Just occasionally I write about politics and football, and so it is that today I bring you a fascinating section in Tony Blair’s new memoir where he discusses agonising over whether or not to sack Gordon Brown and he recounts a conversation – actually, the implication is repeated conversations – with Sir Alex Ferguson:

…there is a crucial difference between political management and running, say, a company or a football team. A conversation I used to have with Alex Ferguson pinpointed this. ‘What would you do if you had a really difficult but brilliant player causing you problems?’ I would ask. ‘Get rid of them’ he would reply. ‘And supposing after you got rid of them they were still in the dressing room, and in the squad?’ I would say. ‘That would be a different matter’ he would reply, laughing.

Now I know some of you may already be reaching for a large pinch of salt given the former PM’s previous unhappy brush with footballing (not to say other) recollections. It’s passed into urban mythology, of course, that Blair lied about having watched Jackie Milburn at St James’ Park, but let’s put the salt back (on this one at least) because he was subsequently proved to have been misquoted.

Blair’s conclusion, of course, was that football and politics are different, and that it was better to keep Brown in the team rather than sacking him. And we all know what happened next: resignations, and relegation.

I can’t help but wonder what Sir Alex would have done if he’d been in Blair’s position.

I’m betting he’d have sacked Brown, let him stew in the reserves (ie back benches) and arranged for a transfer to the SNP.

Ask David Beckham, Jaap Stam, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Andrei Kanchelskis, Paul Ince, Gordon Strachan and Mark Hughes – to name a few.

Tony Blair’s memoir, ‘A Journey’, is published by Hutchinson.

By Tim Crow on September 2nd, 2010

Tags: David Beckham, Football, Manchester United, Politics

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A new football season has kicked off and, for a moment at least, optimism is all around as every club and every fan starts the new campaign with dreams of glory. At the same time, a host of sponsors – some familiar, but many of them new to football this season – begin their journeys too. So, in the time-honoured manner of early season previews, let’s take a look at some of the sponsorships, sponsors and trends to look out for.

England – this space for sale.

The England team has of course started the season without a team sponsor, the FA having so far failed to find a replacement for Nationwide in the wake of England’s disastrous World Cup. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the FA to fill the gap and which company comes on board to partner a team, manager and organisation with, for the time being at least, a lot of on- and off- field baggage.

England 2018?

Everybody remembers where they were when London won the IOC vote to stage the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Will we all look back on 2 December 2010 in the same way? That is of course the day when we’ll find out whether the dream scenario of a 2018 World Cup in England will follow London 2012 and RWC 2015. Whichever way the FIFA vote goes, it will have a defining effect on the zeitgeist of this season – and many seasons to come if it goes the right way. Let’s hope it does.

Rise of the New Red Corporates

Manchester United and Liverpool start this season with new shirt sponsors, Aon and Standard Chartered respectively. Both are primarily corporate sponsorships focused on driving awareness, in particular among the clubs’ Far East fan bases. But both will need to do more than use the sponsorships as ‘walking billboards’ (as the CEO of one was quoted the other day) to drive credibility and relevance in the UK, particularly – being financial brands – against the background of the two clubs’ debt issues. To compare in parallel how Aon and Standard Chartered approach the challenge, particularly in the first, critical year, will be well worth watching.

Energy Wars

Another one to watch is the energy category. One year ago e.on announced that it was not renewing its FA Cup sponsorship. Then npower took over the Football League title sponsorship as well as signing up as a partner of England’s 2018 Bid. Following which, in an unusual and surprising move, e.on did an about-turn and announced a 1-year extension to the FA Cup deal. And so, for one more year at least, battle is re-joined in football between the two brands, npower having previously used its Wembley partnership to regularly ambush e.on, particularly around the FA Cup Final.

Will Barclays find a football point of view?

This season will be Barclays’ seventh as Premiership title sponsors, and I’ll be interested to see how their positioning evolves. Against the background of the banking category’s image problems and the less desirable financial elements of the Premiership – debt and runaway wages – this is a tough job. But to me Barclays’ ‘bringing fans closer to football’ positioning looks increasingly generic and much in need of a more differentiating and resonant point of view.

Spurs – one becomes two

Spurs’ new strategy of having two shirt sponsors – one for Premiership matches, and one for Cup games – has been the big early season sponsorship story, with many observers hailing it as a positive move. I’m not so sure. Whilst there’s no doubt it’s worked for Spurs’ balance sheet – getting them to the financial number they needed, but couldn’t find, from one sponsor – for sponsors and sponsorship I believe it’s a backward step, because it takes sponsorship back to being all about media-led visibility rather than experience-led engagement. And the jury is still very much out as to how Spurs fans will react to another shirt with another sponsor. Watch this space.

Social Football

The 2009/10 domestic football season was the first in which social media really started to make an impact on the football brand landscape, and this trend continued around the World Cup, with even FIFA President Sepp Blatter getting into the act in person on Twitter. Although, sadly, I doubt that we’ll see other top figures from English football officialdom following suit anytime soon, the continuing and inexorable rise of social media to the top table of football marketing strategy is the trend to watch this season, and if you’re a brand in football without a social media strategy and presence, you need one – fast.

This article was first published in the July/August 2010 edition of Platform

By Tim Crow on August 31st, 2010

Tags: Barclays Premier League, FA Cup, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Social Media, Sponsorship

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With the Premier League season just a matter of days away, fans such as myself start to feel excited towards football again (no burn out here Galer!) After being let down as an England fan (again) this summer in South Africa, until Monday the thought of a good season for my club (Aston Villa) was an exciting prospect.

Last season I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Spurs pip Man City to fourth spot and it was hugely satisfying, as a Villa fan, to see Gareth Barry miss out on Champions League football. The 2010/2011 campaign should be another fantastic Premier League season as a host of clubs continue to close the gap on the so called “big four”, in fact I’d say with the depth of Man City’s pockets we really should be referring to it as a “big five” and, in fact, the odds at Betfair agree. For the first time in Premier League history five teams (Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool) are all 15/1 or shorter to win the Premier League title, suggesting that the title is most definitely a five horse race.

This Premier League first led to a fantastic Betfair event at Kempton Park on Thursday 5th August 2010 when five legends from the aforementioned clubs took part in the Betfair Five Horse Race. Yes, five ex-footballers agreed to jump on horses and race each other over one furlong and what a race it was! The ex-players vying to be first past the post were Ray Parlour, a Premier League and FA Cup winner with Arsenal, Chelsea’s second all-time leading goalscorer Kerry Dixon, ex-Liverpool hard-man Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, Steve Lomas, the combative midfielder formerly of Manchester City, and David May, a Champions League winner with Manchester United.

Prior to the event Neil Ruddock weighed in at a worrying weight and Ray Parlour was introduced to his horse, cheekily named after the current Gunners boss, Arsene Wenger. The Synergy and Betfair teams were met at Kempton Racecourse by glorious sunshine after a morning of training for the legends that saw David May flung to the floor and Steve Lomas emerge as the early favourite. Kitted out in club colours and full riding clobber the former stars took to riding like ducks to water and the race was eventually won by… well you can watch below.

By George Woffenden on August 11th, 2010

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Betfair, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Viral Marketing

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Sixteen countries, a sun-filled Old Trafford, a victorious Czech Republic team, a German cardboard cut-out mascot, a stadium awash with national team kits and the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton – that was the first ever Betfair World Cup!

As part of Betfair’s sponsorship of Manchester United, 96 lucky amateur football players and United fans from 16 different nations entered the world of the mighty Reds to enjoy a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at the Theatre of Dreams. The Betfair World Cup included a three-hour training day at United’s exclusive Carrington Training Facility before the 5-a-side teams went head-to-head on the pitch at Old Trafford. Clad in their nation’s colours and with the Betfair LED boards rotating in the background we witnessed sporting class, team hugs, and football fans fulfilling their dream of playing at Old Trafford! Check out our video to see the event in action…

Despite their national team not making it through to the FIFA World Cup Finals the players from the Czech Republic triumphed over Ukraine in the Betfair World Cup Final, whilst the Bulgarians lost out to the ever-so vocal Portuguese team in the Plate Final.

Manchester United and England star Gary Pallister was on site to watch all the action and said, ‘These players are following in the footsteps of legends, from Sir Bobby Charlton to Eric Cantona to Wayne Rooney. The final was a pretty close run thing but the Czech’s seemed to have the upper hand in the final half and came away with the all important win.’

Whilst the Synergy Experiential team managed to help 96 footie fans fulfil their dreams (along with the help of the incredibly well organised Manchester United Soccer Schools) I realised a personal dream of my own, interviewing the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton for the post event video (see You Tube player above).

It has to be said Sir Bobby is nothing short of a true hero for every United fan and he was certainly one of the highlights of the event, as every team had their photo taken with the United and England legend (gotta love those white suits, Bulgaria!).

With one World Cup over we now eagerly anticipate the FIFA World Cup in South Africa starting on Friday. Keep your eyes peeled on www.thevoiceofthefans.com and the Betfair poster at Waterloo station as England try to go all the way!

This blog was written by Vicky Clark and Caroline Ayling.

By Caroline Ayling on June 9th, 2010

Tags: Betfair, Event management service, Experiential marketing, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Sponsorship, Synergy

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The King of the World is dead, long live the King of the World.

You have to hand it to James Cameron: at $1.88billion in takings to date, his 3D epic Avatar is officially the biggest box office ticket of all time. And having taken only six weeks to eclipse the record set by Titanic, JC’s last feature film, this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, the world and his wife (and their three children, plus extended circle of friends) have queued up at cinemas to see Avatar: whilst it’s not perhaps a film for everybody, it has nonetheless garnered some strong reviews, and, 3D effects aside, features some of the best CGI ever used in medium. The spectacle in 3D, however, elevates Avatar beyond movie to experience, drawing the audience into Cameron’s alien world of Pandora without simply resorting to the customary “oh, that was the 3D bit” camera pans. Not all 3D films can claim to do the same.

Avatar is a 3D success because the extra something this technology brings makes us believe it more, enriching the immersion and further suspending disbelief. The question is, how to monetise this on a more regular basis, as opposed to only once every 15 years, when Mr Cameron decides to take us one step beyond?

Naturally, the answer came in the form of the ever-inventive Sky, with Sky Sports’ first foray into 3D programming the live coverage of Arsenal vs Manchester United last weekend. For those lucky enough to be in one of the nine bars across the UK to feature 3D screens – well, if you’d call ‘lucky’ being reciprocally filmed by Sky Sports looking like the rejects from a Buddy Holly casting session – the experience was mixed. The customary Sky Sports graphics, player line-ups (where a sense of depth and perspective is inherent to the camera view) and wide angle shots from behind goal were suitably impressive; however, the third dimension was not the totally eye-popping revolution many were imagining.

To be fair, Sky does spoil the viewer: with up to 20 cameras tracking the game in regular Ds and lovely High Definition crispness for those willing to pay an extra tenner a month – it’s hard to say whether the final spectacle of 3D could ever match up to our expectations. It’s no massive surprise that this was basically a glorified experiment by the broadcaster – football may not be the ultimate sport to benefit from an extra dimension, versus, say boxing, rugby, or even golf – but the fanfare of such a world’s first certainly captured the public’s imagination, leaving viewers hungry, or at least peckish, for more.

Whatever the future holds for in-home 3D, it’s clear that from a sporting perspective, as James Cameron understands, the extra dimension needs to add something to our experience, to give something back, with Sunday’s experiment representing a small step in furthering Sky’s opinion on exactly how it plans to achieve this.

By Jonathan Izzard on February 2nd, 2010

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Branded content, Broadcast sponsorship, Experiential marketing, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Media, Sport, Television, Television audiences

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If, like me, you grew up in the seventies, you’ll recall entrepreneur Victor Kiam’s famous Remington ads, which ended with the line ”I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company”. Audi, evidently, feel the same way about their sponsorship of Bayern Munich, having yesterday announced that they had taken a 9% stake in the club as well as continuing as a sponsor. Bayern’s strategy of sponsoring the European footballing elite is self-evident - as well as Bayern, the brand also sponsors AC Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid – but this clearly takes their involvement to a new level, and raises an interesting question: does Audi’s move herald a new era of brands moving from sponsorship of the elite sporting names to investing in them as well? Only time will tell. But if it did, I wouldn’t find it surprising.

Moving from sponsor to investor is undeniably a leap in terms of the financial commitment involved, but not that big. Clubs like Bayern are massive brands with millions of passionate, committed fans. But let’s remember that as businesses, in financial terms they’re minnows by comparison with the market capitalisation and buying power of major brand owners.

Some might argue – especially with Bayern languishing at seventh in the Bundesliga and facing elimination from the UEFA Champions League – that adding financial risk to marketing risk isn’t a smart move when on-field performance is so critical to the bottom line: the spectre of Leeds haunts. But whilst every deal carries an element of risk, let’s face it, Bayern aren’t Leeds: they’re a long term footballing superpower with stable, membership-based ownership and high-quality earnings. The risk is as minimal as you can get – in football anyway.

There’s a final argument – which I assume applies to Audi and Bayern – that makes moving from sponsor to investor entirely logical to me. If just about everything about the relationship from a brand and business point of view is right, and if you share and can commit to a long-term vision – in short, if there’s perfect synergy – why not go one step further and become an investor as well as a sponsor?

To summarise, I don’t believe we’ll see a stampede into these type of deals: for one thing there’s a recession on, and for another I don’t see too many assets out there that brands would invest in.  But I don’t think the Audi-Bayern deal is the last of its type that we’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ll be adding a new filter question into the model we use to help our clients make a call on whether to sponsor a potential asset: would you buy stock in it?

By Tim Crow on November 27th, 2009

Tags: Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants

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Last weekend the Betfair team here at Synergy were involved in a world football first at Old Trafford for the Manchester United v Everton match. For the first time in football history, the faces of fans appeared on TV interview backdrops and LED ad boards, as part of Betfair’s unique Get Behind United campaign.

Fans were able to win this once in a lifetime opportunity by uploading their photo at www.betfairfootball.com/getbehindunited. Promotional girls were outside the ground at the previous Manchester United v Blackburn match to take fans’ photos which were also entered in to the competition.

Betfair’s USP is that fans bet against each other rather than against a bookmaker, and this was brought to life before the Everton match where the Synergy Experiential team organised a Betfair football roadshow where fans could take part in a variety of football skills challenges for the chance to win a signed United home shirt, as Event Magazine reported. The Fan v Fan messaging was also emphasised on-pitch at half-time by fans competing against each other in a skills challenge. Before kick-off there were once again promotional girls taking photos of fans’ faces ahead of the Manchester United v Aston Villa game on 12th December, where the activity will be repeated as Betfair again give back to United’s loyal supporters by offering them a unique experience for a worldwide audience to see.

The campaign has gone down incredibly well with the fans; I had a thank you email from one of the winners calling it an “unforgettable experience” and Duncan Laryeah. whose face appeared on both the perimeter boards and interview backdrop claimed “it was almost like there wasn’t a football match on that day!” If you’re a Manchester United fan go and upload your photo at www.betfairfootball.com/getbehindunited and be involved in a World Football Second.

By George Woffenden on November 27th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, Football, Manchester United, Sponsorship

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Great marketing campaigns by rights owners in sport being a rarity (acid test: how many can you remember?) I’ve really enjoyed two very different but equally hard-hitting efforts over the last few days.

First up was Manchester City’s ‘Welcome to Manchester’ poster featuring new City signing Carlos Tevez, aimed squarely and mischievously at the red half of Manchester from which, of course, Tevez came.

Cue national media coverage, a dismissive riposte from Sir Alex Ferguson, and an outpouring of fan banter and reaction, including a paint attack on one of the Tevez billboards and some highly creative visual replies by Manchester United fans – here’s my favourite so far:

Overall a top piece of work by the City marketing team, which has put the City brand, and the City/United rivalry, firmly back on the agenda for the start of the season in three weeks’ time.

Whereas in three years’ time of course, London 2012 will be upon us – as we all know by now following LOCOG’s masterfully-orchestrated celebration of the 3-year landmark on Monday.

Again, acres of coverage resulted – no small achievement – but what interested me most of all was how noticeably positive it was, and how much more upbeat LOCOG’s tone has become

As ever Lord Coe leads from the front – what a natural and assured communicator he is – but it was heartening also to see so many bravura touches during the day, such as the domino trail and the giant human 3.

By Tim Crow on July 28th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Default, Football, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Manchester United, Media, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Public relations

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It is good to see AON CMO Philip B Clement quoted in Marketing Week as saying that that the company’s sponsorship of Manchester United will “inform everything we do”.  AON, as we all know by now, are taking over from AIG at the end of the 2010/2011 season as Manchester United’s shirt sponsor. 

What is irritating is to read Marketing Week’s Russell Parsons, in the same piece, write that AON’s decision comes “at a time when many brands are questioning the wisdom of long-term sponsorship deals as the global economic downturn puts the spotlight on what return on investment sponsorship can bring”.

It’s irritating because it just isn’t true.  Which brands?  Which long-term sponsorship deals?  If anything over the past few months there have been more announcements of brands recognising the value of sponsorship by announcing further or new investments.

However, I was pleased that Mr Parsons shoots himself in the foot in the next paragraph when he quotes Mr Clement as saying that the sponsorship is an efficient and effective way of building the AON brand globally, and that the company would have to spend significantly more on media to match the exposure the deal will bring the brand over the four years of the deal – quite apart from its other benefits.

“It is a pretty good bet for a US firm looking for a global presence”, Mr Clement says.  You bet it is.  It’s done a great job for AIG.  It’s just a pity that the brand was unable to capitalise on the benefits delivered through the sponsorship because the company fell foul of the global economic conditions – a situation which, if we were to believe media reports, can be laid squarely at the feet of the MU sponsorship. 

I would love to have been a fly on the wall within AIG when the marketers were undoubtedly arguing that the MU sponsorship deal was one thing that was worth saving from the ashes.  Shame for the AIG brand they didn’t win the argument.  AIG’s loss will be AON’s gain. And Manchester United haven’t done too badly either – the deal is reportedly worth an extra £6 million to them annually.

By Karen Earl on June 10th, 2009

Tags: Default, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Sponsorship

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While football fans brace themselves for yet another drawn-out summer of incredulous transfer speculation, credit has to go to Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo for capitalising on the ongoing Cristiano Ronaldo ‘will he? won’t he?’ saga.

In an advertising campaign destined to further anger Sir Alex Ferguson, the ever on-the-ball Football365’s Mediawatch, has spotted the Manchester United star grinning away above the slogan ‘Where will I be in three years? I don’t know, but my money will be here.’

While you have to admire the sheer audacity of Ronaldo (he really doesn’t care who he upsets does he?), it made me think; why don’t more brands use transfers and the transfer window in particular as an opportunity to speak to a captive football audience?

Whereas most footballers will be sunning themselves on the beaches of Europe or the Caribbean this summer, the majority of football fans will still be glued to Sky Sports News round-the-clock coverage or scanning The Sun on a daily basis for stories of their best player stating his undying allegiance to their club, before moving for an undisclosed record fee the next day. If you want loyalty, buy a dog as they say!

So while the football season is now officially over, our desire for unabated news of even the most trivial detail related to our club’s dealings in the transfer market knows no bounds.

The relevance and potential of this territory is something that US brands capitalised upon years ago. The furore that surrounds the build up to the drafts of the NFL, NBA, MLB and even the NHL is all supported by an array of brands looking to tap into the fevered interest in off-season activity.

Seasoned rumour mongers Real Madrid were also more than aware of the benefits they could deliver to their own commercial partners when they signed David Beckham in the 2003 transfer window. On arrival in Madrid, Beckham was driven from the airport to his medical check-up, to sign his contract, to his official presentation all in a brand new Audi.

The impact was so great that Jesus Gasanz, the president of Audi in Spain said: “The international exposure our company received in that brief period was so immense that our three-year investment in the club was repaid — and several times over — right there.”

Yet despite this supporting evidence the majority of football sponsors still appear to go into hibernation over the summer months, once the seasons over and the window is open. It all seems like a missed opportunity to me.

But don’t take my word for it, just ask Jesus himself!

By Paul Whitehead on June 8th, 2009

Tags: Advertising, David Beckham, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Media, NFL, Sponsorship

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