January 2009

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This risk is mitigated somewhat by the importance that companies now place on corporate sponsorship and the more commercial approach that the arts are taking to raising funds. The two sides are fostering more strategic, long-term relationships. Peter Thomas, director of marketing and communications for Accenture UK and Ireland, said: ‘Sponsorship of the arts has historically been purely philanthropic. There is, of course, still an element of that but in the last five years the relationship between organisations and sponsors has powered up. Many organisations have had to get more commercially minded as they have had to compete with each other for funding.’

An example of this long-term view was the recent decision by Credit Suisse, which has suffered billions of dollars worth of write-downs in the fall-out from the credit crisis, to become the first long-term sponsor of the National Gallery, London, with plans to support a large exhibition a year for the next three years. Russell Chambers, the bank’s chief executive in the UK and Ireland, says that although the financial industry is facing a tough time, banks cannot afford to sever all sponsorship deals.

Indeed, it can be argued that arts sponsorship may benefit from a tighter focus on costs in comparison to sports deals. Thomas said that it is far more cost-effective, from Accenture’s perspective, to sponsor the arts than major sports events: ‘Sponsorship of the arts gets us higher up the tree than sponsoring mainstream consumer sports would and costs far less.’

But while sponsorship of the arts may be targeted that does not mean that it cannot have international reach. The importance of China, for example, to the growth strategy of many companies is illustrated by the number of large companies that have been associated with projects linked to the country. Morgan Stanley sponsored the recent ‘The First Emperor – China’s Terracotta Army’ exhibition at the British Museum and HSBC sponsored the V&A’s ‘China Design Now’ exhibition. In April, the mining company Rio Tinto announced that it will be sponsoring the Royal Ballet’s tour of China. Paul Skinner, chairman of Rio Tinto, says China ‘is an increasingly important consumer of the metals and minerals we produce.  We hope to forge even closer ties with China by helping to make the tour possible.’

Figures

1. Corporate sponsorship of the arts in the UK. Source: Artprice