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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The 10th ICC Cricket World Cup launched yesterday with a multimillion pound opening ceremony including a good old croon from that well known cricket lover (?!) Bryan Adams. I have to say I am in total agreement with Dan Jones about Bryan not quite fitting the bill, but at least the weather didn’t destroy the shindig.

The spotlight is well and truly on the ICC after last week’s tribunal found Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir guilty of corruption. Match fixing is not something anyone in sport wants to see, so the question is: what is the ICC doing ahead of this tournament to stop corruption?

BBC Sport Editor David Bond best summaries the latest measures on his blog. To combat the problem the ICC has introduced the following rules ahead of the World Cup:

•     It has changed its rules on “communication devices” during the 45 days of the World Cup. This is longhand for a Twitter ban and is designed to stop players tweeting potentially valuable inside information on a match before they arrive at the ground

•     There will be a ban on laptops for players, with team management limited to four per dressing room and only one allowed to be connected to the internet

•     Security officials will be given broader powers to monitor players, although the ICC is not going into any more detail on this as they don’t want to alert the fixers

My personal opinion is that attempting to hinder players’ access to social media outlets, such as Twitter, is not going to stop corruption but then I’m also hoping there is a lot more than just a Twitter ban going on behind the scenes to ensure the illegal gambling cartels are being closed down.

And for those Twitter fans amongst us, I really hope that the match fixers haven’t destroyed our access to some of the funniest Tweeters in the sporting arena. For the next installment of our Follow Friday Twitter specials, here are my favourite follows in the cricket world:

The players:

•     Graeme Swann – @swannyg66 A true Twitter and cricket legend – Head Boy

•     Jimmy Anderson – @JimmyAnderson9 Often the butt of many Swanny jokes but really is Head Prefect

•     Tim Bresnan – @TimBresnan Telling you like it is

•     Kevin Pietersen – @kevinpp24 Conned by a naughty EBay phoney but bailed out by Chairman of the Governors, Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan)

•     Stuart Broad – @StuartBroad8 The school sweetheart

•     Steve Finny – @finnysteve The new boy on the Twitter block, picked on by the Twitter ‘sixth formers’

The TMS team:

•     Jonathan Agnew – @aggerscricket Geek turned unsuspecting cool kid in the Twittersphere – he snared Lily Allen (@lilyroseallen) – credit where credit’s due!

•     Alison Mitchell – @AlisonMitchell Everyone’s favourite lady in the common room (press box)

•     Malcolm Ashton – @tmsscorer Bridges the cricket/rugby gap: his nephew is swallow-diving rugby hero Chris

•     Adam Mountford – @tmsproducer

•     Emma Agnew – @MrsAggers The Yummy Mummy

The snappers (photographers to the uninitiated):

•     Gareth Copley – @GarethCopley

•     Phillip Brown – @dudleyplatypus

•     Tom Shaw – @tomshaw72

Best of the media rest:

•     David Lloyd – @BumbleCricket

•     Tim Abraham – @skysportsmrtim

•     Lawrence Booth – @the_topspin

•     Dean Wilson – @CricketMirror

•     John Etheridge – @JohnSunCricket

By Caroline Ayling on February 18th, 2011

Tags: Cricket, FollowFriday, Social Media, Twitter, World Cup

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Before England’s ill-fated 2010 World Cup campaign, the Football Association took a gamble.  It turned down Nationwide’s ‘money on the table offer’ to renew its sponsorship of the England team, gambling on the fact that the deal would be worth more following a successful outing in South Africa.

Alas, we all know what happened – or, rather, what didn’t happen on the pitch.  As a result, the FA has struggled to find a new sponsor for the team.  Expected any day now is the news that Vauxhall will be the team’s new sponsor.  The finances probably won’t be revealed, but it’s expected that £5million per annum will be there or thereabouts.

£5million per annum is also the amount being sought by the English Cricket Board for sponsorship of England Test match cricket following the news that npower, sponsors since 2001, have declined to pay a 25% hike on their existing contract, despite enjoying the enormous additional interest generated when England won the Ashes at the Oval in 2005 (see below).

The ECB has taken the same gamble as the FA – that England would win.  The stunning Ashes victory down under has paid off – so far.

Now all the ECB has to do is capitalise on the nation’s euphoria and the growing belief that England can go on to become the best cricket team in the world over the next 4 years.  That’s the timescale of the next sponsorship contract, in which there will be two home Ashes series, in 2013 and 2015.

So, what type of brands will the ECB be reaching out to?  Immediate thoughts gravitate towards an essentially British brand, popular with the predominantly male audience which favours Test cricket.  Or, perhaps, a largely unknown brand (like Cornhill was when it became Test match sponsor in 1978) wishing to establish itself in the UK marketplace and, to a lesser extent, in Test match-playing countries through overseas television coverage.

Several brand categories are off limits, however.  Brit Insurance sponsors the England team and this precludes any other B2B insurance brand.  Likewise, the England team already has deals with Marston’s (but a lager brand would be OK), Jaguar, Buxton and FTI (making the likes of PwC, KPMG and Accenture off limits).  Retail banking is out as well because of NatWest’s long and on-going association with English cricket.

The ECB is inviting ‘expressions of interest’ from any brands interested in the proposition.

Interestingly, the Board may find that international brands may take up the invitation.  Test match cricket in England would be a good vehicle for an Indian, Middle East or Far East brand wanting to establish itself in the UK market.  Indian groups such as Reliance and Tata may be interested for one or more of their brands.  Indeed, a Tata brand – Jaguar – is already involved with the England Team.

With the sums being sought, the ECB may find itself eyeing foreign investment.  But how will England cricket supporters react if Test matches in this country are sponsored by, say, RelianceMart?  Sounds daft, but it just might happen.

By Karen Earl on January 11th, 2011

Tags: Ashes, Cricket, ECB, Football, Sponsorship, Sport

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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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‘Tis the month for a good debate – you only have to click here to see the ongoing and lively discussions generated on our global poll to find the greatest sports marketing innovation of modern times.

With just over a month until this year’s BBC Sports Personality Awards, it’s right about now that I, along with people up and down the land, begin to debate who should be in the BBC’s final short-list. Growing up watching the show, having attended the last two and with this year’s Birmingham ceremony on Sunday 19th December already in the diary, I can’t wait for the night itself.

One of the privileged few who actually does help to decide the final shortlist, SPORT’s editor Simon Caney, shared his own top 10 in today’s magazine which got me thinking who would make mine.

It must be said, Ryder Cup 2010 aside, with no Olympic Games and a truly feeble showing by England in this summer’s World Cup, it has not been the most historic of years. But there are two clear stand-out names for me.

Graeme McDowell checks out his Ballantine's Championship blend

1. Graeme McDowell – having worked with GMAC for Ballantine’s (have you tried Graeme’s very own Ballantine’s Championship blend? Lovely.), Graeme would get the nod for personality alone. Cracking guy. Add to that his performance in October’s Ryder Cup, helping Europe to win the trophy and most importantly, back in April, becoming Europe’s first US Champion in 40 years; he’s had an incredible year.

2. AP McCoy – Tony McCoy. The greatest jump jockey horse racing has ever seen. Finally won the Grand National this year on Don’t Push It, 15th time lucky. Ridden over 3,000 winners and been jump racing champion every year since 1995/96.

Difficult to see beyond those two for me. However, let’s not forget a few other worth contenders:

Powerade ambassador Jessica Ennis

3. Jess Ennis – Powerade ambassador, flying the flag for both Sheffield and GB (as team captain). European Heptathlon Gold medallist in Barcelona earlier this year.

4. Mo Farah – Bupa flash runner, NFL honorary captain and, more importantly, one of this year’s big sporting success stories having won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the European Championships. Nice chap to boot.

5. Graeme Swann – standout bowler in this summer’s Ashes win, the ECB’s Cricketer of the Year and all-round great Tweeter.

6. Lee Westwood – finally crowned the world’s number 1 golfer (Tiger who?), especially excelled this year in weight losing and Ryder Cup winning, before injury forced a temporarily break from the game.

7. Tom Daley – his gold medal Commonwealth Games performance in Delhi would have secured the 16-year old Olympics gold. True fact.

8. Phil Taylor – has a darts player ever won before? No. More than enough reason for me to back ‘The Power’ and he’s certainly the greatest in the sport. Would eat my hat if he did win. Happily.

9. Lewis Hamilton – has the ability to win SPOTY based on this Sunday’s performance in Abu Dhabi alone, the last race of what has been a fascinating F1 season. Leading the British charge to stop Alonso, Webber or Vettel taking the world championship. Win the title, win the Sports Personality. Possibly.

Bupa Ambassador Mo Farah

Long shots for my final nod include Amy Williams (fearless Olympic gold medallist in the Winter Games), Stuart Broad (if he has a stonking first Ashes Test in Brisbane this month), Phillips Idowu (for services to bonkers hair colour) and Mark Cavendish (five Tour de France stage wins and one of the world’s greatest sprinters on the road).

Never easy to make the final call. If I was pushed, I think Amy Williams would get the nod for #10. And Mark Cavendish to replace Lewis Hamilton is he doesn’t win the F1 Championship on Sunday.

Yep, I’m done. Have I got it right? And who’d make your list?

By Stephanie Branston on November 12th, 2010

Tags: Ashes, Athletics, BBC, Cricket, Cycling, ECB, Football, Formula 1, Golf, Lewis Hamilton, Media, NFL, Olympics, Ryder Cup, Team GB, Television, Tiger Woods, World Cup

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The Sachin Tendulkar Journey, an exhibition hosted by RBS in Mumbai and Delhi, celebrated Sachin’s 21 years in cricket and captured his unique talent, emotion and immense skill as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

Sachin attended the opening day of the exhibition in each location, and a programme of events was created to include meet and greets with local RBS staff, media round tables and an evening with C-Suite clients of RBS in the surroundings of the gallery.

Having been reassured that the monsoon downpours and the intense nature of the Mumbai and Delhi traffic would not deter invitees from the chance of meeting Sachin, as Event Manager I was not sure if it was with relief or horror that guests started to appear up two hours early!

Although I hadn’t met Sachin before, I was very much aware of his godlike status in India, which was absolutely confirmed by the reactions of both our guests and the public.  Sachin’s arrival, with a security entourage that would have created an event in its own right, was greeted by cheers and chants as word had spread in the local area that he was making an appearance.

Reward for the most ingenious attempt to catch a glimpse of Sachin goes to the gentleman who posed as a window cleaner and lowered himself down from the roof(!), whilst the award for endurance goes to the Delhiites who waited patiently for several hours to see their idol. The local police even got in on the act and used their authority to gain access to the event.

Inside the gallery, guests were equipped with shirts, cricket bats, tickets, posters and business cards, all to be signed by the 5ft5in legend. They could certainly give the British paparazzi a run for their money, capturing Sachin’s every move on film. The off-field power of the man who is a giant on the field was clear.

It was a truly memorable experience for all, and one that I will never forget. I can’t wait for the next event in Bangalore later this year!

By Samantha Pillage on September 8th, 2010

Tags: Cricket, Employee engagement, Event management consultants, Experiential marketing, India, Sponsorship

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Football and cricket fans in the UK would have noticed a certain synchronicity in action over the last couple of days on the subject of technology in sport.

In the final instalment of The Times’ 2010 Football Survey by Football Fan Census published this morning, 74% of the 5,000 plus fans polled supported the immediate introduction of goal-line technology, to put an end to the series of high-profile wrong calls by referees in recent seasons. Despite the fans’ views though, goal-line technology is highly unlikely to be featuring in top football anytime soon as it is strongly opposed by the game’s lawmakers.

What a contrast with cricket, where Hawk-Eye technology has now been an authorised, integral part of the game at top level for many years, enabling the umpires to make the right decisions and entertaining spectators and viewers into the bargain. Except in the current Test Series between England and Bangladesh that is.

Unlike cricket broadcasters elsewhere in the world, Sky is barred from selling on-air sponsorship of Hawk-Eye, and thus cannot recoup the £300,000 it costs to equip the umpires, because Ofcom considers Hawk-Eye to be ‘editorial content’. The ICC – cricket’s world governing body – is refusing to pay for the technology on the grounds that it is inequitable to pay for the costs of Sky but not broadcasters in other countries. This has already led to at least one wrong dismissal in the match. More inevitably will follow.

This isn’t about Sky, and it isn’t about ICC. It’s about Ofcom. Instead of enabling a virtuous circle of added-value technology loved by fans and funded by sponsors, they create a no-win situation where no one – players, umpires, fans, media – is happy. All in the name of ‘editorial content’.

I am conscious that many of you -  for I suspect you know where I’m going - may already perhaps be thinking ‘thin end of the wedge’. Let me assure you, then, that the last thing I want to see is British television becoming the ad-saturated nightmare that we see in so many other countries.  But this is surely an exception and it would be good to see sanity prevail. Come on Ofcom, stop being the problem and start being the solution. Have the courage to create a virtuous circle and let brands sponsor Hawk-Eye on-air in cricket.

And whilst I’m on the subject, can someone – yes DCMS, I’m looking at you – explain to me why Hawk-Eye in cricket on Sky cannot be branded whereas it’s acceptable for Hawk-Eye in the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon to be branded by Rolex?

By Tim Crow on May 28th, 2010

Tags: Broadcast sponsorship, Cricket, DCMS, Sponsorship, Television, Tennis

2 comments

In an article in The Times last week (IPL auction likes Morgan a lot), Nick Hoult detailed the fact that only one English player attracted any bids in the annual scramble for overseas players to add star quality to the Indian Premier League. Swann, Bresnan and Trott languished penniless while Eoin Morgan went to Bangalore for $220,000.

Mr Hoult writes that “…as far as England’s players are concerned the future now looks to be a decision between Test cricket and the IPL.” The point he is making here is that because of the timing of England’s various tours relative to the world’s richest cricket competition, players cannot do both.

An inevitable consequence is that players will choose to specialise: to become expert one-day or Twenty20 players (presumably chastised for taking Indian coin) or to focus on “proper cricket” and the multi-day game. I believe this to be true, based on evidence much closer to home, where my 13-year old son recently announced his intention to reduce his limited over cricket for fear it will turn him into a batsman less effective at the three day game (which is as long as it gets for a 13-year old). Sage words, and I wish that more illustrious talents would abide by them.

Where my views diverge from Mr Hoult’s and, I suspect, from those of a great number of “purist” fans of cricket, is that I think it is a brilliant idea for players to specialise, to choose one format of the sport over another. In this way they will get better at what they do and provide greater enjoyment for us all. If this happens then it will hasten recognition from the game’s administering authorities that Twenty20, one-day and test cricket are essentially different “codes” of the sport requiring different skills, different players and different commercial models to support them. This means a greater range of opportunities for players, viewers and sponsors, and I think this is A Good Thing.

I point to rugby as evidence of this positive effect. Rugby union, rugby league and rugby sevens are different codes of the same game. Some fans enjoy all codes, others prefer one. Players occasionally swap from one to the other, or develop from one to the other, but most players choose to specialise. All shapes and sizes of player are accommodated across the three codes and sponsors enjoy a wider range of commercial opportunities. Rugby in its broadest sense is richer as a result; it’s even made it into the Olympics.

Twenty20 in 2020 has a nice ring to it. My only regret is that Garrett jnr, having made his choice, will not be opening the batting.

By Scott Garrett on January 29th, 2010

Tags: Cricket, ICC World Twenty20, Indian Premier League, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants, Sport

1 comment

With the oustanding efforts of the England cricket team splashed across the media, Virgin Trains have boarded the bandwagon by given the Australians a fresh reminder of their loss with a touch of English humour.

This is not the first time that Virgin Trains have run ads featuring sports stars.  At the start of this year the company ran a  ‘Liverpool to London return faster than Robbie Keane” campaign.

By Simon Roche on August 26th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, Ashes, Cricket, Default

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This summer, we at Synergy are working with Betfair, the online betting exchange, to bring their ECB partnership to life through a fun and entertaining online campaign. Ashes fever is sweeping the nation as ultimate rivals England and Australia battle for the Ashes urn. We’ve signed up Ashes legends Phil ‘The Cat’ Tufnell and Jason ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie to go head-to-head in a series of (Synergy-inspired) challenges that can be watched on the dedicated website FANvFAN.com.  

The website, designed by Engine group company Altogether, offers more than just the videos with the chance to win tickets to each Test match, a chance to play alongside Tuffers and Dizzy and the opportinity to win £4,000.

The virals started in Cardiff with the pedalo race before moving on to Lord’s and the extreme lawn mower race. Our most recent visit was to Warwick race course as Dizzy and Tuffers galloped a furlong down the finishing straight.

The campaign is proving to be very popular and even made the top spot of Media Week’s Great Viral feature.   

Betfair Challenges - www.fanvfan.com

 Keep your eyes peeled as the adventures for our two cricketing legends continue!

By Caroline Ayling on August 3rd, 2009

Tags: Ashes, Cricket, Digital marketing, Sponsorship, Television audiences

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