Having just returned from two weeks at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, I’m still catching up with my UK reading. So it was that I turned last night to the February 10 edition of Marketing magazine, and an article on sponsorship by one of my favourite columnists, Mark Ritson, on which I really have to comment. Here’s why.

In his characteristically forthright style, Mark lambasts the sponsorship industry in general and a number of people in particular for predicting that Tiger Woods’ travails would not damage his image and endorsement deals:

‘Then there was the scandalous inability of an array of experts to predict correctly the impact of Woods’ misdeeds on his sponsorship deals…If ever we needed proof that most pundits in the world of sports sponsorship and celebrity endorsements are buffoons, here it was, in spades. This is one thing they are supposed to know about, and they managed to be 100% incorrect in the assessments. Not just wrong, but dead wrong.’

I’m not about to defend the industry, or the people Mark names and shames. What I am here to do is point out that Synergy did call the Tiger situation correctly. On December 12 last year, the day after  Tiger announced he was taking an indefinite break from golf, I made the following post on Twitter:

‘Tiger’s move will play well in the media. It also makes it easier for his sponsors to quit - or to stay. Most will quit: Nike will stay.’

Time has of course proved me right. I’m not sure whether Mark is on Twitter - and if you want to follow me Mark, you’ll find me there as @synergytim, along with numerous other Synergists - but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he had Synergy in mind when he said ‘most’ - ie not all - pundits called the Tiger situation wrong!

By Tim Crow on February 25th, 2010

Tags: Golf, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy, Tiger Woods

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Previously, golf’s best-known connection with Tweeting was the (probably apocryphal) story of Tiger Woods’ ’I just wopped Tweety Pie’ SMS to friends, having just beaten an infamously canary-clad Sergio Garcia in the final round at The Open in 2006. But now Ian Poulter is opening up a new front for golf in the Twitterena.

After only a matter of months, Poulter’s microblogs have attracted almost 250,000 followers - a phenomenal number for the platform - and won him widespread media coverage and praise. Which is just how the savvy, outspoken Poulter likes it. “It’s a very clever marketing publicity tool and one that I have complete control over”, he was quoted as saying recently.

Poulter’s success is no accident. It’s down to two factors

First, his dedicated, thoughtful use of the platform. As he puts it: ‘…this is a great way of getting the information out there quickly and giving golf fans some insight they’ve never had before.’ And he’s as good as his word. Take this morning for instance, when Poulter uploaded pictures from each tee at Turnberry as he practised for The Open. Brilliant.

Second, his use of media interviews to market his microblog and create his very own content factory. Enter ‘Ian Poulter Twitter’ into Google, for example, and you currently get 120,000 returns, and plenty of interviews like this, from today’s Times.

Plenty of food for thought for marketers on a variety of fronts. But Peter Alliss won’t approve at all.

By Tim Crow on July 14th, 2009

Tags: Blogging, Branded content, Default, Digital marketing, Golf, Tiger Woods

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Golf, Ballantine’s, bagpipes, Korean drums and 35 mph winds: what a way to leave an impression. The second annual Ballantine’s Championship took place in April on Jeju Island in South Korea. With an elite line up of players confirmed, the arrival of Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and last year’s winner Graeme McDowell, was greatly anticipated.

However, on the Monday of tournament week, with the arrival of players imminent, torrential rain hit - leaving players, press, photographers and entertainers (better known as the bagpipers) stranded in a variety of locations none of which being the Shilla Hotel, Jeju Island - the desired destination. As the weather eased late Monday evening, it was confirmed that Tuesday would be a brighter day and the eagerly awaited players would arrive. Sure enough they did.

Thursday arrived with beautiful sunshine. Ballantine’s guests flooded to the 18th hole marquee to see the likes of Ernie Els and Fred Couples hole their final putt of the day, whilst also being offered the opportunity of a master class with Fred Couples and Lee Westwood.

Gala dinners took place each evening offering a unique blend of Korean and Scottish culture. Guests were introduced to the traditions behind the Scottish heritage (experiencing the Address to the Haggis first hand) and blending of Ballantine’s. This was followed by live entertainment in the form of Korean drummers and Scottish bagpipers. Players attended and entertained guests with stories from that day’s play.

As the tournament drew to a close, the weather took a turn for the worse. Winds of 35mph swept through Pinx on the Saturday and players struggled in the conditions out on the course. Guests remained in the warmth of the 18th hole hospitality, enjoying a glass of 17 year old Ballantine’s with a few venturing out in the elements to catch the final few balls.

Crowds flocked to Pinx on the final day, in particular to the 18th hole to watch the play off with Thongchai Jaidee, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and local Korean Sung-Hoon Kang all fighting it out for the silverware.  In the end, it was Thongchai Jaidee who took the trophy and left a lasting impression on the 2009 Ballantine’s Championship.

By Georgina Taylor on June 4th, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, Default, Golf

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If you’re fortunate enough to be flying First Class with British Airways this month, be sure to have a flick through the First Life magazine. This issue offers a truly unique opportunity to win a bottle (one of only 15 in the world) of the 35 Year Old Ballantine’s Championship blend.

For the world’s No. 2 Scotch whisky, the unique Scotch represents the first time in history that anyone outside the company’s expert team has collaborated with a Master Blender. Having won last year’s inaugural Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea, European Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell (G-Mac as he’s known to his fans) was invited by Ballantine’s to help create an exclusive blend with their Master Blender Sandy Hyslop - to commemorate the second Ballantine’s Championship which took place last month. A great opportunity for McDowell to leave an impression within the whisky community and for Ballantine’s to really bring their golf sponsorship to life across their global markets.  

Of the limited edition bottles made, Graeme took one back to his home town of Portrush. One was presented to Thongchai Jaidee, the charismatic Thai golfer and eventual winner of the 2009 Ballantine’s Championship. Another was auctioned at the tournament’s Opening Ceremony on Jeju Island, South Korea, reaching a staggering $11,000. An anonymous businessman, based in Seoul, successfully bid for the bottle.

Only 15 bottles were made due to the scarcity of the whiskies contained in the blend which makes the bottle available in First Life all the more precious. If I hadn’t placed the promotion myself, rest assured I would be entering daily.

NB. Given Thongchai does not drink alcohol, I suspect that it’s highly unlikely there will be a Ballantine’s Jaidee blend ahead of the 2010 Championship…shame.

Thongchai Jaidee, winner of the 2009 Ballantine's Championship, South Korea

By Stephanie Branston on May 27th, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, Default, Golf, Public relations, Sponsorship

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 Campaign reports the demise of Sport magazine, concluding that this unfortunate event is the result of the recession. There is no doubt that economic conditions played their part, but they are not wholly responsible. The reason for the fact that general sports titles fail in the UK lies not in the fact that we are, in the words of Sport’s MD Greg Miall, facing “the worst recession in 80 years”, nor in the free distribution model adopted by the magazine, but in the psyche of the UK sports fan.

To illustrate, I draw a comparison between Britain and America. Across the pond resides the great grand-daddy of all general sports titles, Sports Illustrated. This publication carries regular news on all four major US sports and strong coverage of - er - minority sports like NASCAR, golf, football (soccer), tennis and so on. With an audited circulation of around 3m per week, it’s a successful model that many have tried to emulate on this side of the Atlantic. 

Some UK attempts to create a general sports market have been truly outstanding from a journalistic and publishing perspective.Total Sport in the 1990’s was a publishing triumph, a general sports fan’s dream, a commercial disaster. Though constructed very differently, I put Sport in the same high quality category. 

Both magazines failed for the same reason: there are simply not enough “general sports” fans in the UK to sustain a general sports title. This is not the same in the USA, where almost every sports fan is a general sports fan. Britons and Americans consume sports in very different ways.

To illustrate: the American sports fan follows a baseball team, a football team, a basketball team and probably an ice hockey team. This gives him lots to cheer about, all year round. He supersizes his intake by following NCAA teams in all four sports too, so there’s something to watch on telly every single night. Because of the franchise model adopted by most American sports, there’s no promotion or relegation, so he can do this for ever. His interests are well catered for by Sports Illustrated, which knows this market well. 

Contrast this with the UK sports fan. While many of us are perfectly able to observe multiple sports, we generally reserve our passions for only one. We are football fans, or rugby fans, or cricket fans and respectfully observe the breaks between seasons as a rest period in which we allow our enthusiasm to recuperate. To try to address such a collection of individual (and, socio-demographically speaking, quite different) audiences with a single general sports title, is a challenge that so far has proved insurmountable.

Sport in the UK does not unite us; it divides and defines us. It’s unfortunate for Sport magazine, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

By Scott Garrett on April 28th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, American football, Football, Golf, Media

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Since Ciaran spotted that Olympic sponsors weren’t using search effectively around Beijing 2008, we’ve been keeping an eye on the digital space around major events to see if sponsors were beginning to exploit the opportunity. They aren’t.      

The latest example is The Masters. A unique tournament for many sporting reasons, but in marketing terms two features are key: the unbranded aesthetic of the tournament (other than the famous Masters mark and three very discreet sponsor logos on The Masters website, the only branding you’ll see is on the players) and the fact that, being the first Major of the season, it’s of massive interest for golf fans worldwide - huge numbers of whom will, naturally, be looking for information on The Masters online, as Google Trends reveals.

All of which would lead you to expect that brands with golf marketing motives, chiefly the equipment manufacturers and leading sponsors of the game, would be using search to ensure that they were entwined with The Masters online.

But they aren’t.

A search for The Masters right now shows that only three companies appear to be bidding for it online, none of which are the brands you’d expect to be activating around The Masters.

And when it comes to SEO, as the search returns show, it’s the same story: the big golf brands are nowhere to be seen. After looking through 10 pages of returns - none of which featured a golf sponsor - I quit. And a consumer of course wouldn’t dream of looking that far… 

By Tim Crow on April 10th, 2009

Tags: Beijing 2008, Default, Digital marketing, Golf, Olympic sponsorship, Sponsorship

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OK everyone, you can breathe again - he won and his knee didn’t give in. Last July I wrote a blog about the effect Tiger Woods’ absence from The Open would have on golf, and on his return I thought it would be interesting to see just how much the sport has missed him.

The world’s economy has of course changed dramatically since Tiger picked up his last trophy, impacting on all sectors, including sponsorship in North America, where companies are expected to increase spending on sports, arts, cause and entertainment marketing by just 2.2% to $16.97 billion this year, compared to 11% growth the year before (IEG). On top of this, viewing figures were down by almost 50% across eight tournaments minus Tiger compared to the year before (Nielsen).

Put the two together and it adds up to one big ‘Welcome Back Party’ for golf’s most vaunted star with more then a sense of perfect timing. The significance of this return can be measured by the eagerness of marketers to crash the party.

He may have lost one of his sponsors - Buick - in the downturn but his other backers are wasting no time in heralding his return. Gatorade, Tag Hauer and Nike (it’s brilliant - watch below) have all launched new campaigns this week with Cindy Davis, President of Nike Golf summing it up well - “We knew when Tiger returned it would be a big, if not the biggest, sports story of the year. We wanted to capitalise on that.”.

Need any more evidence? Well some of the loudest sighs of relief have probably come from the governing body of the sport in North America, who even launched their own ‘Tiger Returns’ micro-site (http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r470/video/tiger_returns.html).

It’s somewhat unlikely that even Tiger Woods can turn the world’s economy around (if only), but he does provide some much-needed distraction. I just hope that knee is well fixed - it has a huge corporate responsibility to support.

By Dominic Curran on February 26th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Golf, PGA Tour, Tiger Woods

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Marketshare isn’t an issue for Footjoy, which won its first shoe count on the PGA Tour in 1945, and which has been ’The #1 shoe in golf’ for many years.

But with the introduction of the new SYNR-G, it won’t just be new ambassador Padraig Harrington wearing Footjoys this year.

Where do we sign?!  

By Tim Crow on January 9th, 2009

Tags: Default, Golf, New Product Development, PGA Tour, Sponsorship, Synergy

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If you get the product right, everything else follows.

So General Motors has inevitably parted company with Tiger Woods. Some commentators have claimed that this somehow proves that endorsements of this type don’t work. Nonsense. In Tiger’s case, Nike and Accenture in particular disprove the point. Tiger may be a miracle-worker, but not even he could have saved GM from its current predicament. The problem isn’t Tiger, it’s GM.

Also this week, the PGA Tour announced the FeEx Cup’s third format overhaul in as many years. As I wrote back in September, in this case, the problem is also the product - the Cup format. Only time will tell if, this time, the PGA has got the product right.

Which brings me to the latest example of NPD on the PGA Tour, the Kodak Challenge. Like both the FedEx Cup and the Red Bull Final 5, it’s a competition-within-a-competition, its USP being to link great holes on different courses, with $1m going to the player who posts the lowest score on the Kodak Challenge Holes over the season.

Again, only time will tell if Kodak has got the product right - on which point I suspect they’ve missed a trick by not adding a cause-related overlay to counter-balance the $1m prize  - but there’s a lot to like here, in particular the integration of Kodak’s ‘Kodak Moments’ heritage; the opportunity to leverage the wonderful imagery that great golf courses provide; and the season-long campaign platform. What I most like is that, as the Kodak blog reveals, Kodak planned their activation upfront - one of the keys to successful sponsorship.

By Tim Crow on November 28th, 2008

Tags: Branded content, Default, Experiential marketing, Golf, New Product Development, PGA Tour, Public relations, Sales promotion, Sponsorship, Tiger Woods

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I’ve posted before about the fact that NPD has been one of the key drivers in modern sponsorship, with virtually every week seeing new platform and property models being unveiled. NPD being what it is however, they don’t always work out, and the most recent example of this is golf’s FedEx Cup.

Launched by the US PGA Tour two years ago as an attempt to reinvigorate the final weeks of the Tour and counter audience migration to the start of the American football season, the FedEx Cup has had a difficult start to life.

For two years in a row, the Cup has been won anticlimactically early, last year by Tiger Woods (remember him?), this year by Vijay Singh, who has only to finish the final tournament of the season this weekend to claim the title. As one columnist from the National Post put it:

‘Under the current FedEx points system, Singh would have to step in a gopher hole or assault a rules official in order to lose the event. He could play all 72 holes with a belly putter and a persimmon three wood and still take the title, even if his card went into three-figures four days in a row.’

And despite changes introduced this year by the PGA, the format and credibility of the FedEx are still being roundly criticised by the media, in pieces with headlines such as ‘Once again, playoffs are a snoozefest’ and ‘FedEx Cup ending with a whimper’.

Tim Finchem, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, admitted that it was a case of back to the drawing board for next year in a recent media conference, although I suspect what he said will have done little to reassure the players, the media and most of all, his sponsor (whose current tagline is ‘Relax, it’s Fedex’).

Using the analogy of golf course designer Donald Ross and his work on the famed No. 2 course at Pinehurst NC, Finchem said that even a second set of format changes to the FedEx might not get it right:

“[Ross] made 213 or 220 changes in the first 12 years of [Pinehurst No. 2's] existence. Sometimes to get perfection, you have to keep working at it, and we intend to do that.”

Let’s hope, for the sake of FedEx in particular, it’s a case of third time lucky in 2009.

By Tim Crow on September 25th, 2008

Tags: Brand marketing, Default, Golf, New Product Development, PGA Tour, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Television audiences, Tiger Woods

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