Marketers' use of sponsorships has evolved over the past decade or so. While sponsorship was once considered an activation tactic, it has become a strategy to influence specific kinds of consumers as brands support the sports, entertainment and causes important to those consumers. Yet for many sponsorship marketers, accountability based on the business impact of mid-funnel, Return-On-Objectives (ROO) measures has remained elusive. In
Sponsorship Accountability: A Roadmap for Sponsorship Marketing Success
, the
Marketing Accountability Standards Board
(MASB) shares recommendations to improve the accountability of sponsorships and identifies practices that improve value, including a measurement approach that is independent, objective and marketer directed, along with guidance on mid-funnel ROO measures that make quantification attainable. Topics include: strategy and brand fit, business case and contractual considerations, activation & stewardship, measurement, eSports, and Name, Likeness & Image (NIL). Founded in 2007, MASB is a collaboration of industry professionals and academics who saw an opportunity to increase the contribution of the marketing function through the development of standards for marketing performance measurement and processes that link marketing activities more objectively and closely to the financial performance of the firm. MASB's goal is to elevate the role of the Chief Marketing Officer by making marketing accountable. Marketing can become accountable by uniting the profession behind standards and principles which show how investment in marketing creates revenue and profit growth, and which CEOs, CFOs and boards will recognize as robust. With the transformation of marketing's role, companies will unleash new sources of growth, enabling societies to prosper and individuals thrive.