Proprietary Sponsorship Performance and Impact model reveals how authenticity, audience fit, and sector context drive stronger sponsorship outcomes
The Brand Fans today announced new sponsorship research and insights generated through SPi (Sponsorship Performance and Impact), the company’s proprietary model designed to measure sponsorship effectiveness, impact and ROI for brands and rights holders.
The new findings show that sports sponsorships continue to lead for visibility and recognition, with 69.17% recall and 54.18% visibility, underlining their strength as a platform for building brand recognition and aligning with positive consumer experiences.
The research also highlights the power of music and entertainment sponsorships, particularly live events. According to the findings, music festivals achieve 81.98% recall, making them a high-impact opportunity for brands looking to connect with younger audiences in culturally relevant environments.
Beyond category performance, the research points to a deeper strategic takeaway: authenticity is critical to sponsorship effectiveness. The findings suggest that audiences respond most strongly when brand involvement feels genuine, contextually relevant, and aligned with the experience itself. This is especially important in understanding audience differences, with the research indicating that female audiences place greater value on genuine connection, while male audiences are more likely to advocate for brands they perceive as authentic.
Together, these insights reinforce the need for marketers to look beyond surface-level exposure metrics and adopt a broader view of sponsorship performance – one that considers recall, visibility, emotional relevance, audience alignment, and advocacy potential.
“SPi was developed to help brands understand not just whether a sponsorship was noticed, but whether it actually mattered,” said Daragh Persse at The Brand Fans (pictured above). “These latest insights show that the most effective sponsorships are not simply the most visible. They are the ones that feel authentic, connect with the right audiences, and create lasting brand impact.”
By applying the SPi model, The Brand Fans helps brands, rights holders, and agencies evaluate sponsorship through a more complete performance framework. The model is designed to support better decision-making by identifying which partnerships are most likely to drive awareness, strengthen relevance, and improve overall effectiveness.
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About The Brand Fans
The Brand Fans is an independent brand and sponsorship business focused on helping organizations understand audience connection, partnership effectiveness, and the drivers of meaningful brand impact. Through research, strategy, and proprietary tools such as SPi, The Brand Fans helps clients make smarter, more confident sponsorship decisions.
