Gold Fingers

First a quick quiz. Can you link the following operations with the sports to which they are associated: (1) Guinness Ireland; (2) Budweiser; (3) Bank of Ireland; (4) Opel Ireland; (5) TNT Express. Anwers at the end of the article.

Swimming star Michelle Smith might never have stepped onto an Olympic podium, if it weren't for the world-wide phenomenon of sports sponsorship.

In 1994, her father went on national radio and explained that his daughter might have to give up her swimming career if adequate financial support was not found.

Fortunately for her, Mr Geoff Carr, the managing director of courier company TNT Express Worldwide, was listening. He decided that this was the perfect opportunity to start a mutually beneficial relationship.

During that exciting summer of 1996, TNT Express Worldwide and Michelle Smith were constant companions.

When the Rathcoole Rocket hopped out of the pool she donned a TNT sweatshirt. At press conferences afterwards, TNT stickers or banners were prominent in the background. Michelle stunned the swimming world with her four medals, while TNT got global exposure that was the envy of any international firm.

In their latest animated film Disney poke fun at the contemporary appetite for sports sponsorship. The face of hero Hercules is seen on every plate, mug and urn in the film. This merchandising madness is not just limited to sport - the Spice Girls endorse everything from deodorant to crisps). But famous sport stars - such as Adidas-back boxer Prince Naseem Hamed and Nikesupported golfer Tiger Woods - rely on lucrative sponsorship deals to boost their sporting income.

Sometimes though, like in the case of Michelle Smith, this support can mean the difference between a brief unsuccessful career and Olympic glory. "It means that the athlete can afford to concentrate on training without worrying about how they are going to live," says Mr Vere WynneJones of Slattery Public Relations who are advisers to TNT. The company has followed its estimated £100,000 investment in Smith's career with a sponsorship deal with top Irish athlete Susan Smith.

"Part of what we achieved with Michelle was a strong association with success. The publicity generated from our relationship with Michelle Smith paid for the sponsorship comfortably," says Mr Wynne-Jones. There are three main reasons why companies continue to throw substantial amounts of money at sport. The first of these is the increased profile it gives the company and the kudos it gains from being linked with success. For example Waterford Crystal create the image of a winning company by providing trophies for golf and tennis tournaments. Secondly, sports sponsorship suggests that a company is not just concerned with piling up profits but wishes to give something back to the community. Thirdly, the massive audience-reach inherent in sporting activities gives a company access to a diverse range of targets in a way that even the most expensive advertising often cannot do.

According to Mr Paul Holland, managing director of Drury's Sports Management, the "unifying force" of sport also proves attractive to companies with products to sell.

"Sport transcends racial, cultural, geographical and linguistic boundaries," he says. It is this type of global, no-barriers market that resulted in Coca Cola spending an estimated $300 million on the Olympic Games. But even more tempting to sponsor companies is the possibility that a sporting connection will enhance their brand.

The financial involvement of a motor car firm with our flagging Irish soccer team coincided with an unexpected change in the fortunes of the squad. Opel Ireland will forever be linked to their unprecedented success.

Since the first sponsorship deal eight years ago, the Irish team qualified for a European Championship and two World Cups. No wonder that in 1988 Kevin Myers wrote in this newspaper that Opel's initial £100,000 investment in the team was "the shrewdest investment in the entire history of the automobile industry".

The managing director of the company Mr Arnold O'Byrne still keeps this cuttings buried beneath a pile of other notes on his desk. It reminds him that he made the right decision by agreeing to support the Irish squad before they had qualified for anything. "There is no doubt but that it created a massive awareness of the name Opel," he says. When the team trained it meant that the Opel jersey was flashed across newspapers, RTE news broadcasts and magazines. Replica jerseys are sold in outlets throughout the country. "It is difficult to ascertain how many cars we sold from the sponsorship but the goodwill it generated certainly got us onto several shopping lists," he said.

Opel Ireland's annual investment in the Irish squad currently stands at £250,000 per year but sponsorship on a smaller scale can also be of benefit to companies. In addition to its high profile involvement in the annual GAA football championships, the Bank of Ireland sponsors events in secondary schools and colleges around the country.

"Sponsorship makes sense," says Mr Declan Doyle, sponsorship manager for Bank of Ireland which provides trophies for second level basketball league and college rugby competitions. `Getting involved in schools means that we can provide links to the Bank of Ireland products that are aimed at that audience," he says. Their flagship sponsorship event, the GAA football championships, offers access to "a huge audience right across the market.

"Nine out of ten adults are aware of the event and seven out of ten watched on TV or attended the games last year," says Mr Doyle.

Interest is also being revived by TnaG's All Ireland Gold programme where matches played in championships gone-by can be viewed.

And while sports sponsorship can prove controversial - the British government is currently in hot water for exempting Formula One racing from their blanket ban on tobacco advertising in sport - the benefits are such that both business and sport end up occupying the winners circle.

And the answers are: (1) Hurling; (2) Horse Racing; (3) Gaelic Foot- ball; (4) Soccer; (5) Swimming