Evaluating Social Marketing Sponsorships: an analysis of Coca-Cola Canada and ParticipACTION

Abstract

Numerous not-for-profit organizations are developing and implementing social marketing programs that aim to address important social issues. Sponsorship has become an important tool to obtain necessary funds to run these programs. However, in today’s competitive environment, organizations have to compete for very limited sponsorship opportunities. To maintain and improve sponsorship relationships, organizations need to be able to evaluate sponsorships using efficient, proven methods. Thus, evaluation of social marketing sponsorship becomes an important component for both scholars and practitioners. However, this area still remains largely under-researched, especially in an empirical setting. This thesis fills this gap by evaluating Coca-Cola Canada sponsorship of the ParticipACTION Teen Challenge program. The results indicate that partners in sponsorship have successfully achieved their shared social marketing objectives by collaborating positively in delivering the program and by creating opportunities for participants to benefit from the program. The research highlights main factors that impact effective sponsorship implementation and evaluation.