The relationship between
corporate sponsorships and sporting events is as old as sporting events in the
twentieth century. Sports being the best metaphor for life, people are
naturally drawn to sports and sporting events. The advent of television gave a
big boost to sports and hence corporate sponsorship of sporting events.
Football, Baseball and
Basketball being the most popular sports in Europe and the United States of
America, it is only natural that corporate America, would vie with each other
to corral a larger portion of the sponsorship pie. For example, sponsorships
were 7.8% ofthe advertising budget in 1985, and increased to 13.9% in 2006 (source
BMI Sport info).Coca-Cola shelled out $40 million as the official sponsor of
1996 Olympic Games and $500 million to maintain the primary sponsor status.
When NEC dropped out of sponsorship of the 2004 PGA tour, Bridgestone took
their place and used the event to promote Bridgestone Golf.
Corporate Sponsorship of sports
has gone beyond billboards and T-shirts emblazoned with the team’s logos.
Corporates are giving away small promotional items with their company logos and
taglines printed on them to select fans, at such events. These items are
smaller in number and create a feeling of exclusivity to the recipient. This
increases the emotional connect with the brand and word-of-mouth marketing from
delighted fans.
One such popular giveaway in
recent times has been foam sports-balls. Made of either dense or soft foam,
these balls are designed to look exactly like a real baseball, basketball,
footballs, or golf ball. In fact, foam footballs have also been used in matches
instead of the game football as they are considered safer in case of fans in
the stand being hit by the ball. Such foam sports-balls have been used in
different events and for different reasons. For one, they grab attention with
the bright coloring of the company logo and secondly, they last longer than
mugs, T-shirts or bags that get damaged or replaced easily.
- Soft Foam Football: Best suited for rallies or sports banquets. It can also be sold in college bookstores or in the stadium on the game day. Can be used as one of the elements in a national or regional promotional campaign.
- Soft Foam Basketballs: Best suited for corporate sponsoring a particular team. The ball with the winning team’s logo makes for a great memento. They pop up in college dorms and position the school or university as sport loving.
- Dense Foam Baseballs: These make for a great promotional giveawayat school, college, or university tournaments.
- Large-sized, dense-foam Footballs: The larger than normal (game) size makes these a standout at parties and football events. They also make for a gift item for children and adults alike.
- Dense Foam micro Baseballs: These are cost-effective yet eye-catching promotional tools that can be giveaways at any tournaments as a gift to young people.
- Dense Foam Basketballs: Ideal giveaway at games, or best used for product launches.
- Dense Foam Soccer Balls; These come in a wide variety of colors and make for a great giveaway or gift to people of all ages.
- Dense Foam mini Basketballs: These are popular gifts exchanged at summer camps, organized by the school or by the boy/girl scouts.
Foam sports-balls are a lot less intrusive than television
ads and are more effective in reaching specific segments of viewers - the
ardent sports fan. This segment is only growing and represents a great
opportunity for marketers.
HillView’s printing expertise makes us a partner of choice
for corporate companies looking at innovative printing solutions for all kinds
of paraphernalia including foam sports-balls.
