Using the 2014 World Cup as an example, the paper explores the benefits and limitations in sponsorship of a global event. We discuss severity versus speed and the internal and external factors, influences, opportunities and potential challenges of event sponsorship and the factors involved in the decision making process. Download the full white paper here - http://tinyurl.com/commercialsponsorship

1. Activation:
Managing the Decision
Making Process
The Commercial
Challenges of
Sponsorship

2. Communications Decisions
The communications landscape has evolved beyond all
recognition. The introduction, and rapid adoption, of social
media and digital technologies has established a real-time,
two-way dialogue between brands and their audiences all
over the world.
Some might argue that it’s an incredible opportunity for
brands to connect with their customers, understand them,
indulge them and drive loyalty beyond their wildest dreams.
But the reality for many brands is that while this presents
great opportunity, it also potentially presents a range of
challenges. After the initial excitement of setting up new
social media channels and working up compelling content
plans, it began to dawn on brands that their social media
ecosystem was more than just an outlet to showcase their
brand; it also became a forum for customers to air their
negative feedback, not to mention a global network via
which undesirable news or views can, and do, spread like
wildfire.
This was the point when marketers, communications
specialists and PR professionals had to step up to the plate
and develop strategies to monitor and protect their brands’
reputations. In the face of a potential crisis, some brands
have responded in a manner that has flipped the odds back
in their favour, while others have not fared so well, being left
with a damaged reputation. The frequency and potential
scope of these threats continues to increase along with the
number of people engaging with them.
The result; brand guardians have a number of different
communications decisions to make on a daily basis.
2
The types of big decisions are varied but can all be plotted,
based on two defining factors:
• The severity of the decision
• The speed with which the decision must be made
Plotted in the graph below are four of the key decisions
based on the two factors outlined above:
► Minor v Instant
► Major v Instant
► Major v Planned
► Flexible
Severity of decision ►
Speed of reaction ►

3. Communications Decisions
Severity versus speed
These decisions can also be described in the following
ways:
► Minor v Instant: reacting to an incident in real-time,
via social media, as a means of generating brand
awareness and conversation
► Major v Instant: reacting to an incident in real-time,
the outcome of which may have important
consequences for the brand and its communications
strategy
► Major v Planned: development of a full brand
communications strategy
► Flexible: overcoming marketing, social, political and
economic factors during the implementation and delivery
period of a brand communications strategy
While these decisions make a good framework, in reality
there are an infinite number of points that can be plotted on
this graph and, by default, an infinite number of decisions
that will require careful consideration.
The nature of each decision will clearly be different
depending on the context within which it exists, consisting
of the brand, the activities that are taking place, as well as
the behaviour and reaction of external and intended
audiences.
3
The social landscape
In fact, in the context of the ‘social ecosystem’ there exists
an ever-changing backdrop to everything a brand does,
presenting a minefield of internal and external factors,
influences, opportunities and potential challenges.
For example:
► Real-time
Thanks to the ‘always-on’ social landscape in which
we now live, brands face an increasing demand on
their time and, therefore, an increasing need to react
with immediacy – their stakeholders expect nothing
less. With this in mind, brands must keep pace with
the day-to-day and moment to moment
conversations generated by external audiences
► Political/Social/Economical factors
It has never been more important for brands to be
aware of what is happening in the world outside of
their own activity, in order to take advantage of new
opportunities and also protect their integrity and
reputation against new threats. Failure to do so means
brands risk being mocked and exposed
instantaneously – to potentially devastating
consequences
► Brand defence
With ambush marketers benefitting from the rise in
social and digital channels and the speed to market
their own strategies can achieve, brand awareness of
these actions must be combined with a means of
defense
Social media has created a public platform for people to
voice their opinion; it actively encourages people to share
their thoughts and views, creating a window on how things
can, and do, play out with wider audiences.
There is a lot of talk of social listening, actionable insight and
social being ‘two-way’, but what is the reality and practicality
of using social and audience insight, be it from real-time
surveys or social media analysis, to make communications
decisions?

4. Activating Social Sponsorship
To illustrate the point using a real-life example, let’s consider
each of the four communications decisions in the context of
the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which brand sponsors, and
non-sponsors, invested in heavily. During a key event such
as this, brands are faced with a multitude of communications
decisions based on the ‘severity vs. speed’ model, as
follows:
► Minor v Instant
Luis Suarez’s bite on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini
captured the attention of the world’s media and became
one of the most talked about topics in social media in
sporting history. It created the perfect opportunity for
brands, unaffiliated to the World Cup, to react powerfully
through the immediacy of social channels, and react they
did! But how did brands choose whether to react or not,
the stance they should take and the impact it may have on
their audiences?
evidence
A survey of UK consumers conducted by Gorkana
Group revealed 36% of people changed the way they
perceive brands associated with Suarez following the
incident. Insight such as this provides a snapshot of the
social conversation and informs brands that not
everyone found this to be a laughing matter.
4
SNICKERS®
@SNICKERS
Hey @luis16suarez. Next
time you’re hungry just grab
a Snickers. #worldcup
#luissuarez#EatASNICKERS
action
This is a pivotal moment for non-sponsors to decide
how best to react to an incident of any sort – or even to
react at all. Obviously humour can backfire if a
company fails to sense the tone and shares a joke with
an unappreciative audience, but how can brands
understand consumer perception of an incident such
as ‘the bite’? Quite simply, ask them! A quick fire survey
tool that provides rapid responses will arm brands with
valuable insight on the attitudes of their target
audience, so big decisions around communication and
partnerships can be tailored accordingly.

5. About Gorkana Group
Gorkana Group is the market leader in global media
intelligence and connects brand owners and
organisations to critical information and insight to
help them control and manage their reputation
across all media platforms. In today’s fast-paced
media landscape, Gorkana’s unique blend of smart
technology and bright analysts give its clients a clear
competitive advantage.
With offices in London and New York, Gorkana
provides a global media database and monitoring
service with content analysed from over 150
countries in more than 50 languages. This is why
35,000 communication professionals rely on
Gorkana every day.