In a globalized world with changing consumer habits and a growing sense of social responsibility, new opportunities are emerging - for creative marketing, meaningful alliances and credible image transfer.
Sports sponsorship needs to be redefined. Football only? Formula One only? Only winter sports? That can't be everything. The brand fit is often questionable for sponsors and, above all, expensive. Society is redefining itself.
Darts, archery and even marble races are currently causing a sensation. Tennis is making a surprising comeback - and at sailing events such as Kieler Woche, the new shanty enthusiasm of Generation Y is bringing a breath of fresh air to the program.
Take advantage of this dynamic: discover new target groups, clever twists and creative scope for your brand.
The world would be dreary without theatre, opera, concerts or literature. Culture refreshes the spirit and has the power to move us. Its substance is so firmly anchored in our civilization that the economy cannot escape it either.
Culture needs sponsors. And companies need culture. Tesla and the Munich Literature Festival? Siemens AG and the Bayreuth Festival? Kaufland and the Wacken Open Air?
"All culture is one great, endless collaboration." (August Strindberg)
Whether the Campbell's Soup company sponsored Andy Warhol for his work on the famous soup can is not entirely clear. It certainly profited from it.
However, office technology companies have failed to have accompanied the sensational shredding of Banksy's work "Girl With Red Balloon" by sponsoring their paper shredders.
It's a shame, really ... Whether it's paintings, sculptures, installations or street art, art breaks down boundaries and provides new perspectives. Ready for it?
The influence of sponsorship on schools, universities and research projects is still controversial. Yet the state will not be enough as a sponsor in the future. Benjamin Franklin already said:
"An investment in knowledge yields the best interest."
Scarcity of resources and declining IQ present us with new challenges. The blatant shortage of skilled workers in the skilled trades, industry and science must be counteracted by youth marketing and promising investments in education and research.
This is the only way to make society and companies fit for the future.
Whether microplastics in the seas, gas from hydrogen or species protection: nowadays, no company can avoid investing in ecological systems, renewable energies and climate-neutral processes.
This is much more than just positive image transfer, but a responsibility without alternative.
"The greatest innovation of the 21st century will be the marriage of technology and biology" (Steve Jobs).
