Sponsors Need Awareness

I had a hectic time on Friday and missed the opportunity to publish. One crucial decision to write today is my absence until this week on a conference.

Over the last two weeks I watched with awe the talent in the high schools through two tournaments in the target market. The skill depicted in the game of basketball is art. How it is done must be the questions raised by the sports scientists.

Although there is immense talent, there is no more funding to basketball which will advance the pedigree of the sport. Engen Petroleum Company ended their partnership with BasketballSA earlier in the year. On observation, the termination of the sponsorship was due to the inability of the Federation to meet its obligations to the sponsor. The sponsor want the maximum exposure as possible which they could not get. The Engen Advertisement that ran on television advertising basketball was late. There could have been a marketing strategy to enhance the sponsors earlier in the partnership. But the authorities relied on their own knowledge and ignored the public awareness the Engen needed. This must be a lesson to the authorities that when a sponsor put in so much money, a budget for the marketing mix must be put aside from that money. The sponsors must be well catered from the money that they give out. The sponsor cannot put away money that was not budgeted for, to promote the code which is responsible for promoting them.

As an example, the chunk of the money given to the Premier Soccer League goes into advertising. The broadcaster in turn give the PSL a discount on the placement of the advertisements on radio and television. These ads are produced by the agencies on behalf of the sponsors, where the agency will be commissioned to place the ad on behalf of the PSL.

Sponsorships are a tactical means for a company to create an interest from the public. Over the last few years this money has increased sharply because it is a cheaper way for companies to let the public know about them.

When BasketballSA overlooked their responsibilities, little did they know that they were pushing the sponsor away from them.

Sports is a business and must be conducted that way. There are no sentiments in business but the facts that will make organisations grow.

It is unfortunate that the high school basketball had to suffer through the Federation and individuals in the schools sport all in one year.

But as business people will point out, if a business can go through a recession, they will make bigger profits thereafter. In the same way, basketball seem to be getting better through participation in tournaments such as these. Once the sponsorship hit the ceiling in soccer, basketball will be the alternative to give sponsors the best of their returns.