Question

Read the attached HBR Case Study: "Keeping to the Fairway" Should Pace Sterling proceed with this sponsorship?

Companies regularly face decisions centered on how best to market their brand. Choices involving spokespeople or organizations with which they partner are critical. This week's assignment is to prepare a case analysis which responds to the information listed below. Your analysis should be in a MS Word document in paragraph form, minimum 2 pages, double-spaced, Arial, 12 pt font: Should Pace Sterling proceed with this sponsorship? Defend your position Pro or Con. When drafting your answer, take the following into consideration: In your introductory paragraph(s) be sure to provide some brief information about the case Do you feel that this sponsorship made any sense in the first place? Why or why not? Is the sponsorship for Pace Sterling worth any negative publicity that might accompany their relationship? If a company associates itself with a sexist organization, what is that saying about their own values? Is that important particularly in today’s #Me Too movement

Answer 1

The case study Returning to the Fairway is a complicated problem and needs to be treated in the right way. The question is whether or not a firm called Pace Sterling will maintain the sponsorship of a golf tournament in the Champions Tour. The explanation their assistance is being challenged is linked to the membership policies of the host golf club (Dover Hill). Dover Hill has been running for 100 years and is now a male initiation club. For years, the WRO or Womenâ€TMs Rights Organization has been exerting pressure on the Dover Hill country club to change their gender membership policy. We are now urging the Champions Tour to avoid hosting their most successful golf tournament at Dover Hill because little has been done. As a result, event promoters like Pace Sterling have to consider whether to extend their funding in the wake of this continuing dispute. Cases for keeping and discontinuing the partnership may be made and all solutions will be discussed in the section below.

Following the assessment of both opinions, a recommendation will be issued as to what judgment Speed Sterling will take into account the facts presented.

Why Should They Continue Funding the Game

A successful long-lasting sponsorship of a major event is difficult to find, and also has its advantages.
With a strong endorsement, you can develop your brand through high profile awareness.
12 years is a long time funding and will be impossible to substitute. The trust gained by the two groups, with a separate sponsorship, would be impossible to restore.

It is difficult to find gatherings that provide the same potential to attract consumers. Having valuable connections will be created by bringing clients and fellow workers to this case. In a grandeur setting with the Speed Sterling logo taking center stage, personal time can be shared with the customer. It is a big draw for consumers, as it has been mentioned that there is a scramble every year to get the tickets that are set aside for the business.

The WRO makes a huge deal about what a lot of people believe is a non-problem. Established in 1936, Dover Hill has maintained the same membership policies concerning women all the time. This has just been a big problem today, as the law makes some people feel slighted.

Legally, Dover Hill has done nothing wrong and it should be known that he wants to be an all-male golf club. It's the members who chose whether to manage the membership and the rest of the club and whether they want to be a male club then that's how it is.

The tournament spectators 'preferences match well with the brand of Speed Sterling and the company will sell itself to an audience with actual consumer potential.

Pace Sterling has more female clients that other sporting and cultural sponsorships come into. Most are not even aware of the issue right now, except devoted WRO fans.

To opt-out now would be unfair considering that they funded this event for several years at Dover Hill. In the past, they were still mindful of the membership rules and it was never a problem. This is impossible for a corporation to shift its emphasis if another party has another concern.

How fair will it be to pull out now at the Champions Tour and Dover Hill to leave them in a tough situation? It would be hard to break ties too easily and without consequence after such a long productive relationship.

Reasons for which they should Stop Funding

Pace Sterling will suggest more about their views by associating themselves with what others consider is a sexist organization. This might alienate a lot of consumers and future customers.

Clients may not want to go to an experience that has created up so much confusion. Each Client's decision to participate can also influence their companies or their profile.

The credibility of the organization may be taking a serious hit from all the media attention that would accompany it. Compared with why it was retained, it would be much better to address why the funding was discontinued.

Because of the year 1936, things have changed very dramatically. Today it is socially unethical to bar someone from a club based on the bigotry of some kind. Any form of discrimination is being taken very seriously now and it is unethical to help a golf club which practices discrimination in any way.

With the call for the top sportsman not to play in the tournament more public attention is mounting. If papers start singling out golfers who play as racist in the game, then you could find a lot of golfers dropping out of the tournament.

Sponsoring this project would not look well for an organization that is promoting diversity. It could influence the ability to recruit new female workers, and it could damage the chances of retaking the existing female employees with excellent leadership and abilities.

Having allies with the country's top rights group will inevitably turn out to be catastrophic. They'd just wait for a chance to harm the business and undermine its value.

This has now been a long partnership and perhaps it is time to move on. Sponsoring one item could become tedious and repetitive after too long. It might be an opportunity to head in a new direction.

With the funding, potential female staff could be recruited and their chances of keeping female jobs could be harmed. Unless the company genuinely believes in diversity otherwise it will give the wrong idea to support Dover Hill.

My suggestion:

We assume that Pace Sterling will end its sponsorship of the Dover Hill Champions Golf Tournament. There is far so much adverse attention to this case that comes with organizing it. In day and age, today's prejudice is strongly frowned upon in any manner. Dover Hill leaders may believe they are doing anything wrong but it's reprehensible for a major business like Pace Sterling to promote such a patriarchal stance. In the public eye, the harm that the company could suffer and the perception might be disastrous. Significant consumers and prospective future clients could quickly be switched off from a poorly public image business. Many people trying to do a good thing wouldn't even attend the case regardless of the extenuating situations. Thanks to his appearance in the tournament, the biggest sportsman on the event are being called out and it will be only a question of time before Speed Sterling gets raked over the coals. Event sponsorships don't normally last more than ten years anyway and this is a perfect chance to step in a new and different direction. The most significant explanation to discontinue support is that Pace Sterling doesn't need a leading women's rights campaign who makes them look bad throughout the media. We advocate moves away from the promotion for Pace Sterling and are searching for a new initiative to give the consumers their name and logo.