In a recession sponsorship could be one of the first budgets to be cut but there are arguments to suggest that it should be one of the last. Although primarily used as a marketing tool, those companies with a mature attitude to the subject have realised that it can be used to address a very wide range of business objectives that also include internal communications, staff retention/recruitment and business-to-business communications. The Guinness sponsorship of the 1999 Rugby World Cup demonstrates the wide-ranging objectives that can be met while also proving the power of sponsorship in consumer marketing.
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Simon Rines (2002) studied this question.