Despite continued negative publicity surrounding the Millennium Dome and the widely reported delays with sponsorship payments, an independent study conducted by Performance Research Europe found all publicity is good publicity for some Millennium Dome sponsors.

When hardly a day passes without a newspaper article being written about the Millennium Dome it?s not surprising that some of the sponsors would benefit. During unaided spontaneous sponsor recall just over one half (52%) of the Dome visitors mentioned Boots as a Dome sponsor, followed by BT (46%) and McDonald?s (35%).

Moreover, when Dome visitors were asked to identify sponsors from a list, almost all (92%) of the attendees were able to confirm both McDonald?s and BT as sponsors. Almost three-fourths (72%) confirmed Sky?s sponsorship involvement.

An equally high number (81%) of Dome visitors correctly identified BT as the sponsor of the ?Talk Zone?, followed by roughly one-half who correctly paired Boots with the ?Body Zone? (53%), and Ford with the ?Journey Zone? (52%).

In addition to achieving unaided and aided sponsorship awareness, there was more good news for sponsors, with the finding that over two-thirds (69%) of visitors reported sponsors were ?Sincere? in their support of the Millennium Dome, and over one-half (56%) reported sponsors ?Contributed? [net] to their overall Dome experience. Boots was reported as the sponsor making the biggest contribution, followed by McDonald?s and BT.

Additionally, one-half (48%) of visitors reported that they benefit either directly or indirectly from corporate sponsorship at the Dome. Moreover, roughly one-half (47%) of those surveyed perceived Dome sponsors to be ?More interested? in their customers, while almost 4 in 10 perceived Dome sponsors to be ?More innovative?, and companies they ?Appreciate more because they are involved with the Dome?. Not bad considering all the negative press the Dome and its sponsors have had to endure!

There is no doubt that for the high profile sponsors, such as Boots and BT, when it comes to raising brand awareness all publicity is good publicity, although as Mark Knight, Project Manager, Performance Research Europe points there is still work to do done if all the sponsors are to really benefit from their Millennium Dome investment. “Sponsorship awareness is only the first step toward a successful sponsorship, the aim must be to engender positive feelings towards the sponsor resulting in increased loyalty”.

As the latest attendance figures show a decline over the Easter period, Dome organisers can take heart from the finding that one-half of Dome visitors reported they would return for another visit to the Millennium Dome.

During the first quarter of 2000, staff from Performance Research interviewed a total of 200 Millennium Dome visitors. The margin of error for this sample is no more than + 7%.

*Agree [net] based on respondents who reported they Strongly or Slightly agree.
**Contributed [net] based on respondents who reported they Very much or Somewhat contributed.