The Royal Danish Theatre asks students for help

- Present your suggestion for the best sponsorship case for the Royal Danish Theatre, and explain how we make it attractive to sponsor the Royal Danish Theatre.

Those were the words of sponsorship and fundraising manager Michael Frandsen from the Royal Danish Theatre on 27 October 2016 to the group of Marketing Management students from Cphbusiness Søerne, who have chosen sponsorship as an elective at the third semester.

Annually, the Royal Danish Theatre gets more than 60 million in sponsorship revenue, most of which comes from foundations, but the theatre wants a dialogue with companies and to create more sponsorship solutions for them. The cultural institution acknowledges that it should challenge itself to get better.

- Young students from Cphbusiness are talented. They can analyse sponsorship opportunities and define the correct fit, and they can help us with new ideas, says Michael Frandsen.

Lecturer Carsten Buhl from Cphbusiness tells that the students are under pressure regarding reading quantity and effort in the elective.

- The students must read and work a lot. They have to go through several articles and case studies. In return they get the opportunity to meet the best in Danish sponsorship activities, says Carsten Buhl.

Carlsberg, Denmark's Ice Hockey Union, the Royal Danish Theatre and Rødovre Mighty Bulls

The sponsorship elective takes six weeks to complete. During the elective, the students have had company of Carlsberg, who talked about activation and ROI measurement on Denmark's biggest sponsorship: the European Championship in Football.

Denmark's Ice Hockey Union did also participate and told about Denmark’s biggest sport event ever: the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2018, and Denmark’s biggest cultural institution, the Royal Danish Theatre, came by to get some help to make itself more attractive to companies and new cultural guests.

The students have one week to work on the case, tells Carsten Buhl. They have to manage the process and distribute the tasks themselves, and on Friday 4 November the Royal Danish Theatre will return with feedback.

If the ideas are good, Michael Frandsen and his colleagues plan to push them through.

There are 30 students in the sponsorship elective that gives 10 ECTS points and runs for two rounds in the autumn.

The objective of the elective is to understand the unique opportunities sponsor marketing gives companies in their marketing mix, but also to clarify professional issues, and how good and thoughtful activation is key to achieving commercial success with sponsorships, says Carsten Buhl.

The students are busy with work, which among other things includes a trip to Rødovre Mighty Bulls' home ground to watch an ice hockey match as part of their cooperation with the club.

Sponsorship and fundraising manager Michael Frandsen from the Royal Danish Theatre present their sponsorships and activities.