The new 21st century advertising?

Publication: Europe Intelligence Wire

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Financial Times Ltd.

(From Bank Marketing International)

Corporate sponsorship is increasingly becoming the new form of advertising for the 21st century. Financial services providers are waking up to the importance of sponsorship from not just an external communications perspective, but an internal one as well. BMI examines the trends When Barclays Bank committed a massive $156 million to sponsoring football in the UK earlier this year, it was clear that sponsorship had entered a new league of importance in the marketing mix of financial firms.

"The Barclays deal - the biggest ever sponsorship deal by a UK bank - represents just how important sponsorship has become to financial firms," said Anthony Thomson, director of the London-based Financial Services Forum, a consultancy specialising in financial marketing trends and developments. "Such deals are now taking up a bigger part of overall marketing spend." Financial firms - whether it is Bank of America's sponsorship of golf's PGA tour, Axa's link with French football or Visa's Olympic connection - see sponsorship as an increasingly useful and fruitful way of communicating their brand.

And the big guys are not the only ones involved. Local banks, mutual societies, credit unions and building societies are also finding more money from their marketing budgets to back local sports sides, cultural events and community support programmes.

Sponsorship is the new advertising of the 21st century, say the experts, and is...

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