(London, June 21st, 2004) – SponsorClick announced today that it had counted no less than 22 corporate sponsors(*) during the England-France football game, part of the Euro 2004(tm) tournament in Portugal.

SponsorClick’s previous studies show that both live spectators and TV viewers cannot link or associate an event with more than 6 visible sponsors in a cluttered environment due to the dilution effect.

Still, some sponsors stand out from the crowd having introduced schemes that integrate their partnerships into the whole of their marketing and communication mix – a tactic fully endorsed by SponsorClick.

Coca-Cola and JVC, for example, added a media partnership visible during game broadcasts, and MasterCard, McDonald’s, Hyundai and Canon are running special soccer-themed TV ads in the margin of the tournament. In addition, Hyundai and Canon also bought numerous ad pages in sports specialised press at specific dates during the competition.

Reine Willing, Senior Consultant at SponsorClick, commented: ‘Because of the visibility clutter, most of the actual impact for Euro 2004(tm) sponsors resides in the accompanying activities in promotions, advertising, PR and direct marketing.’

During the first week of this competition, SponsorClick was able to confirm the on-going trend of professionalisation in the sponsorship marketing industry. This will support global volumes (SponsorClick’s Research Department forecasts $37 billion worth of rights acquired in 2004) to continue to grow steadily at a pace of approximately +10% annually over the next 10 years and possibly even more.

(*) 8 Official Sponsors (Canon, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, JVC, MasterCard, Mc Donald’s and T-Mobile), 2 Technology Partners (NTT Communications and Portugal Telecom), the Official Sports Drink (Powerade), 5 National Partners (Banco BPI, CTT, GalpEnergia, Navigator, RTP), the Broadcasting Partner (Eurovision), 2 teams equipment companies (Adidas and Umbro), and additional sponsors (Atlantis Crystal, Benq and TMN).

For more details contact:

Isabelle Guize – PR Manager
E: iguize@sponsorclick.com
T : +44 (0)20 7900 2612 (Europe)
T : +1 646 365 3159 (North America)