Sport Sponsorship, Internal Communications, and

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2008, 1, 413-423
© 2008 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Sport Sponsorship, Internal
Communications, and Human Resource
Management: An Exploratory Assessment
of Potential Future Research
Lilian Pichot and Gary Tribou
University of Strasbourg, France
Norm O’Reilly
Laurentian University, Canada
Successful sponsorship activities in sport often rely on the integration of relationship
marketing, internal marketing, external corporate promotion, and strategic management. Although traditional marketing objectives such as brand integration and consumer targeting remain key components of promotional activities in sport, the use of
sport sponsorship in today’s environment increasingly implicates personnel issues in
the both the sponsor and the sponsee. In fact, sport sponsorship has become a useful
tool for some sponsors and sponsees who seek to motivate and involve their employees more in company activities. Therefore, the focus of this commentary is on the
internal-communication and human-resources management functions involved in
sport sponsorship decisions. The use of mini-case analyses and a dual-perspective
(external and internal objectives) approach allows for informed discussion, and suggestions are made for future research.
Keywords: internal communication
An investment, in general, is never risk free and is evaluated with respect to
alternative investments. The same is true of investments in the sponsorship of a
sporting event, in which risk outcomes range from very negative (e.g., shipwreck,
car crash) to highly successful (e.g., achievement of specific marketing objectives,
victory; O’Reilly & Foster, in press). Sponsorship evaluation must also include
consideration of the fact that the committed resources could have been invested in
another business operation, including human resources (O’Reilly, 2007). In fact,
for the employees and managers of the sponsor, a sponsorship investment might
replace the hiring of additional staff or increases in salary or bonuses for current
Pichot and Tribou are with the Research Team on the Social Science of Sport, University of Strasbourg,
Strasbourg, France. O’Reilly is with the School of Sports Administration, Laurentian University,
Sudbury, Canada.
413
414 Pichot, Tribou, and O’Reilly
staff. Clearly, the “buy in” of staff to a large sponsorship investment is a necessary
step for a sponsor because a failure to involve or motivate personnel could lead to
latent social conflict (i.e., absenteeism, laxity, and high turnover) and negatively
affect employees (Walliser, 2003). Moreover, the sponsor must also involve its
external stakeholders—communities, banks, suppliers, distributors, and so on—to
maintain trust in these relationships (i.e., can the partner trust a company spending
such resources in this way?; Cheng & Stotlar, 1999). Consequently, a sponsor
must seek approval from not only its staff but also its external relationships, as
well as highlight the importance of the image value transfer to both the internal
and external audiences (Grimes & Meenaghan, 1998).
Sponsorship is a communication tool that marketers consider along with
other tools such as advertising, sales promotions, or direct selling. In certain situations, sponsorship is considered an advantageous choice because it often enables
specific targeting, clear brand positioning, and the ability to market through a cluttered environment (Séguin & O’Reilly, 2008). Sport sponsorship is a global communication technique that aims to persuade spectators—both in stadium and via
the media—that there is a link between the sport sponsee (event, or a team or individual engaged in the event) and the sponsor. The sponsor’s purpose involves
marketing objectives such as the creation of brand and product awareness, sales or
purchase intentions, or to build brand equity through the image transfer of sport
value to the sponsor through the association promoted via the sponsorship (Derbaix, Gérard, & Lardinoit, 1994; Meenaghan, 1991, 2001; Quester, 1997; Tribou,
2007). It is the position of this research that a more formal role for internal marketing outcomes (e.g., motivating employees) in sport sponsorship be taken,
alongside its external goals, to improve its overall effectiveness as a global communication tool (Cégarra, 1994). Furthermore, a coherent positioning of the sponsorship both internally (employees) and externally (customers and other stakeholders) should not be neglected; it enables the sport sponsorship to complement
its sales perspective with the fulfillment of internal-communication and humanresources management functions (Boltanski & Chiappello, 1999). If the sport
sponsorship seeks to build purchase intention and increase consumer desire for
the product of interest (Seguin, Lyberger, O’Reilly, & McCarthy, 2005), the organizations involved must also communicate internally with their staff and effectively manage all their human resources.
Background, Minicases, and Relevant Literature
Brand Positioning
A consumer’s behavior is not only utilitarian but also based on symbolic representations of products and brands (Baudrillard, 1970). Because sport plays an important role in Western society, it constitutes a powerful reservoir of symbols for
companies to draw on—or position their products and brands—to reach consumer
groups (Ohl & Tribou, 2004). To position a brand means to give it an identity that
will distinguish it from competitor brands and bring it to the attention of the target
markets (Trout & Rivkin, 1997). For many products, however, finding points of
differentiation in the product itself or its uses is often challenging. For example,
Sport Sponsorship, Internal Communications, and HR Management 415
the many brands of spring water possess almost identical products (water) with
similar packaging; the products are almost identical (except to some experts,
maybe) and the packaging is quite similar, rendering sponsorship as a potential
tool to distinguish (reposition) a brand. To illustrate, one brand of spring water
could be associated with tennis and its upper class, individualistic values (e.g.,
Perrier), whereas another brand could be associated with football—the world’s
most popular sport—to pursue mainstream markets (e.g., Volvic).
Positioning is generally accompanied by a targeted objective for a particular
segment of consumers. Often, these segments will include persuasive opinion
leaders. In France, for example, younger consumers are known to have little loyalty to brands, forcing marketers to adapt their brand strategies to avoid kids under
12 years of age, whose consumption is more and more autonomous, to target both
(a) middle school and high school students (age 12–18), whose buying power is
weak but who have high interest in powerful and symbolic brands, and (b) 18- to
25-year-olds who want to express their own personal differences in the brands
they consume (Ohl, 2003; Tribou, 1999). Sponsorship can be the tool of choice
here because it allows a youth-focused brand (e.g., video games, cell phones) to
target and position its message to one or more select segments of prospective consumers (Ohl & Tribou, 2004; Séguin & O’Reilly, 2008).
Sport-Event Proximity
The question of proximity to the sport audience is an important consideration for
the brands of sponsors who have no direct relationship with the sport sponsee
(e.g., manufacturing firms, finance organizations, information-technology companies) because sponsors who are sport brands (e.g., Nike, Adidas) are able to build
a legitimate association with specific sports such as basketball or football (McDaniel, 1999). Consequently, nonsport brands can adopt sport sponsorship as a means
to build these associations, develop legitimacy, and increase their proximity to
sport. Researchers recommend that such brands focus on enhancing their visibility and providing prospective consumers with experiential opportunities via an
integrated mix of specifically targeted complementary actions to reinforce efficiency and increase proximity to the consumer in an effort to gain customer loyalty (Hallberg, 1995).
This approach is often dubbed differentiated marketing (Hallberg, 1995),
which was developed in contrast to mass-marketing tactics (Schultz, Tannenbaum,
& Lauterborn, 1994). The practice of using all elements of the communications
mix with event promotions (e.g., sport sponsorship) to increase efficiency refers
to the theory known as the encoding variation (Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991). This
theory assumes that the association of several communication tactics (e.g., press
releases, television, radio, Internet, publicity, cinema) in various contexts at different times (e.g., follow-up of the event live on television, reading an article in
the press the next day, follow-up summary on television several days later, consulting a sport Web site, discovering a sponsor’s store promotion) enhances the
impact of the communication through increased stimuli leading to increased cognition by the target. This, in turn, increases the chances of selecting the brand for
purchase, although the cost implications of multiple communication tactics must
be considered (Unnava & Burnkrant).
416 Pichot, Tribou, and O’Reilly
Brand Proximity
Another important sponsor objective is to bring the brand closer to its target
market in an effort to develop brand proximity, rather than brand notoriety. This
distinction is best illustrated by considering the world’s best-known brands (e.g.,
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas), of whom the majority of the world’s population
is aware but whose objective is no longer notoriety but to build proximity (and
eventually loyalty) in their customers. For example, the French telecommunications company Neuf Telecom is the title sponsor of the French football (soccer)
club Olympique de Marseille and is attempting to build proximity to the supporters of the club and build a relationship with the fans (Lardinoit, 2001). According
to the BVA Sport Institute, only 25% of Olympique de Marseille supporters are
Neuf Telecom customers—showing some but limited success.
At a sporting event, spectators’ motivation derives from their emotional
attachment to the team, the sport, and/or the players (Pons, Laroche, Nyeck, &
Perreault, 2001), wherein the entertainment value of a “great show” (athletic performances, sport, media commentary, animation, cheerleading, etc.) enhances the
spectator experience. Should the show be poor, however (lop-sided event, poor
facility, etc.), a negative emotional fan reaction can result, although this risk is
mitigated if high levels of proximity are achieved and sponsors can take advantage
of the emotion to collect profit for the brand (Walliser, 1996). This does not always
result a rational consumer decision, because loyalty to a sport brand is linked to
emotion and passion.
Feeling for the Brand
To further explore the role of emotion in sport sponsorship, we can look to sensitivity theories, which are based on the idea that for fan behavior to change, emotional influences, as opposed to cognitive ones, must be present (Zajonc, 1968).
Bagozzi (1980) applied this view to consumer behavior to explain the well-known
fact in promotional advertising that consumers are sensitive to emotional speeches.
In sponsorship, this view would take the position that the public will not be interested in the sponsor and its products until it feels sympathy (emotion) for them
(Tribou, 2007), which, in turn, leads to cognitive interest. It is important to note,
however, that the marketing efforts around brand feeling do not necessarily require
high-volume campaigns, as noted by Krugman (1965), whose “minimal involvement” theory notes that consumers’ emotional feelings toward a brand can be
reinforced, even enhanced, through weak messages. If we adopt our spring-water
example again to illustrate, when consumers typically select a brand based on an
impulsive (available) or irrational (my favorite athlete drinks it, so will I) choice,
a subtle or simple message (e.g., product placement as part of a sponsorship, in
which a top athlete or celebrity is seen drinking the brand) can be very effective.
The literature provides us with three key factors in creating positive feelings
in consumers’ minds for a sponsor’s brand. First, it is known that a similarity
effect might encourage an emotional impulse (e.g., “Tiger Woods drives this brand
of car, I’m like—or want to be like—Tiger; therefore I’m getting the same car”;
Byrne, 1971). The similarity can involve physical appearance, public opinions,
lifestyle, or values (e.g., loyalty, effort), wherein building the association through
Sport Sponsorship, Internal Communications, and HR Management 417
the athlete’s personal life, and not just his or her sporting exploits, is recommended
to sponsors because consumers can more easily identify with such traits. Second,
the repetition effect can reinforce emotional attachments through familiarity
(Zajonc, 1968); repeating a message to build emotional attachment to the sponsee
is effective, provided the message is communicated over time and at a reasonable
dose. Third, the impact of a highly emotional sporting event or moment is very
powerful (Lardinoit, 2001) because a remarkable sporting achievement (e.g., new
world record, championship upset) can reach beyond sport fans to mass markets.
In this regard, both the sponsor and the sponsee (event) need to be prepared (i.e.,
trained commentators, media presence, athlete support, technology) for a remarkable moment to maximize its benefit (O’Reilly & Foster, in press). Note that each
of these three factors (similarity, repetition, and moments) can be adopted by
sponsors to achieve internal marketing objectives by selecting properties that
match with the organizational culture (similarity), diffusing messages in an appropriate volume (repetition), and being prepared for a remarkable moment, such as
if the sponsee captures a gold medal or a championship.
Sponsees as Partners
When a corporation determines that it wants to use sponsorship to achieve external or internal marketing objectives, selecting the property in which to invest is
important. Externally, the selection of a partner seeks, in the end, to increase sales
(Crompton, 2004), and internally, relationships, company pride, and employee
motivation are the typical objectives. In both cases, the sponsorship’s influence on
the sponsor’s image—through association with the selected sponsee—is an important antecedent, in which the sought effect on the sponsor’s image concerns several internal (employees, sales force, management) and external targets (clients,
suppliers, prospects; Benveniste & Piquet, 2002; Nguyen-Thanh, 1991). Internally, the sponsor might seek, via internal communications management, to motivate its own resources—its sales force and distribution network (sales network,
dealers, independent agents) directly involved in the communications process—as
well as its “passive” employees, who are more or less affected by sponsorship on
a day-to-day basis (Meenaghan, 1999). The sponsor seeks to position itself as a
responsible civic organization (d’Almeïda, 1995; Boneu, 1990). The selection of
a sport sponsee as a partner provides additional benefit because sport constitutes
“a pedagogical potential in which the firm draws on its vocabulary, its beliefs, and
its personal and professional development techniques” (Piquet, 1998, p. 68),
which enables the sponsor through the resulting sport sponsorship to better mobilize and motivate company resources.
Being a good corporate citizen with an accompanying social image has been
important for organizations for over 20 years (Hébert, 1987; Marion, 1989; Westphalen, 1994). In France, for example, the early 1980s was a time when corporations were called on to maintain more stringent regulations and serve society
(Sainsaulieu, 1992). Companies responded with action and promoting their partnership actions to be visible and, in turn, to obtain legitimacy from employees and
the general public through developing a synergy of internal and external communications actions (Pichot, 1999). This typically involves the dual message of social
responsibility or civic duty and the pursuit of a profitable enterprise (Laufer &
418 Pichot, Tribou, and O’Reilly
Burlaud, 1980). For example, the France-based insurance company, Caisse
d’Epargne, adopted a new communications policy (both internal and external) to
change its image to be seen as a good corporate citizen (Pichot, 2001) by supporting the French Athletic Federation in educating youth and identifying young talent
in the field of athletics.
Management Functions of Communication
and Human Resources in Sport Sponsorship
Internal communication strategies seek to achieve a number of objectives,
including explaining a company’s plans for the future to its employees (Westphalen,
1994). This commentary takes the view that sport sponsorship could be an effective
means to develop and optimize these internal communications as part of an
integrated internal marketing approach that seeks to balance employee needs with
firm objectives (Bellemare, 1999; Seignour & Dubois, 1999). For example, La
Poste, a government-owned corporation, maintained its sponsorship of the French
Cycling Federation (to develop the sport of mountain biking) after a session with
its employees in the mid-1990s. In addition to other objectives, the sponsorship of
La Poste sought to reduce the gap between employees’ perceptions of the company
and its communications and management practices. A second example involves
Würth France, a manufacturer that sponsored the professional football club of
Strasbourg. Würth France invited representatives from all its employee groups to
attend matches and enjoy the hospitality usually reserved for senior decision
makers. Yonnet (1998) argues that in these situations, sport is being used as a
metaphor to symbolize solidarity in the work environment, wherein the collective
goal is to succeed and at the same time grandiosely implement equality.
Thus, we ask, what conditions would allow for a sport sponsorship to effectively promote internally to all staff? Intuitively, several possibilities are available
to the sponsor to achieve its internal objectives with the use of sport sponsorship.
These include (a) involving staff members directly in the sponsorship, (b) encouraging all staff to participate in the sponsorship outside of normal work hours, (c)
organizing company teams to participate in the sponsored event (e.g., Dragon
Boat team, relay team in cycling race), (d) implementing a public relations campaign concurrent to the sponsorship to involve decentralized units in the partnership, and (e) leveraging the sponsorship to recruit new talent to the organization.
Clearly, sport sponsorship should be considered an integral element of internal communications planning. The partnership between Steelcase, a worldwide
office-furniture provider, and the professional football (soccer) club of Strasbourg,
France, provides a good example. Recently, the company sought to develop its
brand image and be considered an important player in its regional market. As part
of the sponsorship, Steelcase management negotiated the purchase of large blocks
of tickets to Strasbourg’s matches around France for their employees and clients.
The sponsorship also involved the discounted sale of team jerseys bearing the
company’s logo and the organization of football (soccer) games among key partners and stakeholders of Steelcase. These activities enable Steelcase to build or
enhance key relationships. A second example, EBC Informatique, a France-based
information-technology organization that sponsors the Courrier Sud long-distance
Sport Sponsorship, Internal Communications, and HR Management 419
rally in the Moroccan desert, leverages its sponsorship by entering two teams of
five individuals (athletes and adventurous partners) in the competition. The progress of these teams and the rally is communicated to all employees during and
after the event.
Related Literature
The literature provides some important foundations for this commentary. Fuchs
(1995) has presented the internal benefits of sports sponsorship as a function of
three intertwined systems in which the sponsor is concerned with engaging its
staff, achieving marketing objectives, and supporting the sponsee. In the case of a
sport sponsee, the sport attachment is an important component of the sponsor’s
communication mix (Pichot, 2000). For example, organizations in France might
select cycling-based sponsees (teams, athletes, or events) because of the strong
connection that many French citizens have with the sport. Second, sponsorship
actions for internal purposes might be embedded in a “culture within the network”
strategy in which relationships with employees and other partners might be
enhanced (Bartoli, 1990). In the case of sport sponsorship, these relationships via
sport “become potential working relationships, a kind of social fabric that is a
source or reactivity in favor of information exchange” (Burlot, 2001, p. 191).
These new relationships established during the sporting get-togethers could later
be used firsthand in the professional world to disseminate information relative to
the job and the company (Burlot, 2000, 2005). Moreover, the relationships at work
established thanks to the company’s involvement in sport can allow the internalization of the company’s organizational structure and improved employee morale
(Burlot, 2005). Third, in the context of the work of Crozier (1991), sport sponsorship can be a useful tool to motivate employees in a decentralized company. To
illustrate this, the sponsorship by the Azur Assurances professional football
(soccer) teams not only allowed the operation of a network of salespeople and
general agents within the regional management and an understanding of their
company’s organization but also facilitated meetings between the “best” clients
and the local regional notaries, to woo them, and to generate profit through the
organization of public relations. Fourth, the external communication achieved
through sport sponsorship might be a means to maintain internal cohesion at a
time of restructuring or change of management (Pichot, 2007). For example,
Steelcase adopted its corporate promotion policy based on the production sites
restructuring and downsizing. The management carried out sales operations to
allow its agents in the network to “invite their best clients and prospects to develop
public relations and create business leads” (H. Babok, personal communication,
April 8, 2005). Fifth, intercultural management (Bosche, 1993; Chevrier, 2000;
Dortier, 1998) concerns mainly multinational businesses in which business units
of different countries and cultures are joined together. The interdepartmental communication might cement employee relationships via sport by focusing on communication actions targeting the national entities as a whole. Sport sponsorship is
a way to communicate a positive corporate image to both multinational clients
and company staff. Würth France’s director of operations, who sponsors professional clubs, notes,
420 Pichot, Tribou, and O’Reilly
Our partnership allows us to display to our multinational clients a corporate
image of standardized customer service worldwide. This is why we gradually
created a brand in all our markets; our seized business opportunity will allow
us to clearly develop our brand image. (C. Herter, personal communication,
February 12, 2007)
In sponsorship, the organizations involved communicate the values of the
sport that they wish to be associated with. This is done by a variety of tactics
including opinions of leaders (sport stars, successful sport managers) and employee
involvement. In the case of staff, they expect recognition as part of the exchange
(Piquet, 1998), which links the sponsor and the sponsee through the association—
this practice has been termed potlatch by Mauss (1983). Indeed, the sponsor and
the sponsee enter into an alliance in which they commit themselves to each other
and exchange products in an “orchestrated form of communication” (Winkin,
1981). It is this that makes sponsorship unique, when, as noted by Piliavin and
Charng (1990), the sponsorship might be justified by its charitable rationale when
employees feel pride in the company’s sponsorship endeavors. With sport partnerships, the produced symbols are decoded by the employees via an exchange
between their passions and the organizational context (Ramanantsoa & ThieryBasle, 1989). A portfolio of sport sponsorships over time thus leads to a sponsor
developing, in part, its identity through the association with the sponsees and via
the involvement of employees and other stakeholders. In other words, the sponsor’s identity, as noted by Marion (1989), integrates “the registered image” (i.e., a
set of opinions and collective performance by the company’s actors) in addition to
the “broadcasted image” (i.e., ideas conveyed in speeches and associated with the
company). Employees participate either directly within the scope of their professional lives or indirectly through their external discourses. Several angles are considered (Kapferer, 1998), including the sponsor’s objective characteristics (related
to the sponsor’s core competencies, business, products, markets, results, and
means) and the sponsor’s subjective characteristics (related to the sponsor’s image,
the nature of its relationships with its public, its values, the dominant imagination
it conveys, and its effects on its relationships with the client or the consumer).
Clearly, the feelings expressed about the sponsor in and outside the organization
make up an integral part of the sponsor’s identity.
Concluding Remarks
All things considered, a company’s strategy to use a sports approach, aiming to
connect both internal and external communications, starts with the idea that external perception is mainly based on information communicated by employees.
External perceptions of the company influence both the employee–company relationship and relationships between employees. From that point of view, sports
sponsorship, as both an internal and external communications tool, can be viewed
as a critical component of management strategy. When viewed in the context of
increasingly dense networks of internal and external stakeholders, sponsorship
might be adopted as a relationship-marketing tool. Sport sponsorship’s attractiveness in this regard resides in its ability to promote the company at various interrelated organizational levels, whether micro, meso, or macro, using the emotional
connections to sport.
Sport Sponsorship, Internal Communications, and HR Management 421
Acknowledgments
The authors recognize the contributions of Stella Goldenberg to this article. The support of
the International Journal of Sport Communication’s editor and reviewers is also noted.
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