According to Nielsen’s latest trust in advertising report, sports sponsorship is the most trusted form of advertising. It is second only to personal recommendation as a purchase driver among consumers. If that’s the case, why is it considered an optional extra for most brands’ marketing mix?

Measurement isn’t robust. Many sponsorships are measured on media values, if even at all. This is a measure of output, not an outcome. It doesn’t tell anyone what happened as a result of the sponsorship. The good thing is the rest of the marketing industry has robust measurement techniques available, for everything from awareness to sales. Sponsorship needs to follow.

Brands don’t always take it seriously. Perhaps because the industry has told them you can’t measure it. Or perhaps because a deal has happened because someone senior wants it. This should be even more reason to take it seriously.

Rights holders don’t always take it seriously. There’s a natural friction between the brand and the rights holder. The brand wants the rights holder to activate and service them, while the rights holder wants to spend as little time and money as possible on that, so it can pass as much profit as possible onto the sporting side. Taking the money is sometimes all that matters, not about making a strong partnership.

There should be a smooth relationship based on mutual objectives. It shouldn’t be a battle between what the brand wants or what the rights holder wants. Partnerships that deliver value for both sides exist when that outcome has been agreed upon in advance, a plan put in place, acted on and the impact measured.

Consumers trust it. Best practice tells us it works. The test for the industry is to do it properly. There are great recent examples:

• eBay and the English Football League built a partnership that delivered for local businesses close to their member clubs

• Manchester United’s partnership with Marriott Bonvoy has boosted awareness of the programme and encouraged sign-ups by offering money can’t buy experiences as incentives

• Sanitiser brands like Dettol and the English FA, though there have been many similar partnerships. This creates product usage, is a large B2B sale and an awareness play

The way to deliver on consumer trust is to be relevant, and credible, to create a natural partnership where it’s obvious why the two parties have come together. Then measure it.