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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Following on from my post about Culture Secretary Andy Burnham’s statement on how he intended to tap into private sector sponsorship to plug the £79million hole in the Government’s budget for funding Olympic athletes’ training, I was interested to see the good corporate citizens of the West Midlands announce an innovative new Olympic funding model, the first of its kind in the country, which may provide Mr Burnham with a solution to his problem.

A group of businesses in the region, led by the West Bromwich Building Society, have united under the banner of Team Business West Midlands and aim to raise £60,000 each over the next four years in the run up to London 2012 to help fund local athletes’ training. Hats off to Team Business West Midlands, and great news for the athletes.Good news for Mr Burnham too - and an opportunity.

Not only is Team Business West Midlands extending an invitation to other local businesses to join the funding scheme, it’s also inviting other UK regions to follow its lead.

If DCMS were to get behind this initiative by incentivising businesses with matched funding, maybe, just maybe, that £79m is achievable after all.

By Tim Crow on September 25th, 2008

Tags: Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, New Product Development, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants, Team GB

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With AIG, shirt sponsors of Manchester United, now having followed Northern Rock, shirt sponsors of Newcastle United, into nationalisation, it occurred to me that the sponsors’ lounge at the next Toon versus Reds match could bring a whole new meaning to the term Premier League. Because, of course, the effective heads of the teams’ two sponsors are now the Premiers of the US and UK.

But who’ll be in those respective hot seats come next March? Over there, will it be John McCain or Barack Obama. Over here, will Gordon Brown still be around? And whoever it is, will they use the occasion for a pow-wow at St James’ on Wednesday March 4? Lovely thought, but somehow I doubt it.

Maybe Gordon could send noted Toon Army member Tony Blair - remember him? - to deputise…

By Tim Crow on September 18th, 2008

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Brand marketing, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants

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With perfect timing in the week when the Large Hadron Collider became part of the global zeitgeist, a new sponsorship category was also unveiled to the world: Dow Chemical has become the ‘Official Chemistry Company’ of the PGA Tour.

Sponsorship has been adopted by a myriad of product categories in the modern era, but ‘Chemistry’ is a new one on me. Let me hasten to add, I think Dow has done a very clever deal with the PGA, creating a perfect showcase for its agroscience and technology products. And I’m sure that the guys at Dow and the PGA thought long and hard before landing on ‘Chemistry’. But it does lead your imagination in some interesting directions…

Talking of which, the scientists involved in the Large Hadron Collider project have taken a break from attempting to discover the ‘God Particle’ to star in their own hit viral video. The ‘Large Hadron Rap’ has become a favorite on YouTube.

By Tim Crow on September 12th, 2008

Tags: Branded content, Digital marketing, Golf, Media, New Product Development, PGA Tour, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Viral Marketing, YouTube

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Before Beijing 2008 began I wrote a post speculating about what the legacies of Beijing might be for the Olympics, for London 2012, and for brands. Now that the Olympic flag has been handed to London 2012, what initial conclusions can we draw?

1. From a UK perspective, Beijing was the latest in a long line of single-issue Games - but the issue wasn’t, in the end, China. It was, of course, Team GB’s brilliant performance. This has created numerous legacies, all of which can be filed under ‘Feelgood Factor’. Right now, we feel good about Team GB, London 2012 and The Olympics. Of course it’s too early to say, using one of Boris Johnson’s many wonderful new soundbites, that “Olympo-scepticism” has been totally blown away, but I think we can say with some confidence that thanks to ‘The Great Haul of China’ it will be a minority sentiment from now on.

2. The Olympic brand survived the China crisis. Concerns about regime policy and authoritarian stage-management never went away, but were ultimately overshadowed by a technically superb Games which delivered both breathtaking spectacle and an array of legendary performances. The most important performance of the lot in a global context? My vote goes to Usain Bolt. Not just for what he did, in the event which above all defines the Games, but for what he didn’t do: three of the previous five Olympic 100 metre champions tested positive for drugs. Usain prefers chicken nuggets.

3. The London 2012 brand evolved significantly. Beijing 2008 grafted two new elements into London 2012’s DNA: Team GB and, by very different means and in his own unique way, Boris Johnson (and since you ask, I’m a huge fan of both). Finally, do you know anyone who doesn’t like the new London 2012 logo featuring Union jack colours?

4. And what of the brand marketing contest around Beijing 2008 in the UK? To my mind there were three clear winners: adidas, via their kit sponsorship of Team GB; Powerade, the only Team GB sponsor to commit to a brand campaign throughout the Games, as my colleague Sara vividly described in her post a few weeks ago; and British Airways, who skilfully leveraged Team GB’s homecoming

By Tim Crow on August 27th, 2008

Tags: Beijing 2008, Brand marketing, China, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Team GB, Vancouver 2010

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Apart from the competitors’ heroics, what will we remember Beijing 2008 for? And how, with London 2012 in mind, will UK consumers feel about the Olympics after Beijing?

Previous Olympics in the modern era have all strongly impacted the Olympic brand – in general negatively – and left a single-issue legacy. Montreal 1976 invented the Olympics as a debt monster. Moscow 1980 was the Cold War, Soviet Games. LA 1984 showcased the American entrepreneurial Dream - and in Atlanta 1996 the Dream became an over-commercialised Nightmare. Seoul 1988 will forever be remembered for Ben Johnson and doping. Barcelona 1992 was a triumphant spectacle for Spain, as Sydney 2000 was for Australia. Athens 2004 was the Games that could never follow Sydney and only just got built.

Beijing 2008 looks like being another single-issue Games - the issue, of course, being Chinese government policy. With the Torch Relay crisis now firmly imprinted on Beijing’s DNA, and the media even more focused on the issue as we move into Games time, I can’t see this changing.

But what I do see changing is the world’s knowledge of and attitude to China. And in this respect the Olympics is part of the solution, not – as many would have it – part of the problem. Beijing 2008 will offer an unprecedented window into China’s uniquely fascinating society and culture. And the greater knowledge, understanding and – let us hope – human empathy this engenders will perhaps be Beijing 2008’s key legacy. As Simon Barnes of The Times wrote in a characteristically brave and intelligent piece back in April, this is a key strand of what this Olympics is about. It will make few, if any headlines, but it will leave the world, and the Olympics, in a much better place.

And what of the legacies that Beijing 2008 will leave London 2012? Here in the UK of course, as the next hosts of the summer Games, we’ll be looking at Beijing very differently to the rest of the world. “It’s our turn next” will undoubtedly be a theme running throughout the Games coverage, rising to a crescendo when Beijing hand the Olympic flag to London during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday 24 August.

The big question, of course, which we’ll be looking at closely with our clients who are Olympic sponsors, will be the effect of Beijing 2008 on UK consumers’ attitudes to and behaviours around the Olympics. There are bound to be some big shifts – especially in favourability if, as we all hope, Team GB wins medals galore – but only time will tell what they’ll be, and how lasting.

By Tim Crow on August 6th, 2008

Tags: Beijing 2008, Brand marketing, China, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Media, Olympic Torch Relay, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Synergy

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The Olympics are inspirational and I don’t want to miss a moment of the live action over the next two weeks.

Ever since London won the Olympics on July 6^th 2005, I’ve been thinking about how I’ll be able to see as much of the action as possible in 2012.  Having the Olympics here on my doorstep is brilliant and there is no doubt that being there will be a never-to-be-forgotten experience.

For the Beijing Olympics I shall have to make do with broadcast coverage.  So, I’ve been busily scanning the BBC’s coverage schedule.  China being 7 hours ahead of the UK and other commitments aside, I find myself planning how I’ll be able to watch as much live action as possible – the rest will have to be captured on BBC iPlayer. 

So, what is it about the Olympics that make them ‘an appointment to view’? Yes, sure, I do record the odd programme I want to watch later.  And, yes, there has been the odd football or rugby match I’ve wanted to see live – Euros, World Cups and so on.

But the Olympics are different.  Why?  Because they really do inspire.  We’ve heard Seb Coe say so often enough and I agree with him.  Perhaps it’s the stories of human endeavour; the narrow difference between winning and losing; the winning of a medal or coming fourth (can there be anything worse?); reaching the starting line at all and the heartbreak of those that work so hard for years and just don’t make it.  Just last night on ‘Olympic Dreams’ my heart went out to Jessica Ennis, a real medal contender, whose chances have been ruined by three broken bones in her foot.

I know I shall find myself ridiculously moved to tears over some of the performances and the stories behind those performances, especially those by the Paralympians.  The sheer courage and determination displayed simply puts everything else into true perspective.

Sponsorship consultants talk a lot about consumer passions.  Certainly, here at Synergy, we work with a number of companies who have realised how inspirational the Olympics can be in terms of employee engagement – British Airways, Coca-Cola and Easynet to name but three. 

For me, and others who work here, the Olympics really do it for us.  They are truly inspirational and it’s great being able to be involved through our working hours as well as outside them.

The only downside is the feeling of emptiness on the day after the closing ceremony.  No more coverage to watch.  No more passion; no more inspiration.  But then I think again and realise that those stories of personal endeavour will stay with me and although I might not be inspired to take up marathon running, I’ll certainly be inspired to do something with my life that makes a difference.

In the meantime, it’s only four years until they come to London and time will fly.  And already there’s the handing over of the Olympic flag to look forward to.

By Karen Earl on August 6th, 2008

Tags: Olympics, Sponsorship consultants

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With the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games just around the corner, Britain’s finest athletes are in the final stages of preparation in their bid to take gold at the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’.  For the 313 Team GB athletes the competition will be the culmination of years of precision planning in an attempt to streamline their performance and give them the best possible chance of hearing the National Anthem broadcast around the world.

The attention-to-detail for every single member of Team GB is immense.  Away from the limelight they each have their own training programmes, which not only focus on the physical and technical aspect of their performance, but also offer advice on their nutrition, the psychology of their performance, their travel and logistics - the list is endless.

Why do all these individual factors, however big, however small, count so much?  Let’s go back at Athens.  If we take five of the Gold medals won by Team GB, look at the time of each of these and work out the difference between the Gold and Silver places in these events, it adds up to 0.545 of one second.  If Team GB had taken the Silver medal in each of these events instead of the Gold, they would have dropped seven places on the medal table.  So you see, every little thing really does count.

A key factor of any athlete’s performance is their kit; competition clothing, footwear, equipment, their drink.  Powerade, Official Sports Drink of Team GB and the Olympic Games, has just launched a new campaign looking at this.  The essence of the new ‘InnerGear’ concept illustrates that no matter how sophisticated an athlete’s outer gear is (sports kit), it is not effective without your InnerGear – what you put inside your body.    Let’s put this into perspective; research has shown that as little as a 2% drop in hydration can seriously affect an athlete’s performance. The athletes in Beijing will have to combat the extreme weather conditions if they are to compete at the top level of their event so proper hydration is essential.

So where do I come in. Picture the scene; I’m sat at my desk enjoying another day at the Synergy office, facing the trials and tribulations that rear their heads on a daily basis, when the phone rings.  “Hi, can you please look into getting me three Team GB athletes for a photo-shoot. In London. On the same day.  And there is only one day that we can do – in a couple of weeks. Which is just before the Olympic Games, so yes we realise that not many athletes are free at the moment. In these three sports.  Oh, and by the way…they need to be naked.”

Breathe.  Stay calm.  Speak. “No problem. Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do.”

So there it began, and following a race against time, complex diary management and persuasion like you have never seen before, on a sunny day in June I found myself in a studio on Caledonian Road witnessing Phillips Idowu (Triple Jump), Rebecca Romero (Track Cycling) and Gregor Tait (Aquatics), stripped of all their performance clothing, and captured without their outer gear by renowned photographer Nadav Kander.  The result; a series of breathtaking images highlighting the athlete’s strength, fitness and power, showing the effort and commitment that is put into their training and being at the top of their sport.

I will certainly be tuning in at 8.08pm on the 8^th of the 8^th  for the Opening Ceremony, and probably glued to my screen for the following 16 days, to watch the athletes in action and hopefully witness history-making competitions as rivals pit themselves against each other in the attempt to take Gold.  At the same time, I’ll be watching three particular athletes very closely, to see how their ‘InnerGear’ is hopefully helping them to achieve their lifelong dreams.

By Sara Wilson on August 4th, 2008

Tags: Olympics, Sponsorship consultants

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A landmark day begins, entirely appropriately, with the launch of our blog. Come in, it’s really rather exciting…

Although we feel incredibly privileged to advise brands on sponsorship for a living, and every day in our business is fascinating, there are some days that you know will be extra special. Today is absolutely one of those, as it’s the start of a new era for us in so many ways.

We’ve just moved into our superb new HQ in 60 Great Portland Street (or “60 GPS” as it’s rapidly becoming known) and there’s a palpable sense of energy and excitement as the eleven companies and 600 people in the Engine Group unite under one roof.

On top of which today also marks our first day as Synergy after twenty-four years as Karen Earl Sponsorship, so there’s an extra-special buzz as we finally unveil our new brand identity and offer after a year of planning.

Having, naturally, revealed Synergy to our two most important audiences first – our people and our clients – we already know that the response is overwhelmingly positive, and that it feels absolutely natural for the brand to evolve, because our business has evolved so much, particularly in recent years.

Two other things about the new brand identity tend to come up. The first is “I can’t believe Synergy was available”. Neither could we! But happily it was, because it brilliantly encapsulates both what we do and how we do it. The second is “How does Karen feel about it?”. Very simple answer: she’s 100% behind it and has been up for a change for years.

There’s also an incredible buzz about our new, enlarged offering, which augments our existing skills in Consultancy , Experiential and Communications with four new services: Branded Content , Digital, Employee Engagement and Sales Promotion.

The new services are partnerships with the Engine companies who specialise in the disciplines involved (respectively Huge, Altogether, Dave and Woo) and have in fact been operating informally since we joined the Engine Group in late 2006. So we’re simply formalising an operating reality – and creating something really groundbreaking that no-one else is close to offering. All good.

So a new chapter begins, and it’s all change - and yet no change. We’ll be staying true to the key principle on which Karen Earl founded the company - never selling sponsorships, meaning that we can guarantee clients impartial, as well as expert, specialist advice – still a very rare commodity in sponsorship. And above all, as I look around, I see what I’ve always seen: great people who love what they do and are very good at it.

Except that there’s a lot more of them!

By Tim Crow on May 27th, 2008

Tags: Branded content, Default, Digital marketing, Employee engagement, Experiential marketing, Public relations, Sales promotion, Sponsorship consultants, Synergy

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