The London 2012 velodrome was officially unveiled on Tuesday to universal media acclaim. Quite right too: it is a stunning creation. The media coverage also confirmed that the velodrome has already acquired a widespread media nickname because of its distinctive roof: the Pringle.

To those of us who work in Olympic marketing, this is more than somewhat ironic. Without paying a penny, courtesy of the media,  Pringles has annexed a priceless piece of Olympic real estate.

Famously, the IOC keeps the Olympics as a spectacle free of brand names and presence: this is key to the Games’ DNA. Not that the spectacle actually is brand-free of course. There are the equipment manufacturers’ logos on every athlete’s clothing and footwear, and the branding and clocks of the official timekeeper Omega are very visible. But it’s pretty close.

This ban on branding extends to all buildings used for Olympic events. Thus, for the period of the Games, the O2 will be de-branded and given a neutral name. Whatever it’s called, we’ll all still call it ‘The O2’ of course: you can’t turn the clock back. But BT, and none of the other London 2012 sponsors, wouldn’t have signed up without this type of protection – and let’s not forget the global and domestic sponsors are together providing close to £2billion – 18% – of London 2012’s funding.

Which brings me to the second irony: the Pringles brand is actually owned by one of the global sponsors of the Olympics, Procter & Gamble. What a nice bonus this is for them: it will be interesting to see if they take extra advantage of their good fortune.

So, will ‘The Pringle’ stick? Will it spread from a media nickname (coined by PA reporter Helen William, according to this blog by BBC London’s Olympics Correspondent Adrian Warner) into the consumer mainstream? Only time will tell.

One thing’s for sure: if the powers that be decide, as expected, to sell the naming rights to the velodrome after the Games, I have a feeling I know who they’ll call first.

By Tim Crow on February 23rd, 2011

Tags: Brand marketing, Cycling, Default, Design, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Naming Rights, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Team GB

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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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There was a fascinating example yesterday of how sponsorship can positively and negatively influence the image of a brand and impact on the lives of consumers. I’m talking about Barclays.

On one hand, there was the decidedly mixed reaction to Bob Diamond’s appointment as Barclays CEO. This was, for example, the lead story on the BBC Ten O’Clock News last night, which featured Diamond handing over the Barclays Premiership trophy to John Terry and the Chelsea team last May, and used the footage both to highlight Barclays’ significant spending on sponsorship and to compare Diamond’s huge pay and incentives to those of ‘superstar footballers’. Not ideal, you might argue.

But conversely, there was also the great story of how the new Barclays-sponsored London bike hire scheme helped many Londoners to ‘get on their bikes’ and beat the one-day London Underground strike, memorably and vividly illustrated by, for example, this story in today’s Sun.

Although there are still only a few thousand of the so-called ‘Boris bikes’, I wonder how many of the consumers who used them yesterday – Transport for London reported a 60% increase in usage of the bikes compared to normal days – felt better about Barclays because of the bank’s role in helping them get through the day, and as a result reacted more positively – or maybe less negatively – to the Bob Diamond story?

Or maybe this is simply another illustration of Oscar Wilde’s famous adage: ‘There’s only one thing worse than being talked about: not being talked about.’

By Tim Crow on September 8th, 2010

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Cycling, Default, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship

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As a keen and regular cyclist, the recent launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme has caught my attention. Cycle docking stations have been popping up all over the Capital for the last few weeks, seemingly with minimum fuss and minimum disruption (an achievement for TFL alone)! Launch day came and went last week, with numerous journalists, MPs and Olympians offering their verdict on the scheme – from the quality of the bikes (apparently very heavy at 23kg each), the ease and simplicity to register, to the number of docking stations scattered around town – upwards of 8,000 docking points at around 330 docking stations are currently operational.

The launch made a splash with Lord Mayor Boris, King of London Cycling out in force (without a helmet) singing the praises of the initiative, which I have to agree is a fantastic concept and long overdue.

Cycling is a fantastic way to get around, especially in London. OK, so there are still too many cars on the seemingly very narrow roads, but as long as you keep your wits about you, don’t jump traffic lights and follow the rules your Cycling Proficiency instructor drilled into you all those years ago, you’ll be fine.

Schemes such as this one and also the Government’s Bike to Work Scheme, which has recently provided me with a spinky spanky new bike for half the retail cost, have made cycling more accessible to the masses. Not only is it fantastic for the environment, but it also keeps us moving, which is all the more beneficial given that we are said to be the fattest nation in Europe – something we should definitely not be proud of.

Over the last four days whilst out and about, I have seen an increasingly large number of people on these new Barclays bikes, which are hard to miss with the excessive Barclays branding splashed all over them. Apparently 12,000 people have signed up to the scheme with 6,000 keys having been activated, from tourists taking a leisurely peddle through a park to businessmen nipping from A to B in their suits. The first half an hour’s hire is free, followed by incremental charges thereafter, so it’s a great way to get to a meeting or make your journey into work that little bit quicker (and better for you).  Reports so far confirmed that the most popular docking station so far is the one located outside the Blue Fin building on Southwark Street, on the South Bank.

However, I do have concerns. The lack of helmets is evident and in some cases lack of bike experience is verging on the dangerous. I know helmets are not a good look – and this coming from someone who has a constant battle with ‘helmet hair’ – however, I not only watched (but nearly got taken out) by a couple over the weekend, who were wobbling around at a junction, turned right without indicating and almost wiped out half a dozen of us as we crossed (the green man was on our side) and to top it all off (excuse the pun) were helmet-less.  It begs the question of the potential fallout when the first injury or even, I hate to say it, the first death is caused on one of these bikes – one can only hope that Barclays and TFL have an effective crisis comms plan at the ready.

So, despite having my shiny new bike, I have joined the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. Registration was quick and easy, although not quite as instantaneous as I had hoped (it takes four days to receive your ‘bike key’ in the post) – so, not great if you were hoping to get started tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to test it out soon and maybe even try out a Barclays Cycle Superhighway or two, but from what I have heard I will need to do a bit more training as getting started and up to speed is not easy!

The verdict is out and I will report back…

By Emily Waring on August 3rd, 2010

Tags: Cycling, Environment, London 2012, PR, Sponsorship

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Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a post about the potential goldmine (and pitfalls) for a sponsor to become involved with a rumoured British team in the 2010 Tour de France.

Well, a year is a long time in sport. Two days after my post, Sky rode headlong into cycling sponsorship with the timing of Mark Cavendish on the Champs Elysees. Soon after they announced their deal with British Cycling, the team cleaned up on the track in Beijing, and now in the 2009 Tour we’ve seen Bradley Wiggins come in fourth (the best result for a Brit in 25 years) and the ‘Manx Rocket’ win a total of six stages as well as wearing the green jersey (awarded for sprint points) for part of the race.

All of a sudden all the talk in the media is about Team Sky in 2010, headed by cycling supremo David Brailsford and a real confidence in our ability to shine in this sport. Any doubters about the sustainability of cycling after a history dogged by drug scandals need only look at the Mont Ventoux stage where an estimated half a million fans lined the twisting roads to the top.

Congratulations to Sky who took the plunge into the sport at what could turn out to be the tipping point for cycling in Britain.

By Dominic Curran on July 29th, 2009

Tags: Cycling, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sport

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Synergy has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Campaign featuring Sponsorship’ category at the MCCA Best Awards 2009, for Powerade’s sponsorship of Team GB and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The sponsorship, managed by Synergy on behalf of Powerade, was the focus of a fully-integrated campaign which was based around the concept of InnerGear - the brand’s core creative idea.  Synergy worked with Powerade and it’s other agencies to activate the campaign through-the-line, resulting in the brand enjoying it’s highest-ever levels of market share.

Winners will be announced at the MCCA Best Awards dinner which is being held at The Brewery on Chiswell Street on Thursday 5 March, so fingers crossed!

By Sara Wilson on January 19th, 2009

Tags: Beijing 2008, Brand marketing, Cycling, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Synergy, Team GB

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Listening to the unassuming Dave Brailsford, the man in charge of British Cycling, at this week’s FT Sport Industry Summit, was electrifying.

No wonder the cyclists won so many medals in Beijing.

He told his story quietly but with such underlying passion and determination that the effect was mesmerising.

It underlined the vital role played by excellent coaches and back-up teams and how badly our athletes need them if they are to continue to succeed at the elite level in general and the Olympics in particular.

I think it was the word ‘determination’ that came across so emphatically.  He and his team were utterly determined to succeed and the strategy they embraced to achieve that goal was cold, ruthless and deadly.  If you didn’t make the grade you were out.  No hard feelings, no bitterness; that was the deal.

We need more Dave Brailsfords in all walks of life.  But, in the meantime, let’s just hope we can replicate him in all the other Olympic and Paralympic sports because that certainly would lead to more success at London 2012.

By Karen Earl on November 7th, 2008

Tags: Beijing 2008, Cycling, London 2012, Olympics, Team GB

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With this week’s sad announcement that Jade Goody has developed cervical cancer, a rather cynical thought occurred to me that the timing and rather inappropriate way she was informed of the diagnosis was more of a Public Relations stunt than ‘the best way of informing her’ of the news.

Was that just me thinking that?

In this day and age where reality TV, celebrity relationships and the latest clothing/hairstyle/tattoos seem to grab the headlines, I start to wonder how far people will go to get some attention from the Public.

From the news that Peaches Geldof and Max Drummey of American rock band Chester French got married in Las Vegas to the tragic string of teenage suicides in Bridgend over the past few years. It is astounding how extreme some people’s actions are becoming to get the attention they feel they should have or often as a cry for help in an overcrowded time where it is hard to stand out in the crowd. According to sources Peaches and Max did not want ‘unnecessary publicity’ but decided to set out the facts after growing media attention. Yeah right!

But what will satisfy the hunger for approval, attention and celebrity that so many people secretly – or not so secretly – desire?

Look to our Olympic athletes currently filling the spotlight out in Beijing – the cyclers, rowers and sailors to name but a few of our medal winners. Their moments of stardom are a culmination of years of focused, hard work whilst they strive for sporting glory in a field that they excel in. This I applaud with all my heart as I admire and respect the sheer determination and time they put into achieving their Olympic goal, which often brings with it their place on the front or back pages.

However, the latest shouting match between Big Brother contestants or the recent hairstyle Agyness Deyn has adopted seem to capture the attention of so many of us but does not, in my view, deserve applause or that much attention. 

The dictionary definition of ‘celebrity’ is:
n. A person of distinction or renown
n. The state or quality of being widely honoured and acclaimed.

Surely we should be striving in our daily lives to achieve distinction and honour in our own strengths rather than searching for attention in a more superficial way. This way we may ultimately end up more fulfilled than the names which drift in and out of the media limelight from one day to the next.

By Dordie Brett on August 22nd, 2008

Tags: Beijing 2008, Cycling, Media, Olympics

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Five days and counting to the start of the Olympics – Team GB are making final preparations for the biggest few weeks of their lives.

For me the Olympics isn’t just about the big showcase events like the 100m Final – don’t get me wrong I will be on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, as much as the next person – but for me it is the sports that only appear on our radar every four years; judo, fencing, badminton and the mind boggling cycling ’team pursuit’ (where cyclists propel each other around the track). Let’s be honest how many of us had watched a full game of badminton doubles before Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson rocketed onto our screens to win Silver in Athens?

After being lucky enough to have worked with a number of Olympic athletes from all sporting disciplines, during the Easynet Team GB campaign, I have been truly inspired by the stories of challenge, dedication, commitment, preparation and shear courage. One Olympian explained to me that you have to imagine standing on the start line of the biggest thing you have ever wanted to do. Imagine not being able to step over that line because you were too scared of what the consequences might be? And what you realise when you find yourself in that position is that by crossing the line the battle is already half won.  Many people show up but are unable to find the courage to take the biggest risk – that of failure.

I have become rather used to receiving regular updates into my inbox from the British Olympic Association (BOA) as to the selection of teams and individuals, but the ones that really grab my attention are those that inform that an injury resulting in an athlete withdrawing. Reading this it sounds a rather mundane piece of news and it really doesn’t express the devastation of an athlete that has probably trained and dedicated their life for one moment at the Olympic Games only to have to wait another four years for the opportunity.

Team GB deserves our full support to cross over the start line and let’s not forget the athletes that have missed out and hope that they are back in the game for London 2012.

By Lisa Parfitt on August 4th, 2008

Tags: Cycling, London 2012, Olympics

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There’s no doubt that cycling is resurgent in Britain. Mark Cavendish has crossed the line first in Le Tour stages a record four times for a Brit and featured regularly on the front pages of our national newspapers. In addition, following regular successes on the world stage in recent years the Team GB cycling team for Beijing looks like the place where many of our medals are going to come from, and this has even prompted talks of creating an all-British team in time for the 2010 Tour de France.

So should there be a sponsor gold rush to hop on-board?

This is where it gets tricky. A high stamina sport, cycling is dogged with drug scandals – of the last two winners of Le Tour one has been stripped of his title while the most recent is missing after his team was banned for doping offences. Just this week, one of the principal sponsors in the sport, Barloworld, announced their premature departure following a drugs offence by one of their team’s riders. Ominously they signed off by stating – “This incident has a negative impact on Barloworld and our brand principles, which our board has a duty to protect”.

Against this background, it would take a brave brand manager to sign a deal. But it could be a gamble worth taking – cycling has an impressive cross-European footprint with huge viewing figures across France, Spain and Germany. The Olympics could take it mainstream in the UK while younger riders and teams such as Garmin, co-owned by British cyclist and converted former doper, David Millar, regularly test themselves in a bid to rid the sport of this image.

Sponsoring a British Tour team could be an inspired (and good value for money) investment, but is always just one needle away from taking your brand PR downhill faster than Mark Cavendish.  

By Dominic Curran on July 22nd, 2008

Tags: Brand marketing, Cycling, Olympics, Public relations, Sponsorship

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