After an enjoyable summer as an Australian cricket supporter and as a small business marketing consultant, it was even more enjoyable to see some innovative marketing done by some of our larger brands.

Whether you're a lover of cricket or fried chicken, it was great to see KFC taking sponsorship marketing to a whole new level.

I'm never a fan of a brand changing its stripes, but KFC went a step further, even changing try colour of some of its stores in Sydney.

Sponsorship in this day and age goes behind just slapping your logo on a shirt, but rather engaging the audience in an interesting way whilst still staying true to your brand.

This is a marketing lesson for small business that can be used and considered during your 2014 marketing plans and beyond.