Authentic, Relevant, Effective: What The Brand Fans’ SPi Research Means for Irish Sponsorship Strategy

Authenticity has become the defining measure of sponsorship effectiveness, and new research from an Irish consultancy puts precise numbers on why. The Brand Fans, a Sport for Business member and Dublin-based sponsorship agency, has published findings from SPi, its proprietary Sponsorship Performance and Impact model, covering recall, visibility and brand connection across sport, music and entertainment partnerships. Reported on 4 September 2026, the research reinforces sport’s commercial strength while making a clear argument that audience relevance and authentic alignment are now as important as reach in any credible sponsorship strategy.

The quantitative findings are instructive. Sports sponsorships achieved 69.17% recall and 54.18% visibility, confirming sport’s capacity to generate brand recognition and associate sponsors with positive consumer experiences. Music festivals outperformed both metrics on recall at 81.98%, reflecting the intensity of audience engagement at live events and the cultural resonance of festival-linked brand activations. For Irish sponsorship professionals, both data points confirm that sport and entertainment are not competing categories but complementary platforms serving different audience connection objectives.

The more significant finding is the role of authenticity. SPi research indicates that audiences respond most strongly when a sponsor’s involvement feels credible, relevant to the environment and naturally aligned with the experience. The research also identifies gender differences in how audiences process sponsorship. Female audiences place greater value on genuine brand connection, while male audiences are more likely to advocate for brands they regard as authentic. Both patterns point toward the same conclusion: sponsors that invest in brand activation which deepens real audience connection will consistently outperform those that rely on visibility alone.

Daragh Persse of The Brand Fans captured the finding with precision: “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.” For Irish rights holders, this framing shifts the commercial conversation from reach metrics to relevance metrics and supports a more evidence-based approach to partnership pricing. As ONSIDE projects the Irish sponsorship market at €247 million in 2026, the ability to demonstrate emotional connection and advocacy potential alongside exposure figures will increasingly distinguish competitive propositions.

Three priorities emerge for Irish C-suites. Sponsorship ROI measurement frameworks should extend beyond impressions and coverage to include recall, relevance and advocacy scores. Rights holders should actively document the audience alignment story of their properties and present that data to prospective partners. And brands should evaluate whether their current brand activation programmes are genuinely integrated with the fan experience or simply visible beside it.

The SPi model reflects where the most sophisticated sponsorship professionals are already working. Irish brands and rights holders that adopt this framework will be better positioned to retain partners and attract new ones.