Less “Sponsorship As Advertising” and More Sponsorship-Linked Marketing As Authentic Engagement

Sponsorship is an established marketing communications platform that takes many forms. In terms of objectives and measurement, sponsorship has functioned like advertising for decades. The current work argues that the potential of sponsorship to support consumer engagement for both the sponsor and sponsee has been underdeveloped and underresearched. Given this thesis, following an overview of the background and importance of sponsorship, the potential of sponsoring to further brand engagement is examined. A sponsorship engagement model based on authenticity is proposed, adoption of this model is discussed, and relevant research questions are suggested.