Qantas got the Israel Folau furore wrong because it confused a profile sponsorship for a value sponsorship.

 

Profile sponsorships are of big-ticket established organisations. You’re paying for a platform to achieve brand awareness and marketing. If there’s brand alignment, it’s at the highest conceptual level (e.g. fitness, excellence, achievement), not values. Most consumers don’t expect anything else of these sponsorships.

 

Value sponsorships are in organisations, usually community-good, that are working to advance the values you share.

 

Either way, it is strange of Qantas to insist that the beliefs of thousands of players and volunteers, and hundreds of professionals match specific values of the sponsor.

 

If BNZ had taken the same approach, it would have forced Sonny Bill Williams to deny his conscience on usury. If BNZ wants to extol the virtues of moneylending, it can find or create a community good organisation to do it. Qantas should do the same on ‘diversity’.

 

We help clients find organisations to sponsor that match their values, but which are currently under-achieving. The skills and funding help leverage the sponsored organisation into a prominence and impact they would not have otherwise achieved. That’s true partnership and acting on your values.