What Happened?

On Tuesday September 13, Westfield Stratford City opened its doors to the public. Against the background of a day-long blaze of publicity, Mayor of London Boris Johnson cut the opening ribbon whilst invoking Chaucer, followed by pop diva Nicole Scherzinger strutting her stuff before a (slightly bemused) VIP audience. But by far the most important feature of the day was the 100,000 consumers who visited what is now Europe’s largest urban shopping and leisure destination – all 1.9 million square feet of it, the equivalent of 25 football pitches - spending a combined £4m. Recession – what recession? Good news for Westfield’s retailers, many of whom mounted major marketing campaigns to attempt to grab the lion’s share of the Opening Day buzz and bounty.

Our favourite? The M&S ’On Your Marks’ campaign, with creative shot by fashion photographer John Akehurst, featuring a model wearing heels from the M&S Autograph sub-brand in starting blocks.

Why We Like It

M&S brilliantly leverages Westfield Stratford’s Olympic DNA: Westfield is of course the gateway to the London 2012 Olympic Park.

First, there’s the skilful navigation of the legislation preventing brands from using Olympic IP. You absolutely get the connection, but there isn’t an offending piece of Olympic IP to be seen.

Second, it fulfils one of our litmus tests for great work - anchored around the use of ‘Marks’ – it wouldn’t work for any other brand.

Third, the Olympic connection isn’t forced. It’s entirely natural and drives both the consumer insight and the call to action.

And last but absolutly not least, it’s a stunning image in every way.

Beautifully done.

By Tim Crow on October 13th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Default, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics

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Here at Synergy towers we’re always looking for fun, quirky ideas that have genuine media traction while fitting with our clients’ target audiences and business objectives. So with the London 2012 test events rolling into town the Betfair team put our thinking hats on and looked at how Betfair could get involved. We focused specifically on the beach volleyball tournament at Horse Guards Parade - an event with high media and consumer interest that would engage the brand’s target audience and deliver a tactical campaign within budget.

Further to a recent Ofcom report highlighting that one third of British adults now owns a smart phone, Betfair developed a concept to promote their mobile offering.

Synergy negotiated a deal with Team Mullin-Dampney, the number one British beach volleyball duo, to position Quick Response technology, known as QR codes, on the players’ kit. When photographed, the QR code would drive people to  Betfair’s free-bet and registration page.

Given the limited space available on a beach volleyball kit, the signature ‘hands on knees’ stance, and likely viewpoint of media and spectator cameras, the QR codes were placed on the players’ bikini bottoms to maximise exposure, whilst their arm bands carried the Betfair Mobile logo.

Working with Betfair’s consumer PR agency and new members of the Engine family - Mischief - we held a photoshoot with Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney and distributed the images before the test event on 9^th August.

Capturing the imagination of both the front and back pages the story featured in four national newspapers (Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and Daily Record), two regional titles (Metro and The Evening Standard) and seven national online sites as well as over 200 online outlets, thousands of tweets and in the international media.

By Caroline Ayling on September 1st, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Beach Volleyball, Brand marketing, London 2012, Mobile, Olympics, PR, Product placement, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy, Team GB

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Recently I’ve spent a lot of time recalling the history of sports marketing and sponsorship. To start 2011, we ran our poll on the greatest sports marketing innovation of modern times. A few weeks ago the Sport Industry Group asked Dom Curran and I to contribute our memories of the last ten years of sport to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sport Industry Awards, which took place last Wednesday night. And also last Wednesday, I attended Sportcal’s 20 Years of Sport conference, the highlight of which was a tour de force presentation by my old friend Patrick Nally on the origins of the modern sponsorship template which he created, and his view of the future.

Listening to Patrick talk of those early days and his work with Horst Dassler reminded me of one of the most remarkable incidents in the history of sports marketing to date, which took place in those early days, and which I only came across for the first time recently.

Back in 1974, adidas was the kit sponsor of the legendary Dutch national football team led by maestro Johann Cruyff.  Leading into the 1974 World Cup, which was marked by financial disputes between players and their federations, Cruyff, who had a personal sponsorship with adidas’ bitter rivals Puma, refused to wear a Dutch shirt with the now-legendary adidas three stripes. Incredibly, the Dutch FA backed down and alowed Cruyff to play in a specially-made kit with only two stripes. Here’s the proof, from Holland’s 1974 World Cup match versus Argentina:

Now that’s what I call player power!

By Tim Crow on May 17th, 2011

Tags: Ambush campaign, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?, World Cup

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A highlight of our daily PR Team paper-reading this morning had to be the below from Ryan Air.

Gaining a good half / three-quarter page space in both the Telegraph and the Independent, this most basic of tactical advertising had us all giggling. And most of us are pretty mad-keen cricket fans too.

So having watched in horror England throw away the near-certain win against our Irish friends across the water, it was refreshing to find humour in our anguish. Though as funny as ambush campaigns may be to the observer, we can’t imagine Emirates (official partner of the Tournament) would be too chuffed about another airline gaining traction with what is essentially a World Cup ad…

Top marks to Ryan Air for a cheap (production), basic, low res ad with a wicked sense of humour. Not many other brands would have the nerve, nor the impact.

By Lucie Bartlett on March 4th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Aviation, Cricket, Travel, World Cup

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We love a bit of tactical advertising at Synergy.

Our sports stars who we work with frequently find themselves the subject of timely brand communications that use the news agenda to gain cut-through in print. Which is why, for example, around Wimbledon or the British & Irish Lions rugby tours you see sponsor brands (official and ambush alike) trying to savour the cultural moment in order to capture their target audience.

Most impressive are those brands who turn around an ad in the space of 24 hours – sometimes less. We’ve offered up some examples on this blog before – with Veet’s efforts around President Bush’s departure and a whole host of tactical work around President Obama’s inauguration from brands as diverse as Dunkin’ Donuts and IKEA.

And our ad of the day today came from a joint venture between MARS-owned cat food brand, Whiskas, and Battersea Cats and Dogs home, with which they partner. Capitalizing on the recent addition to the Downing Street family – Larry the cat, employed principally to deal with the reported emerging local rat population – Whiskas and Battersea threw down a welcome mat throughout the National Press.

Simple, fun, effective and apparently starring Larry himself – which must have taken a bit of pre-planning on behalf of Battersea and No.10. Bravo to all involved.

By Lucie Bartlett on February 16th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Brand marketing, Politics

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Mihir Bose needs little introduction as an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. From 2006- 2009 he was the BBC’s first Sports Editor; prior to that he was Chief Sports News Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. He has written 22 books, including an award winning history of Indian cricket and the first history of Bollywood, and presented numerous programmes for radio and TV. Currently, he contributes a weekly ‘Big Sports Interview’ to the London Evening Standard and is working on a book on the power of modern sport.  

So, we were delighted when Mihir agreed to give us his take on our on going ‘What’s the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?’ debate. Who or what did he think were the big game changers? Had we missed anything crucial off our list?

Synergy: So, Mihir, having looked at our initial list, what do you think is the greatest sports marketing innovation of the modern era?

Mihir Bose: Well, it’s a very impressive list, starting with 1960 when Arnold Palmer and Mark McCormack shook hands. Is that the greatest? That’s a bit hard to say. It’s an innovator, but the first is not necessarily the best.

Certainly, the Horst Dassler and Patrick Nally one, of creating a sponsor (for a shoe really, in effect) and a world event. As a result of that, and the effect it’s had on football, is very impressive. Also, I would say very, very impressive is the Nike creation of the shoe for Michael Jordan. And that is impressive on two counts: firstly creating a shoe for a sportsman, but also for the first time in America, making a black player an iconic television star, which hadn’t been done. It sort of broke through – if you like, it’s the Barack Obama moment of sport – it broke through that barrier there.

Synergy: Do you think we’ve missed any that deserve a place on the final shortlist?

MB: The only one that’s missed out on this list, I would say, is the Indian Premier League, which started in 2008. I think that took cricket – domestic cricket – to a different height. Domestic cricket nowhere in the world pays money, it’s international cricket that brings in the money, and I think the Indian Premier League, combining Bollywood with money, large dollops of cash, is an innovator.

Synergy: Conversely, and possibly controversially, do you think we have included any which don’t deserve to be there?

MB: I would say that the ECB one, of introducing Twenty20. The ECB did introduce Twenty20 but it actually didn’t make the most of the marketing; it allowed the Indians to make the most of it. Maybe partly it reflected the English market and so on… but that’s the one I would say I wouldn’t bring in.

And also perhaps 1981, the boxing match, where sports viewing of that kind was born. I’m not sure that pay-per-view works – it works in America, but it doesn’t work [in the same way] around the world. It’s an important concept, but if you’re talking of the ten best events, or right at the top, I would say that has had a limited appeal.

Synergy: So, returning to our main question, what game-changer has had the biggest effect on the industry to date?

MB: The biggest? That is always very difficult to say. But probably television. I think this list shows that there has been, since the 70s certainly (round about ’78 or ’79 – Ecclestone came in ’79) an incremental awareness, and a steady increase of the awareness of what television can do.

Sports and sponsorship is not a new entity – ever since sport started there has been some sort of sponsorship – but television has added a completely new dimension, and the use of television to increase revenues and highlight sportsmen and women; I think that has been the big factor.

And I suppose if one looks at it, perhaps in some ways the biggest moment, was not merely the creation of the The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship program – but the marriage of television and money that enabled the production of the 1984 Los Angeles Games, following the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics when the Olympic Games looked like it was going to collapse. The Olympics, the ultimate amateur thing (where you play not for money, you can’t advertise on kit, winners don’t receive money, just medals) was transformed: perhaps that marks the single moment when world sport realised the importance of marketing and the importance of sport.

Synergy: So can we conclude that TOP program would be your choice for the greatest modern sports marketing innovation?

MB: I’d say yes. That is the ultimate one, where you retain the outer crust of the amateur ethos (the athletes stay in an Olympic village, they don’t earn any money, there’s no advertising in the stadium) and yet it brings in a lot of money.

And the IOC, the way it’s run, the sort of ambush marketing it has, and that sort of thing, it’s run like a corporation – in fact, it’s run like a McDonald’s franchise. It comes to London and it has told London what exactly the London bid committee can or cannot do. It showcases the ultimate marriage of man and sport; the idea that sport is for everyone, anyone can pick up a running shoe and just run and win the 100m. That’s not quite the case, but that simplicity of sport that makes it so appealing, combined with the fact that if you win the 100m, you could become a very, very rich man – or a rich woman if you win the women’s race! - that concept I think makes it the single most important sports marketing moment.

With thanks to Mihir Bose. www.mihirbose.com. http://twitter.com/mihirbose.

By Lucie Bartlett on December 2nd, 2010

Tags: Ambush campaign, BBC, Cricket, ECB, India, Indian Premier League, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, New Product Development, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants, Synergy, Television, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?, World Cup

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Two weeks ago we decided to open up to the world a debate we’d started here at Synergy: what is the greatest sports marketing innovation of modern times?

It’s a debate that seems to have captured your imagination as much as ours, creating a raft of comments by global industry figures from brands, rights-holders, the media and more. We’ve even been privileged to have our old friends Patrick Nally and Michael Payne, both leading contenders on our initial list and in the subsequent debate, offer their thoughts.

So, two weeks on, we thought it was time to round up the comments to date.

The View From The Brands

Ralf Hussmann, Global Sports Marketing Director at BMW turned the argument on its head, arguing that most of the innovations listed mainly pour more cash into the pockets of rights holders, selected athletes (and dare I say it, the odd agency). Instead, Ralf argued for the evolution of sport over the last fifty years via sports platforms, teams, rights-holders, broadcasters and sponsors to bring the audiences and fans closer to the games they follow. As Ralf summarises “…sports is – besides competition – entertainment and that’s what people want. Only because of this sustainable interest sport works well as a marketing tool.”

With perhaps a hint of bias, but also some justification, Nike EMEA Comms Director Charlie Brooks supported our original Air Jordan suggestion as well as Ronaldinho’s Nike ‘crossbar’ viral, marking the moment when brands moved from TV ads played online to dedicated viral content strategies; and in the same vein Betfair’s Leo Thompson argued for the creation of Betfair itself given its revolutionary effect on sports betting and the fight against corruption – although to be fair, Leo also nodded in the direction of the Palmer-McCormack handshake and Patrick Nally’s creation of the first FIFA sponsor package.

For Lee Bailey of Guinness it’s the creation of the Super Bowl, which continues to hold the US in thrall in contrast to, notably, the decline of the FA Cup; Tim Ellerton of Heineken backed the formation of the UEFA Champions League (‘…It transformed European football as we know it…the game has changed from winning trophies to getting into the top 4′); while Simon Banoub of Opta backed Twenty20 Cricket (‘…as a game changer I can’t think of anything more significant’).

The View From The Media

Guardian Sports Editor Ian Prior was torn between Nike’s Air Jordan launch and the Palmer-McCormack handshake: ‘IMG set the template for the athlete as corporate entity…You could argue that Air Jordan took that idea to its logical conclusion, except that it created the super athlete as global brand icon and principal driver of product sales.’

Ashling O’Connor from The Times was in the vanguard of several contributors who have nominated Kerry Packer’s World Series of Cricket in 1977: ‘Changed the way cricket is played…and created the template for broadcasters to negotiate exclusive rights…Without it would we have had Sky and the Premier League? A total game changer in every way.’

Roger Blitz of the Financial Times suggested, in the shape of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, the first modern superstar to have created his own brand: ‘…the greatest sports marketing phenomenon of all time [and] he did it all himself, through his own narrative.’

David Owen, Inside The Games columnist and former FT sports editor ighlighted Chris Brasher’s role in pioneering marathons and the rise of ambush marketing  (‘…whoever masterminded the first successful ambush must have been a sports marketeer of genius’) but ultimately opted for the Palmer-McCormack handshake: ‘The start of the industrialisation of sports marketing’.

But for Wall Street Journal columnist and Platform magazine editor Richard Gillis it has to be ’…Dassler-Nally and the creation of the rights package for the 1978 World Cup. Virtually every rights holder’s commercial structure, from the IOC down, is still based on it.’

The View From the Rights Holders

Michael Payne, former IOC Marketing Director who features on our initial list for his role in helping to create the IOC TOP programme, nominated four innovations: Patrick Nally and FIFA; Mark McCormack and athletes; the advent of the dedicated sports channel; and ‘the introduction of ‘brand discipline into sports marketing – pioneered by IOC to build further value (slight self interest here).’

Paul Vaughan, Business Director of the RFU, argued the case for media innovations, in particular internet streaming of sport: ‘Every major broadcaster simulcasts on these channels now…to supplement ‘normal’ broadcast delivery.’

Former ECB Commercial Director Terry Blake put the case for Twenty20 cricket – invented, of course, by the ECB in 2003 - pointing to the fact that within 5 years it had ‘created a new global fan base [for cricket] and…three very different and highly valued formats.’

And John Feehan, Six Nations & Lions CEO, echoed the views of Michael and others in backing the Palmer-McCormack handshake.

The View From Academe

Be sure to check out Professor Simon Chadwick’s guest blog where he nominates Red Bull’s multi-faceted sports marketing strategy.

What’s next?

So where do you stand? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below or at the original blog, and if you think we’ve missed anything, what you believe we should add to the final long list before the big vote which starts next month.

Your votes will then decide the top ten and critically your number one innovation of the last fifty years.

And in the next week look out for more high-profile industry figures having their say on the debate via Synergy’s YouTube channel.

By Dominic Curran on November 24th, 2010

Tags: Ambush campaign, Barclays Premier League, Betfair, Brand marketing, Branded content, ECB, Indian Premier League, New Product Development, Olympic sponsorship, Sponsorship, Sport, UEFA Champions League, Viral Marketing, What's the Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation?, World Cup, YouTube

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As the “Golden Generation” of England footballers bid for the umpteenth (and probably last) time to realise their potential at a major international tournament, fans across the country will be reaching for their Three Lions replica shirts, keeping their fingers crossed, and praying that “Wazza” really can Write The Future.

Back to the present. Before a fly-away Jabulani ball has been struck in earnest, the contest between “official sponsors” and those pesky ambushers has truly kicked off. The FA and Mars, an official partner of the England Team, are reportedly considering legal action against Nestlé, for “passing off” an association with the England team through Kit Kat’s “Fingers Crossed” campaign. Yes, this is the same Mars who undertook the infamous “Believe” ambush marketing campaign around the 2006 World Cup. For 2010, and the first football World Cup on African soil, a classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper.

Three questions, one for each lion on John Barnes’s Mars Bar :

1. Is Nestlé actually passing off an association with the England team?

This should probably be left to the lawyers, but from a layman’s / sport industry professional’s perspective, using Sol Campbell and Mansfield Town manager David Holdsworth as your “talent” is not the best way to infer an association with the England team. And despite the well observed allusions to England’s World Cup heritage – “cross your fingers for no penalties…no broken metatarsals…no tears” -and liberal use of the ambusher’s best friend (the St George’s flag), nothing suggests that Kit Kat sponsors Capello’s boys.

2. Should Mars be trying to protect their hard bought status as the England Team’s confectionary brand of choice?

A lesson for all official sponsors. Complain about the ambushers and you are giving their campaigns the oxygen of publicity. Mars clearly had good reason to turn gamekeeper and pay for the privilege of England partner status. They should be confident that their association, leveraged properly, will pay off. Otherwise, why not remain a poacher?

3. Whose current World Cup campaign is better?

No contest. Kit Kat have tapped into the very essence of the English sporting psyche, and the pervading sense of hope over expectation that grips every England football fan during international football tournaments. Their TV ad brings that insight to life in a down to earth, domestic football environment. Compare that with John Barnes re-hashing a song from 1990 in a sparsely populated park, with production values that suggest too much money in the FA’s coffers and not enough in the activation pot.

Reports suggest that Mars may have won the battle of the lawyers, and that Nestlé have agreed to curtail the campaign. Is that the final whistle on this contest? Probably not if Kit Kat’s PR team are on the ball. What price England players crossing their fingers during a crucial penalty shoot, or being caught on camera tucking into one of the 200 Kit Kat’s that have been delivered to the England training camp by the FA’s official supermarket …?

Whatever happens, fingers crossed that 2010 marks the end of John Barnes’s singing career.

By Tom Gladstone on June 11th, 2010

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Brand marketing, Communications, Content, Football, Football Sponsorship, Media, Public relations, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sport

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The stand-out performer on the track at this week’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin has of course been the astonishing Usain Bolt. Off the track, his sponsors Puma have also demolished the opposition in the marketing contest (albeit that Puma had little to beat, given the complete lack of activation by the various event sponsors) with a funny, savvy, multi-platform campaign which is right up there with anything produced by the category titans, adidas and Nike.

The inspiration for the campaign was gifted to Puma:  the fact that fans and the media incessantly request that Bolt reprise his trademark ’arms pointing skyward’ pose from the Beijing Olympics wherever he goes. Puma’s inspired twist? A ‘solution’ to the problem, developed after ‘a year of research and development’, in the shape of strap-on foam ‘Bolt Arms’.

“From now on, they do the pose”, says Bolt, at a fake but cleverly-rendered press conference included in a number of virals released as part of the Puma campaign, which is notable for its integrated use of social media platforms.

Cue from there a blitz of experiential activity in Berlin, including mass distribution of the Arms to fans, leading to an inevitable decision by the IAAF (sports equipment sponsor: adidas) to ban fans from wearing ‘Bolt Arms’ in the stadium – prompting Puma to ask fans via Twitter if anyone managed to sneak them inside, which they clearly did judging by numerous TV crowd shots.

All in all an exemplary case study, and to my mind a contender for campaign of the year.

By Tim Crow on August 21st, 2009

Tags: Ambush campaign, Athletics, Beijing 2008, Default, Digital marketing, Viral Marketing

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Ever thought about naming a star? How about owning a nice plot of land on the dark side of the Moon? Fancy sponsoring a three-toed sloth in Costa Rica?

As PT Barnum famously never said, “There’s a sucker born every minute” – applying Newton’s Third Law (he’ll now be spinning in his Westminster Abbey sarcophagus) would suggest an equal and opposite reaction. After all, you only know you’re a mark once you’ve been conned, right? Therefore every sap needs a swindler, and in today’s society, there always seems to be someone out there ready to sell you something:

a) That isn’t theirs to flog

b) The customer can never really own

c) With strong virtual but low actual value

So it’s nice to see a company turning the tables on the snake oil salesmen and scammers: why buy something that’s worth nothing, when you can use something that costs nothing?

The company in question is Intel, whose 2009 ATL campaign, set to roll out over the next three years, sees the technology giant using the sign-off “Sponsors of Tomorrow”. I mean, who’s going to monetise ‘Tomorrow’…Annie?

It’s interesting that Intel should be using the collective plural ‘sponsors’ here, a move, in line with the content of their ATL, to both humanise the company and express the broad range of areas across which it – I mean ‘they’ – work.

Neatly turning things on their head, the campaign is less ‘Intel Inside’, and more ‘Inside Intel’. The execution below might aim at geek-chic, but it also emphasises who makes up the company, not just what the company makes.

You’ll notice that even the brand-defining/ubiquitous/maddeningly annoying Intel ‘chimes’ are now performed in the new ads by company employees (okay, the actors portraying company employees), reminding us of a company’s most important asset – its people.

As “Sponsors of Tomorrow”, the casual perspective of Intel being just a sticker on your PC may have had its chips.

By Jonathan Izzard on June 12th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Brand marketing, Branded content, Digital marketing, Employee engagement, Media, New Product Development, Sales promotion, Sponsorship, Viral Marketing

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