When I first began to review the academic research done on sponsorship marketing, one of the accepted norms was to make sure the theme of the property matched the brand. If the brand was about endurance, sponsoring a triathalon might make sense. If it were about providing financial security, an air show sponsorship would be passed over. As someone new to the field, it made sense and I didn’t question it.
Now, it’s been over a dozen years, and this idea of brand fit in sponsorships needs to be challenged a bit.
If Massengil could sponsor UFC and increase its sales as a result, who is going to argue the “fit” of the sponsorship? No, it doesn’t seem appropriate for a feminine hygiene product to be associated with people beating the crap out of each other. But what if it produced r...
