Summary

Concepts:

Sponsorship, Vodafone, Ferrari, market, brand, customers, objectives, racing, competitors, positioning, partner, publics, sponsee.

Summary:

Vodafone sponsors several leading sporting brands including the record breaking Ferrari Formula 1 motor racing team and Manchester United, one of the world's most successful football clubs.

It is a good way of increasing brand awareness, which helps to generate consumer preference and to foster brand loyalty.

A company can reinforce awareness among its target market by sponsoring an event or organisation that attracts a similar target market.

A sponsor can enjoy a wide range of benefits from a carefully selected sponsorship, which can:

• raise brand awareness and create preference

• create positive PR and raise awareness of the organisation as a whole

• provide attractive content for a range of products and services

• build brand positioning through associative imagery

• support a sales promotion campaign

• create internal emotional commitment to the brand

• act as corporate hospitality that promotes good relations with clients.

The organisation receiving the sponsorship (sponsee) stands to benefit enormously from both financial support and other forms of backing from an established partner, provided that both parties have agreed a set of common objectives to underpin the sponsorship.

Similarly, the Vodafone Race Track racing simulator allows customers to compete in a racing simulator.

Organisations gain competitive advantage by developing USPs: things that only they provide and which make them distinct from anything provided by their competitors.

This is a completely new world of mobile services, delivered on the latest camera phones.

Vodafone's strategy is customer focused and product led; the company is continually developing new products and services which utilise the latest technological advances.

However, as consumers become increasingly sophisticated users of modern mobile technology, they make new demands and seek added value through product improvements.

Public relations (PR) is the planned, sustained effort an organisation makes to establish, develop and build relationships with its many publics.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of carefully reading this case study, students should be able to:

• understand the importance of the acquisition process, and explain how an enterprising small company can benefit from being part of a larger group

• describe some of the economies of scale resulting from becoming part of a larger group e.g. access to finance, research and economies of distribution

• identify the importance of innovation and enterprise in the change process and business development

• understand the relevance of product development and marketing in preparing to re-launch a brand

• appreciate the importance of employee loyalty in implementing business change

• provide an example of the product life-cycle and new product development.