"if you can't measure it you can't manage it - why it all starts with insight"

I have always been a huge advocate of knowing the consumer: who are they, which of them are your brand champions, what content to deliver to them and in what format?.... why dialogues get started, and why some stories "tip" and start a wildfire?


So why am I such an insight advocate? 

 - Well insight actually tells a brand / sponsor / rights holder who your fan actually is, what they look like, what brands they buy and why your sponsorship actually works....or doesn't. It will actually enable rights holders to keep sponsors and find new ones. Sounds dumb and like teaching grandma to suck eggs? Well read on Macduff.....

 - Another reason is that the MD's whims / "Chairman's choices" don't actually stand up to scrutiny when challenged by a few focus groups; or actually 50,000 followers on twitter, 500,000 likes on facebook or 6 million unique website visitors....and of course the research and analytics that go with it.

- Yet another reason, if you needed another, is to get one over on the budding marketers who work in finance and accounting who decimate budgets around September just because the company isn't hitting profit targets. Or why the Chairman likes Tennis, cricket, golf, fill the blank in. Whatevs!!


I actually stumbled across insight a couple of times in my career on some cracking brands like Tropicana (£292m), Copella (£60m) and Wall's sausages (~£70m), where I had the luxury of spending £150k on insight, and have used it fruitfully on World Rally Championship when some qualitative video footage of real fans from Wales Rally GB scared the bejesus out of my colleagues!! I can't repeat the terms used but they couldn't believe how old, beardy and weirdy they were!

Now I get that spending £150k isn't realistic for every agency or sport, but no insight isn't the answer either and insight doesn't have to be expensive, just be creative.


One of the definitions of insight for those who don't know is "a penetrating discovery about needs and motivations that unlocks opportunities to create shareholder value".

Read another way, insight helps drive commercial growth through customer centric marketing strategies...a statement to please even the most hardened CFO!

So insight = who is your fan, what do they buy, where do they shop, why do they love your sports and will they part with their hard earned cash for your over-inflated merchandise made in China?.....plus given the fact that most sports fans eat and drink, what brands do they buy - Pepsi? Maximuscle? Gatorade? Red Bull?....and therefore where can the sponsorship teams look for great partnerships.

For instance the current Dove partnership with rugby.....a great idea that has delivered results, obviously through measuring response, sales and insight. 
The brand has taken major strides into rugby union with the announcement of partnerships for its Dove Men+Care brand with both the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU).

These deals complement the brand's existing partnership with Europe's club tournaments the Heineken Cup, the Amlin Challenge Cup, as well as its title sponsor of Wales' Autumn Internationals, the Dove Men’s Series.

Another is from the insight & sports agency two circles, (http://www.insidetwocircles.com), and their work with the ECB....clever, clever, clever.  In their own words: "The programme ensured every cricket ticket buyer at every international and domestic Friends Life t20 fixture during 2012 was asked for feedback through an online survey, within 1 hour of play ending."

They go on to say: "Cricket is one of the most popular sports on television in this country and the insight is essential to help the sport attract more people to the grounds through assessing the needs of its customers and improving their match day experience."

http://www.insidetwocircles.com/projects/cricket-fans-shaping-the-matchday-experience/

In summary an Einstein equation is needed - In the great man's own words "A well defined problem is 90% solved". 

No insight = no brand; no property that can be monetised efficiently and effectively for the long term. 

Long term partners =long term success, and insight is the route to success.

Good luck with the insight!

The power of the personal brand - Lewis Hamilton

Further to Lewis Hamilton's negotiations about the 2013 season we now know that he will be driving for Mercedes AMG F1. Hamilton was a 13 year old go karter when he signed for McLaren and although the 27-year-old has plenty of time on his side, it seems he could not wait any longer. He is leaving...but why?

Given the fact that McLaren initially proposed a cut in salary, with Martin Whitmarsh replacing his mentor Ron Dennis as team principal, and McLaren not being able to give him a car to win a title since 2008, the time was right to make a decision.


I am sure that with this history of frustration Mercedes looked like a better move on several fronts. This could be his riskiest career move but it could also be wonderfully astute.


XIX Entertainment will take a large cut of the contract and of any future fees but in the legal world of sports marketing and contracts Hamilton is now free to pursue the power of the personal brand - Brand Hamilton.

With XIX Entertainment and Mercedes, Lewis will have greater freedom to pursue personal sponsors to match his on track earnings, boost his global personality and his mainstream celebrity.


Also on XIX's client roster are US Open Grand Slam winner and 2012 Olympics double medal winner Andy Murray as well as David Beckham. Beckham's move to LA Galaxy mirrors Hamilton's move, and has actually meant that Beckham has been able to spend more time building his personal brand. However would Beckham have traded in some of those millions to be able to actually play in the Olympics in 2012? Who knows!

So what are the key steps to personal branding in sports?


Aaker’s (1997) conceptualisation of Brand Personality features five dimensions: Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness, each comprised of a 
number of individual personality traits that are appliucable here.
Sincerity represents warmth and acceptance; Excitement represents sociability, energy and activity; Competence represents responsibility, dependability and security; Sophistication represents class and charm; and Ruggedness 
represents masculinity and strength.

Looking at some enduring icons in sport we can learns some lessons about creating a unique and vibrant brand that include these elements:

GOOD, PERSONAL ICONIC BRANDING
Ian Poulter in golf; Ian has 1.4m followers on twitter, and his own clothing range with his IJP logo. Others include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg in tennis, Michael "Air" Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Luol Deng, basketball 

BE AUTHENTIC AND CONSISTENT
The most memorable ads for me were the curse of the Gillette Three ads that one minute had Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry and Roger Federer and then 2 scandals later just Roger Federer!



BUILD YOUR PERSONAL REPUTATION
Your reputation = your brand. Please note Mr Woods above who lost a raft of sponsorship deals after an incident involving a 9 iron, a car, a fire hydrant and his wife.

David Beckham and his Olympic involvement created a wonderful brand personality that was James Bond like.

Social media profiles and interaction with fans is crucial, as is fan acquisition is this ever present digital age.



BUILD YOUR STRATEGIC BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
Build partnerships that are symbiotic - take the recent O2 and Nike brand partnership - sheer genius!

Rolex partnerships with golf, sailing, tennis and with brand personalities like Roger Federer, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzanegger et al.



BE MEMORABLE - LEVERAGE WHO YOU ARE
Mike Tyson, always memorable, never forgotten, but he is an icon for boxing and could leverage himself further with product endorsements.



The future is bright for Lewis as one of the most marketable athletes in F1. His biggest current deal is with Reebok, which pays him $3 million annually and he earned an estimated $28 million in salary and endorsements between June 2011 and June 2012.

So not only has he signed a 3 year deal with Mercedes that is estimated to be worth at least $24 million a year in salary, but he will massively boost his personal brand and future earnings by a similar amount.


The power of personal branding.

The Horse Racing industry - "Racing for Change"

If you want to see sheer brilliance in sports commercial marketing and PR as a beacon for other sports then take a look at the racing for change website www.lovetheraces.com

The website and inititative is there to simplify and create a structure for Horse racing in the UK. Why? Because 90% of the UK population don't go to the races, and because quite frankly horse racing is very confusing. So confusing that consumers tend to stay away because of the horse racing language, betting, personal opinions, animal welfare, racing not seen as a family day out and the stomping ground of ageing men in tweed jackets etc. etc.

Personally I find horse racing extremely confusing which actually stops me from going to the races, (along with a young baby!) : Different age horses, flat, jump, hurdle, meeting, festival, series, etc; let alone the betting quagmire, odds and trying to understand the Racing Post! Racing seems like an unfriendly and closed sport because of the language, rites and rituals, and the complexity.

So in the words of the website: 
"Lovetheraces.com was created by Racing Enterprises Limited as part of the "Racing for Change" initiative. The site aims to appeal to new and infrequent racegoers by offering a wealth of engaging and interactive content"


Racing for Change is an initiative created by Racing Enterprises Ltd, the commercial arm of British horse racing. Racing Enterprises is a joint venture company whose shareholders are the racecourses and the Horsemen’s Group (owners, trainers, jockeys, breeders and stable staff). Our aim is to broaden the appeal of the sport with the objective of increasing participation and revenues and protecting the thousands of jobs that exist within British Horse racing."





However horse racing is the UK's second largest, spectator sport, employer in sport and contributor to GDP and has an economic impact of £2.4bn to the UK.

One major issue that the horse racing industry is facing is that it has a loyal fan base, but an ageing demographic, with seven out of ten customers aged 46 years or over. 
So what has Racing for Change, lovetheraces.com, (and the whole industry), achieved on less than £1m spend? 

• The Lovetheraces.com website, designed as an entry point for new racegoers, with a particular focus on a younger demographic, has attracted over 200,000 unique visitors in 2011, up from 60,000 in 2010.
• 28 student racing clubs have been set up with their own CEO and a project with St Martins School of Art produced some cool designs for silks.
• Racecourses offer family racing days as well as "kids go free" racing
• Racecourse attendance for 2011 is up by 6% to 6.1m
• and racecourse sponsorship, and terrestrial & broadcast revenue is at £16m with a new deal signed with Channel 4 of between £15 and £20 million. This is against a background of racing actually paying broadcasters for coverage, so a huge achievement.
• QIPCO, sponsors of the newly created Champions Series have renewed their deal for 5 years and Investec, sponsors of the Epsom Derby have renewed for 10 years.
• Frankie Dettori won yet another race at York, AP McCoy was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010 and Frankel The Wonder Horse has won 13 out of 13 races!

Racing is truly holding its own in the currently tough commercial environment, has admitted to he world that innovation and change is the way forward and has shown that y working together that they are  racing ahead with impressive change.
Well done to Rod Street and the whole team at REL and Racing for Change.

British Airways "Don't Fly" Olympic/Paralympic Campaign."Tongue in cheek" or "foot in mouth" ?!

BA and its advertising agency BBH seemed to have created a fantastic "sales avoidance" Olympics ad campaign, which coming from a set of creative marketers seems a bit foolish! The TV and poster campaign had an objective of stopping everyone from flying out of the country for the Olympics to support the British Olympic teams and have now launched a similar ParalympicsGB ad.

It uses the slogan: "Don't fly support Team GB". BA professed to the campaign being "very tongue in cheek", but it seems more "foot in mouth".

The interactive element is on facebook & YouTube where you can input your postcode and see a neighbour's house using Google Streetview, tag yourself in photos at the Olympic park etc. However BA's facebook site has less than 500k likes and the YouTube ad just shy of 1 million views.

However brand activation within the Olympic site with "Park Live presented by BA" is a great idea since it became the Henman Hill of the Olympic site and gave the brand visibility. BA also teamed up with Metro to offer competition winners tickets to watch the Olympics on the big screens at Park Live.

British Airways spent £40 million in 2008 to become a tier one sponsor and be the official airline of London 2012, and their Olympic campaign launched more than a year ago. It began in May 2011 with a predominantly print-based campaign entitled “They Will Fly” featuring British athletes sponsored by BA. Initially BA stated they would not use TV but then created a clever CGI TV ad of a BA Boeing 777 taxiing passengers through the streets of London to ‘London Calling’ by The Clash. The plane comes to a halt at Stratford’s Olympic Stadium with the tagline: “Don’t fly. Support Team GB.”
According to Abigail Comber BA's head of brands the Team GB and ParalympicsGB sponsorship is its largest ever sponsorship campaign: "This campaign is stand out in terms of its longevity, most campaigns are a lot more tactical, selling products over just a two- or three-month period. This is our largest-ever sustained campaign stretching over 12 months."

In summary the ideas are good but the sponsorship execution is weak. BA seem to be spending £60+ million telling customers not to fly. I am also unclear as to what the sponsorship is adding to the BA brand or even to the Olympics itself.

• What are they selling? The brand or flights, or are they just supporting Team GB / ParalympicsGB? 
• It seems like a generic message with low brand attribution to the Olympics and poor advertising branding for BA.
• Facebook activation is low - less than 500k likes for a 12 month campaign, but at least YouTube is at 1m views.

All in all a poor level of activation, a lack of synergy between a brand and a sponsorship property, and poor creative execution. Shame

An awe inspiring performance from an Olympic Class brand

53 brands associated with London 2012.....but who wins Gold?

17 days of the Olympics, 11 Worldwide Olympics partners, 7 London 2012 Olympic Partners, 7 London 2012 Olympic Supporters and 28 London 2012 Suppliers and Providers equals a grand total of 53 brands and companies associating themselves with the Olympics. Phew!!

So which 2012 Olympic brand is the Usain Bolt of the 100 metres? My blogs on UPS and Visa probably indicates that they haven't won...so who is it? 


One company, many global power brands, a Worldwide Olympic partner that has signed up for 10 years of Olympics and embodies what every athlete who has competed in London 2012 possesses.....commitment, dedication, insight, creativity and downright hard graft.

That company is P&G. Unlike most companies in the realm of sports sponsorship P&G has brought a wealth of expertise, creativity and sheer genius....and a shed load of cash! Given that the average worldwide Partner pays about £100m the rumour is that P&G have spent 3 to 4 times that activating the sponsorship. Take out the money however and the lessons and principals of how to activate a partnership with commitment remain the same.

The overall campaign idea is "Thank you mom" with the youTube film hitting circa 6m views:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NScs_qX2Okk

P&G is using its voice at the London 2012 Olympic Games to recognise a special person behind every athlete: Mum. (sorry I just can't write "Mom"!) P&G will serve the Mums of Olympians in London at the P&G Family Home, which is a home away from home where Mums and families of Olympians can relax and be together during the Olympic Games. 

Not only that but they have hair salons and nail bars for the female athletes too....Nail art stories are hitting all major newspapers - great PR. Total brand activation and word of mouth marketing all combined...again genius.

Each of the individual brands also have a campaign theme: Gillette - "A Great Start Every Day" , Ariel & Tide - "Proud Keeper of Your Country's Colours" etc.

P&G are supporting more than 150 of the world's top athletes across 48 countries for 34 different brands. Jessica Ennis, is the face of skincare brand Olay; swimmer Michael Phelps & Team GB cyclist Mark Cavendish front Head & Shoulders; Gillette - "A Great Start Every Day" campaign featuring Roger Federer, Sir Chris Hoy, Chinese Badminton player Lin Dan, and swimmers Felipe Franca and Ryan Lochte. 

Given that fewer than 5% of athletes in the London 2012 games have a direct sponsor there is a huge opportunity to tailor relevant authentic stories by country for each local brand.



A gold medal sponsorship performance includes:

• It's all about delighting the consumer who is at the heart of everything P&G does
• The whole campaign & sponsorship is based on consumer insight - behind every great athlete =  Mum (or Dad since P&G responded to Dad's for a Father's Day ad as well!)
• and that insight delivers a compelling and emotional story that links back to the brand message
• The campaign has wonderful emotion and therefore has great PR and word of mouth marketing
• The campaign adds value to the brands and also the sport. Win / win
• It is taken through the line in every direction (web, facebook, twitter, YouTube, PR, advertising, free Beauty app) and through every pore of the parent brand and each individual brand too
• The campaign is cleverly layered as well depending on how deep into the campaign you look, as well as being tailored to brands, countries and athletes
• The partnership is long term equity building - hence the 10 year multi million pound, global investment

P&G demonstrate absolute commitment to win. The campaign is long term equity building, distinctive, ownable and executed brilliantly. Totally world class and showing every other brand how it is done. 53 brands taking part but only one winner. Gold!

If you really want to see how brilliant their ads are, and cry your eyes out like I did, then check out the story of  Kerry Hincka, mother of Special Olympics athlete, Molly Hincka. Although Molly was faced with many obstacles, Kerry chose to see the possibilities beyond them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJa46dB2LQ

UPS "We Love Logistics", but we hate stilted, forced partnerships for London 2012

It's about time to write a positive blog about some fantastic marketing at London 2012 but I can't resist taking a marketing swipe at UPS and their "Congratulations" advert in yesterday's Metro. Total shocker!!

Not only is this a dull ad, a tired and tested and shouldn't be used format, but their 2012 Ambassadors videos on their website are also forced and uninspiring. I can see that the team spent a good 60 minutes brainstorming London 2012 Olympics and asked themselves the question: "how do we fit logistics into a brand ambassador team line up and get them in a UPS/Adidas tracksuit in our UPS warehouse.....all in under 2 minutes?"

Their ambassadors are Louis Smith (above), Denise Lewis, Ben Ainslee and Steve Rider. UPS facebook page has 25k likes but again is pretty uninspiring with just content from the ambassadors and links to their facebook pages. They even have 29 videos narrated by Steve Rider on the logistics for different items needed for London 2012...yup that's logistics!

A similar story with twitter where @UPS_London2012 actually follows more people than they have followers -  871 following vs  727 followers!! In their own words on twitter "Its been 7 years & 21 days coming, & we've been working up to this"

I get that logistics isn't the sexiest topic, but 

a) it's the brand marketers job to make it sexy to logistics purchasers

and b) I find it a huge shame that the UPS "60 minute brainstorming session" over the last "7 years and 21 days" wasn't more productive.

A couple of tips:

1. create employee engagement, staff mentions, get customers to generate stories about UPS staff - in essence highlight the human element and stories in the brand

2. create some competitions on facebook - win money can't buy prizes of a dinner with Steve Rider / Denise Lewis,,,blimey even the odd Olympic ticket would have been good!

3. generate followers on twitter

4. partner with another Olympic supplier partner

5. "inspire a generation" since the Olympics only come every 4 years

VISA CASHLESS ?  PRICELESS !
"Proud only to accept Visa" (except Wembley)

Apparently there are just eight cash machines across all of the Olympic venues to service more than 11 million anticipated spectators, and all in a world where 85% of transactions are still cash based.

34 Olympic venues, including Wembley, Earl's Court, Greenwich Park, Wimbledon and Lord's do not even have a single ATM. Why? Because under their Olympic agreement Visa has had them removed. Mariano Dima, Visa's European CMO, has labelled London 2012 as a "showcase of innovation"...more like deprivation!
Visa's current strapline is: "Life flows faster with Visa" and "flow faster with Visa contactless".

Furthermore, the 8 cash machines only dispense cash for those with a Visa card since Visa are a worldwide Tier 1 sponsor. On the plus side, according to  Which? magazine, 98pc of the UK cardholders will be able to use cards onsite  as there are 115m Visa cards in circulation in the UK, and the vast majority of link/switch cards in the UK are Visa debit cards.

My opinion is that the "We are proud to accept only Visa" is bugging quite a few Olympic visitors especially the fans attending Olympic football games at Wembley Stadium who have complained of "ridiculous" queues for food and drink after tills stopped working. This really isn't a surprise since whenever I have been to events at Wembley this has happened every time. 


The fact is that irregardless of whose fault it is, be it Wembley themselves, BT, or Visa, the fact is that Visa will undoubtedly bear the brunt of negative publicity, spectator bad feeling and all round bad will. The first wave of which came when tickets first came out when fans discovered  that the only way to pay was using Visa.


The reason behind Visa's decision relates to their business objective for the brand to now be seen as technology company and they are using the Olympic venues to test a new cashless forms of payment. These are the payWave cards and Samsung payWave mobile 'phones which Visa hopes will render bank notes and coins redundant the UK. 


8 cash points in the Olympic park mean no cash available, so long queues, no consumer choice & aggravation. Talk about forcing the consumer to adopt new products !!  Jim McCarthy head of Products at Visa inc. has said "Electronic payments play a crucial role in facilitating tourism and meeting the needs of consumers on the go during a world sporting event such as the Olympic games, making this a unique opportunity to showcase how technology is changing the way people shop"




However the bigger issue showcased isn't about payment or even new technology products. It is more about how rights holders and sponsors in general are permitted category exclusivity. The issue is that Visa's category exclusivity has been detrimental to the fans' enjoyment of the Olympics irregardless of whether Visa have been to blame or not. Visa will be seen to have been spoiling the fans enjoyment of the games and in the long run this will hurt only them.


In the words of Steve Martin CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment "Everything sponsors do must help the event and make it easier for the fans, and it should  ingrained, so the brand's presence is weaved into the fabric of the event".

Time will tell about category exclusivity and whether the consumer will have a positive brand perception from London 2012. Given that Visa have been supporting the Olympics since 1986 and have signed up until 2020 the odd setback is to be expected. However category exclusivity will in the future be thoroughly scrutinised by all rights holders for new deals.

Caveat Emptor for the next promoter of the FIA World Rally Championships  !!
Lessons from Formula 1

Photo by Tim Barkey

I picked up the in flight BA Business Life magazine last week and there was a cracking article about Formula 1, its financials, stock market flotation and how Bernie has created an undeniably amazing brand with impressive future growth potential.
Credit where it is due, the article was entitled "I'm, Bernie, buy me" and was by Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid. Have a read because it is fascinating: http://www.babusinesslife.com/Tools/Features/Formula-One-the-big-sell-off.html

Photo by Tim Barkey

In essence World Rally Championships (WRC) has been in a pile of the proverbial from every perspective since North One Sport (NOS) had their contract rescinded by the FIA in January 2012; not that North One Sport made any money from being the promoter with a £2m reported loss in 2011, and not that NOS was the holy grail for WRC. The FIA have yet to announce a new promoter currently saying that an appointment will be made no later than September's World Motorsport Council Meeting. 


Many comments have been made, one most notably by Gerard Quinn (@WRCgerardquinn) of Ford WRC in Autosport magazine calling WRC, "a sinking ship", and that September is far too late to appoint a promoter. I agree totally. The sport has been knocked back by 2-5 years and it will take a significant change to re-establish itself. Gerard says "The WRC is a great sport but it needs to be run like a business." 




Now I know I am not exactly being fair by comparing F1 to WRC but the business model need not be dissimilar, nor the learnings, irregardless of the scale of each brand and the massive income from F1.

"According to F1 industry monitor Formula Money, the sport's Jersey-based holding company, Delta Topco, had a turnover of $1.6bn in 2010, with race hosting fees being the biggest single source of revenue at $567.5m. This was followed by $470m from the sale of television rights, $243m from trackside advertising, $153.5m from corporate hospitality, $90.5m from sponsorship and $62.5m from other sources"

Formula One generates around $500m a year in profits and is a truly global sport with South Korea joining in 2010, India in 2011 and in 2014 the first Russian race will take place. Next on the calendar will be South Africa and Mexico, with Argentina and Thailand. 


F1 has 20 races with a fee paid by the host of up to £30m per race. No need to do the maths but this sum alone would run WRC for several years! 




The WRC has 9 teams and 4 major manufacturers rallying in 13 races globally - Ford, Citroen, MINI and VW, with VW not running a full season with their ex Citroen driver Sebastien Ogier.


NOS as promoter received zero cash from each race on the calendar and actually used to pay each local promoter a fee to have their inventory on site!

In fact each of the 13 WRC events are run at the individual promoters risk, although they receive ticket sales from fans, charge the teams for their service park space etc. Hospitality was run by NOS but agreed with each event who also sold hospitality!!


The FIA recently sent a memo to the 13 WRC race organisers imposing a race fee of £100,000 to stage WRC in their respective countries, whereupon the race organisers told the FIA where to go.


The sport is in such disarray that each individual rally promoter charges the teams different fees for space at each rally. On top of this not every event has a service park or "hub" for fans to see the cars and drivers and soak up the rally atmosphere. It also doesn't help for monetising the brand that as a sport rallying is run in remote locations in forests and mountains. This makes the races hard to access, hard to create a brand and hard for new and exisiting fans to see.


Since Jean Todt wants to have longer, more extreme rallies for the future, this means even more "remote" service parks which will hinder brand development.


F1 on the other hand is track based in glamorous locations and has the superbly exclusive and glamorous Paddock Club with a 3 day ticket selling for about £4,844. The estimated revenue for Paddock Club alone for 2012 is £190m -  a sum that would keep WRC running for 20 years.


However what is stopping WRC from being more city-centre based, creating rally exhibitions, rally expos, and being closer to major cities?! Barcelona actually features in the season finale this year...hurrah!




WRC's issues are several:
The sport is disorganised and sponsors have now left the "sinking ship" - only Michelin and Edox remain. No sponsor will join with the sport in current disarray, and quite frankly even if a promoter joins in September you may as well write off 2013 and most of 2014.


TV broadcast needs to be in both terrestrial and pay per view - look at F1's success with Sky HD and the BBC. NOS was due to broadcast key stages of virtually all 2012 rallies live, and initially free, on the internet for the fans. This would have been incorporated into a new website with lots of new fan-centric information.


WRC is not a global sport - of the 13 rallies 10 are in Europe, 2 in S.America, 1 in New Zealand/Australia. This limits the audience, fans and reach, more importantly the manufacturers to sell cars in new regions which in turns limits the WRC brand. The virtuous circle is not virtuous, but vicious...in some cases quite literally!


The FIA also has a lot of the rights tied up in an extensive contract that ultimately inhibits the sport for the promoter, the FIA themselves, and as a consequence the teams and the manufacturers. Given the FIA's loss of control over rights with F1 they are seemingly reluctant to hand over rights for WRC without lengthy legal contracts.


Fan insight - there is little understanding about who the fan is, what they love about the sport, and how this varies by region. No insight = no way to write a strategy. No strategy = no viable sport business.






WRC is an amazing sport with drivers pitting their wits and courage against the clock, the changing environments of snow, ice, gravel and tarmac and against each other. It is an epic motor sport adventure truly waiting to be unlocked.


However any sport that limits its commercial and brand exploitation with lengthy legal contracts, over-protectiveness of rights, under-utilisation of potential rights and lack of understanding of the end fan, will limit the growth of the sport for the short, medium and long term. Good luck to the next promoter of the FIA World Rally Championships, and very sincerely good luck to the teams and manufacturers - WRC is a superbly exciting sport.

Grumpy Guide to the XXXth Olympiad !

So I have just received a large parcel from the postie -  my Olympics tickets...hurrah!!! 

Well, all 2 of them for the hockey in the Riverbank arena in the Olympic Park that I received on the third purchase attempt. On the ticket it says that we are in the disabled area - I have no problem with that but it just seems a bit bizarre...probably due to the fact that the tickets were printed 6 months ago in Arkansas and then air freighted 4,500 miles to the UK; then a further £6 to send to me. Another multi million pound deal awarded to British companies by LOCOG.

Oh, and of course I can't take my 9 month old son to see the London Olympics because babies have to have their own ticket....not that it was hard enough getting 2 tickets!

Then I popped to the Official Olympic store in St.Pancras station and bought my "2 for £10" pin badges sourced from... China....bargain. I don't really think I will be buying much more Olympic merchandise, except maybe one of the limited edition (only 2,012) Team GB Olympic "reflection paperweights" for £70.

Of course I will go and see the free cycling in and around South London though, because, it's free...not that I can post any pictures to my social networking sites since LOCOG has ruled that the sights and sounds of the games cannot be uploaded to sites such as facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I am probably not even legally permitted to post this photo above!! 

A Locog spokeswoman has said: "Images, video and sound recordings of the Games taken by a ticket holder (or, the Advertiser understands, roadside viewers in non-ticketed areas) can only be used for private purposes."

"In addition a ticket holder may not license, broadcast or publish video and/or sound recordings, including on social networking websites and the internet more generally, and may not exploit images, video and/or sound recordings for commercial purposes under any circumstances, whether on the internet or otherwise, or make them available to third parties for commercial purposes."

I also can't wait for Danny Boyle's, £27m opening ceremony show, entitled "Isles of Wonder", as another golden opportunity to whinge along with animal rights campaigners!!

It will feature 100 farmyard animals set in a "green and pleasant land", with cricketers playing on a village green and ploughs tilling the fields in a three-hour show that will include: 12 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, 9 geese, 70 sheep and 3 sheep dogs, a few cricketers and farmers.

Hey, at least I received 2 free travel cards to get to the Olympic Park! Roll on 27 July and the hockey and my Maccy D's and Coke.

SPORTS MARKETING IS PANTS !

Sorry I just couldn't resist this one especially as this happened at the Euros and England are still in with a shout!

Nicklas Bendtner has been given a slap on the wrist by the Danish FA and is potentially due another from UEFA for displaying his Paddy Power lucky pants as he celebrated his second goal against Portugal a few days ago. Unfortunately UEFA regulations ban any advertising on players' kits during the tournament, the Danish FA are sponsored by Ladbrokes and his pants were less lucky against Germany.


The move was part of an orchestrated "ambush" marketing campaign, with Paddy Power issuing a statement congratulating the Arsenal forward, and who I am sure will pay the 100,000 Euro / £80,000 fine imposed on Bendtner by UEFA. (Expensive marketing?)




Personally I love ambush, or guerilla marketing, as I believe this can push the boundaries of traditional marketing. Having nearly been arrested while projecting a Cotes du Rhone wine image onto Big Ben, Marble Arch, and Nelson's Column in 1997 I can appreciate the inherent dangers but also the upsides. These sorts of stunts offer immediate exposure and PR at very low cost, a can get the vital "tipping point" for PR.

The fact that FHM magazine mildly outdid our campaign by projecting a naked Gail Porter image on to the Houses of Parliament added insult to injury!! FHM got coverage in The Sun, Mirror, Express, Star and Sport - as well as on The Big Breakfast and This Morning TV.

However the legal side of ambush marketing is now a lot more advanced and far reaching than in 1997!! 

Bavaria Brewery Holland was the first beer brand to catch some heat at the 2010 World Cup. At a match between The Netherlands and Denmark Bavaria unleashed a group of 36 women dressed in identical orange dresses in full view of the TV cameras. Claiming ambush marketing by Bavaria, FIFA ejected the ladies, took some of them to the police station and then set out to take legal action against the Dutch beer company.

Bavaria’s ranking leapt by 41 percent, according to Nielsen and the stunt even earned the firm a nomination at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Look them up on You Tube too!!

In New Zealand RWC 2011 Samoan brothers Manu and Alesana Tuilagi were both given $10,000 fines for wearing the unapproved OPRO branded mouth guards during the tournament, breaching the event's legal terms of participation.

And watch out at the Olympics 2012 - the laws are tight and getting tighter! As consumers you can only pay by Visa, eat McDonald's, drink Coca Cola, drive a BMW and buy P&G products in the Olympic Park. http://www.london2012.com/documents/brand-guidelines/statutory-marketing-rights.pdf

Guerrilla marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression, and pops up when and where people least expect it. It often has a high ROI because is is based upon the execution of a good idea and can make a lasting impression without spending a lot of the marketing budget. 


However by being a little cleverer and as unpredictable, and by staying legal you can still challenge target consumers to engage with your brand in a creative way by creating stunts, more interactive marketing and experiential. Think QR codes, social media, pop up stores, flash mobs, apps, street art, sponsorship, etc. etc.


Check out what Sprite did in Brazil on the beach as shown on YouTube: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocCYlqvJKC4


For more superb examples of guerrilla marketing have a look at Ryan Lum's Creative Guerrilla Marketing Blog: http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com/

I JUST DON'T SEE THE POINT !!


I am a big fan of tennis - playing, watching and talking about it. So for many years now I have watched the climax of the clay court season at Roland Garros before we switch to the fair lawns of England.


Lovely red clay, great Roland Garros branding and superb sponsors from the global arena that make the commercial wheels of the world of tennis go round. Six of the ten are French, naturally, two are European classics and two are American.

So who are the sponsors? Headline sponsor since 1973 and recently renewed until 2016 the great supporter  of French and global tennis, BNP Paribas; who this year are reaching out globally with a new English written tag line of "The Bank for a changing world" - La banque d'un monde qui change....how true a strapline! 

Powerhouse brands such as Adidas of Germany and Agassi-supported Longines of Switzerland complete the European roster at Roland Garros, while IBM and FedEx give the French Open their global content


The other five French brands associated with the French Open,  Peugeot, iconic tennis apparel brand Lacoste, mineral water Perrier and French television network OrangeSport, a specialist in soccer, tennis and cycling.
Powerhouse brands such as Adidas of Germany and Longines of Switzerland complete the European roster at Roland Garros, while IBM and FedEx give the French Open a totally global feel.




Then there is a "brand" I have seen for the last 4 years now and had no idea who they were. In all honesty I couldn't be bothered even to find out since they had made no effort to connect with me. 


This bizarre sounding name of "Afflelou". French patisserie? French Chateau? 

 No. Apparently, they make eyewear.

So where is the great sponsorship activation? Advertising? Supporting website? Social media campaign? Quite frankly let's be honest is there any supporting spend behind this brand apart from some court side branding?

According to the Afflelou website here is why they have a passion for tennis and Roland Garros:

"Between ALAIN AFFLELOU and Tennis, a real story was born. After the sponsoring of Amélie Mauresmo and of The Roland Garros tournament, it is now to the Davis Cup French Team to be supported by Alain Afflelou. Beyond his sponsoring, it is for our brand name an incredible opportunity to get associated with a sport practiced by more than 4 million French people among which 1 100 000 people are members of The French Tennis Federation"

Oh dear!
A few suggestions Alain:

1. Get someone to write your website in grammatical English -  and tell us about the story of Tennis and Afflelou...if there is one.
2. Activation - buying sponsorship rights is only the beginning of the partnership. Rights are not just about "badging" or even tickets to the event. Think about how activating the sponsorship rights will help you achieve your brand, marketing and  business objectives. 
3. Integration - your advertising, website, your social media campaign; and make them multi-lingual to aid your brand's global expansion.
4. Relevance - sponsor a player who wears glasses - Janko Tipsaravic for instance who has had a fantastic year, wears very distinctive (Oakley) glasses, or semi-finalist Yaroslava Shvedova (Oakley).
5. Make a campaign fun....what would Djokovic look like with glasses on? Genuine engagement with current customers and new potential ones.
6. Make it educational with on event activation - eye tests at the Championship
7. Hey, why not create an app, everyone else is?!
8. Are your objectives SMART? I know this is sales terminology but it definitely applies to marketing too.

Sponsorship is there to heighten brand awareness, provide positive publicity, create new connections, convey the brand personality, differentiate the brand, and communicate it's relevance to a target audience with a perfect match with a sport.

So, Mr.Afflelou, I am sorry but you get "nul points"