their skills at basketball, football, tennis, running, hockey and weight-lifting. (Adidas looks to Steven Gerard to inspire teens for 2012) Becoming an official sponsor of the Youth Athletics Championship can be a part of Adidas’s strategy and help make this an annual sporting event with a multiyear contract with the brand setting a future example to other London boroughs.

Harrogate SPA water is a UK based water brand that would be able to provide the competitors with free water; which is a service in kind type of sponsorship and it enables a less affluent sponsor to benefit. This brand has previously sponsored a small football team from Yorkshire, also providing the players with an unlimited amount of bottled water on the day on their match. Such brands as “Evian” and “Vittel” have overtaken the water market in UK, although they are representatives of other countries, therefore the co-sponsorship of Harrogate Spa water with the Youth Athletics Championship will give the brand an opportunity to approach more potential customers in the London South Boroughs as well as to show community support.

LOGOC 2012 is responsible for staging a series of Test Events in the year before the Games; recruiting and training volunteers; and overseeing the four-year Cultural Olympiad leading up to the Games. (http://www.london2012.com/making-it-happen/) However, at the moment the committee is raising money for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games and do not offer sponsorships to any events throughout UK. Sainbury’s local supermarkets are involved with a few large-scale charities and donate a lot of money to them; which does not let them sponsor other events.

Vittel is a well-known worldwide water brand, however because the event that is going to be held is local and is located in London, it would be more logical to use a brand that is UK based. Sponsorship with the Youth Athletics Championship would also not be able to provide a broad promotion that a brand like “Vittel” would require. Samsung is one of the largest electronic companies in the world who is currently a sponsor of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This company would not accept our sponsorship as it always targets larger scale events with allowance for a broad promotion.

Since the sponsors are now identified, the next challenge will be to send a proposal to the potential sponsors and in most cases a meeting will be held with the person determining the awarding of the sponsorship. (G. A. J. Bowdin, 2006). The proposal will include details of why Adidas and Harrogate water spa should fund the athletics championship. This proposal should not only consist of what the company is delivering to the community but also a detailed report on what benefits it will be gaining from funding the event.

The proposal should include that Adidas and Harrogate will be fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities. Besides that the sponsorship will position them in the eyes of their customers as socially responsible organizations who are committed to making the world a better place to live. These concepts will raise peoples perceptions of them encouraging more people to buy their products and thus indirectly raising their revenues and profits. The proposal should also clearly state that sponsorship of the event is a very benificial form of promotion for the company as the brand will get positive exposure without having to pay for or managing advertisements.

It is considered that event marketing within a specific budget gives the company seven times as much exposure as traditional advertisements and a much greater response from customers and retailers. (Jan-Tony Abrahamsson, 2003) Golden Sponsor Package for Adidas ?38,630 Large logo on t-shirts which will act as a memorabilia of the event (What are the different types of sports scholarship) Stand(s) on the days to showcase your goods and services (Stand can be point of sale, demonstration area) Posters around the schools Large banner(s) on site throughout the event (at the main entrance) Whole page advert (A4) in ‘Youth Athletics Championship’ which will be available to download from the websites of the South London Borough Councils Leaflets with logo will be given out during the event days (2000 copies) Featuring company name in the press release in local newspapers & “Metro” newspaper 20 minute speech from the representative of the company free tickets to the event (VIP passes) Silver Sponsor Package for Harrogate Spa Water (services in kind) ?

16,750 Logo on t-shirts which will act as a memorabilia of the event Banner(s) on the site throughout the event Stand on the days of the event (point of sale) Mentioning of the sponsor on the websites of the event Leaflets with logo will be given out during the event days (2000 copies) Featuring company name in the press release in local newspapers 5 minute speech from the representative of the company free tickets for the event (VIP passes) Incase both the selected sponsors deny funding, an alternate approach should be used to gather funds.

This approach will be the request to both the sponsors to get non-cash assistance from these corporations (Barbara L. Ciconte, 2008). Since both Adidas and Harrogate are manufacturers and suppliers of goods needed for the event, they can be asked to become the official apparel and water suppliers for the event. This will compensate for the ?12400 for merchandise and the ?7000 needed for water. This will be easier for the companies and will also ease event management for the organizers. This will considerably cut down the amount Adidas and Harrogate will have to pay to fund the event.

Communication plan: “Great relationships between events and sponsors, like any other relationship, are built on a strong foundation of communication, commitment and trust. Smooth working relationships are going to have a strong impact on the sponsor’s decision to renew their contract”(Aguilar-Manjarrez, Thwaites and Maule, 1997). When organising an event it is vital to make sure the sponsors that are engaged in the project get as much out of it as possible; this will benefit both sides and possibly lead to signing of a multiyear contract.

In order to prevent any misunderstandings and fulfill the requirements event manager must provide a strong communication plan. provide updated information to sponsors on week to week basis a week before the event provide updated information to sponsors on day to day basis meet the sponsors few days before the event to confirm the expected outcomes of the sponsorship and adapt certain changes if necessary organise drinks reception in the evening of the opening day Call or Fax the sponsor 2 days before the press release is being sent into the media to make sure it meets all their requirements Provide sponsors with examples of merchandise with their logo on it Involve sponsors in the event by offering them the “judges” position Provide sponsors and their visitors with “special” seating and complimentary goods (snacks & soft drinks) Provide interaction between sponsors and famous athletes invited to the event During the event take photographs of sponsor’s banners and merchandise Take pictures of the sponsor’s employees working and enjoying the event Make sure to thank the sponsors after the event via call and a postcard as event memorabilia Conclusion To conclude, the Youth athletics championship will be conducted in the South London Boroughs and the revenue generated will be spent on the development of the area.

The sponsors for the event are Adidas and Harrogate water and they are expected either to contribute with non-cash contribution of their merchandise and cash or just cash. In return, they get an excellent opportunity for customer relationship management and the indirect promotion of their goods. These companies will first be sent an introductory letter, followed by a custom made proposal and a detailed meeting to finalize sponsorship details. This sponsorship marketing can be described as an indirect form of persuasion since it relies on a complex and fundamentally affective relationship between a consumer and a sponsored property (Crimmins J., 1996). References : Adidas looks to Steven Gerard to inspire teens for 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2011, from www.

brandrepublic.com: http://www.brandrepublic.com/go/sponsorship/article/1030554/adidas-looks-steven-gerrard-inspire-teens-2012/ Barbara L Allen, Johnny et al (2005) Festival & Special Event Management Australia: Wiley . Ciconte, J. G. (2008). Fundraising Basics: A complete guide. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Charles Bal, A. S.-1. (2004). Emotions and Sponsorship Marketing.Toward a Better Understanding of Sponsorship Persuasion Process. University of Adelaide. Crimmins J., H. M. (1996). Sponsorship: from management ego trip to marketing success.

Journal of Advertising Research 36 , 11-20. G. A. J. Bowdin, J. A. (2006). Events managament. Elsevier. Goldblatt, J (2002) Special Events: The Roots and Wings of Celebration USA: Wiley Grey A & Skildum-Reid K (2003) The Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit Sydney: McGraw-Hill Jan-Tony Abrahamsson, T. F. (2003). Sports sponsorship as a marketing communication tool. Lulea university of technology. Masterman, Guy (2007) Sponsorship for a Return on Investment P.G., Q. (1996). Consumers' perception of sponsorship sources.

Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer research , 13-18. Supovitz, Frank (2005) The Sports Event Management & Marketing Playbook USA: Wiley Skinner, B & Rukavina, V (2003) Event Sponsorship What are the different types of sports scholarship. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2011, from www.ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/list_7652165_different-types-event-sponsorships.html