Know: ‘timing is everything.’

Statler employees and Statler guests, the employee is dead
wrong.”
You can check on the service quality of your organization by be-
coming a customer for a day. Phone your company as if you are a
customer and put some questions to the employee. Go into one of
your stores and try to buy your product. Call about returning a prod-
uct or complaining about it and see how the employee handles it.
You are bound to be disappointed.
Check the smile index of your employees. Remember, “A smile
is the shortest distance between two people.”
(Victor Borge)
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Marketing Insights from A to Z

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ponsorship
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Companies are constantly invited by various groups to sponsor
events, activities, and worthwhile causes. Companies also actively
seek venues where they can get their names before the public. For ex-
ample, Coca-Cola has been a long-term participating sponsor of
Olympic Games, World Cups, Super Bowls, and Academy Awards.
By shelling out large sums of money, Coca-Cola hopes to gain favor-
able public attention and also treat its associates to big-time events.
Companies will put out good money to place their names on
physical facilities such as buildings, universities, and stadiums to keep
their names in the public’s eye. Sometimes this backfires; Houston
had to find a new name for Enron Field.
Companies can sponsor an important cause (such as better eat-
ing, more exercise, regular doctor appointments, saying no to drugs)
in what is called “cause-related marketing.” By partnering with a
cause that many people believe in, the company can enhance its cor-
porate reputation, raise brand awareness, increase customer loyalty,
build sales, and increase favorable press coverage.
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Companies are increasingly borrowing the auras of celebrities to
add radiance to their own names. Celebrities bring high attention to
the brand, add to its credibility, and offer reassurance. Not surprisingly,

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singers, actors, and sports figures stand ready to sell their auras.
Reebok has acquired the aura of Venus Williams ($40 million contract)
and Nike has acquired Tiger Woods’ aura ($100 million contract).
But be careful. PepsiCo borrowed the auras of Michael Jackson,
Mike Tyson, and Madonna, all of which backfired. And Hertz bor-
rowed O. J. Simpson’s aura, only to regret it.
Sponsorship can turn out to be either an expense or an invest-
ment. If the money doesn’t generate increased sales or corporate eq-
uity, then it is an expense. Companies that want to make the
expenditure an investment have to be much more careful in deciding
what to sponsor.
The question is what does a company gain from putting its
name on a stadium, a Formula One racing car, a golf tournament,
or an art show? Does it help the company sell more stuff? Most
companies haven’t really thought through their sponsorships. In
fact, they often start a sponsorship that they continue indefinitely
because of inertia or from their fear of being criticized for dropping
the sponsorship.
If your company is going to sponsor something, make sure that
it is a reasonable and relevant match to your target market and type
of product/service. A good example is Timex’s sponsorship of the
Ironman Triathlon to convey that its watches “take a licking and
keep on ticking.” On the other hand, it wouldn’t make sense for
Nestlé’s baby food division to sponsor a nursing home event.
Make sure that you decide on the objectives you are trying to
achieve with the sponsorship. The money must have a positive impact
on awareness, image, or customer loyalty that somehow turns into
more sales. Ask how much your sales will have to increase to justify
the cost. After each sponsorship, do a postaudit of whether it
achieves the objectives. Granted, it is difficult to measure the value a
company receives from many of its sponsorship dollars. If you find
that it didn’t contribute much value, write it off as philanthropy.
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