Who would have thought a simple name change could cause such a rumpus? St James’ Park, more a cathedral to the Geordie Nation then a stadium, has been given the catchy title by its beleaguered owner of ’sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park’. Cue much uproar across the media and more importantly among the fans.

However, rather then add to the derision already rightly poured on this bizarre move, we think there could be an opportunity for a canny brand here. Any brand in sponsorship is fundamentally looking to engage, not alienate, fans and this naming rights debacle actually offers up a unique opportunity.

The answer is simple – try and strike a short term deal with the Newcastle United commercial team, buy the naming rights for the rest of the season and call it – this is the simple bit – ‘St James’ Park’.

In other words, give it back to fans: they’ll love you forever and no doubt you’ll get more than a few column inches to boot – for the first naming rights deal to get rid of the brand name.

By Dominic Curran on November 17th, 2009

Tags: Communications, Football, Football Sponsorship, Naming Rights, Newcastle United, Public relations

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New York, the city which pioneered the naming rights deal with Times Square, is innovating again.

The city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed a 20-year, $4m deal with Barclays, giving Barclays the right to brand a nexus of subway stations in the Atlantic Yards development in downtown Brooklyn.

Evidently, Barclays’ rationale for the deal is that this is also the site of the Barclays Centre – a new sports and entertainment destination which will be home to the New Jersey Nets, which Barclays are naming for a reported $400m over 20 years.

It will be interesting to see if this will start a new chapter in naming rights, which in the shape of sports stadium deals became a multi-billion dollar industry in the US from the 1970s onwards, and is now a mainstream marketing technique worldwide.

Time will tell. But judging by initial consumer reaction to the Barclays deal on the New York Times messageboard, the pioneers will have to navigate a lot of rough road.

By Tim Crow on June 25th, 2009

Tags: Default, Naming Rights

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As a longtime admirer of the deal, I was really pleased to see O2 pick up both the Leading-Edge and Brand Extension awards for The O2 at last week’s Marketing Society Awards for Excellence. Overdue industry recognition for one of the truly great sponsorships, which has been a triumph of conception and execution. 

Many aspects of The O2 are familiar. The visionary, genuine partnership between sponsor and rights owner AEG; the consequent transformation of the derided Millennium Dome (against all precedent) into a world-leading entertainment venue; the integration of the asset into O2’s overall marketing strategy; and its key role in driving customer retention via priority ticket access and brand experience.

However, there are two less well-known aspects of The O2 deal that I like above all.  

First, the fact that it was the antithesis of the ‘Chairman’s whim’ decision-making which - despite what detractors of sponsorship would have you believe - has been the exception rather than the rule for many years. The O2 marketers had to make and remake the concept to their – unsurprisingly – highly sceptical Board three times before it was finally approved.

Second, that it’s delivered – and demonstrated that it has delivered – genuine, significant brand and business ROI in spades.

An econometric model developed to look at impact on customer loyalty [showed] an immediate but lasting impact on churn amongst the whole customer base…Without taking into account [acquisitions], the model has calculated a ROI of 26:1 by the end of 2008. Within 5 years we expect to achieve an ROI of 80:1.

(source: O2/VCCP Marketing Society Award submission paper) 

By Tim Crow on June 15th, 2009

Tags: Default, Naming Rights, Sponsorship

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