By Rakhee Naik. For some time now, sponsorships have sat somewhere between brand building and audience engagement on the marketing spectrum. Fresh insights from KLA, in partnership with YouGov Profiles (which tracks South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+), provide clarity on what sponsorships do achieve in the South African market, and where they work hardest.
Let’s start with the big one: 72% of South Africans believe sponsorships help keep companies socially relevant. That’s not just a tick-box for visibility, it’s a statement about the role brands play in culture. Sponsorships, when done well, can be a powerful tool for relevance, not just reach.
But belief and behaviour are two different things. Fortunately, sponsorships influence both. Almost half of consumers (48%) say they’ve visited a sponsor’s social media profile, while a third (33%) have visited the sponsor’s website, and 31% went as far as making a purchase after seeing a sponsorship. That’s a conversion path that starts with association and ends with action.
Sector nuances worth noting
While the national picture tells a positive story, some categories are seeing even greater results. The QSR sector (quick service restaurants) stands out — 44% of consumers considering QSR brands say they visited a sponsor’s website, which is 35% higher than the national average. That’s a solid endorsement for how well sponsorships can drive online behaviour when aligned with appetite and impulse.
In the telco sector, it’s less about direct clicks and more about conversation. While consumers here are less likely than average to visit a sponsor’s social profile, they are more likely to talk about the sponsor (36%) and research them further (45%). This suggests that in telco, sponsorships spark interest, just not always in immediately trackable ways.
And in the clothing, footwear and accessories space, sponsorship doesn’t always drive immediate purchase. But it does get attention. Consumers are inclined to visit sponsor platforms to find out more, suggesting that sponsorship still has value as a discovery tool, even if it’s not always a final nudge to buy.
What kinds of sponsorships get noticed?
When it comes to formats, events top the list (53%), followed closely by product placements (52%) and user-generated content (44%). These channels create a sense of presence and personality, whether that’s through a sponsored music festival or a cameo in a creator’s feed.
Venue sponsorships, however, trail behind at just 22% awareness. And in some sectors, particularly financial services, noticeability is even lower when it comes to venue sponsorships, social media posts, co-branding partnerships, and user generated content.
That said, sponsorships still matter in more traditional retail too. Within general retail (furniture, décor, etc.), sports team sponsorships (38%) and event sponsorships (57%) are much more noticed than the national average. And for grocery brands, sports team sponsorships see even higher noticeability at 42%, likely due to frequent shopper exposure and mass reach.
Final thoughts for media planners and marketers
Sponsorships aren’t just signage, they’re signals. Done right, they communicate relevance, spark interest, and drive measurable action. But as with all brand activity, context and category matter.
- QSR thrives on digital follow-through
- Telco benefits from curiosity and talkability
- Retail and grocery get more mileage from sport and event alignment
- Financial services might need to get creative with how they engage with sponsorships
So the question isn’t whether sponsorships work. It’s how, where, and for whom they work best.
Methodology
Profiles: Segmentation and media planning tool. With data collected daily, YouGov Profiles gives you the power to build and customise a portrait of your consumers’ world.
Dataset: 2025-04-20
Population: South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+ who are considering brands in the following sectors: Clothing and Footwear n~168, Financial services n~117, Groceries n~208, Telecommunications n~96, QSR n~178, General retail n~1026, Fuel n~957.
