Sponsorship Linked Internal Marketing (SLIM): A … has been recognized for its ... The literature...

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Journal of Sport Management, 2012, 26, 506-520 © 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Farrelly is with RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Aus-tralia. Greyser is with Harvard Business School, Boston, MA. Rogan is managing director, Two Circles, London, England, UK.

Sponsorship Linked Internal Marketing (SLIM): A Strategic Platform for Employee Engagement and

Business Performance

Francis FarrellyRMIT University

Stephen GreyserHarvard Business School

Matt RoganTwo Circles

This paper advances our understanding of sponsorship linked internal marketing (SLIM). Based on a com-prehensive qualitative investigation of major sponsors, this research examines the use of sponsorship linked internal marketing to conceptualize, communicate and implement corporate identity development and employee performance. Sport (by way of an investment in sponsorship) provides a rich opportunity to build employee identification with corporate identity; to establish a fit between how the identity of the firm is positioned inter-nally and externally; and to inspire employee engagement to drive business performance. Moreover, it helps to foster a collaborative culture. The research furthers our understanding of the value of sport sponsorship, sponsorship fit, and sponsorship leveraging.

Internal marketing has for a long time been identified as an important sport sponsorship objective yet its applica-tion has been particularly limited (Grimes & Meenaghan, 1998; Tripodi, 2001). More recently there is evidence that some firms including major global brands are investing vast sums to activate sport sponsorship internally to build corporate identity, employee identification, and perfor-mance over the long term (Farrelly & Greyser, 2007; Rogan, 2008). This trend is also growing in prevalence in the UK on the back of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games where sponsors were forced to look harder for sources of value from rights to an event that will be shown on noncommercial television. However despite this, there is very little research that examines that nature of sponsorship linked internal marketing (noted herein as SLIM). More specifically there is, to our knowledge, no empirical research that builds an understanding of how firms can strategically use sponsorship and sports inspired identity development to drive employee engagement and business performance. This research responds to calls to investigate the strategic application of sponsorship within the firm (Cunningham, Cornwell, & Coote, 2009; Farrelly & Greyser, 2007; Rogan, 2008).

The study is set out as follows. We review the litera-ture on sport sponsorship as it relates to internal market-ing to establish the current state of knowledge in the field. We then explain our qualitative method and provide the findings of our inductive research with 22 companies. We also identify our contribution to the literature and provide managerial implications by way of a conceptual framework (inducted from our findings) for the applica-tion of sponsorship within the firm. This framework also provides the basis for a rich agenda for future research.

Review of the Literature: Sport Sponsorship and Internal MarketingSponsorship has been recognized for its flexibility, in particular the potential to target multiple audiences and achieve multiple objectives. Sponsorship can be used to enhance the firm’s ability to engage with the community; to counter adverse publicity; to build corporate and brand awareness and equity; and to engender strong relations with its staff (Meenaghan, 1991). Significantly, the potential to use sponsorship to create highly productive relations with staff has yet to receive close examination. Extant research is sparse and what does exist fails to consider how sponsorship inspired internal marketing can be applied strategically, though the potential for doing so

Sponsorship Linked Internal Marketing 507

has been suggested on numerous occasions (Cunningham, Cornwell, & Coote, 2009; Grimes & Meenaghan, 1998; Farrelly & Greyser, 2007). What is apparent is that the scope of SLIM is broad. It encompasses all activities associated with the conceptualization and leveraging of sport sponsorship to better satisfy employee needs as a way of preparing them to serve customers more effec-tively (Kelemen & Papasolomou-Doukakis, 2004). The limited research that addresses sponsorship and internal marketing is considered below.

Grimes and Meenaghan (1998) explored how spon-sorship can create a connection between employees and the firm’s corporate identity. They investigated the effect of the Bank of Ireland’s sponsorship of the Gaelic Foot-ball Championship and whether the sought after transfer of image from the sport to the firm among customers, could also have positive effect on the perceptions of its employees including their pride for the firm. Importantly in the context of the research reported here, they focused on the indirect internal effects of an externally targeted sponsorship without considering the strategic use of sponsorship within the firm. They concur with Tripodi (2001) in noting that managers are yet to fully appreciate the potential to leverage sponsorship internally.

Hickman, Lawrence, and Ward (2005) describe SLIM as a strategy designed to motivate and enable employees to adopt a customer orientation. They draw on social identity theory and test whether staff affinity with the sponsored sport impacts identification with the firm, the preparedness to satisfy customers, and affinity with other employees that share the same appreciation for the sport. Affinity with a sponsored team was found to posi-tively influence positive attitudes such as organizational commitment and the willingness to satisfy customers.

While Hickman, Lawrence and Ward (2005) iden-tify SLIM as a strategy, they do not articulate what it encompasses or explore how it is conceived or enacted to engage employees, including those that have less (or more) affinity with a particular sport or sport property. Nor do they consider how factors other than affinity with the sport—such as efforts to leverage the sponsorship internally—impact employee engagement. They do how-ever speculate that the internal leveraging of sponsorship may be a way to infuse company and personal values and to achieve symbolic co-operation based on a fit between the organization and employees’ shared values or goals. The literature suggests that additional internal activation over time is necessary to achieve such results (Cornwell & Maignan, 1988).

The importance of integrating sponsorship within the firm to better achieve external objectives including brand positioning has been identified. Farrelly, Quester, and Burton (1997) determined that effective imple-mentation of sponsorship requires input from functions other than marketing. Not yet discussed however is the use of SLIM to catalyze cross-functional collaboration (in support of external goals) or the scope for SLIM to garner organization-wide support for internal identity and performance initiatives. This last point is pertinent

as successful internal marketing is contingent on cross-functional support (Mitchell, 2002).

On the issue of integration there is also the sugges-tion that SLIM can be used to engender a fit where both stakeholder groups (internal and external audiences) are accounted for under the one identity umbrella. Several authors have hinted at the opportunity to synchronize external sponsorship strategy with corporate culture pro-grams (Cunningham, Cornwell, & Coote, 2009; Farrelly & Greyser, 2007; Grimes & Meenaghan, 1998; Hickman, Lawrence, & Ward, 2005; Quester & Kelly, 1999). As yet we have a very limited understanding of what this might entail which is surprising given that the image of the sport, especially in the case of a high profile sport, will have some effect on the identity of the sponsor firm in the minds of its employees (Cornwell, Weeks, & Roy, 2005).

Extrapolating from the sponsorship and broader internal marketing literature it appears that a number of benefits can accrue at the individual, group and cultural level when SLIM is deployed strategically and when employees associate favorable elements of the sport with the corporate identity and performance. At an individual employee level, these can include increased motivation to perform, heightened morale, loyalty to fellow employees and the firm as a whole; at a team level it may include improved cross-functional collaboration where indi-viduals associate with the performance levels of specific sponsored teams; and at a firm level where sponsorship and sport metaphors can increase identification with corporate values and business strategy. At an output level, such activities can result in cost savings (employee reten-tion, employee efficiency) and revenue growth through increased productivity, customer service orientation and sales conversion (Rogan, 2008).

Research that focuses specifically on the manage-ment and activation of SLIM is particularly rare and what does exist suggests that organizations have traditionally engaged in tactical activities. The most common practice has been to incentivize staff, particularly sales staff, to meet performance targets by offering them extrinsic rewards such as the chance to win tickets to sponsored sporting events (Quester & Kelly, 1999). This activity focuses on creating a short-term uplift in performance as opposed to a longer-term sustainable change that lasts beyond duration of the sponsorship. It is also important to note while research into sponsorship-linked marketing in the external environment recognizes the vital impor-tance of staff commitment to the sponsorship invest-ment (Cornwell, Weeks, & Roy, 2005), to the authors’ knowledge it has not extended to an examination of the internal environment.

Two noteworthy exceptions highlight the strate-gic potential of SLIM. Rogan (2008) highlighted the opportunity to use sponsorship internally to integrate the organization in support of its identity, performance objectives, and change initiatives. Data points collected over more than ten years were used to identify the poten-tially significant returns of using the intellectual property and rights internally as well as externally. Farrelly and

508 Farrelly, Greyser, and Rogan

Greyser (2007) describe how firms such as Crédit Lyon-nais use SLIM to connect staff and corporate culture with the sport-infused identity values that distinguish the orga-nization in the marketplace. They offer a brief description of how the sponsorship of sport can underpin a strategy to drive corporate identity, employee performance and customer satisfaction. The findings and discussion that follows extend previous research on the use of sport sponsorship within the firm.

MethodThe study described here was carried out using an induc-tive approach as qualitative studies enable a rich sense of the meanings participants bring to the issues in focus (Silverman, 2000). In-depth interviews and case studies were used to uncover deep insights and the tacit knowl-edge participants draw on when making evaluations and decisions. Such methods have been used successfully in the past to study sponsorship management practice (Farrelly, Quester, & Greyser, 2005; Long, Thibault, & Wolfe, 2004). The research reported within formed part of a larger study that covered related issues including current and potential ideas on the strategic application of sponsorship. The three authors have had extensive international experience working in sport sponsorship both from a research and practical perspective.

To investigate critical issues around the internal use of sponsorship, 22 in-depth personal interviews were undertaken. The interviews were conducted with senior practitioners from major sponsor firms across seven countries over an extended period. We also examined secondary documents that made reference to the use of sponsorship within the firm including promotion materi-als used by these companies to garner staff involvement. Communication with practitioners also took place via e-mail to further clarify our ideas. Data were also col-lected from the many informal discussions and brief interviews that took place with informants during confer-ences, at functions, and at sporting events.

The findings were also compared with the experi-ences of the third author who has worked for fifteen years with a range of major brands on the internal and external use of sponsorship including currently with both global and domestic partners of some of the world’s big-gest sporting events across a variety of sports (Rogan & Rogan, 2010). This allowed us to refine our ideas and triangulate our field data, and to draw on a deeper set of experiences and examples.

We developed an interview protocol to ensure that interviews followed a similar structure while also ensur-ing the free flow of ideas that characterizes qualitative research of this nature. The in-depth interviews lasted between 60–90 min each. Transcripts were then derived and key themes were identified. Data analysis and inter-pretation took place from the outset to enable us to focus on the emerging ideas and themes. A memorandum sum-marizing the interpretations of each interview was com-pleted soon after to capture a full appreciation of views of

our respondents. Following standard interviewing proce-dures, a mix of “grand tour” questions (i.e., nondirective questions) and floating prompts (i.e., asking respondents to expand on specific issues) were used. Grand tour ques-tions allowed for the probing of respondents in the least intrusive way possible (respondents could tell their own story on their own terms) while floating prompts enabled follow up on specific lines of inquiry (McCracken, 1988). Respondents were asked to elaborate on their motivations for becoming involved in SLIM, the nature of the SLIM planning process, their SLIM related discoveries, and their intentions going forward.

Coding was undertaken through comparative analy-sis and in line with the two-part process identified by Charmaz (2006). In the first instance open codes were developed to establish the broad themes that respondents referred to in their discussion of SLIM. This involved line-by-line coding to reveal descriptive and process codes and to establish a preliminary analytical frame. Focused coding followed to synthesize these previ-ous codes. Here we determined which codes made the most analytical sense and best revealed what was being described to us by our respondents. Focused coding revealed the principal themes (including sponsorship-led identity and performance strategy conceptualization, communication, and programs), and these themes were discussed further with three of the respondents to help ensure they were a true representation of what had been discussed.

The sampling procedure was purposive. Cases were selected due to their ability to generate a variety of perspectives on the use of SLIM and other strategic applications of sponsorship. Some of these issues were of a sensitive nature hence statements have not been attributed to a particular individual or firm and identifiers have been removed from the quotes where necessary. The titles of respondents, the nature of the firm and industry as well as the location of the firm are noted in Table 1.

FindingsOverall what was most telling about our data were the strategic and multifaceted way in which some firms approached and deployed SLIM. These firms were investing considerable financial and human resources in pursuit of longer-term goals associated with SLIM and this marked a shift from the way this facet of sponsor-ship has been described both in the academic literature and in the business press. For this reason we sought to induct a holistic picture of the nature and potential of SLIM. We identified four broad themes to explicate the strategic application of SLIM. The first incorporates the use of sport sponsorship as a catalyst to conceive identity (including a fit between the internal and external iden-tity of the firm) and performance strategy. The second involves drawing on sport meanings to communicate corporate identity and performance expectations. The third theme captures execution of a diverse range of staff engagement and performance development programs.


The last theme involves SLIM evaluation. The first three themes are identified in the findings that follow. The evaluation theme is covered in the discussion and with respect to future research.

Corporate Identity and Performance Strategy Development

Firms used sport sponsorship as a catalyst to con-ceive corporate identity and employee performance strategy. Across our cases there was evidence of using sport sponsorship to conceive strategy and short and long-term goals, including internal corporate identity development and branding (as it relates to positioning in the marketplace), and ideas as to how to overlay the two to significantly improve performance. These issues are discussed below.

Conceiving Strategy. What was particularly unique about the SLIM we encountered was the way respondents leveraged the association with the identity of the sponsored sport (and sport more generally) to conceive far-reaching strategy that incorporated corporate identity, corporate culture, the linking of internal and external sponsorship activation, and employee performance initiatives, as part of a broader performance strategy. The firm’s investment in sponsorship and the use of sport

metaphors as a platform to build corporate identity and performance was advantageous on multiple levels. The first was that it stimulated conditions favorable to strategy development targeted internally. Respondents spoke of how the investment prompted them to take a step back and think of a variety of ways to convey corporate identity and performance expectations to staff across the firm. One respondent noted:

What is particularly useful is that this is a multi-year contract which can stimulate the opportunity to think more strategically about how you put in place identity and staff performance for an internal program and a whole host of initiatives spread over time to bring all this to life. You can actually see these longer-term initiatives through as they are dotted throughout the period and so you don’t get lost in the more immediate concerns and budget cycles and lose sight of these longer-term more strategic efforts.

An important and unique advantage afforded those firms who deployed sponsorship internally was the way it inspired opportunities to build identity and employee per-formance programs internally (discussed further below), and to approach related opportunities strategically given the contract period and the prospect of longer term plan-ning horizons (sometimes four years or more). One firm

Table 1 The Sample

Respondent Title Industry/Firm Type Country

Marketing/Sponsorship Director Brewing China

President Sports Consultancy China

Marketing Director Banking Australia

Brand Director—Asia Pacific Sports Apparel Australia

Brand Manager Brewing Australia

Brand Manager Sports Apparel Australia

Sponsorship Director Brewing Australia

Marketing Director Fast Food Australia

Marketing Manager Automotive Australia

Public Relations Financial Services Switzerland

Director Sports Consultancy Switzerland

Marketing Director Sports Firm Switzerland

Director of Communication Banking France

Director of Event and Sponsorship Banking France

Director Sports Consultancy USA

Marketing Director Sports Apparel USA

Marketing Director Automotive United Kingdom

Director of Partnership Financial Services United Kingdom

Manager Financial Services United Kingdom

Head of Communications FMCG United Kingdom

Head of Communications Utilities / Energy United Kingdom

Group Strategy Director Communications United Kingdom


made the point that the longer-term nature of a sponsor-ship contract was vital to convincing senior management to set goals and dedicate substantial funds to long-term corporate identity, business strategy, and performance plans including major staff development programs.

A primary feature of the value of SLIM was that it involved a third party (the sport property) and the inclusion of a powerful catalyst (sport) as a basis for reestablishing the way the firm conceived its identity, performance culture and plans. Sponsorship and the alignment with sport emboldened senior managers with the belief that identity and performance targets and initia-tives would be well-received across the firm. Interestingly others have identified the potential opportunities to create legitimacy for the brand (in the marketplace) by aligning with the cultural elements of sport (Farrelly, Quester, & Greyser, 2005). We encountered the flipside of this whereby the sponsorship and association with sport and its widely accepted cultural properties (including ideas associated with goal-setting, striving, teamwork and achievement) highlighted the potential for identity and performance strategy that would be widely embraced by employees.

There was also a confidence that associated strategy would be considered less politically motivated because it was aligned to an external party (the property) and infused with widely accepted meanings (associated with sport performance). There was an expectation that staff would engage with SLIM strategy and related initiatives given that sponsorship investments had almost always been isolated to external activity and directed toward the consumer.

There was also recognition that the investment in sport sponsorship would convey something about the firm’s identity to the employee irrespective of whether they took action to leverage it internally. A decision was taken to actively manage this perception and to use sport metaphors to refine performance-oriented values (such as striving and peak performance) and render them more vivid and relevant.

Involvement with a major event has helped us to better articulate core values of the firm in a mean-ingful way, including what it meant as an employee committed to the values and objectives of the organi-zation. We realized that sponsorship sent a message to our employees and it was our opportunity to do something with it. Our employees would buy into our collective efforts to be a market-leading firm if our approach was not generic but meaningful and appropriate and they could engage with it. That is it was not just another promotional program trying to get them to work harder.

Several of the firms we engaged with went through an extensive profiling exercise that involved a thorough and detailed deconstruction of the identity of the sport property (and the firm) to clarify complementarities and opportunities for identity and performance development. Some deployed diagnostic frameworks to assist the process

(some delved deeply into the history of the sport), while others did it more organically. In one firm this process led to the recognition that it needed to make a cultural shift as it related to striving for and evaluating performance. One aspect of this shift involved the firm’s successful history of achievement based on high performing individuals. As a result of its SLIM planning and strategy conceptualiza-tion, it decided to place major emphasis on team-oriented values, beliefs, and attitudes as a core plank of its identity development. It also introduced a range of programs (implemented over several years) to inculcate how indi-vidual capabilities and effectiveness (knowledge, skills, achievements, and personal development) are amplified in high performing teams. Importantly, senior management’s belief in the legitimacy of associated strategy and activities inspired firms to actively involve staff in the process. One respondent noted:

We made the message relevant by genuinely involv-ing them [staff] as much as we could in all aspects of the program right from developing strategy to being involved in training and incentive programs, to bringing the values to life on the front-line when interacting with consumers, and acknowledging them formally and informally.

Another firm spoke of seeking input from staff as to its SLIM plans for the core areas of the firm’s business strat-egy. In this case staff were involved in the development plans of major strategic initiatives as they related to repu-tation, culture, people, and performance. Involving staff also extended to the cocreation of particular initiatives and programs and to the implementation of associated rewards. One firm developed an internal program where staff could nominate colleagues who demonstrated values inherent to those of the particular sport. This included initiative, determination, and teamwork. Winners were rewarded with tickets to the event. The previous passages also allude to the strategic value in using sport as a conduit to establish a fit between the internal and external identity of the firm. This was another significant strategic benefit in the application of SLIM.

Linking Internal and External Identity and Performance. The fit between the sponsor and sports brand is fundamental to sponsorship success but is almost always considered only in the context of the consumer. The large body of research on the nature of fit between the sponsor and sport brand (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Quester & Thompson, 2001; Rifon, Choi, Trimble, & Li, 2004) and the management of fit (Bridges, Keller, & Sood, 2000; Gwinner, 1997) has not considered its relevance and application to the internal audience or internal activation opportunities. Several of the firms we investigated conceived strategy to ensure the brand was integrated both externally and internally. One respondent noted:

We have always had various internal marketing programs like training and incentive programs and so on that as well as developing and motivating staff said something about the firm to employees,


and of course active use of sponsorship to bolster our brand externally. Sport and sponsorship and associated meanings provide the obvious bridge. Both our internal and external branding efforts are in some way about our attitude so it makes sense to combine them. We had an interesting response from some. I mean in management, and those regularly engaging with consumers on a day-to-day basis in that they felt the connection between how we were to build the identity of the firm through the use of the sponsorship externally and our culture and expecta-tions on staff was not as aligned as it could be. So this just highlighted that connecting these things was beneficial on a number of levels.

This comment highlighted a number of important issues. Not only the recognition of the value in integrat-ing both internally and externally, but also the potential loss in not doing so. In this and several other cases we were exposed to, SLIM appeared advantageous both in terms of bolstering performance, but also in avoiding suboptimal performance from less committed staff. This is particularly significant when you recognize that internal and external marketing communications programs are often mismatched (Kelemen, & Papasolomou-Doukakis, 2004; Mitchell, 2002). And given that an inconsistency between how the company represents itself externally and how it is perceived internally can cause employee cynicism and a lack of commitment (Mitchell, 2002).

The “levels” referred to by the aforementioned respondent are also pertinent as they speak to the belief that employees more fully engage when the firms exter-nal positioning is congruent with the identity and goals being conceived and promoted internally, and with what is required of staff to deliver on them. Some firms

maximized this opportunity by conceiving cross-func-tional partnerships to better integrate internal and external elements of the firm. Various strategies, frameworks and templates were developed to overlay internal and external elements, like the cross-functional framework noted below (refer Figure 1) that identifies how the SLIM program enabled a closer connection between Marketing and HR to build employee and customer engagement and performance (Rogan, 2008). A common feature of these frameworks was the articulation of synergies between functions including objectives, function level perfor-mance goals, and collaboration to achieve employee goals. One example involved setting parallel targets for employee and consumer brand engagement. These targets were supported with a range of sport-inspired training programs and resources.

Another of the organizations we studied was a stark illustration of the capacity to use SLIM to link internal and external identity and performance. Formed as a result of an unexpected merger between two significant businesses, the sponsorship provided a neutral platform to create a sense of cohesion between the respective external facing brands (for example, via the use of a single campaign identity for the sponsorship). Similarly, the sponsorship offered an apolitical metaphor that could be exploited to emphasize assimilation of the “best of the two businesses” both on the internal and external level. In this particular case, sponsored athletes were used within the newly merged firm to tell stories about teamwork, appreciating different strengths, and the lessons they had learned about performance under pressure.

In a further example a major FMCG firm used the sponsorship to unify two major areas of the business that in the past had operated largely as separate entities. In this instance both areas of the business were involved

Figure 1 — SLIM and linking the marketing and HR function.


in cocreating a sport inspired identity, and in creating a range of initiatives to link them symbolically, stra-tegically and operationally. The strategic alignment of internal and external positioning and performance also occurred in other ways. One respondent explained how the company used stories from athletes to bring to life the importance of “getting it right for the customer”, and how they applied that frame both internally and externally. Another explained how they themed an internal team-challenge with prizes based on the sustainable impact on the customer. The latter program derived its thematic inspiration from the leadership of a sponsored sport—the sport’s leaders emphasized how they were able to evaluate strategic or tactical changes to the team and its approach to competing in the context of potential improvements to performance.

We also heard evidence of linking internal sustain-ability and corporate social responsibility goals and communication themes (related to the sponsorship) with external brand communication of the firm’s sustainability positioning. One respondent from a global brand made the following point.

The corporate social responsibility plans we make have more impact with our people, who make the plans happen when linked into a sponsored property, but only because the sponsored property is hard-wired into the overall business strategy.

Two aspects of this passage are significant. Firstly, the sponsorship helped to align the internal and external representation of identity, in this instance as it related to the firms approach to corporate responsibility. Secondly, the sponsorship helped to garner employee identification because they could see the firm was committed to these goals given the extent to which they were infused into the business strategy. Our respondents expressed the belief that consistency in branding between the internal and external audience strengthened overall outcomes because the message was a more accurate (and inspiring) reflection of what differentiated the firm’s brand identity in terms of its unique personality, people and products. There were also cost advantages as communications could be adapted for internal and external stakeholders.

As part of their strategy development some firms developed their SLIM to create, refresh and even launch new sets of corporate values for internal and external use. One respondent, a global financial services institution, used their sponsorship of a team involved in a major international sporting competition to create a new set of aspirational values. These values underpinned the firm’s external and internal positioning (i.e., corporate identity and brand identity), and were used to motivate and improve employee productivity. Further highlighting the significance of the opportunity, another service firm created a new external brand position to better reflect the complementarities between its external and internal identity. Though a particularly expensive exercise, the firm recognized long-term advantages as the repositioning

afforded major changes to its people and performance strategy. Other respondents spoke of synchronizing the internal and external branding efforts.

It is necessary to have a strong fit between what you tell your employees and how you want your employees to act when dealing with clients. It is also critical to begin conceptualizing this early. In the case of a services firm your employees are your brand, so efforts need to be made to involve them from the outset. But it is also important because it signals that the company is serious about how it is positioning itself and that it has genuine self-belief in the employees to make this positioning a reality. It also signals transparency in that the company in striving for this goal is both open and supportive of the staff helping to meet it… the use of sport via a sponsorship can help make this very clear and compelling to employees so you tie the two. The statement made externally through the sponsorship and promotion materials provided to clients reflects the commitment that staff are asked to deliver on.

The strategic thinking underpinning this statement is significant. A compelling external statement about the brand could also be used internally to engage, motivate and unify staff by signaling (transparently) how important they were to the firm and its goals. The key was creating and communicating an identity that was both persuasive in the marketplace and a true representation of the staff, and their existing and potential capabilities.

Corporate Identity and Employee Performance Communication

In addition to being highly valuable in enabling strategy, our respondents placed great value on the power of sport (via the sponsorship) to communicate to their employees in a highly engaging, instructive and motivating way. Two main themes emerged in relation to the use of SLIM to communicate corporate identity and employee performance. The first involved using sport as a context to communicate the link between the identity of the firm as represented internally and externally, and to express (otherwise abstract) ideas about individual, team and organizational performance. This extended to using sport as a mindset and language for talking about performance. The second involved codifying sport sponsorship inspired identity and performance related communications so they could be deployed across the organization (and in some cases across the world).

Communicating Using the Sport Context. The critical importance of understanding sport in context and the implications for communicating identity, performance and staff engagement were also discussed.

A key element of the power of sport is in the context in terms of really showing performance and commit-ment and related ideas in graphic detail as in this is


what athletes do to prepare, to train to achieve their goals, this is commitment on display, obstacles overcome, self motivation or giving it all for the team and so on. And this is not hearsay. This is real-life competition right in front of you. So you can see in a cogent way just what you can do with your iden-tity and how best to communicate it and how best to articulate performance and initiatives to build it.

Our respondents emphasized the importance of under-standing how to use the sport as context to articulate identity and engagement (several indicated that the skill in leveraging context was critical to optimizing the invest-ment). Sport as depicted in context provides the basis to articulate identity and performance in vivid detail, and is critical to a meeting of the minds between the firm’s goals and motivating staff to strive to meet them. The point was made that a richly drawn sport context could bring large numbers of people together to cocreate a shared view of performance far more effectively than conventional methods.

One firm used powerful sport imagery and metaphors to enhance its key identity and performance values, namely leadership, teamwork, responsibility, informed and rapid decision-making, and the drive to succeed. These sport-enhanced values were communicated inter-nally to the firm’s staff located across the globe with the intent to both unite and motivate and create a mindset for performance. The same firm used this communica-tion to highlight the link between the employee’s role within the culture of the firm, and to generating client satisfaction and loyalty. While in another example the firm communicated its sponsorship of tennis as a part of a major unifying theme to assist its merger efforts. As with a previous example, the association with sport became the basis to communicate cultural values common to the organizations, and to convey the future direction of the newly merged firm.

Looking across our cases it was evident that sport provided a rich (and familiar) language to express corporate identity and performance in a tangible and less contrived way. Sport-infused language extended to expressions of the firm’s mission, to business and mar-keting strategy, to expressing plans for the future (and why staff should strive for that future), to convey mean-ings associated with leadership and performance, and to articulating aims and ideas in the performance workshops and training programs (often using in-situ examples). There was also the creative use of sport-inspired lan-guage to communicate what it means to collaborate in high-performing teams, and to evoke strong ideas about commitment, determination, self-belief, goal setting and quality standards. Collectively this highlighted the immense value of sport-laden metaphors to communicate a clear message about the firm’s identity and its desire for staff to realize their potential.

For some companies sport enabled communication of a performance mindset in ways that previous approaches had been less able to do. One respondent noted:

We have always been a firm believer in developing an attitude that typifies the way we go about our busi-ness but this can be difficult when it is the company trying to engineer motivation by way of the normal “corporate-speak”. Once you start adding sport into the equation you can get clarity on important performance issues and build an understanding and motivation at the same time in a way that is appli-cable and authentic. Sport can give you a set of terms and ideas that people can connect with if you know how to communicate them effectively.

In terms of gaining clarity (as noted in the previous passage), firms provided various examples of the ways sport served as a language for talking about performance. One firm spoke of wishing to convey the sense of “unshakeable self-belief” and how this and other relatively abstract concepts were so much more effectively expressed by sportspeople such as the Captain of a Global Sailing Team who described in vivid detail what that means and why it is so important. How sport provided a context for understanding the interrelationship between individual, team and organizational performance was also discussed. Another engaged a Performance Director of a National Cycling Team to explain how the day-to-day role of the trainee bike mechanic impacted on the number of gold medals the team would win at the next Olympic Games, and how this highlighted how the contribu-tion of each individual was critical to the outcome. In another example a firm engaged athletes aspiring to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games to share stories about how they rely on a support system of coaching, development and direction to achieve their goals.

There was however also the recognition that not all employees are sport fans. In this regard there was the feeling that while all employees might not follow the sport being sponsored, all could identify with broader meanings such as an individual athlete’s highs and lows in struggling to achieve one’s life goals. One global organization created a suite of stories from athletes and teams showcasing real-life experiences. Each story contained key messages, such as inspiring others in the team and communicating effectively, which corresponded with learning objectives set down in the SLIM programs (refer programs below). In addition a “Trainer Guide” was created. This reiterated the sponsor’s objectives to the course trainers and advised on how to best incorporate the Olympic ideals into the various programs, and how story-telling could be compelling for those without such an interest in sport. Storytelling was critical to the use of sport as a conduit for a varied audience.

We understood that it was critical to tailor our com-munication to the audience. Many of our customer-facing employees are working Mums, who were more easily able to identify at a personal level with the experiences of the parents of the young athletes going for gold than the athletes themselves.

Also of significance was the way associated ideas were codified to embed a shared interpretation of the firm’s


values and goals, and a common understanding of the processes and responsibilities necessary to achieve these goals. Sponsors incorporated sponsorship-linked iden-tity and performance statements in internal memos and newsletters and in professional development programs such as leadership education. The value of codification to link strategy, actions and outcomes has been identi-fied the literature (Lechner & Floyd, 2007) but not in the context of sponsorship.

Some firms codified corporate identity and brand dimensions so they were available as artifacts for a multi-tude of purposes including training and induction. Others created dedicated intranet sites that provided information about identity and SLIM programs. These intranet sites also included presentations, images, and display materi-als for employees to use in their dealings with clients. An important function of the intranet site was to provide resources to help build an overarching performance ethic across the organization. Those who had codified and diffused their SLIM activities and materials were of the view that such efforts had a significant impact on both internal and external outcomes.

One global automotive organization we studied created a series of learning events for dealership prin-ciples—offering them insights into behavioral skills taken from sport such as coaching, goal setting and handling pressure. Toolkits of materials (online webinars, videos, podcasts and hand-outs) were created to enable them to take their learning back into their dealerships in a cost effective way, where a focus on resilience (in a tough market) and coaching (as an approach to selling) were seen as pivotal to dealership sales. The sponsorship property offered a focus on engaging, lively and edgy performance levels in a sales environment less receptive to more generic and traditional forms of learning.

Corporate Identity and Performance Development Programs

Our research also revealed the power of a range of sport-inspired employee development programs to build corporate identity and group and individual performance. Before discussing these programs it is worthwhile noting that firms also carried out internal research to solicit employee views on how staff development programs could be constructed to better leverage the sponsor-ship. They included questions within existing employee engagement surveys, or used a more qualitative approach including focus groups, intranet blogs and in-depth interviews. The best of these were not one-off requests but those that provided employees with the opportunity to make periodic suggestions about the nature of the internal programs. A cocreated approach helped to create meaningful employee performance programs.

We saw sponsorship as a fresh slate in the sense of what you can do to improve things to engage staff and improve performance….we heard from staff that we could do more to grow and develop them

and that we should be market leading in terms of staff development credentials. Hence we created programs that are more encompassing as far as both our sport-inspired performance goals and the approach to staff development.

This statement further highlighted the value of a sponsor-ship-inspired strategic approach to identity development and staff performance programs, including the value in carrying out research to inform ideas and to generate employee ownership of the process, and associated initia-tives and goals. Most significant too was the fact that this firm, as with several others, discovered important internal cultural perceptions (or tensions) that could be accounted for in their programs and broader plans.

These sport inspired programs were many and varied. An example of some programs and their objectives are described briefly in Table 2 below. For reasons of scope we discuss three of the program types we were exposed to.

Strategic Planning Programs. We observed organi-zations spending significant time running sequential workshops designed to cocreate SLIM plans and the performance development programs that would be delivered across the organization. These programs were developed specifically to engage senior level individuals across the firm to establish how best to use the sponsorship as a catalyst for change (refer leadership programs in Table 2). It also created a sense of internal buy-in around the sponsorship, and a sense of co-ownership of the responsibility for development and delivery of the strategy and the various initiatives and programs that constituted the SLIM plan. Sponsorship ‘assets’ (imagery, athletes, video, venues and so on) helped to amplify the impact of these strategy programs.

Workshops were also used to develop strategies for communicating the sponsorship and associated identity and performance programs across the organization in a way that stimulated ownership. In some cases this involved creating a brand plan in a manner akin to what was conceived for the market, with a clear articulation of the core attributes of the performance identity and how it would be realized through various forms of com-munication targeted to different functions and groups within the firm.

Also of primary importance in these programs was the need to refine ideas about how best to execute communications that would create an emotional con-nection with the firm and its SLIM plans. The programs also involved articulating the goals and actions of staff responsible for communicating the SLIM plan, including those that would work collaboratively across functions. In some cases these programs involved leaders in identify-ing internal “champions” and the symbolic and practical role they would play in communicating the SLIM plan across the firm.

Rewards Programs. A feature of the programs developed involved using sport sponsorship as a reward and goal setting mechanism. There were various


Table 2 Identity and Performance Programs

Program Aim Objective

Strategic Planning

Aiming to Win Gold in 2016 Cocreating the internal and external activation plan with key stakeholders across the organization.

Organizational Engagement and Communication

What (Sponsorship) Fit Means both Internally and Externally

Activities designed to elicit broad ranging views on how sponsorship relates to (or could relate to) core internal and external marketing objectives.

Our (Sponsorship Timeline Related) Goals Relaying business goals that will be amplified through the sponsorship to the broader employee base. Evoking the collective nature of the goals.

Leadership Development

Understanding Myself as a Performer Using sporting insight tools (e.g., diet and nutrition, psychological assessment) to understand personal performance—as an athlete would.

Delivering My Personal Best Learning core behavioral techniques from elite sport (focus, motivation, handling pressure, and building belief) to support personal performance (of staff).

Leading for the Podium Observing how sporting leaders (e.g., Performance Directors, Head Coaches) lead their talent to gain insight into how lead staff.

World Class Coaching Understanding the nuances, challenges and opportunities of coaching elite performers.

Building an Elite Team Gaining insight into elite sporting talent development and the role of a coach in creating a high performing team.

Delivering When It Counts Role-playing and building belief as a team to simulate and deliver at core high-pressure moments.

Client Action Planning

Building A Common Set of Goals Working collaboratively across functions and business units to build Customer and Client Action Plans as part of Sponsorship Related Action Plans.

Management Training

Team Talks Core skills development consistent with the Leadership Development programs. Management across the firm including those in less strategic customer-facing roles are exposed to consistent sport infused goal-setting ideas and language, and performance messaging.

examples of programs to reward staff who met targets (such as sales targets) with tickets to events. While these specific reward programs and goals had an impact in and of themselves, they were most effective when attached to broader identity and performance strategy and when they recognized behaviors (e.g., intrinsic or “values” based rewards) as opposed to pure outputs (i.e.,

sales). Different rewards were attached to the full suite of development programs. This reflected the strategic purpose of the reward programs and the desire to not just motivate individual and team performance, but to merge ideas about the firm’s identity, cultural values, and a performance ethos, with day-today practices, and short, medium, and longer-term targets. One respondent noted:


The sport-inspired training programs and initiatives you can put in place are important but it is bigger picture stuff that is vitally important. To create a performance culture then all of your efforts to nurture the right internal environment, including your core ideas about performance and what they say about your identity and vice-versa, must be consistent through a variety of programs. If you do it right you realize that each initiative and each communication count and you should try to link identity and perfor-mance in a pervasive way especially as sport gives you a great opportunity to do so.

There was also a strong sense in some firms that over time these programs (including the reward programs) and the culture would start naturally taking on even greater importance because staff would know that the programs have relevance to their day-to-day including how they interact with other staff and consumers. This was thought to be particularly the case when the programs were tied to broader strategic goals. One of our respon-dents shared that the incentive program they had linked to their global sponsorship was expected to out-live the sponsorship term, given it had become a fundamental part of the corporate culture. In this case, the peer nomination mechanism for the incentive program served to create a sense of authenticity around the program and to embed it quickly throughout the firm.

Goal-Setting Programs. Goal setting was also an important component of these programs, which is not surprising given the power of sport to convey goals and motivate staff (Rogan & Rogan, 2011). One respondent spoke of how the sponsoring firm used the association with sport to advance its approach to goal setting.

The sponsorship can also inspire other objectives where you use the identity of the sport to reinvigorate goal setting and staff motivation and commitment. To use [sport-infused] training programs to help set goals and express examples of how athletes prepare or how the concept of team is understood and acti-vated and what that means in how you select and integrate teams, allocate roles, recognize strengths and responsibility, can create team goals and build commitment in pursuit of those goals. The group will then take these sport type examples and overlay them in their goal setting.

Respondents deployed their SLIM programs to engage staff through innovative goal setting that involved using sport (by way of the sponsorship) to understand the importance of goals for high levels of achievement, and to engender intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Sport metaphors were also used to highlight goals and rewards not just related to individuals but to the intrinsic value of working for the greater good of the organization.

Another key reason why using sport in goal-setting appeared particularly valuable is that it helped employees to understand that even medal-winning athletes have to

turn their ambitious goals into more mundane day-to-day process goals to keep them on track. This type of approach appeared effective in encouraging employees to “think big” in terms of the goals they set, but also to conveying that ambitious targets must be underpinned by a commitment to focusing on the right actions day-in and day-out. We were exposed to various goal-setting examples, such as how sport organizations set stretch goals. One example relayed to us involved a sponsor firm making use of the way Team Great Britain have executed a seven-year plan to achieve fourth position in the overall Olympic Medal table in 2012. The firm in question was able to demonstrate that extraordinary performance was achievable when broken down into more manageable, daily activities.

The use of SLIM to link goal-setting at a strategic level was also particularly important in creating an opportunity for core business areas including Marketing, HR, Sales, and Operations, to build goals collectively. Respondents spoke of how the efforts of these functions to cocreate sales (and other) goals, was a major benefit in terms of short and longer-term collaboration. Here the injection of sport was important because it motivated those responsible to work together to create of goals and responsibilities that depended on cross-functional collaboration (refer Figure 1). Research highlights that a superordinate goal (in this case a goal understood in the context of sport) can encourage teamwork across functions that might otherwise be more inclined to serve functional interests (Sethi, Smith & Park, 2001).

Discussion and Managerial Implications

This research contributes to understanding of sponsorship in a number of ways. Firstly, it broadens our understand-ing of sponsorship-linked marketing as proposed by Cornwell (1995) by highlighting the significant oppor-tunity to extend related thinking to the internal audience. Three internal factors have been identified in the literature as being critical to sponsorship outcomes. The first is an organization-wide commitment to sponsorship including the belief that sponsorship can be managed as a resource for competitive advantage (Amis, Slack, & Berrett, 1999); the second is integration across functions responsible for administering the sponsorship in the external marketplace (Farrelly, Quester, & Burton, 1997); and the third is an effective coupling of marketing and people strategy ele-ments in support of the sponsorship as a lever for busi-ness performance (Fahy, Farrelly, & Quester, 2004). Our research indicates that SLIM, when managed strategically and proactively across all internal stakeholder groups, can drive each of these factors.

Furthermore, our research confirms the potential for researchers and practitioners to extend their understand-ing of sponsorship fit to encompass internal and external alignment. By aligning internal and external identity objectives a firm can both achieve better outcomes from


its sponsor-led external marketing (as it will be executed by a more knowledgeable and committed staff), and enhance employee identification with core strategic priorities such as corporate values and business, team and individual goals. Recent data in the UK suggests that SLIM also improves employee retention, delivery of core customer service outcomes and recruitment. For example, one of our sample organizations recently finished a program of activity that demonstrated that 8% more customer complaints were resolved first time for a period of three months after a sponsorship-related learning and coaching program had been run in several locations versus control groups. Given that the strategic application of SLIM appears to be the exception, there is an opportunity to more fully realize the sponsorship investment in this way.

We also contribute to sponsorship literature and practice through the provision of a strategic framework (inducted from our data), which assists in understanding and applying sponsorship within the firm. We identify three levels to deploy sponsorship to engage employees,

namely at the cultural, team and individual level, and four areas of SLIM strategy that require careful delibera-tion (the arrows indicate the interlinked nature of SLIM strategy and the levels at which it is operationalized). The four areas as shown in Figure 2 below, involve strategy conceptualization, communication, programs, and evaluation. We revisit the four areas, and as part of this discussion add some additional thoughts about the three levels of application of SLIM. The practical nature of this research is such that the following discussion is interlaced with managerial implications. We also provide a rich agenda for future research.

From the outset it is important to note that in order for SLIM to be effective, that is to have a lasting effect on firm culture, employee and market performance, it must be approached strategically to gain a clear under-standing of its scope, and objectives, and to recognize the need for substantial resource commitments over an extended period. As identified in Figure 2 (and articulated in our findings), SLIM is strategic in nature and thus the conceptualization of a SLIM plan should include

Figure 2 — The SLIM framework.


fundamental aspects of the firm’s business strategy as it relates to engagement at the cultural, team (which may extend across functions), and individual level. More specifically, SLIM strategy should encompass the firm’s vision and values (actual and desired values), corporate and brand identity, and core staff development priorities including leadership, team and individual skill develop-ment, incentive and reward mechanisms, and recruitment and retention.

In addition, sponsorship inspired identity and perfor-mance strategy needs to address the alignment between internal and external identity and performance, and how this can provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Where there is a substantial investment in using the sport metaphor to link the internal and external identity, the expectation should be that the firm will craft a highly differentiated identity, as it will be defined by the heri-tage, people, attitudes and performance capabilities that are the essence of its uniqueness. Consistent with the thinking that underpins sponsorship linked marketing (Cornwell, 1995); the revised identity should serve as the centerpiece for the SLIM plan and permeate all efforts to communicate, as the use of sport to amplify identity (and to motivate) is fundamental to the investment and associated performance gains.

It is also likely that the use of an entity separated from the firm, be that an actual event or sport property as in a league, team or athlete, can bring legitimacy to the revised identity and associated initiatives (especially if the wider staff is involved in their conceptualization or rollout). SLIM can be an effective means of bringing oth-erwise disparate groups together in the implementation of strategy especially where the firm uses the investment to develop an identity and performance ethos with its employees. As long as nonsporting fans are catered to, this metaphor can produce a committed response from the majority of staff.

As part of strategy development, communication and execution, it will be important to involve internal func-tions other than marketing in the very earliest stages of the sponsorship (indeed HR should ideally be involved in the selection process). The buy-in of the HR division is vital for they will have a significant impact on SLIM efforts and outcomes. The HR Director’s charter is to engage employees, to build a strong performance culture, and to hire and retain quality staff. These and other objec-tives overlap with the marketing department and how it seeks to activate SLIM, and clearly marketing will benefit from these endeavors in terms of meeting its goals such as sales and customer service. Much more can be done to explore the marketing and HR interface in the context of sport sponsorship and SLIM (refer future research).

On the issue of communicating the vision, objectives, strategy and approach to implementation, it is also impor-tant to approach the task strategically. To think about how context, language, mindset, and opportunities for the codification of sport inspired artifacts, can enhance com-munication to build a unique identity and performance ethos. Context is important because it is critical to how

people comprehend what is required of them and sport provides the opportunity to use rich context (including evocative and compelling stories, examples and settings) to express key identity and performance values and goals, as they relate to leadership, teamwork, personal achieve-ment, service, and accountability.

Another important communications issue when using sponsorship internally is to highlight its symbolic significance as a challenge requiring the input of all employees. Some of the firms we investigated recognized the cultural opportunity to position the sponsorship as a rallying cry to bring employees together in pursuit of a common objective. It is also prudent to make use of (internal) champions to promote the identity, goals and programs. A “champions” or “ambassadors” strategy to diffuse the SLIM plan throughout the organization can be highly effective. In one example a firm identified over 200 of the most influential staff members across its offices worldwide to assist in communicating the SLIM plan.

It will also be critical that the content and duration of identity and performance related programs are consistent with the strategic nature of SLIM and the magnitude of the SLIM strategy. The types of programs as identified in Table 2 will need to encompass planning and strategy development including identity and performance pro-grams (especially given the magnitude of the investment), and programs that cover engagement and performance across the various tiers of the organization from senior management to front-line staff. As well as building capa-bilities and skills to enhance performance, these programs should contain a strong symbolic component to create an emotional connection between staff and the firm. It is also important that programs are staggered over the duration of the sponsorship (and beyond) especially as the achievement of associated goals and skills will evolve. Programs must shift in focus from engaging senior leaders and the broader organization with the rationale for the sponsorship, to embedding group and individual skills, and delivering on ambitious outcomes (such as customer service benchmarks) at the latter stages of the contract.

For reasons of scope (and confidentiality) we did not explore in detail how SLIM is evaluated. However a key principle is to measure the impact of the programs at an attitudinal, behavioral and business outcome level on an ongoing basis, and to use the insight from the data to refine future programs. The importance in doing so is self-evident especially as corporate identity and the corporate brand, and staff performance and satisfaction is at stake.

At the minimum, evaluation should involve an assessment of employee identification with the corporate strategy, values and brand based on the sponsorship. This can extend to isolating the impact of the sponsorship on business outcomes (sales, cost savings, productivity, and retention) through particular programs via the use of control groups. One measurement activity that appeared to be particularly effective involved using control groups, not just in terms of comparing sponsorship-inspired engagement and learning to “no activity”, but also to generic activity where training had been undertaken


but without the sponsorship metaphor. Control groups (where sponsor-related performance programs are run alongside identical, nonbadged ones) can be used to isolate productivity gains, customer service impact, and employee retention attributed to the partnership, in a quasi-scientific way.

More broadly, when it comes to evaluation firms should think about potential investment in sponsorship by including an assessment of internal activation oppor-tunities as part of the screening and selection criteria. The firm must be clear as to its objectives, including the potential for blending its internal identity and external brand positioning, so that it can consider sponsorship rights fees in a holistic and informed way. Choosing the right property should also include consideration of how related imagery and meanings fit culturally within the sponsor firm.

Limitations and Future ResearchAs with most qualitative research one limitation is the modest size of the sample. Although we cannot claim that our sample consists of a representative set of spon-sor firms, we believe it includes a meaningful number of best practice companies, because many are major spon-sors of significant sport properties and known for their sponsorship expertise.

Clearly, given the embryonic nature of SLIM (especially its evaluation), our work also highlights the opportunity for future research on multiple levels. Our intent was to draw out and meld together best practices to develop a strategic picture of the use and potential oppor-tunities for applying SLIM and to provide a platform for further research. With this in mind it would be useful to use the ideas identified here to explore quantitatively what firms are doing with SLIM, as the benefits to both sponsors and properties can be significant, and because this is such an under-explored area of sponsorship and sports management more generally.

The framework in Figure 2 depicts fertile categories for future research. SLIM occurs at the individual, group and cultural level. At the individual level more can be done to explore how sport (via sponsorship) stimulates employee identification with the firm. Much has been done to explore team identification from the fan’s per-spective (Wann & Branscombe, 1993), and to a lesser extent the relationship between fan identification and sponsorship (Gwinner & Sawanson, 2003), however little research considers how sport can bolster employee identification with the firm, where identification relates to the extent to which individuals perceive a sense of oneness with the organization (Ashforth & Mael, 1989).

There is also significant opportunity for research at the functional level. For example, examining the role of the HR function in the planning and implementation of SLIM could produce valuable insights. While we examined SLIM primarily from marketing’s perspec-tive, it is obvious that HR plays a critical role, and the

lack of investigation of the HR role is a limitation of our study. One approach may be to consider frames (cultural assumptions, in this case about how the firm should approach SLIM) to tease out synergies or potential conflicts between HR and marketing. Functions typically see the world differently when it comes to planning and implementation (Dougherty, 1992), and given that sport can operate at an apolitical level it may be useful to explore how it aids cross-functional collaboration.

There is also significant opportunity to take a cultural view of sponsorship fit as it relates to its application within the firm. Future research could consider fit from the employees’ perspective in a similar way to how it has been assessed with consumers, including the level and impact of perceived congruence between the sponsor and sport brand (Ferrand & Pages, 1996; Speed & Thomp-son, 2000) and its effects such as awareness and attitude change (Becker-Olson & Simmons, 2002; Nicholls, Roslow, & Dublish, 1999). Do employees consider the image the firm is projecting through its alignment with sport to be an effective representation of its corporate culture and identity? Do employees believe that consum-ers are likely to accept the positioning as communicated through the sponsorship? Should the approach to linking external and internal identity be applied in the same way between customer-contact and noncontact employees?

A better understanding of the expectations of SLIM programs for customer-contact and noncontact employees may enable more targeted SLIM initiatives, and so war-rant future research. Employee response to fit will also have an impact externally. Ultimately the effectiveness of the fit in the marketplace will be impacted by how the sponsorship is received internally, particularly in terms of sponsorship implementation efforts across the firm and how that manifests in both hard metrics (e.g., pro-ductivity, profitability, cost savings) and soft ones (e.g., the corporate culture and employees ‘living the brand’).

Future research should also consider the evaluation of SLIM programs including both performance measures and outcomes with the use of control groups to isolate impact. While measuring return on sponsorship invest-ments in the external marketplace is notoriously difficult, we have seen evidence that it is possible to gain a solid understanding of the returns from sponsorship in the internal context. And while it is obviously an additional investment, SLIM will typically require significantly less than what it costs to activate the sponsorship externally and will help to ensure that external activation realizes it’s potential.

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