A couple of weeks ago my brother and I set off for the Saracens vs. Harlequins match, safe in the knowledge that the game would definitely be going ahead (despite the freakish sub-zero weather conditions) due to the artificial pitch,  and keen to experience the new Allianz Park. Saracens‘ vision is ‘to be the most innovative, hard-working and caring rugby organisation in the world’, so at this official opening of their new stadium I was interested to see how close they are to meeting this ambition.

The Build-Up

Earlier in the week I had received an extremely clear and helpful email from Saracens detailing the match day itinerary, the travel options and any other info we might have needed. If one of the key objectives of a rights holder’s ECRM is to improve the customer experience, then this email certainly ticked that box. Whilst it was by no means ground-breaking, it is striking how often this is either absent or uninformative in the build-up to a big event.

Pre-Match

Following our travel instructions, we were warmly greeted at Mill Hill East tube station by one of the Saracens Pioneers. These volunteers have been selected to help deliver the perfect match day experience, no doubt inspired by the widespread acclaim for the Olympic Gamesmakers and to position Saracens as a club for the community.

Then a free (and spacious) shuttle bus whisked us to the stadium and we collected our tickets without any fuss. Again, these are perhaps small things that a sports fan should expect on a match day, but which can so often be sorely lacking.

The Match

It must be said that we weren’t totally blown away by the Stadium: although the new East stand is impressive, the existing West Stand and temporary seats on the Barnet running track didn’t exactly scream out ‘new stadium’, but there was no lack of effort from the club to make their opening feel special. A Legends match (featuring among others Jason Leonard and Thomas Casteignede) took place before kick-off, adding further value to our £20 match ticket.

In the innovation stakes, (aside from the pitch), Saracens have installed two giant video screens which provided a fantastic picture throughout, and for this fixture they also took a 360 degree fan-pic at the game for fans to tag themselves on Facebook (I’m the one in the red hat in the middle!).

Whilst a fan-pic at an event is now familiar territory, Saracens added an interactive element  by offering the chance to win a signed shirt for spotting Sarrie the Camel, and also gave fans who were unable to get a ticket (the match was sold out) the opportunity to add their profile picture to the shot. Perhaps Saracens could have done even more with this by promoting the picture on the big screens and asking fans to smile for the camera! I also think the big screens could have had a more interactive element to them – for example Saracens could look to add a Twitter ticker-tape running along the bottom of it so fans can add their thoughts on the action. As we saw at the Olympics, initiatives such as the kiss-cam and bongo-cam are great ways of getting the crowd involved in the action and these big screens offer this opportunity. If Saracens really want to become the most innovative rugby club around, then the most obvious first step for them will be to provide free wi-fi at the ground (a topic that we have discussed many times on this blog). A partner deal like the recently announced MLB and T- Mobile and Liverpool F.C and Xirrus initiatives would really allow fans to interact at the stadium, and Saracens already have a mobile app which could, in time, become the tool that gives supporters the ability to interact with the game in real time.

In terms of the sponsor activity on the day, there was a clear winner: despite Allianz’s naming rights deal, it was Domino’s Pizza who stood out. They have given fans the chance to get pizzas delivered to their seats at half-time (which seemed to be a popular option in the freezing cold) and their half-time catching challenge between Saracens and Harlequins fans also proved to be popular. It will be interesting to see if Allianz remain passive in their activation and apparently happy to rely on the media value driven from the stadium name and shirt sponsorship, although I have since spotted that they are running a reporter competition on Facebook for their next home game.

Post-Match

After the match, fans were encouraged to take to the pitch and kick a ball about (taking me back to the days of bringing my bat and a ball along to The Oval for some throw-downs on the outfield). As you can see this proved really popular with the kids (both big and small) and reinforced Saracens’ positioning as a community-friendly club. We went to de-frost with a few pints (with our souvenir cups – see below) in the longest match day bar in the UK, and there the Saracens band played and the Man of the Match (Mako Vunipola) was presented with his award. This was a really nice way of allowing the fans to get closer to their heroes in a relaxed, family friendly atmosphere after the game. On the way out of the ground, a large Pepperoni Passion pizza for a fiver capped off a really great fan experience for us!

It really seems that Saracens have considered the fans’ journey every step of the way, and we had a great debut experience at Allianz Park. On the day, their stars on the field didn’t disappoint and faster, better rugby was produced due to the 4G pitch. Whilst Saracens may still have a little way to go on the innovation front, they are certainly ahead of the game in terms of putting the fans and the community at the heart of everything they do; more rights holders should definitely take note.

By Matt Kiernan on April 4th, 2013

Tags: community, Experiential marketing, Naming Rights, Rugby, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Activation, Sport

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I was lucky enough to go the Men’s All Round Individual Gymnastics Final with my mum and brother yesterday to cheer on our fantastic Team GB bronze medallists Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis, and was interested to see how ‘O2’ the Arena was going to be, despite the non-sponsor blackout.

The venue is obviously unique – not just because of the naming rights situation and the Arena’s extensive portfolio of brand partners but also because, unlike the other Olympic venues in London, The O2 and all other attractions inside it are open to the public as usual throughout the Games. So, as we enjoyed our supper in Strada under the shadow of the Gymnastics entrance (which seemed as though we were breaking some kind of LOCOG rule!), there seemed to be plenty of people walking around who did not have tickets for the Gymnastics enjoying the Arena’s many bars (not serving Heineken), restaurants (with no Golden Arches in sight) and 11-screen cinema.

As anyone who has been to an event at the Arena knows, there is a huge amount of O2 branding around and whilst the majority of this has been taken down (including the large sign below), after we walked through the Olympic security, perhaps inevitably, there was still plenty of uncovered O2 signage about.

I’m sure that the (much discussed) success of O2′s sponsorship means that for most British visitors this fortnight, they are already well aware of the ‘real’ name of the venue and understand the reason for the name change, so O2 are probably not losing too much sleep over the temporarily enforced title. As this media piece shows, even during the Games, The O2 brand is still getting free media coverage.

I also believe the smooth running and great atmosphere of the Olympic events at The O2 will have encouraged more return visits once the Games are over.

The only notable example of experiential activity I saw yesterday came from Nissan (interestingly, one of the manufacturers originally interested in sponsoring the Games themselves), who have had a permanent ‘Innovation Station’ in the Arena since October 2010. This was perhaps the best illustration of the unique nature of the venue and surely the only one where non-sponsor brands have been able to avoid the much-maligned scrutiny of the LOCOG brand police due to their long-running AEG deals.

All of this meant that our North Greenwich Arena experience felt slightly less ‘Olympic’ compared to my trip to the ExCel for the Boxing earlier in the week, but certainly no less enjoyable.

By Matt Kiernan on August 2nd, 2012

Tags: Ambush campaign, Default, Experiential marketing, London 2012 sponsorship, Naming Rights, Sponsorship, Team GB

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As I eagerly count down the hours before going to see The Dark Knight Rises tonight (to the amazement of one colleague who couldn’t comprehend the idea of going to the cinema on a Friday night after a long week at work), I couldn’t help but notice the number of brands looking to ride the wave of hype surrounding 2012’s most eagerly anticipated film.

By my latest count, no fewer than 15 brands have partnered up with Warner Bros and it is interesting to see which have or will achieve cut-through. The obvious danger for brands getting involved in movies is the potential backlash from fans who don’t want to be ‘sold to’ when they go to the cinema, and dislike obvious product placements that can detract from the story, rather than improve the overall fan experience (the key to a successful brand partnership). The films themselves also risk being accused by fans of selling out if they go too far (see the James Bond franchise), but it seems that so far Christopher Nolan’s trilogy has managed to remain both ‘cool’ and a commercial success, with no accusations of selling its soul. It will be interesting, however, in the coming weeks if any of the ‘friends of Gotham City’ start to get a few enemies.

Amazingly, Warner Bros have managed to tie up deals with two car brands – Chrysler in the US and Nissan in the UK. The Chrysler deal is expected to include some product placement (hopefully I won’t be distracted tonight trying to spot their vehicles) and they have also encouraged fans to create their own Dark Knight movie trailer, to be posted on the brand’s Facebook site, with Nolan himself choosing the best commercial to be aired on National TV. Whilst UGC is not a new phenomenon, this is a nice way for Chrysler to build on the hysteria surrounding the official trailer (which, to date, has over 23m YouTube hits) and gives the true Batman fans the tools to create their own content.

Nissan’s striking press ad was designed by illustrator Gabriel Hardman, who developed the storyboards for the film and brand also used Blippar’s augmented reality tool to give fans the chance to win premiere tickets.

My main concern, however, for any car brand getting involved in the Batman movies is that there is really only one car that the fans care about, no matter the marketing, so it is going to be difficult for anyone to compete with the Batmobile, let alone with this movie’s flying gunship.

Both Nokia and Mountain Dew have created limited edition products surrounding the films, with both brands offering fans exclusive film content – clearly banking on the partnership driving sales. It will be interesting to see whether there are really fans who care about the film enough to tie themselves into a long-term phone contract to get Nokia’s handset (unlikely to be quite so desirable this time next year), and the true test will be whether the phone can compete with the iPhones and Samsung Galaxys of this world. Obviously committing to trying a new flavour of Mountain Dew is much less of an ask for the consumer…

My favourite Batman brand partnership however is undoubtedly Under Armour’s sponsorship of the Gotham Rogues American Football team, and their subsequent product range. This is a great example of a subtle, and, most importantly, natural bit of product placement (in what looks like an amazing scene from the trailer) allowing the brand to launch a potentially lucrative new clothing range (which I’m sure many of the thousands of Batman geeks will be keen to buy, myself included).

This is all well and good, but as I shun the call of the pub tonight, I look forward to leaving my marketing hat at the door, and escaping into the world of Gotham City.

By Matt Kiernan on July 20th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Brand marketing, Branded content, Film, Product placement

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What happened?

In order to celebrate 100 years since the creation of the Spirit of Ecstasy, our fellow ‘Engineers’ ‘Partners Andrews Aldridge’ and Rolls-Royce commissioned the British photographer Rankin to capture 100 contemporary images of the female form that are inspired by Rolls-Royce’s renowned symbol, including her power, speed and beauty. In his own words, this was “one of the biggest projects (he) has ever taken on”. The stunning collection of prints were shot over the course of the year and hosted exclusively at Rolls-Royce Motor Car events and dealerships throughout the world including London, LA, Beijing and Sydney, finishing in Cologne this month.

Why we love it

Firstly, we feel the partnership between Rankin, a modern British style-icon, and Rolls-Royce, a brand that represents both classic British craftsmanship and contemporary engineering, is spot on. A brand like Rolls-Royce needs to strike the balance between reinforcing its heritage without overly relying on it, and this modern celebration of the centenary of its ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ strikes this balance very nicely.

By teaming up with Rankin, Rolls-Royce have also created a fantastic platform to create original and stunning content for their upmarket target audience, who are likely to be passionate about the arts and the work of the ‘in vogue’ photographer. Most importantly, going forward, these images have also given Rolls-Royce the opportunity to create some unique DM material to send on to their customers, a nice way to get into the hearts and homes of their most valued clients. Ultimately, one of the most important roles of a succesful partnership is to give the comms of a brand a lift; and these amazing photos most certainly do that.

By Matt Kiernan on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Art & Design, Branded content, Synergy Loves

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