Sponsorship goes beyond MONEY...

In 2006, the O2 spent an estimated £2m on music sponsorship and reportedly increased its funding by a further £7m as it reopened the O2.

"Certain brands just want their logo on events, but we do as much as we can to enhance the music experience," says O2's Samuels.

"Many sponsors see their involvement as a two-way partnership ... adding value to an event by providing cold beer, offering priority tickets, promoting new talent and opening up music to a wider audience."

Music events and Sponsorship, how do they work?

Previous studies have shown that, sponsorship's' music event sponsor and event congruence influence attitude towards the sponsor, brand awareness and purchasing intentions (Grohs et al, 2004 ; Gwinner and Eaton, 1999; Speed and Thomson, 2000).

Therefore, for the two businesses (music events and potential sponsors) to be successful and have a positive impact on one another, the similarity between the two is extremely important and McDaniel (1999) stated;

“Sponsor and event fit can support the brand to reach its target market and instigate the effective associations"

Therefore, sponsors should seriously consider if their brand image is relevant and connects to the event in question for them to achieve an effective promotion of their products. Along with the research conducted by the authours of “Sponsorship in music festivals can influence the beliefs of the participants” results showed that fan involvement encouraged both the attitude toward towards the event, sponsors and their purchasing intentions, concluding that highly involved fans are increasingly more likely to buy the products and think positively of the music event. This research was also supported by Previous studies resulting in similar results (Alexandris et al, 2007; Bennett, 1999 ; D’Astous and Bitz, 1995; Dees et al, 2008; Fisher and Wakefield, 1998; Meenaghan, 2001; Schurr et al, 1988; Smith et al, 2008; Wann and Branscombe, 1993). “Fans can share the same values as supporters of a team or an event and this strengthens the feeling of unity among them (Wann & Branscombe, 1995).”

"Thus, an indiviudal who is more involved in the event that he attends can comprehend the values of the event and associate these values to the sponsor of the event." (Meenaghan, 2001)

So, over all, research has proven that yea, highly involved fans, who attend more music events and with like-minded business' going into partnerships (eg; NASS and Relentless) fans are more willing to spend more on tickets and products, and not only this but they will also remain loyal to the companies in 'question'. (Smith, et al, 2008)

Partners in business

So, the music awards! Why the big hype and how are they still successful? I mean the exclusivity has almost completely vanished due to the impacts of technology, and music artists are on every billboard, incorporating their music and ‘talents’ into other businesses; sports, marketing, clothing, drinks. Yet, the music award industry still remains strong and its’ developing every day to keep viewers and artists on their toes, intrigued and counting the days until the next event. Now, let me tell you why…

Can celebrities take on the brand marketer's role?

(Beyonce is collaborating with PepsiCo in a preorted £33m deal that includes a fund to support her own creative products which may not be related to the drinks brand.)

Sponsorship! Now, Sponsorship is nothing new, we have always heard of major sponsorship deals. Clothing designers have sponsored artists and even for new and up and coming acts it is quite simple to obtain free clothes from certain labels. It’s a simple process businesses pay celebrities to advertise products to as many people as possible.  Lately though, sponsors have realised artists are more and more expanding the strength of their brand and offering more deals for artists whether they are on tour or not.

And it’s through online developments and technology expansion, that people may not be willing or have to pay for music! Therefore artists will (and already are) looking into other revenue streams to support their development, and if recording companies are in as much trouble as they say they are, they does this mean that  fewer music artists will be signed so will new creativity be ignored?

Celebrity endorsements can be as much about targeting a specific fan base as they are about publicising the liquid in the bottle. Star power may be just the right thing to draw attention to both a category and a brand.

Popular Music Awards and the audience they attract, along with music industry lovers, are about 16-30 years old and likely to be drawn into many commercial TV shows, events and news. We are all now so fascinated by the 'celeb lifestyle' and hungry for reality TV. Music Award shows are so highly publicised due to the celebrity and media attention that we all want to 'be there' any way we can to be up to date with the latest hot gossip from the events. 

Vivienne for the BRITS. Most successful yet?

The Winners Trophy...

So, the Brits’ trophy you say, revamped every year since the changes made for 2011. Firstly the blank canvas was redesigned by the magnificent Dame Vivienne Westwood, then by Sir Peter Blake, legendary pop artist and most recently by the weird and wonderful Damien Hirst. The idea of the re designing of the trophy was so that in the following years other major British designers will follow suit as the statuette was reinvented each year. Assisting with the BRITs having committed to working with the most innovative and original artists – those who help to inspire the British creatives’ of the future.

It was joked that since suspending each individual statuette in a tank of formaldehyde was likely to be impractical, and encrusting it with diamonds – like Hirst’s £100 million skull – was prohibitively expensive, perhaps he'd resort to his famous multi-coloured dots design.

And surprise surprise the new statuette – the third now since the music awards organisers decided to turn the design over to a different British artist each year – is simply the old one wrapped in a sheet of Hirst’s polka-dot wallpaper.

The design that is Hirsts’ trademark makes the statuette less of a coup for the Brits and more a trophy for Hirst. A few people ranted that “of course we want to see something of his particular style in it – but that doesn't mean recycling an existing work.”

Ok, ok so yes the association alone with Hirst benefits the awards greatly whether he designs anything new or not, but in that case all the organisers really needed from him was permission to use his famous coloured dots, since they could have come up with that idea just as quickly.  This just shows the impact of the effects of partners in business,in the end, beauty is in the eye of the Brit of the beholder. And, so far, the Brits have how successful partnerships can be! 

So, any prediction on who may be set the task of designing ‘a one off’ next?...

The BRITS

So, The Brit awards, renowned to be the glitziest event in the UK music industry calendar. And maybe one of the most talked about (and yes maybe a little criticised events) took one comment to heart, in 2010 when they were accused of being “an outdated relic”. And so, that’s when it began, one of the biggest revamps to take place in the history of the Brits.

So, the changes – included a new venue, a new award designed a British icon, a greater focus on the album of the year, the scrapping of the outstanding contribution to music award and changes to the voting academy –

David Joseph, the CEO of Universal Music UK and the new Brits chairman, told the Guardian...

“This will transform the awards”

"I want to see more music, I desperately want more gravitas – I want it to be fundamentally about music," he said. "It has been great ... but I'm trying not to look too much at the past."

The venue was announced to be moving from Earls Court, “where the show had been held for the past 11 years,) to the O2 Arena – a switch that will make a huge difference, said Joseph.

Of which is where the Government said they were set for a substantial windfall after the O2 posted record ticket sales of £60.3 million and celebrated its third year in a row as the world's most popular music venue. (Dec 2010)

The classic, iconic Britannia trophy also got a revamped. Vivienne Westwood set out her creative talents upon the ‘blank canvas ’. The 2012 trophy was designed by legendary pop artist Sir Peter Blake. And the latest one by Damien Hirst (…we will come back to that)

But finally, MasterCard, their headline sponsor, the business has successfully sponsored The BRIT Awards for 15 years. This record-breaking partnership is largely down to the way MasterCard's sponsorship has been so successfully leveraged. Their responsibilities have included a vast range from designing and developing digital campaigns in the run-up to the evening, to organising suite branding and concession branding on the night not to mention that they run the sponsor's after-show party, and arrange for a popular celebrity to present The MasterCard Album of the Year Award, all included in the accomplishment that now is The Brit Awards.  

“We branded all the concessions stands, highlighting MasterCard's contactless technology with the line, 'Good things come to those that don't wait'. We also dressed suites in MasterCard collateral to maximise the brand's reach on the night.” (http://www.biggroup.co.uk/brit-awards.html)

However, 2011 they were to be accompanied by another sponsor- the Brits had a digital sponsor for the first time: iTunes, which will sponsor the single of the year award along with Capital radio. So, technology who have had a HUGE impact on music sales and the industry all together, have joined forces to celebrate the musicians who lose out in profit because of illegal downloads and the extremely cost affective iTunes store. Could this be right? Well so far, it’s been a success and the audience and the artists have taken kindly to the new developments within the event. Perhaps with the two forces joining together has helped encouraged audience to download music legally with the successful iTunes.

Technology Take-over

This is absolutely awesome! MUST SEE VIDEO! Traditional and modern combine at the orchestra, can you believe it! The take over of technology, the future of music events?