Sport Sponsorship: An Effective Marketing Tool-A Case Study of Barclays Bank

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

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ABSTRACT

Barclays is a group that is involved in providing financial services. The group place special focus on the investment management and banking areas within the United Kingdom. The bank has its operation throughout the world that includes Africa, the United States and Asia. The Barclays secure fourth position in the United Kingdom. It presently provides work for around 78,000 employees and holds most of the stocks in the banking industry. Sports sponsorship is widely recognized that sponsorship has become one of the major tools in marketing. Sponsorship is regarded as one of “the most commonly utilized marketing strategies that perhaps can generate more “money than all media advertising combined”. Broadly speaking, the definition of sponsorship typically includes two activities: (1) Sponsor pays fee or provides in-kind supports to the sponsee and (2) acquires the right to link itself with the activity in order to achieve marketing and commercial purposes. Sport properties fundamentally require a firm understanding of the rationale for sponsors to engage sponsorship relationships. Sponsorship objectives have been defined as overarching corporate marketing, communications, or public relations goals aimed to be achieving through sponsorship. Advertising and resource management should be regarded as a part of the organisation strategic management to gain a competitive advantage. Marketing communication and sponsorship provides a very good tool for an organisation to increase its profile and publicity. At Barclays Bank, once the sponsors clearly define the objectives for the sponsorship, those objectives help guide the sponsorship decision-making process. However, sponsorship decision-making is not based exclusively on the ability of the relationship to achieve corporate objectives. To screen sponsorship opportunities, corporations use a variety of selection criteria such as the cost of the sponsorship opportunity, the demographics of the sport property's fan base, and hospitality opportunities. Sponsorship selection criteria may be linked to a specific sponsorship objective or may be a standalone criterion. An example of a standalone criterion is the cost of the sponsorship. This factor is not directly linked to a corporate marketing, communications, or public relations objective but certainly influences the decision to embark on a given sponsorship opportunity.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

LIST OF FIGURESVIII

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Outline of the Study1

Background1

Visual Fluency3

Familiarity3

Congruence4

Fan involvement4

Theoretical Framework4

Company Profile of Barclays Bank6

Quality of service in Barclays8

Experience8

Innovation9

Research Aims and Objectives10

Research Questions10

Significance of the Study11

Disposition11

CHAPTER02: LITERATURE REVIEW13

Sports Sponsorship13

Models of Sports Sponsorships14

Image transfer model and match-up model14

Social alliance model15

Ways of Sports Sponsorships16

Exposure frequency17

Sponsorship and Returns20

Sponsorship and ...