Quick creation of notoriety due to a multiplication of press coverage Positive impact on the if the operation is well chosen (communicated value transfer) Personal contacts with various partners Speculative with the effects that may be negative Difficulty to measure effects that are potentially not manageable Actions are often punctual, not enough long term vision Figure 4: Sponsorship advantages/Inconveniences Source - Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions. Psychology & Marketing, 18 (2) 1.2. The of sponsorship As described earlier, the field of action for sponsorship is almost unlimited. However we can classify the various areas of sponsorship as follows: Sports – the most representative area in terms of sponsorship Culture – not as highly represented as sports, but it remains an interesting opportunity for sponsors Scientific, technical and educational events – mainly explored by companies having the same profile Social and humanitarian causes - a “must do” in corporate sponsorship strategy 1.3. Corporate sponsorship overview
Florence Baranes Cohen explains that the company became the Tour’s official sponsor in 1992. The reasoning behind this decision was that at the time being, the company was not very well performing in terms of communication and as cycling and the Tour de France is a part of the country’s identity, the previous management decided to invest in it. “It was and continues to be a sport in which the gains in term of awareness are very strong. Its large coverage by the press gives us a significant visibility”. According to Bolotny, an expert at the Center of law and sports economy in Limoges, and his study published in 2010, The Tour de France is the worldwide sports event that has the strongest live audience (15 million live spectators in the last year), compared to the World Football Cup, which brings together 3 or 4 million people on the stadiums. Thus, it has a very strong proximity to the public that increase its attractiveness. Its power resides also in the memorizing. A “reminiscence” says Frederic Bolotny, that remains in the memory of people over the years. According to the author, “the sponsoring business will always be extremely flourishing”. Florence Baranes also declaires that the new management decided to hold on to the partnership with the Tour de France, as “it bring numerous advantages both for the company’s image and sales”. Regarding future perspectives, according to Baranes, “cycling will always be a very attractive sport, due to the good return that it generates to the investments and brand image and Carrefour certainly counts on continuing its collaboration ”. 2.4. Carrefour and the Tour de France In February 1992, Carrefour made its entrance in the club of the major partners of the Tour de France. For a contribution of 4 to 4.5 million Euros (amount mentioned by Marylene Rofidal during the interview on the 15.08.2011), the group joined after its merger with Champion, the Credit of Lyon, Fiat (replaced by Skoda nowadays) and Nestle as an official sponsor. Optimism was set at the beginning of the collaboration: “Carrefour is an international brand having local history. I am sure that this will be a very important step for the business and strategy in the