Sponsorship Activation:

An Analysis of the MonsterBuilding Brazil Event, we observed - within the scope of Sports
Marketing - sponsors of the Monsterbuilding Brazil Event, as well as a case of a non-sponsor.
The analysis of the object was carried out qualitatively by means of interviews and participant
observation, in order to report the phenomenon of sponsorship activation. Objectively, the
samples were compared in order to distinguish similar or divergent practices, as well as to
analyze them against a competitive environment. Keywords: Sponsorship; sponsorship
activation; sports marketing; sports event;

Introduction The saying "A great event is made with great partners" still applies and will not
fall into disuse. It is with this statement that begins one of the releases from the press office
RK Comunicações, in charge of the MonsterBuilding Brasil event, the press office that granted
permission for the present academic research on sponsorship activation, at the world's largest
nutrition fair and multi-sports fair.

The investigation here presented of the event, analyzes, during the three days, companies
that sponsored the event, although there were sponsors for another event concomitant to the
event. More specifically, the object of study will be the sports supplement companies
Blackskull, Integralmédica and Probiótica, as well as the supporter Athletica.

In summary, the presentation will be divided into five parts. The first will provide clarification
about the term sponsorship activation, using the introduction of concepts based on literature
review. The second will establish the link between the line of research and the area of
concentration, allowing a digression on the event. The third, based on a qualitative method,
will describe the samples through participative observation and face -to-face and e-mail
interviews. In a conclusive character, the fourth will point out the broad interpretation of the
phenomenon of sponsorship and of the event, with a synthesis of common practices and also
an analysis of divergent practices. The general purpose of this research is to describe how
sponsorship activation works in a multi-sports event, in which, in addition to the competitors,
several other attractions compete for the visitors' attention. The choice of the nature of the
event was the area of Sports Communication and Marketing, whose analyses with an
interpretative focus on reality are qualitative. Since this is a multiple case, the object will be
three sponsoring entities (representative cases of the phenomenon), and to avoid narrowing
the universe, a borderline case of the phenomenon will be taken that can serve for
comparison, that is, to observe the differences of the sponsor and supporter.

Sport and Sports Sponsorship Sport has a nature capable of influencing the communities and
their surroundings. Among the benefits cited are health, education, and community, linke d to
the power of distribution and communication through the media, appeal to young people,
positive impacts on physical and mental health, community cohesion, and awareness of the
planet's sustainability. These benefits linked to sports are interesting institutional strategies for
companies - both in terms of brand value. Considering the sports environment as a place for
market positioning and in view of the benefits of integrating companies and sports, it is
necessary to determine by simultaneous analysis what the term sponsorship would be based
on in general, i.e., what similarities can be seen throughout the literature review.
encompasses sponsorship as well as promotional licensing (although the former is used more
than the latter), sponsorship being used to refer to "the acquisition of rights to affiliate or
associate directly with a product or event for the purpose of obtaining benefits related to that
affiliation or association. It further includes sponsorship as a way to assist/achieve marketing
objectives, specifying: rights as to sponsorship to include: "retail opportunities, media time
purchase, entitlement or hospitality"; and provides for the possibility of inclusion in contracts
of: "right to designations or phrases connecting with the product, event or facility (as official
sponsor and etc)."

It approaches sponsorship as an element of the communication mix, and from an institutional

point of view of the company, by offering financial support for the entity to carry out its
activities, it receives in return the knowledge of the consumer by the corporate association of
the brand. For the producer or organization, sponsorship is the building of a long-lasting
relationship with the sponsoring company through a win-win relationship - making the
producer's action feasible and achieving the sponsor's objectives. In summary, analyzing the
definition of sponsorship from the points of view cited here, it is a relationship of exchange
between the sponsored and the sponsor, which allows an atmosphere of good will that will
bring benefits for both, characterizing a partnership - since it presupposes negotiation,
benefits for both, consideration and interest. Within the scope of sponsorship, the following
should be considered: need for extra resources, potential for media coverage, objectives,
potential association of the image, compatibility and segmentation, hospitality for guests,
among others. This means that the relationship between the sponsored and the sponsor is not
limited to the allocation of funds (purchase of quotas) or simple media return. In truth, the
purchase of the quota would be the beginning of the process of sports sponsorship, which can
be divided into 4 categories: objectives, selection, activation and measurement of sports
sponsorship. In the proposed framework, sponsorship activation is explained as a strategy that
increases the connection of those involved (sponsored, sponsor, consumer and sales) through
actions experienced by those involved. The amount paid in a quota of sponsorship will give the
right to exploit this space, and it is up to the sponsor to create actions that allow this link
between sports fan and sponsoring company (MENSMAG). As an example, there are two
modes of activation, online and offline, and as for practical applications: clinics for athletes,
autograph afternoons, hospitality centers, promotions, incentive campaigns, actions during
breaks, use of image in campaigns, exhibition games, interaction through social media,
invitation to VIP areas, ticket distribution and spectator participation (quiz or other forms of
interaction). There are disagreements in the literature review as to the suggested/used
allocation of funds for sponsorship activation. There are guidelines that advocate as an ideal
proportion that for every US$1 invested in sponsorship, another US$2 or US$3 should be spent
on promotion and production actions, ensuring a broad return both with investors and
consumers. The alliterature that some international consultants preach that for every dollar
invested in sponsorship another dollar should be invested in activation is utopian in Brazil,
alleging as a solution that there are low cost activations such as social media. In percentage, a
study conducted by RK Performance Researh points out that about 47% of the companies
invest the same amount in sponsorship rights and in activation of the same, while other 12%
spend four times or more comparing activation and quota. To the extent that one understands
the term and the proportions, one can see a connection of sponsorship activation with
integrated elements of the marketing mix, which allows - compared to other promotions that
often occur in isolation - integration of various promotional activities, ultimately generating
immersion in an "atmosphere" of interconnected experiences. This would be a reported multi-
level promotion strategy. Since promotions act in the Marketing Mix, but also require
planning, there is the Communication Mix. This considers aspects such as merchandising,
digital marketing, public relations, advertising, giveaways, and events, among others.
This interaction of the promotions with those involved is positive for brand awareness in its
category (brand memory) and adds to the emotional involvement by generating identification
(even though we are already in the sports category in which identification is already high),
both aspects influencing the purchase decision. Digression on the event and research
alignment The growth trend of the Brazilian market. These players estimate as their
objectives, to increase revenues and reduce the negative impact of the European crisis,
alleging that the lack of Brazilian logistics is a hindrance to competitiveness. Furthermore, the
expectations are pointed out: The professional sports business moved in 2001, more than US$
54 billion worldwide and about US$370 billion in indirect revenues, from shoe sales to tourism.
The estimate is that direct revenues from so-called sportainment (sports entertainment) will
grow by another 7% a year, reaching US$73 billion by 2024. There is no limit to the indirect
revenue. It is in this overly competitive but expanding scenario that the MonsterBuilding
Event, named after an authority in the Bodybuilding/Fitness World, comes in. The already
consolidated fair has gone through a stage of exploration (peculiarities of the place)
The adherence and certain loyalty can be corroborated by observing the amount of people at
the event, which had 120 exhibiting brands, generating 1500 direct jobs and 4,500 indirect
jobs, 37 competitions with 8,500 athletes from all over the world, received more than 80
thousand visitors (including international ones), therefore mobilizing local tourism, moved
about R$ 80 million in business, visitors took home more than 1 million gifts distributed during
the fair, and finally the public consumed about 10 tons of Whey Protein. The link between
sporting event (area of concentration) and sponsorship (line of research) can be supplanted,
which suggests a growth of corporate sponsorship in sporting events because of the increased
interest in sports programming media, listing the following factors: increased leisure time,
increased interest in sports, increased commercialization of television through commercials
and infomercials, cheaper costs when broadcasting events compared to producing
documentaries or shows, growth of new media sources that increased sports demand (such as
cable/satellite subscription or pay-per-view events). In view of the continuous integration of
countries, marketing has become more and more globalized, and the dialog character of sports
with many different cultures and languages provides a unique way of dealing with target
markets. The new media are also in tune with this globalization, since they are more effective
than others, are multidimensional, and can reach different audiences by adapting the
discourse. Sponsorship covers both commercial and social objectives, commonly rights can be
secured such as number of exhibitions, cross sponsorship and promotional activities, tax -
deductible expenses, brand exclusivity, public relations and community image, related
amenities such as hospitality, the sponsored can provide the sponsor with tickets,
accommodation, transportation, on-site entertainment and special events. In return, the
sponsor may make these benefits available to its customers in order to reward them for their
support. Promoting this hospitality to customers would be a way of personal selling, since
there is the possibility of contact in more restricted business-friendly locations. The
importance: The opportunity to develop this kind of relationship should not be
underestimated, because marketing. Often, when two competitors can provide the same
products and services, the one that has developed a personal relationship with the customer
will get the bill. It also highlights what is expected by customers: It is difficult to determine
what customers expect to achieve, because they are unsure of what they want and what is
possible. However they generally expect from hospitality: an automatic process in which the
patron has nothing to do but "turn the key and open the door"; an environment conducive to
personal interaction and the cultivation of personal as well as business relationships; a unique
and memorable experience that capitalizes on the unique relationships of the customer or
provider that cannot be followed by outside competitors. Sponsorship and support: the latter
is a contribution that does not imply financial investment, and the former is essential for the
realization of the event; it is the action of purchasing a partial or total share of the project's
financial resources. By offering the quota, even if for sponsorship renewal.

Among the activities reported in the literature review, it is worth mentioning hospitality,
which was adopted by dedicating a room for sponsors at the event. Although most of the
sponsors have spaces in their stands designed to receive shoppers and conduct business, it
was observed that this was not enough for some of them - configuring a demand. In this way
the room was configured as a quieter place, with catering and receptionist so that the sponsor
could feel at ease during the period of the event. The sponsors selected for analysis and
findings were: IntegralMédica, Probiótica, Blackskull and Athletica - the only non-sponsor. It is
worth mentioning that the press room had releases from several brands, even from the non -
sponsors, and samples of launching products. The Gold sponsors were Champion, Clubmed,
Gold and Muralha, and the Gold sponsorship activation, explained below, deserves to be
highlighted. The interaction of Gold sponsor (Electricity company) brought a space for the
Pedaleiros Project, offering Tanden bike rides (two seats) for blindfolded people to understand
this experiment under the perception of a visually impaired person. The engagement was due
to the fact that this year the fair brought to the fore a focus on social responsibility and
inclusion. The Fitness Arena exhibited 200 paratletas (from entities such as Champions Brasil)
showing how the experience of adapted sports was, and later made available the experience
of four modalities of parasports for the general public, 9 tatami for fights, basketball court with
wheelchairs, badminton and five-a-side soccer.) Integralmédica Integralmédica gave an
interview in its VIP area during the fair. The representative. It was also observed a very
imbricated network of contacts in the stand, who communicated by microphone for radio
communication and, promptly, found the responsible, the group contained the following
specialties in 6 professionals: Sports Nutrition, High Performance Sports Physiology, Coach and
Bodybuilder, Physiotherapy and Body Manager. The stand had 550 m², and all around it were
contemplated by several activations, with highlight to a second floor destined to the VIP area,
also positioned next to the other sponsors - since being the largest stands will be the most
attractive and everyone will probably pass by there. Other activations at the event were
athletes, celebrities and experts (from the fitness industry) that during the three days of the
event attended the fans, took pictures, and talked about their workouts. Interactive activities
with the public were held on day 3, on which the fair was open to the general public and not
only to retailers (as on days 1 and 2). Among them was the Crossfit Supine Challenge, which,
upon compliance with the number of repetitions, won a free cocktail and the Bar Challenge,
according to the time or number of repetitions, also won a free gift. Distribution of gifts and
samples of the main products, including brand innovations such as Protein Whey Bar (the
largest protein bar in Brazil), NutWhey (hazelnut cream protein) and Pree -Beet (pre-workout
with natural active ingredient from beet). The fair ends up providing a laboratory, in which it is
possible to study the opinion of the products from the consumer's point of view. At the
MonsterBuilding event - a meeting of lectures on sports nutrition, functional nutrition, sports
medicine, and bodybuilding - there was another stand in the area dedicated to lectures,
including tastings, samples, and raffles of kits to the participants; there was also a live
transmission of two lectures: "Weight Training and Injuries" and "Eating Habits".

The percentage of the sponsorship investment takes into consideration having a budget for
itsactivation. To carry out the activation, the company uses figures from the previous fair as a
parameter, for example 20% of the total public of the fair will be used to calculate giveaways,
50% of the public participates in the activities, and so on. That is, the percentage destined to
the activation is based a posteriori, and the sponsorship incentive adopted by the company is
not guided only by tax deductions through the law of sports incentive, dedicating extra and
private capital to the .

The responsibility for sponsorships and quotas is not outsourced, it is left to Internal
Marketing. In an interview, after discussing the various types of sponsorships that are made to
athletes (from product-only sponsorships to capital-only sponsorships.
Blackskull The following descriptions were made under observation of the booth, since the
information from the official source was not provided in time for the present work. The
interaction activities with the public proposed by Blackskull were a space for pictures with a
BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) Tank Vehicle, an instruction lecture at BOPE
headquarters, sample tasting, gift giving, a moment for pictures with athletes/celebritie s, a
space with Harvey Davidson vehicles for pictures and a pole dance. At the main entrance of the
fair a truck with the company's logo was strategically parked. Probiotic The following
descriptions were made under observation of the booth, since the information from the
official source was not provided in time for this work. The interaction activities with the public
proposed by Probiótica were photo and autograph with the brand's sponsors, Ramp Challenge
(climbing with the help of a rope), Boxing Challenge (dummy), Roulette (comprised of winning
gifts or performing push-ups), as well as providing a space for tasting and a specific space for
closer relationships (with tables for sitting, etc.). The sponsorship was also reinforced by
granting kits with Whey Protein and a cocktail for the press, made available in the press room.
It also emphasizes, when answering one of the questions about the sponsorship capital, that in
this case the capital used would be its own without using incentive laws. Final Considerations
The analysis of the cases allowed us to point out that some of the sponsorship activations were
well arranged already in the quota table, spaces were well explored for disclosure in banners,
inflatable objects reproducing the brand, as well as the dimension/flow of the sponsors' stands
was relevant if compared to the others. In this way, it was well indicated which were the
sponsors of this MonsterBuilding Event. Raising sponsorship requires planning that considers
expanding the investor's possibilities, so it is necessary to monitor the sponsorship during the
performance of the sponsorship, not restricting the stage of raising funds only before the fair.
This captivation requires resources (tools). It is noticed that many of the activation activities
are mixed in the Communication Mix, because they use the tools. Sponsorship benefits the
brand by adding value when using the tools of the communication mix, and benefits the event
financially, even giving support for its event - it would therefore be a communication strategy
with its various publics - in this aspect it fits into a public relations function that is to
communicate with various market segments. The sponsorship activity is used as branding (or
brand management) to strengthen the brand, as it is a kind of communication. In the specific
case of the object studied, the sponsorship was in line with an event whose target audience is
the same as the sponsor's consumer. Going into the sponsorship activation, during the event,
several tools of the communication mix (also known as communication mix or integrated
communication) were used, such as merchandising at the point of sale, promotion, advertising,
public relations, among others. Exploring these various communication tools was important to
give publicity to the activation itself. Among the common practices were photo and autograph
afternoons with celebrities and product tastings. The differential of attention was
characterized by tasting innovative products that escaped from the standard tasting of liquid
supplements. Another differential to be addressed was the way the tasting was offered, it was
observed that in open places it was common for people to serve themselves and leave, which
required a visual compensation of the brand so that the brand/product correlation could be
made. From this, opting for a personalized and even more enclosed environment proved
positive for reinforcing the brand during the experience. There were also large accumulations
of people in the exercise simulation activities, which demonstrates participation. This
consumer involvement is corroborated: When the fan's involvement is low they tend not to
spend much attention on the event as a whole, including the sponsor's stimuli. As the
involvement increases, attention is more directed to the event and consequently to the
sponsor's stimulus. However, when there is a high level of involvement, the consumer's
attention is focused on the most relevant information, i.e., on the leisure activity itself, paying
less attention to the sponsor's stimuli. With this premise and the sport having a high
identification with its audience, the chosen stimuli were right, reinforcing the experience. The
negative aspect pointed out, can be compensated by the delivery of gifts of the brand and
respective exposure of the colors of the brand featured in the scenarios, which attributed the
red environment, for example, Integralmédica and the black environment Blackskull. This
strategy is competitive not only because of the neighboring stands, but also be cause the great
noise (exposure of several messages daily) of the printed media makes it difficult to separate
and retain the offers. In summary, the fair had enough supplies, the proposed activations were
fulfilled, the athletes/celebrities were available for photos. The logistical arrangements of the
event were well thought out and well appointed, although the queues (although formulated)
could have been better planned so as not to disrupt the flow of people. The relationship with
the sponsors was also praised, also because there was a consonance and conformity of the
sponsor with the specific reference group, characterizing a marketing of affinity. There were
no doubts about the non-sponsors, due to the constant invocation of the sponsors by the
event, so that "ambush marketing" was not present. It is deduced that despite using several
tools for activation, the measurement of the return on sponsorship can be based on the
achievement of the objectives proposed before the fair. This diversity of tools for all the
promotion of the stands at the fair was also positive because it did not constitute an excessive
exposure of the sponsors, in such a way that this sponsorship was not characterized as an
interference in the real reason for the fair, nor as exploratory, conjugating an atmosphere of
partnership. Another factor that aggregated to the fair's non-excessiveness was the well-
constructed layout and construction of the fair's graphics. The obtaining of the answers
concerning the percentage of the budget destined to the activation of sponsorship was not
satisfactory, since, as it is financial information, it dealt with the obstacles of the division of the
companies' sectors and there was no one responsible who could supply the information. The
suggestion for future research is presented - since the stages of sponsorship, activation is not
the most contemplated in publications in periodicals.