Comments on: Thierry Henry – national hero or cheating villain? http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/20091120/thierry-henry-national-hero-or-cheating-villain/ The Sponsor's Consultancy Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:43:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Stephanie Branston http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/20091120/thierry-henry-national-hero-or-cheating-villain/comment-page-1/#comment-741 Stephanie Branston Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:30:23 +0000 http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/?p=2783#comment-741 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. 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.

]]> By: David Hughes http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/20091120/thierry-henry-national-hero-or-cheating-villain/comment-page-1/#comment-739 David Hughes Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:11:52 +0000 http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/?p=2783#comment-739 A strongly argued response. As one one of the people "who did not agree with you" (David Hughes, the author of the piece on 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! 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!

]]> By: Ben Wilkinson http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/20091120/thierry-henry-national-hero-or-cheating-villain/comment-page-1/#comment-738 Ben Wilkinson Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:31:02 +0000 http://www.synergy-sponsorship.com/blog/?p=2783#comment-738 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. 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.

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