The merits of a loyal customer base are well explored in consumer marketing. Some suggest that it is 6 to 7 times more  expensive to attract a new customer than retain an existing one, whilst the impact of a longer term relationship on the bottom line is clear to see. Brands will fight tooth and nail to ensure that they retain their share of your wallet.

In the sporting world, rights holders are often guilty of assuming loyalty amongst their consumers – the fans. Sports fans are, on the whole, unique; few would defect to a ‘competitor’ if they felt that they were more successful, that ticket prices were lower or that the overall in stadium experience was of a higher quality. And with decreasing reliance on match-day revenues to generate cash due to the size of broadcast and sponsorship deals, there seems to be little incentive for the rights holder to nurture this relationship.

A ticket – or, more specifically, a season ticket – is an expensive and considered purchase which carries with it a significant opportunity cost. The price elasticity may be less sensitive than with other consumer goods, largely due to the tribal and passionate nature of the average sports fan, but it is still very much a key  factor in decision making. No rights holder wants an empty stadium – it not only contributes to a decrease in overall revenue but begins to devalue their brand.

Step forward the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer. The Sounders put the fans at the heart of everything that they do, and what they have created is one of the most sophisticated and well thought out fan engagement programmes that I have seen in any sport.

Now in its second season, the MatchPass programme is helping to create a closer relationship between the club and its 32,000 season ticket holders. Its primary function as a ticketless swipe card for entry into home games is nothing new.  What makes it stand out is the rewards programme that it feeds. The card is swiped at each food, beverage and merchandise transaction to earn points and unlock exclusive rewards such as stadium tours, signed merchandise or a chance meet a player on the field after the match. In addition, members also receive exclusive discounts on the items they buy when using the pass. The card can be preloaded with credit for a completely cashless experience and can be used throughout their CenturyLink Field stadium.

MatchPass is also helping the club to shape positive behaviours, with fans encouraged to arrive 30 minutes or more before kick off for an early-bird points bonus.

The Sounders are not just improving their relationship with their supporters but also making themselves a more attractive proposition for sponsors. Data collected provides valuable customer insights into purchasing habits and match-day behaviour, whilst reward programmes can help to encourage product trial and generate loyalty – extending the relationship outside of the match-day environment.

Rights holders around the world should take note. You can’t assume loyalty. You need to earn it.

By Tom Whiteside on April 24th, 2013

Tags: Advertising, Barclays Premier League, community, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy

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We remember them, we loved them, and now the Corinthians are back. The Capital One ‘Superstars’ social media campaign re-launched the famous big-head-little-body Corinthian models, by giving football fans the chance to be one of 1,000 to win a Corinthian in their own likeness. And who better to act as Head Of Quality Control than Craig Robinson, owner of Britain’s biggest Corinthians collection!

To launch his new role, Synergy set Craig up to speak with the media about his collection of over 5,000 of the little chaps and tell us how they came to feature so prominently in his life. As I entered Craig’s house, I was overwhelmed by all the little faces staring back at me from Craig’s purpose-built, football terrace style cabinet.

After instantly spotting Junichi Inamoto, the sole representative in the cabinet from my team, Fulham FC, Craig took me on a trip through retro football icons such as Temuri Ketsbaia, Marc Overmars and even Gabriel Batistuta. Craig then spoke with the media about the day in 1995 when he began his collection with an Alan Shearer model bought from Woolworth’s. Craig described it as a simple case of a young lad seeing something and saying “I have got to have that”.

When asked to name his favourite model, Craig unhesitatingly replied that this was of course Ruel Fox. Craig is not only a huge Corinthians fan but also an avid Newcastle United supporter, and Fox was his favourite player as a child. After meeting Ruel, Craig then introduced me to the most sought-after member of his collection, ex-Arsenal player Stefan Schwarz. The Swede may seem an odd choice for this accolade, but it turns out that the manufacturing of the player’s model was cancelled at an early stage, and only a handful were made. Craig in fact received him through the help of a Dutch collector, who knew that Craig needed Schwarz to complete his set. And as Craig continued to discuss the network of collectors around the world, I sensed a real community spirit. This is serious business however, and Craig’s collection is insured for £25,000.

After a final few minutes spent gawping at the likes of Faustino Asprilla and Stig Inge Bjornebye, we finally left Craig in peace, sure in the knowledge that Capital One had put his passion firmly back on the map. Coverage of the interview featured widely in the media, including this great piece in the Mail.

By Luke Auty on April 17th, 2013

Tags: Default, Facebook, Football, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship Activation, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants

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A relaxing Easter weekend, a sleepy Bank Holiday Monday – the perfect time to catch people off-guard. April Fools’ Day rolled around and, as in previous years, punters had their collective wits tested by brands and news outlets looking to have a bit of fun. This year there were three distinct types of April Fool, making it all the more difficult to gauge what was veritable truth and what was strange enough to be fiction.

The first of these were the brand-led April Fools that, if executed well, generate great exposure for the brands involved. Virgin Atlantic’s story, featured in the Daily Mirror, proclaimed that pioneering bosses at the airline were introducing jets with glass floors to create a ‘walking on air’ experience, enabling passengers to see the world below them. The Fool even went so far as to suggest that permission had been secured to divert the planes’ flight path north over Loch Ness.

Hotels.com plumped for a royally Foolish prank, claiming that the Belgian Suite at Buckingham Palace was now available for hire at the princely sum of £10,000 a night. The Fool overplayed itself somewhat by offering the chance to ‘breakfast with the Royals’, but secured Hotels.com a good spread in the Daily Express. The award for the oddest brand-led Fool however should certainly go to Asda, who announced the launch of their Fifty Shades of Grey toilet paper. This bizarre claim featured in the Daily Mail and detailed that each shade of the new range had been named after one of the eponymous hero Christian Grey’s traits.

And BMW, pioneers of the April Fool ad, unveiled the P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile), a new model to appeal to all those yummy mummies out there, with an email address for enquiries to one Joe King.

To much acclaim, however, the winner has to be Google, which announced their ‘Google Nose’ innovation. The alleged new function invited viewers to smell what they saw on screen, creating the first ‘emanation experience’. Some even petitioned Google to make this dream a reality after realising they’d been had.

The second variety of April Fools dared to dream a little less but focused more on creating a Fool that was genuinely believable: the journalist-concocted ‘fake’ news story. The team at the Daily Telegraph exemplified this, putting forward a Coalition plan to introduce door-to-door teams to monitor light usage and ensure Britain switches off to save energy in these times of austerity. The Fool even featured the creation of a new role of ‘Light Tsar’ to enforce the project on a national level.

More light-hearted still was The Guardian’s suggestion that they would be distributing ‘Guardian goggles’ that give people a more liberal outlook when reading – proving that even the most morally upstanding of newspapers can still laugh at themselves. Channel 4 News got in on the action too, announcing that Boris Johnson had mixed up his dates and would be entering the by-election triggered by David Miliband’s resignation as an MP. Twitter added their idea to the pile, claiming that they were to begin charging Tweeters for using vowels.

The third style of Fool were those that were in fact not April Fools’ Day stunts at all, but instead weird and wacky stories designed to throw the reader off track – a dummy pass if you will.

The most convincing of these featured in The Times. This stated that NASA was hatching a plan to put $2.6bn into a robotic system that would harness an asteroid and drag it to the moon for scientific research. This was in fact TRUE. Indeed, many thought that reports that Prime Minister David Cameron had clambered into a brook to rescue a trapped sheep were too ridiculous to be valid but this story was also confirmed to be FACT.

Our own sponsorship sector saw fewer Fools than usual this year with the Synergy offering of Extendable Goal Posts for Extra Time in the Capital One Cup 2013/14 leading the way. Featuring on the back page and a full page inside The Sun on Monday, the prank alleged that due to the demands of American executives at sponsors Capital One, a rule change would see bigger goals used in Cup games next season after 90 minutes to avoid stalemates and make the periods more exciting. Talksport also put together a football themed Fool. This one centred on the managerial farce at Chelsea this season and alleged that Roman Abramovich would be taking charge of his Chelsea team as Head Coach from next season.

After so much mischief in the press in one day, readers will have returned to work casting a critical eye over stories making the headlines. But one thing is for sure…that cynical edge will have worn off by this time next year.

Happy April Fools’ Day.

By Luke Auty on April 3rd, 2013

Tags: Advertising, Communications, Content, Digital marketing, Football, Football Sponsorship, Public relations, Sponsorship, Synergy

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On June 1 2012, Capital One embarked on their first major UK sponsorship when it was announced the credit card company had entered into a 4-year agreement with The Football League, and thus the Capital One Cup was born.

Synergy has been with Capital One every step of the way, from creating the sponsorship strategy to identifying the League Cup as the best property and activating it during the first season – and what a first season it has been!

League Two side Bradford City created the story of the competition, knocking out Premier League sides Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa to reach the Final. However, on the day it was Swansea City who finally overcame the underdogs, with the Swans beating the Bantams 5-0 to win their first major cup in the club’s Centenary year. Despite the match being a rather one-sided affair, the atmosphere in Wembley Stadium and enthusiasm of all the fans was electric up to and beyond the final whistle, when Fabrice Muamba, Capital One’s chief guest, handed the Trophy to Swansea City skipper Ashley Williams.

The Football League has always described the climax of The League Cup as being ‘The Fans’ Final’, and this statement was truly brought to life in 2012/13, not only by the uniqueness of the Final line-up, but also by Capital One as the title sponsor, who fully embraced this philosophy, to surprise, delight and reward the fans every step of the way, from Round 1 right through to Wembley.

Throughout the season, Synergy helped Capital One deliver fan experiences at Swansea, Bradford, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. These experiences ranged from attending team training to interviewing players, watching a match with the commentary team or even being pitchside during a game.

The Synergy PR team, meanwhile, embarked on two trophy tours, organised a penalty shoot-out between The Sun and the invincible Bradford City squad, provided breakfast and entertainment for Bantams fans as they queued around the block for semi-final tickets, enlisted the help of Kevin Keegan to launch our own tension-releasing spray, Je l’aimerai, (“I’d love it”) AND laid on free coaches for Middlesbrough fans as they were drawn in their 12^th consecutive away match.

But Capital One and Synergy didn’t stop there, because the Final was to act as the biggest Thank You the fans had seen yet.

Sunday 24^th February saw every single one of the 70,000 fans at Wembley Stadium receive a free club-branded flag when they reached their seat, which were waved with pride throughout the match.

2,000 Fans – 1,000 from each club – were transported to the Final free of charge on the ‘Capital One Convoy’, activity which was again amplified through PR via Synergy’s use of Bantams’ coach Steve Parkin with the ‘Parkin the Coach Challenge’.

Additionally, 20,000 Capital One branded giveaways, including headphones, mobile phone covers and signed shirts and balls were given away as instant gifts to match-going fans on Wembley Way.

In our 30 years’ experience working on title sponsorships, we’ve never seen more media engagement with the sponsorship. One Sky Sports presenter described the day as “the most talked about Cup Final in years”. Not bad for Year 1!

The big question is how do Capital One make Year 2 even bigger and better. We’re on the case – after a well-earned beer or two, of course.

By Charlotte Smith on February 27th, 2013

Tags: Communications, Default, Experiential marketing, Football, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants, Synergy

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Advertising spend within the public sector is a contentious issue, particularly in the current economic environment. Prior to 2009, the Central Office of Information (COI) was regularly listed as one of the UK’s largest advertisers – in 2009/10 estimates put that spend at over £530m. Rightly or wrongly, depending on your standpoint, the COI has been scrapped and this figure has been cut significantly as the Government searches for efficiencies. According to Cabinet Office figures, spend for 2013 will stand at £285m – although this is still a notable increase on the £168m spent in 2012.

Experience says that this will be largely spent on traditional channels – TV, print and outdoor, with a sprinkling of digital. Perhaps it is time to challenge this status quo.

In a sponsorship deal largely overlooked, or simply missed by most, New Zealand-based football club Wellington Phoenix agreed a sponsorship deal with the Health Promotion Agency (HPA), whereby the club receives financial contributions to include alcohol moderation messaging on their signage at all  home games. The deal is also thought to include image rights and player appearances, which will be used to promote the scheme across the community.

There are also a handful of examples where clubs have taken on partners from the public sector without the exchange of funds. The most recent and high profile of which is ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’, a smoking cessation campaign run by The European Commission in collaboration with Barçelona. In a similar vein, Worcester Warriors have teamed up with the Worcester City Council to launch a hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign aimed at educating children regarding the dangers and the impact on others of passive smoking. Do these examples point the way for public marketing spend in the UK?

UK Government Departments have dipped their toe in the water before. In 2004 the Department for Transport signed up as a sponsor for the British Superbike Championship to promote their Think! road safety campaign with the aim of reducing deaths and serious road injuries. The deal was renewed in 2007, before concluding at the end of 2008. In spite of this few other departments have followed their lead.

Sponsorship has a proven pedigree within the private sector, delivering against a broad range of objectives, and despite the economic downturn, the industry has continued to flourish. If you engage people around their passions, they are generally more likely to be receptive to your message – whether that message relates to a soft drink or teacher recruitment.

In Britain, we are lucky enough to have some of the most celebrated sporting, musical and cultural properties in the world, which could well provide the perfect platforms for Government communications. There are several examples that instantly spring to mind: professional football, and more specifically the FA, has the credibility and the reach to deliver a message of anti-obesity from a grassroots level upwards, while rugby union has clear shared values with the Ministry of Defence to land recruitment messaging. How better to showcase Britain as a destination than with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Glastonbury Festival or the Commonwealth Games?

This is not to say that traditional channels do not still have their place. In fact, there is a strong argument to the contrary. Empirical studies have shown that integrating sponsorship with other elements of the communications mix creates as synergistic effect, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, sponsorship has the potential to deliver truly unique content that can  be distributed through traditional broadcast and digital channels to engage an audience that previously may have been considered hard to reach. In the private sector, many brands such as Red Bull (below), O2, and BMW have used their sponsorship assets in their ATL communications to great effect, creating truly memorable and engaging campaigns.

A regular supply of quality content will ensure that the audience remains engaged; an essential component for long term behavioural change. There are, of course, also instances where messaging needs to be released urgently, such as public health announcements when only broadcast channels will be effective and sponsorship is of little relevance. For longer term campaigns which have behavioural change  as their core objective, I firmly believe that sponsorship has a role to play.

There could be cynicism towards the Government entering into sponsorship, however, it’s important not to forget that the funds from sponsorship have the power to contribute positively at a grassroots and community level. At a time where there are widespread funding cuts across the arts and sports – maybe, just maybe sponsorship could provide the answer.

By Tom Whiteside on February 20th, 2013

Tags: Advertising, Alcohol, Communications, community, Consultancy, Content, Football, grass roots sport, Rugby, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy

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By Oli Richards on February 1st, 2013

Tags: Athletics, Blogging, BMW, Brand marketing, Branded content, Brazil 2014, Broadcast sponsorship, Commonwealth Games, Communications, Consultancy, Content, Cricket, Digital marketing, Engine, Football, Football Sponsorship, Glasgow 2014, grass roots sport, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Manchester United, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, PR, Public relations, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby, Rugby World Cup, Ryder Cup, Sponsorship, Synergy

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How much should you pay for a ticket to a football match or gig? In the past, the answer would have been simple: whatever the seller sees fit to charge you. However, the act of a company, brand or team selling access to their assets has developed substantially in recent years. Slapping a one size fits all price on an asset (and hoping for the best) is no longer an appropriate concept in this social era of consumer choice, and various companies, sports teams and bands are recognising this.

But the point isn’t just that ticketing is changing to absorb changes in consumer behaviour – it is fundamentally being driven by business priorities. In recent times, there has been a steady increase in pioneering pricing strategies, honesty payments and social media-influenced purchases, as parties in the sports and entertainment industries look for ways of maximising revenue through innovation. In industries such as live sport or music, with large fixed costs driving a high minimum cost per match or event, these innovative pricing strategies can represent a win-win for consumers and companies alike.

The Digonex pricing strategy is one approach that is spreading through American sport, and is beginning to be adopted by British sports teams. Described catchily as a ‘fan driven pricing system for event ticketing that scientifically changes prices based upon econometric and behavioural principles’, the system allows for ticket prices to be changed daily depending on market conditions. Similar to booking a flight or ticket to the theatre, the system allows for the flexibility to alter prices for every game dependent on demand.

Following a drop in attendances, brought on by collective belt tightening across their fanbase, Derby County were the first British sports team to test this pricing strategy. Having received special dispensation from the FA (usually clubs can only alter prices for four games per season), it is already proving a success, with attendances noticeably on the up. Tickets for all games are made available at the beginning of the season, meaning sensible Rams fans can book their tickets for big matches in advance to save them purchasing a more expensive ticket closer to the game. In order to appease season ticket holders, Derby have also ensured that ticket prices never drop to a price that would represent better value than a season ticket.

Cardiff have followed in Derby’s footsteps by adopting Digonex and Bristol City are soon to follow. Two Premiership rugby clubs are reported to be close to adoption of the system and the spread is expected to continue to major European sports teams. And why wouldn’t it? When fans can get cheaper tickets, and clubs can benefit from larger attendances and higher revenue on seats that would otherwise have been completely empty, everybody wins.

More recent examples are ‘pay what you want’ schemes for specific matches, dreamt up as a response to tricky economic circumstances and dropping attendances. Mansfield Town saw a doubling of their attendance when adopting the scheme for a game in 2010 and Brentford FC are running a similar promotion for a match against Stevenage in February.  Supporters are able to pay whatever they want to for a ticket for the match (over £1) and 50% of any excess over £5 will be passed on to the ‘Sport Relief’ charity. In all these cases, the point is that the tickets would otherwise remain unsold – with no revenue to the club and no bums on seats. With minimal costs to the club involved in hosting an extra fan, this will boost club revenue and help fans out during tricky economic times – while also possibly introducing new fans to the club and generating goodwill through the donation to charity.

These innovative pricing schemes aren’t all just about direct impact on revenue though. Over recent years, there has also been an increase in one-off sales schemes by sports teams and bands as a way of reaching new audiences and/or showing themselves in a positive light. Most famously, Radiohead made a bold move by relying on ‘honesty payments’ for their ‘In Rainbows’ albums in 2007. Denounced and praised in equal measure, opinions differ on whether that move was a financial success. It is clear that money was not the primary driving force behind the idea, and similar moves have become increasingly prevalent around sports.

The evolution of social media is also having an effect on ticketing, with AEG, Malaysia Airlines and KLM examples of brands leading the way with inventive schemes. As an attempt to take on Ticketmaster, AEG have introduced their innovative ‘AXS’ ticketing service. As well as making life difficult for touts by seeking out automated servers purchasing large numbers of tickets, they have introduced a system that allows purchasers to reserve adjacent tickets for friends through Facebook for concerts, shows and other events. Alerted by Facebook, these friends have 48 hours to purchase these tickets knowing that they will be sat next to their mates. Again, it looks like everybody wins. Fans will have a better time sitting next to their mates (and not having to shell out on their friends’ tickets with the inevitable sluggish paying back process) and companies have a happier crowd. This may not directly impact on revenue, but it is likely to have an indirect effect on consumer morale.

Malaysia Airlines and KLM have gone one step further by attempting to socialise the art of booking and taking a flight. When booking a flight, users are reminded of friends who live close to their destination and informed of any friends who may be making a similar journey. Users also have the opportunity to share their itinerary, and through the seat selection process, are able to select seats next to Facebook friends.  This clearly comes with a few privacy/stalking implications but the concept feels like a landmark step forward.

Why are these ideas on the increase? In each of these cases, the innovation behind the schemes opens doors to opportunities that benefit each of the stakeholders in the exchange. With Digonex, previously unsold tickets are more likely to be taken up, satisfying fans and helping the club put bums on seats. In a similar manner, the schemes by Malaysia Airlines and KLM give the airlines unique selling points, and the flying experience is enhanced for those making the journey. With the subject of rising ticket prices forcing itself towards the top of the sporting and entertainment agendas, this sort of innovative use of assets can help to maintain and develop healthy relationships between purchaser and seller.

By Rob Guppy on January 31st, 2013

Tags: Advertising, Aviation, Barclays Premier League, Blogging, Charity, Default, Event management service, Facebook, Football, PR, Public relations, Social Media, Sport, Travel

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We have WiFi on our trains, our buses, in our cafés and bars and even across the underground network– but why is it still not commonplace across our sports stadia?

Most clubs and sporting bodies will boldly claim the importance of social media as a platform with which to engage their fans and will often boast record numbers of ‘Followers’ and ‘Likes’, along with gains in emerging markets. Yet strangely, very few have recognised the potential commercial value of having a ‘connected’ stadium  to improve the match day experience for both those attending and, perhaps more significantly, for those that are not through the sharing of content that this enables.

I recently attended a seminar on the changing habits of sports viewing where one of the panel, a senior marketing figure at a Premier League club, claimed that there was no need for WiFi in a football stadium, as he didn’t feel that fans had the dwell time within a match to update social media sites or consume additional content. I couldn’t disagree more.

On a matchday, 3G networks are over-burdened with people trying to access the internet via a mobile devices, making progress painfully slow- the modern digital-savvy customer neither expects nor is willing to wait. Like it or not, we live in a world where people share almost every facet of their lives in real-time and expect content to be available to them – free of charge – whenever they want it. Conversations, both online and offline, are driven by people’s passion…and there are few more passionate than your average sports fan.

These people want to share photos, videos and opinions and they want to do it as the action unfolds. This wealth of crowd-sourced content is  not constrained by the confines  of the stadium – it is consumed by fans in all corners of the globe. Its power lies in the affinity that exists between fans: it is the reason we read sports blogs and the reason that we follow complete strangers on Twitter – we often value its honesty more than any communication  by a club via more formal channels.

For the club and its sponsors this opens up a world of opportunities – limited only by the imagination of the marketer. Think digital programmes, live match stats, pre-match press conferences, competitions, live betting offers and more. Want to pre-order and pay for your half time beer? It’s all possible.

At its most basic, increasing the quality and frequency of your social media output will increase your reach, which (putting a commercial hat on) can only make you a more commercially attractive entity. Monetising your fanbase is no longer just about selling season tickets and shirts, it’s about growing  your reach within a given market to demonstrate your standing and influence to potential commercial partners.

This is not to say that there is not a handful of players out there that are doing it well. The Rugby Football Union has recently signed a partnership to make Twickenham the most digitally advanced stadium in Europe. This is starting with the installation of an ‘LED fan-engagement and advertising system’ which will “boost interaction and engagement with the crowd” by displaying fan messages of support. Meanwhile,  Real Madrid and Barcelona have signed deals with Cisco Systems and Telefonica respectively, in order to provide hi-density WiFi networks – two deals which are likely to be largely value in kind.

While the pace of uptake has been somewhat surprising, I have little doubt that it will eventually play a significant role in the way that we interact with live sport.  The question is how will sponsors take advantage?

By Tom Whiteside on November 27th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Blogging, Brand marketing, Branded content, Communications, Consultancy, Default, Facebook, Football, Football Sponsorship, Media, Mobile, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy, Twitter, YouTube

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Last night’s brilliantly entertaining Real Madrid versus Manchester City UEFA Champions League match also showcased one of the easiest – but most costly – mistakes in the sports marketing playbook, by new Champions League sponsor Gazprom. The design of their ad boards was so poor that you couldn’t actually discern the three Gazprom brand logos, as this shot illustrates (sorry about the quality – all my own work).

How did this happen? Because corporate identity guidelines got in the way.

Someone should have said: ”Hang the corporate guidelines around the way we reproduce our logo. We’ve bought a very expensive Champions League sponsorship. A lot of the value we’ll get back will be generated by brand exposure on TV. So let’s maximise the visibility of our brand on TV by making the logo as big and as visible as possible. That’s why all the other sponsors do it. We should do the same.”

Someone should also have said: “Let’s do a camera test and see how visible our logo is using this design.”

And maybe someone from UEFA should have said: “Guys are you sure about this?”

Maybe some or all of these things have happened. Maybe they haven’t.

But for Gazprom’s sake, I hope they do, soon – and that someone does something about it. I hate to see so much sponsorship money going to waste.

No doubt there’ll be people from Gazprom at Stamford Bridge tonight. Maybe their old friend Roman Abramovich can have a word…

By Tim Crow on September 19th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Sponsorship, Television, UEFA Champions League

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by Bruno Scartozzoni and Guilherme Guimaraes

In the London 2012 closing ceremony, Brazil enjoyed the traditional eight minutes accorded to the Games’ next hosts  to symbolise the handover from London to Rio and present the spirit of Rio 2016 to the world. It was a great show with some Brazilian music and sports stars, and the overall reaction was very positive. Yes there were clichés like samba and carnival, but they also created a great mix of Brazilian traditional and modern culture elements.

The spirit of the Rio Games evoked by Rio's section in the London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony (Xinhua/Photoshoot)

Those eight minutes marked the passage between the events, and now the Olympic flag is officially with Brazil. For us it’s time to look to the past, London 2012, to create the future, Rio 2016. What can we learn from the results to use in the next four years?

Brazil won three gold medals as in Beijing 2008, along with five silvers and nine bronzes, a total of  17, two more than in Beijing. The women’s Volleyball team, already national heroes, won their second gold medal in a row. But the other two gold medals were surprising, which created new Brazilian sports icons: Sarah Menezes in judo and Arthur Zanetti in Gymnastics.

Sarah Menezes on the podium after taking judo gold for Brazil at London 2012

The silvers and bronzes also created new Brazilian heroes. Esquiva Falcão and Yamaguchi Falcão, two brothers, won silver and bronze in Boxing, and Adriana Araújo took bronze in the women´s Boxing. Those were the first medals in boxing since 1968 for the country. Yane Marques’ bronze medal in the final event of the Games was another great surprise, as the Modern Pentathlon is virtually unknown here.

On the other hand Brazil also had some disappointments. The biggest one was the silver medal in men’s Football. We had never won a gold medal in our most popular and successful sport and the expectations were very high. Silver tasted like iron. Swimming, Sailing, Equestrianism, Athletics, and Beach Volleyball all disappointed too. As a result, the government announced $700m of investment in elite sport in the next 4 years with the ambition of achieving a top 10 place in Rio.

"Silver tasted like iron". Brazil's footballers are distraught after losing to Mexico in the London 2012 football final

Back to marketing, there is a clear path for sponsors to look fondly to other Olympic sports, besides Football. Other team sports, for cultural reasons, have an enormous potential. Volleyball is the second most popular sport. Basketball was big in the past and is rising again. Handball and Rugby are growing fast. And our London 2012 medallists also point the way for brands to sponsor less traditional sports like Gymnastics, Boxing, and Modern Pentathlon. And finally there’s acres of white space for companies prepared to embrace the unknown, and take ownership of sports that are almost non-existent in Brazil such as Hockey and Badminton.

Be brave, Brand Brazil!

Bruno and Guilherme are partners at Ativa Esporte, the Brazilian sports marketing consultancy which is Synergy’s partner in Brazil.

By Synergy on August 24th, 2012

Tags: Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, boxing, Brazil 2014, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship Consultants, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Modern Pentathlon, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympic sports, Olympics, Rio 2016, Rio 2016 Sponsorship, Rio 2016 Sponsorship Consultants, Rugby, Sailing, Socialympics, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants, Swimming, Volleyball, Women's Boxing, World Cup, World Cup Sponsorship, World Cup Sponsorship Consultants

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