Is sponsorship just wasting your money?

By Matthew Leopold | Marketeer by day, volunteer by night | mattleopold.co.uk

Think about the great pairings in life—Lennon & McCartney, gin & tonic, fish & chips. They just work. Perfect harmony. But pair the wrong things—pineapple on pizza or an energy drink sponsoring a yoga retreat - you end up with something that feels…off.

Sponsorship is no different. Done well, it’s unstoppable. It creates connection, elevates both brand and event and delivers genuine impact. But done badly? It becomes one of the biggest money pits in marketing.

And here’s the kicker: it happens more often than not.

Somewhere along the line, ego, emotion, and the glitz of celebrity started clouding judgement. Brands fall in love with the idea of sponsorship without asking the hard questions. That’s how we end up with a landfill company sponsoring a pristine golf course or a fast-food brand backing a health summit. On the surface, it makes little sense - but someone, somewhere, thought it was a stroke of genius.

Sponsorship is a $65+ billion industry. Yet, so much of that money is wasted. Not because sponsorship doesn’t work, but because it’s done for all the wrong reasons.

Today, let’s tackle the biggest assumptions in sponsorship - the ones that lead to wasted budgets, missed opportunities, and cringeworthy pairings - and explore how to fix them.

1. Awareness ≠ impact

How often have you heard someone say, “This sponsorship was a success because millions of people saw our logo”?

It sounds reasonably impressive on paper - certainly to those people who are not brand marketers. But, it doesn’t take much effort to realise it is nonsense. Visibility is not impact. Counting every second your logo flashes on screen or hyping up “51 million impressions” doesn’t mean anyone noticed, cared, or even remembered.

I was recently sent a sponsorship proposal that guaranteed me a 7:1 return on investment. It was sent cold - no prior investigation about my business or business challenge. Yes, I was assured of this crazy return. Of course, it was built entirely on assumed exposure and an assumed valuation of that exposure - no matter how diddly the logo. In another case, a PR team proudly shared that a piece of coverage earned over 50 million impressions. Great—until you realise that’s nearly the entire adult population of the UK. Wishful thinking or just daft thinking?

Let’s not even get started on brands that calculate exposure value in the billions because their logo popped up during a global event. I promise you - it really happens. Even today.

Awareness is a vanity metric. It is helpful to understand and consider. It might make people feel good (particularly the brand’s boardroom!), but awareness alone doesn’t shift opinions, drive engagement, or - crucially - lead to sales.

So come on sponsorship. Stop counting eyeballs. Start measuring impact. Ask:

● Did this sponsorship change perceptions?

● Did it engage the right audience?

● Did it solve a business problem?

Because, let’s be honest, no one ever bought a product just because they saw a logo on a billboard.

2. Activation without strategy

Another common trap: the belief that if you activate a sponsorship well enough, it’ll work.

Brands and rights holders often obsess over the what and how:

● What cool activations can we run?

● How can we engage fans on social media?

But they skip the most important question: Why are we doing this?

Sponsorship should always start with a clear business problem that needs to be fixed. Maybe it’s a brand perception issue, a sales challenge, or the need to break into a new market. But all too often, that “why” is an afterthought—reverse-engineered to justify a deal that was driven more by gut feeling than strategy.

I’ve seen rights holders pitch with decks full of social media follower counts and shiny media packages, but without a single mention of how their event could actually solve a brand’s business problem.

Time to flip the process:

1. Start with the problem. What are you trying to fix?

2. Ask if sponsorship is the right solution. Sometimes it isn’t—and that’s okay.

3. Then find the right fit. The right event, audience and approach.

4. Only then, plan the activation.

Without this foundation, even the flashiest activations will fall flat.

3. The shared values trap

Ah, shared values. The corporate buzzword that makes everything sound deeper than it really is.

You’ve probably heard lines like:

● “We’re proud to sponsor this event because we share a commitment to integrity, authenticity, and community.”

● “Our brand and this team both stand for excellence and passion.”

It sounds nice, but scratch the surface and it means nothing.

Most consumers don’t know (or care) what a brand’s values are. And, let’s be real. Not only are most brand values basically the same, they are universally positive: Customer-first. Innovation. Integrity. Teamwork. No one’s out there saying, “We value mediocrity and cutting corners.”

Shared values can justify almost any sponsorship if you try hard enough. A financial brand sponsoring a football team? “We both value teamwork.” An insurance company backing a music festival? “We care about protecting what matters.” Stretch the logic far enough, and any connection can seem plausible.

Ditch the buzzwords and focus on real connections that fans can see and feel. People don’t care if your brand and an event share “authenticity” as a core value—they care if the sponsorship feels natural and adds something meaningful.

4. Connection is everything

At its core, great sponsorship is about connection. A connection between the brand and the rights holder and between both of them and the audience.

But here’s the catch: not all connections are obvious.

Some partnerships just make sense. Think of a motor oil provider company sponsoring an F1 team—the functional link is clear, and fans can see the value.

Others are more a bit deeper - such as a high performance technology business sponsoring F1. Once you get your head around how winning F1 is as much about technology as it is about racing - the connection comes to life. Some connections are even harder to see. They are the emotional connections. A luxury car brand sponsoring an olympian doesn’t scream “perfect fit,” but it taps into aspiration: “If this car is good enough for them, it’s probably good enough for me.”

The best sponsorships straddle both, presenting functional and emotional connections that fans can instantly understand.

But when brands force connections that don’t exist, it shows. Fans tune it out. Worse, it can feel inauthentic, leading to brand disengagement.

Stop wasting money, start building value

If there’s one thing to take away, it’s this:

Stop chasing visibility. Start creating connections.

Sponsorship isn’t about how many people see your brand. It’s about how many people feel something because of it or how they change their minds or act differently as a result.

Before you sign your next deal, ask yourself:

● What problem are we solving?

● Who are we trying to reach?

● How can we create a real, meaningful connection?

Because when sponsorships get it right, they’re unstoppable. But when they’re done for the wrong reasons? Well… you might as well be trying to sell me pineapple on a pizza.