“A title sponsorship is someone who has an immediate brand association at the naming level,” he says. Examples of that would be the Jameson Dublin Film Festival, which has become embedded in how punters refer to the festival: JDiff. Then there is KBC Great Music in Irish Houses and Sky Cat Laughs.
“That generally involves a sponsorship fee and leverage activity by the brand that would be at least a multiple of the investment in the festival. Leverage is all the additional activity outside of the fee for that brand alignment. They may take advertisements in print media, host a series of events, they might do other activities that all cost them money but aren’t included in the sponsorship fee.”
The next level down is a presenting partner. “These may sponsor a specific aspect of the programme,” says Hetherington, citing Dublin Airport Authority’s association with the Dublin Theatre Festival, or Electric Ireland at Electric Picnic. “Then as you move down, you might find partners, typically organisations that have an element of in-kind support that brings kudos to the event.”
Alcohol and other ethical dilemmas
Ethics is one of the key issues around sponsorship, post-economic slump. It’s not suitable for certain corporate sponsors to be engaged with certain family and children’s activities, for example.
“There has been a lot of debate around alcohol sponsorship, fast-food sponsorship, financial services sponsorshsip – whether it’s the right fit for organisations. While there may be a vocal proportion of people who might not like certain sponsorships, lots of the arts organisations that are entering those [deals] are doing so for specific reasons. It enhances the scope of what they can offer their audience.”
It’s difficult to find a festival that doesn’t have alcohol branding on display – Bulmers at Body & Soul, the Bacardi Bar at Electric Picnic, Heineken at Longitude.
Drop Everything on Inisheer in May is an exception. “I think it’s a choice,” says organiser Mary Nally. Events need to know what their ethos is, she believes, “and who you take money from should fit in with that. The bottom line is, if you’re the decision-maker in whatever festival, it should be in line with what your manifesto is. If it isn’t, then the event means less.”
Source: Una Mulally, Irish Times, 18/08/14
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