Advertising and promotion leverage on arts sponsorship effectiveness

Abstract

Using an experimental approach, the returns achieved by three sponsors of the 1998 Adelaide Festival of the Arts are examined. Using a before-and-after design with a control group, a mail survey measured the change in attitudes to, and awareness of, three particular sponsors and their sponsorship efforts, by members of the audience who attended one of these sponsored events, and corresponding results for a non-attending control group. Results showed conclusively that sponsorship effectiveness is directly related to the degree to which the sponsors are willing to leverage their investment with additional advertising and promotional activities and expenditure.