Much has been written about Thierry Henry this week.
Has he forever lost his va va voom? Will his reputation recover from the ‘Hand of Frog’ drama?
Is he the new Maradona? Will the nation of Ireland ever forgive him?
(No, yes, no, no – as you ask).
It’s not been the best of weeks for the Frenchman, ain’t that the truth. But is it really Armageddon?
I think not.
In my opinion and as quoted in PR Week, the Thierry Henry brand is not irreversibly damaged.
Damaged? Yes for sure but he will recover.
Thierry is a hero in France whose football fans witnessed their captain play to the whistle and arguably use his nous to secure a victory for his team. The incident is a far wider indictment of the sport and what is at stake nowadays (in this case, national pride and a place in The World Cup); cheating is nothing new in sport unfortunately.
Henry would have preferred to have scored a controversy-free belter to secure his country’s fate. That goes without saying. But the unpredictable nature of sport throws up the unexpected. Like most rational sportsfans, I didn’t like what I saw and I wish the referee had seen, during the game itself, what the rest of the world has since watched over and over again. But he didn’t. C’est la vie.
For Thierry, his value to sponsors, and I am talking in the long term, will not irretrievably suffer although I would not envisage too many Irish companies beating down the door of Henry’s agent this week offering brand endorsements.
There will be those who don’t agree with me. Fine, great, I love a good debate but let’s put it in perspective shall we?
Henry is French, plays his football in Spain (for Barcelona), has global cross-gender appeal and as Arsenal’s greatest goal scorer, he will always be a legend in England. He is a gifted footballer and an eloquent individual. The 2010 World Cup is likely to be his last and he played a highly visible role in ensuring himself one last shot at the biggest prize in football. Gillette, for whom Henry is a global brand ambassador, has said on record the incident will not affect their relationship with him.
As a role model to millions and a footballer who was widely perceived to demonstrate true sporting values, his biggest crime was missing the opportunity to right a wrong and show genuine sportsmanship on the pitch immediately after the incident. His reputation may forever be tarnished by that decision but his commercial value in the long term, as one of the most dazzling players of his generation, I believe will hold firm.
By Stephanie Branston on November 20th, 2009
Tags: Football, Public relations, Sponsorship, World Cup
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Absolutely right Steph. Just cast your mind back to David Beckham and the 1998 World Cup. Sent off and held up as the villain by all and sundry, with the Daily Mirror printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. DB reportedly received death threats as a result of incident and it can’t get much worse than that.
Things don’t seem too bad for David these days. Sure, he’s still at the centre of media attention and certainly still gets his fair share of criticism. But last I heard his commercial value’s not been that damaged…
Thierry is a disgrace in Ireland and many other parts of the world, but I’m sure they’ll be a few Frenchmen who are pretty pleased with his ‘handy’ manoeuvre. And if all else fails? There’s always Pizza Hut commercials with Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and Gareth Southgate. Remember them? Proof, if ever there was, that success on the pitch is not the only factor in helping players earn their commercial crust.
A strongly argued response. As one one of the people “who did not agree with you” (David Hughes, the author of the piece on http://www.nonlineblogging.com) its great to see a robust debate! The point I was trying to make is that things happen very quickly these days, in front of more people, and across more channels. In the digital world the “wisdom of crowds” can turn into some medieval baying mob and they have the power to influence people in un-moderated media channels…some of the adjectives used for Thierry Henry have been fairly colourful.
As a digital marketer I think the growth of Facebook (almost 20 million UK registered users alone) and other social media make them more powerful than most of the combined forces of traditional, “editorially-controlled” media and it is therefore more difficult to control. David Beckham, Stuart Pearce and gang were really only at the mercy of Fleet Street and a few Radio 5 reporters…Thierry is front of more people’s minds.
And yes, he is such a gifted, talismanic sportsman that he will probably survive to fight another day, but to say his long term value is “intact” is still a bit of a stretch…if only for the Irish market! Thanks for igniting the debate!
David. Without doubt, the power of the digital word is hugely influential, ever changing and played out in front of a massive audience. There’s certainly no hiding for our celebrities and role models nowadays.
Always good to debate. I think we should perhaps agree to disagree on certain elements of this argument. I still believe I am right in my views on Henry’s long term commercial value.
Be very interested to see the reaction to Thierry next summer in the World Cup and how he handles it. Watch this space.