Relationships between sponsors and rights holders are a lot like relationships outside business – subject to stresses and fractures if they're not nurtured. So concludes a study by Livewire, the new sponsorship agency set up by the Core Media group.

Sponsors sometimes feel they are taken for granted by rights holders, while rights holders feel sponsors do not treat them with respect, it found.

Livewire’s survey of 30 professionals in the Irish industry – including representatives of media groups, sport associations and arts events – has uncovered a pattern of mistrust and misunderstandings between the parties to any deal.

Sponsors feel they "put in much of the effort" to activate the sponsorship, but crave a more "symbiotic relationship", according to People Factor, the research report compiled by Livewire managing partner Jill Downey and partner Jamie Macken.

“Nobody ever asks: ‘Are you happy? Could we do anything else for you?’,” the report quotes one respondent.

Another sponsor identifies as a frustration “when a rights holder says no for no apparent reason or, worse, when they say they will ‘look into it’ but you know they won’t”.

On the other hand, rights holders say some sponsors “do not engage or listen to our advice – they just want to stick their name on it”. They ultimately take a renewal of the sponsorship as a sign of a successful relationship – even, perhaps, if the sponsor is secretly nursing grievances.

For rights holders, even unwanted or disliked sponsors offer security.

“There is an ongoing internal argument to drop sponsors with different objectives to ours, but it would be a brave decision,” one is quoted.

“All parties surveyed placed great importance on the quality of personal relationships for managing their sponsorships. Despite this, many admitted to often feeling frustrated,” says Downey.

It is “safe to say there was no shortage of responses” to a question asking about their biggest frustrations.

Third parties were one source of unwelcome drama, with sponsors often irked by other sponsors who happen to be involved with the rights holder. (The bigger the sponsorship property, the less likely the rights holder will be monogamous.)

Livewire recommends that sponsors, rights holders and agencies use a comprehensive “manifesto document” to minimise mistrust and misunderstandings. “When the foundation of a sponsorship is built on clear understanding and mutual respect, anything is possible.”

If all else fails, there’s always divorce.