Measuring the success of the strategy

Vodafone's sponsorship deal with Manchester United costs Vodafone £30 million over a four year period. Vodafone clearly has to evaluate the effectiveness of this partnership in terms of its own marketing objectives. It does so in four ways:

• General awareness is measured through consumer research. For example, consumers may be asked questions such as "Did you know that Vodafone sponsors Manchester United?"

• The impact of phones and accessories is measured by charting ongoing improvements in sales.

• The success of value added services such as manUmobile is monitored in terms of the number of people registered and usage of the services.

• Media Evaluation - Vodafone monitors TV and press coverage to measure the exposure of the Vodafone brand resulting from the sponsorship.

Keeping check in this way enables Vodafone to assess whether or not it has made a wise strategic move in teaming up with Manchester United. Evidence strongly suggests that it has.