Business-to-business sponsorship opportunities: Examining UPS’s functional congruence with the NCAA

John A. Fortunato

Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 2016, vol. 26, issue 1, 36-50

Abstract: Business-to-business themed sponsorships can be powerful marketing platforms, giving companies the ability to demonstrate and communicate their performance capabilities. Having a functional congruence, when the sponsor has a participatory role in the event, is a unique advantage for some sponsors. Demonstrating a functional congruence addresses a critical distinction between business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing approaches identified in the literature, with business-to-business buying decisions more focused on brand reliability. This article examines how United Parcel Service (UPS) executes its business-to-business themed, functional congruence sponsorship with the NCAA. It focuses on the logistical services that UPS performs in putting on the NCAA college basketball tournament. This cooperative indirect customer marketing approach shows how UPS uses the popularity of the NCAA Tournament to communicate its brand theme and brand capabilities. A case study of an actual business-to-business themed sponsorship provides a practical example that makes the overall understanding of business-to-business marketing more complete.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/21639159.2015.1116782

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