The Industry Column – 6 December

Grassroots sport is all the rage among sponsors as events such as the
School Sport Matters Awards can testify. Stuart Wareman, account director at MEC
Sponsorship which helped pull together the Awards, explains why corporate social
responsibility is all brands are thinking about.

‘Today sees the 2nd School Sport Matters Awards hosted by the Daily Telegraph
and Norwich Union to recognize and reward achievement and best practice in
schools across the UK.  It is a unique campaign which has been a true
collaborative approach between two companies with proven track records in
championing school sport.

The joint initiative we negotiated in early 2005 had the full backing of all
editorial staff within the Telegraph and this support was crucial since a
commercial deal alone would not have been as effective.

The campaign has delivered double page spreads, weekly columns and
supplements to provide Norwich Union with a regular national platform to
communicate the fact that it is one of the biggest investors in grassroots
sport, while the Daily Telegraph has been able to position itself as the
authority in school sport, as well as widen its appeal to younger readers.

Since London won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012,
many brands have been seeking grassroots sponsorships to position themselves
alongside LOCOG and the Government’s agenda of boosting participation rates and
helping identify and nurture future Olympians.

Such activity will only increase as companies are wanting to show consumers
and stakeholders that they are good corporate citizens and are ‘giving something
back’ but this must be more than just a token gesture.  In today’s cynical
world, success at this level depends on credibility and long-term commitment and
not necessarily short-term sales promotions. 

Brands can gain massively in consumer goodwill and use such sponsorship to
access government and other key opinion formers, but the real commercial
benefits will come in the long term. 

MEC MediaLab’s study in 2003 revealed that the proportion of consumers who
believe that a company’s social responsibility is VERY important nearly doubled
from 1998 to 2002 (28% to 44%) and this sentiment is already being reflected in
sales figures with active boycotts of companies who are perceived to be morally
questionable on certain issues.

One example of this was Cadbury’s Get Active campaign in 2003 which led to
schools across the country boycotting the token collect scheme.

However both Norwich Union and the Daily Telegraph have been ‘doing it right’
for some time now and have consequently built up unparalleled credibility in
grassroots sport. This will stand both brands in good stead for the future as we
near 2012 and is a reason why this afternoon will see sporting greats and
leading politicians lend their support to such a worthy cause.’