The Annual Sponsorship Business Survey 2012 - Sporsora

T h e A n n u a l S p o n s o r s h i p B u s i n e s s S u r v e y 2 0 1 2 P a g e | 12
4.0 | Co��unity �nd �oci�l �es�onsi�ility
4.1 Corporate Social Responsibility and
Brand Corporate Value
There is widespread acknowledgment of the
growing importance of businesses demonstrating
corporate responsibility to the community.
72% of respondents from our survey believed
that community projects are becoming
increasingly important to a brand’s corporate
value; only 4% recorded active disagreement.
These findings are supported by recent studies by
Forbes Insights, which analysed corporate
philanthropy. In this research project, 79% of
respondents agreed to some extent that
demonstrating social purpose is crucial to
shareholder value, whilst 78% felt that their
community efforts were critical to the way the
company differentiates itself in the marketplace. In
terms of motivation for Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), EMEA respondents were
more concerned with the commercial benefits of it
in comparison to those from the Americas and
Asia-Pacific, who were more likely to be motivated
by “the betterment of the community and world”.
4.2 Organisations and Social
Responsibility in Sport
It is clear that leading brands are placing great
importance on community projects and CSR.
According to the Korea Herald (2 nd January 2012),
Lee Kun-Hee, the chairman of Samsung, said that
social responsibility will be a key area for the
organisation for 2012.
Sport remains
an important
source of CSR
for companies.
Procter &
Gamble is to
use sales from
its leading brands, such as Gillette and Pantene, to
fund a £3.3m investment in youth sport initiatives
globally. The youth sports activity will sit under
P&G’s “Thank you Mom” campaign as part of the
company’s strategy to make consumers’ lives
easier. Sainsbury’s is another brand that has used
sport for CSR initiatives. The Company has
extended its support and funding of the UK School
Games. Sainsbury’s has pledged to donate £10m
over the next four years to the programme.
However, there are some organisations whose
associations with sport and social responsibility
have been viewed with scepticism by some. Dow
Chemical, a sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics,
was involved in past controversies in India, and its
partnership with The Games has been condemned
by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
McDonald’s has extended its sponsorship of the
Olympics to 2020, with a global campaign for
children’s wellness. But their involvement in sport,
alongside another sponsor in Cadbury’s, has been
criticised due to their association with unhealthy
food products.
When asked a question on this subject, Sainsbury’s
Justin King defended McDonald’s and Cadbury’s:
I'd say we want to encourage big
companies to do the right thing and if
there are sporting initiatives that are getting more
young people playing sport isn't that a good
thing…to be doing? We should be encouraging that
and not disparaging it.
4.3 The Environment
Just as in 2010, the proportion of money going
towards the environment was considerably greater
than for any other sector. One such environmental
project is the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, which is
a scheme designed to encourage more cycle
journeys in central London, a more
environmentally friendly mode of transport.
Transport for London (TfL) recently published a
report stating that three quarters of scheme
subscribers started to cycle in London as a result of
the scheme, whilst 80% of subscribers think it
makes a positive contribution to London. The deal
with Barclays was renewed in 2011 for another
£25m.