Co‐creating value in sponsorship relations: the case of the Royal Swedish Opera

Purpose – Influenced by emerging developments in service management, the aim of this paper is to develop a model for value co‐creation in sponsorship relations, with specific emphasis on inter‐organizational learning dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is longitudinal and based on data from the Royal Swedish Opera and relationships between the Opera and three sponsors. The paper combines participant observation with interviews during a three year period. It is inspired by theory from many areas, in particular from relationship and network thinking and the current development of new theories on service and value. Findings – The findings are structured in a model of the development of a new sponsorship programme. The partners learnt by interacting with each other and the surrounding network. Value of sponsorship programmes increased with the number of non‐competing sponsors. Learning supported long‐term relations and enhanced the value of a sponsorship programme for new sponsors. Research limitations/implications – The paper introduces new service perspectives on sponsorship and contributes to the sponsorship literature with insights on inter‐organizational learning. The paper offers a rich in‐depth analysis of relational and network mechanisms and could be further developed in other sponsorship cases. Practical implications – Relationships between commercial companies and cultural organizations often fail due to lack of knowledge on both sides. The paper suggests that a learning orientation is supportive to value co‐creation in sponsorship. Originality/value – Systematic integration of resources based on knowledge in networks is an important theme in the new service literature. This is the first major paper that simultaneously applies key concepts from relationship marketing, many‐to‐many networks and service‐dominant logic on sponsorship.