Possibly the starkest warning of how sponsorship can all go horribly wrong – when you back the wrong horse, or should I say “football team” – it was amazing just how quickly the Flags of St George disappeared from cars, vans, pubs, houses and thankfully bodies too after England’s ignominious exit from the 2010 World Cup. I suspect that Mars would have liked to have waved a magic wand that would have removed the 3 Lions from millions of their confectionery bars and Carlsberg banish the unsmiling but heroic looking Capello & co from their multipacks. Nationwide certainly took little time in divesting itself of ties with our ignoble football team when they so quickly declined the opportunity to renew their Team England sponsorship.
Of course all these brands will argue and with good reason, that they benefitted from the long build up, the qualification, the anticipation of South Africa and all the attendant perceived glory that went with the high expectations, of both the England team as well as the tournament. And after all, no one can blame the sponsors for the poor showing of the team … can they?
Is it too much of a coincidence that the stars of Nike’s fantastic “Write the future” film – Ronaldo, Rooney, Ribery and Drogba have been the biggest disappointments of the “greatest show on earth” – perhaps they believed the hype so much that they thought their performances would be stage managed … actually having an opposition who wouldn’t lay down and die was too much of a surprise for them in reality! It would be really interesting to know whether Nike are feeling good about their involvement or are sitting there with egg on their faces – shall we put that down as a X not a tick?
However as we all know, in the marketing world, yesterday’s sponsorship or advertising is too often like a tabloid’s newspaper headlines – last night’s fish and chip wrapping, to be disposed of and instantly forgotten. Nevertheless I think that the overhyping and spectacular jingoism associated with many sports, but in particular football and especially England, needs to be reconsidered and a more balanced approach taken as to how sponsorships are exploited and communicated – in fact that’s probably what Nationwide had in mind all along with their Little Britain spoof advertising “Look he’s signed your England replica shirt (Capello) – I don’t like him” (response and the aforementioned article flung to the ground). They obviously knew something we didn’t about the outcome of England’s African adventure. Unfortunately all that pride was worth sweet FA in the end.
On a much more positive note on Sponsorship this Summer – my congratulations to Robinsons and their enduring, relevant and engaging association with tennis – 75 Years serving Wimbledon and an undiluted source of promotions, profile and product endorsement – even if our home grown sportsmen in this arena are as hopeless as their 2 footed or should that be 1 footed compatriots (with apologies to the one exception of course, Andy Murray – how he must have laughed at England’s Rake’s Progress in the World Cup!)
Andrew Orbell
Director, Sparkworks
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