The study found that despite the global financial downturn, sponsorship accounted for 23.5 per cent of overall marketing budgets in the country, a 50 per cent increase on the previous year and the reversal of a two-year trend during which the proportion of marketing budgets devoted to sponsorship declined. However the number of sponsors actively leveraging their sponsorships – spending on promotional activities relating to the event - fell from 80 per cent in 2008 to 68 per cent in 2009. Leveraging activity increased among the big sponsors, while smaller players cut back significantly, resulting in a significant overall decrease. The report indicated that in Australia brand credibility was the number-one objective of sponsorships, differing from similar research in the US which showed that increasing brand awareness and loyalty were key objectives of sponsorship. The study also predicts that around one in three companies involved in the Australian sponsorship sector will decrease their sponsorship budgets in 2010.
Sponsorship spending in Australia was up 10 per cent in the 2009 calendar year, with the proportion invested in sport increasing from 62 per cent to 66 per cent, according to a study by Sponsorship Australasia and Repucom International.
