Event Sponsorship in Russia

Nowadays event sponsorship is a relevant tool of promotion in Russia. You can support a wide variety of different events depending on your target audience: business, mass cultural, entertaining, sports and others. At the same time you can increase your brand recognition, build up a certain brand image, advertise your company among event participants and even get a useful contact database. Read the RMAA Group blog to learn how to sponsor events in Russia.

Why become a sponsor of events?

Event sponsorship as a PR tool pursues several objectives. Firstly, your company will get advertising opportunities in conjunction with the event. This provides means to build up a certain image for your company in association with the events. For example, by sponsoring city celebrations you can create a positive image for your company together with its promotion in a particular city. Another example: a company sponsors high status business events; thus, the status value of the events is getting extended to the Company's products and services. Alfa-bank, one of the largest banks in Russia, was sponsoring the concerts of superstars at one time, and the advertising of these concerts was preceded by the announcement: "Alfa-bank represents...", eventually Alfa-bank became associated with high quality due to such sponsoring participation.

Another important objective of event sponsoring is advertising among event participants. For a sponsoring party it's important that the active participation in a particular event allows for delivering "a message" to the well-defined target audience and influence on its attitude to the brand being promoted. It's crucially when it comes to B2B conferences, trade shows, business events not concerts and festivals. If your company provides services for business, it will be an excellent option for you to advertise at the conference where representatives of the targeted sector got together.

Another possible objective of event sponsoring is to obtain a contact database of event participants. Such database may bring you many new clients in future. It should be noted that obtaining a database in most cases should be agreed additionally with organizers. The larger your sponsor package, the more likely you will get the contact database.

What advertising opportunities does event sponsorship give?

First of all, you receive the status of a sponsor or a partner of the event. In this status your brand will be advertised together with the event. Depending on your sponsor package there may be different ways to mention your brand:

• Your brand name is added to the event name;

• Your brand is mentioned in advertisement as a sponsor or a partner. This information will be highlighted separately at the beginning and at the end of a commercial on radio and television, in outdoor advertising and banners;

• Your company logo is placed on posters, banners, tickets, in print advertising, handout materials.

Also, considerable opportunities are offered for a sponsor company at the event itself. Here are just a few advertising opportunities that can be used at events:

• Outdoor advertising: banners, over-the-street banners and other advertising structures. They can be placed on the stage or next to it, and also in the lobby or at the entrance/ exit zone at site;

• Branding of zones at the event, apparel of organizers and any attributes in use;

• Portable trade show displays or promo-stands are one of the simplest and most widely-used options;

• Auditory advertising at trade shows or during breaks at conferences.

• Declaring event sponsors from the stage;

• The company's representative speech;

• Distribution of advertising materials or promotional merchandise among event participants.

Besides, marketers constantly invent unique ways to introduce a sponsor at the event with the aid of technical facilities, art installations, bizarre advertising structures, style imitation and other tricks.

How to pick the right event for sponsoring?

So, you've decided to become a sponsor of an event in Russia. How to pick the event that will give you the greatest advertising effect? First of all, you should focus on your objectives and your target audience. If your objective is to become a recognized brand in a particular city, it makes sense to focus on events of local significance: city celebrations, concerts, festivals, possible film shows or theatrical performances.

If you are promoting in B2B segment, it makes sense to sponsor the events related to your sector: trade shows, conferences, trainings. If you would like to become more famous for a certain audience, you have to think what is associated with your audience. For example, if you'd like your brand to be associated with high intelligence, you can sponsor major chess tournaments. At last, you should select the most popular and mass events, primarily, sports ones.

So, event sponsorship performs at least two tasks: build up an image and help advertise your company to a particular audience. Also, advertising opportunities are limited only by a sponsor package and imagination of marketers who develop an advertising campaign. Choice of events which nowadays can be sponsored in Russia as also extremely wide: from business conferences to concerts and sports events. RMAA Group experts can advise you on all issues related to the event sponsorship in Russia.

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