For many of Britain’s sport enthusiasts, the May Day bank holiday signals a weekend spent glued to the TV watching the World Snooker Championship final. For the players, a Crucible final is the pinnacle of their career – not only for the event’s history and tradition, the privilege of playing in the famous auditorium and the ranking points on offer, but also the financial reward (£250,000 to be exact) that now comes with lifting the trophy. Thanks to the leadership and entrepreneurial nous of World Snooker chairman and Matchroom Sport chief executive Barry Hearn, the financial boundaries in the sport have been stretched significantly over the past few years and the best players in the world are finally being suitably rewarded for their skill, professionalism and hard work.

Whether you are a snooker fan or an occasional viewer, it would have been difficult to ignore the past seventeen days of action at The Crucible Theatre. The tournament was certainly not short of talking points given the emergence of new characters like Dechawat Poomjaeng, complaints about player burnout, static shocks and the fairytale return of the ‘golden boy’ of snooker, Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Behind the scenes, the Synergy team were hard at work delivering the PR activity to amplify Betfair’s sponsorship of the World Championship. As Barry Hearn continues to raise the financial stakes, Synergy tapped into the snooker psyche to develop the ‘Betfair Golden Cue’. Inspired by the players’ James Bond-style attire, Betfair gave snooker’s biggest stars the chance to become the first ‘Man with the Golden Cue’. This unique prize and a £10,000 cheque were on offer for the highest individual break during the tournament.

Given that a golden cue is not something you’d be able to find down your local Argos, we were indebted to John Parris, founder of Parris Cues, for undertaking the painstaking process of coating the cue in 23 carat gold leaf and producing such a high-quality cue. Designed to add some extra sparkle (or as Ronnie would say, “pizzazz”) to snooker’s flagship event, the Betfair Golden Cue took pride of place on set and became part of the conversation throughout the tournament, with BBC’s Hazel Irvine  making regular references to it. In the first week, there were two early contenders for the prize with Ricky Walden’s impressive break of 140 quickly followed by a 142 break from the flamboyant Judd Trump.

As the high breaks continued, Twitter came to life with speculation from fans and snooker bloggers alike on who would win the Betfair Golden Cue. The cue itself became an object of mystery throughout the tournament, with speculation over its origin and manufacture maintaining the social media conversation. Consequently, Synergy placed another order with Parris Cues for a cue to give away on Betfair’s social channels, giving the lucky winner the chance to get their own gold-leafed memento from the tournament. At the time of writing, the social media giveaway has proved to be Betfair’s most successful yet, across all sports.

As title sponsors, Betfair offered a market on the Golden Cue winner, giving punters the chance to place early bets on pre-tournament high-break favourites with O’Sullivan available at 8/1, Judd Trump at 9/1 and Mark Williams at 12/1. Despite the strong early showings from Ricky Walden and Judd Trump, neither could prevent the explosive Australian, Neil Robertson, from stealing the prize. Indeed, despite quality cue play on show throughout the tournament (in total 55 century breaks were recorded), no one could surpass Robertson’s break of 143.

Although the tournament did not see a magical 147 break, snooker fans were still treated to a masterclass from O’Sullivan, who performed at his mercurial best to claim a fifth World Championship title. Indeed, the Betfair Golden Cue may have gone to Robertson but there’s no doubt that the Betfair World Champion, the ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan, remains snooker’s ‘golden boy’.

By Lewis Davey on May 10th, 2013

Tags: Betfair, Brand marketing, Communications, Default, Media, PR, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Activation, Sport, Synergy

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For the eagle-eyed amongst you, Tottenheim Hotspur isn’t a typo: this is the story of how Synergy helped Betfair hit the headlines in the build up to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final…

Tottenham Hotspur ended their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory against Fulham to seal fourth place. This would usually result in a UEFA Champions League place, but Spurs fans faced an agonising week-long wait to see if they’d be rubbing shoulders with the cream of European football. If Chelsea made history by beating German giants Bayern Munich to lift the Champions League for the first time, then Spurs fans would instead be tuning into Channel 5 on a Thursday evening for the UEFA Europa League. The equation was simple: Spurs needed Bayern Munich to win at all costs, and so half of North London became German for the week.

Whilst Spurs fans nervously scrubbed up on their Deutsch, restocked their fridges with Holsten Pils and prepared the schnitzel in support of their Bavarian brethren, Betfair gave them a helping hand by producing a unique limited edition range of Tottenham Hotspur coloured lederhosen, for those fans wishing to go the extra mile.

Following a number of calls to bemused suppliers, some suitable lilywhite and blue lederhosen was eventually sourced, and Synergy’s PR team headed to White Hart Lane to bring the idea to life.

The images were released to national and London media and received a brilliant response. The Evening Standard embraced them with the headline of “Hose the Daddy”, while the Daily Star went for “One Size Fritz All.”

There was also plenty of online pickup, including metro.co.uk and a number of football websites and blogs.

The campaign went down a treat across social media channels, with the @Betfairsports Twitter feed running a competition for fans to win a pair of lederhosen by completing the lyric of the Bayern Munich song.

The activity was a great example of what is possible when PR tactics pre-empt the news agenda, with the Synergy PR team delivering a very successful, cost-effective campaign for Betfair within the space of a few days. Although sadly for fans of traditional German dress, the Chelsea win on penalties means that the lederhosen are unlikely to make an appearance in the stands at White Hart Lane next season.

By David Gerty on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Brand marketing, Football Sponsorship, Media, Public relations, UEFA Champions League

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In February Betfair signed a deal with Matchroom Sport to become the new title sponsor of the Prizefighter boxing events, the exciting one-night knockout format which sees one fighter emerge as the last man standing from eight competitors. The events, broadcast by Sky Sports, have breathed fresh life into British boxing, with a number of past winners going on to land title fights.

On May 4th, Synergy and the Betfair team headed over to Northern Ireland for the latest event, with eight Irish contenders going head to head at the King’s Hall, Belfast. The show itself only tells part of the story, with Synergy playing an active role in the lead up to the night, raising awareness of Betfair’s sponsorship.

Each of the fighters were brought together for the launch at the iconic Giant’s Causeway location, featuring exclusive branded interviews that were then hosted across Betfair, Prizefighter and Sky Sports platforms.

Ahead of the fight-night, Betfair gained ownership of the story through an innovative tactical PR execution fittingly named – “Marketing with Balls”. Based on the insight that the weigh-in is a prime opportunity to target a captive audience, Betfair trialled a new sponsorship innovation by placing a Quick-Response (QR) code on the crotch of title favourite Eamonn O’Kane. This activity was a follow up to the Hollis-award winning “Bum-vertising” campaign, which saw QR codes placed on the bikini bottoms of GB beach volleyball stars Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin.

To launch the tactic, Synergy visited Eamonn O’Kane at his local training gym for a photo shoot in the style of a Dolce & Gabbana underwear launch, and captured some one-to-one exclusive video content for media and Betfair’s social channels.

The story generated talkability around the fight night itself, with a lead piece of coverage in the Metro newspaper, as well as the Irish Sun and the Ireland Metro Herald.

O’Kane was clearly inspired by his unique Betfair briefs, as he went on to claim the Betfair Prizefighter Middleweight crown in front of a rapturous home crowd.  All eyes now move to the iconic British boxing venue York Hall, as the big guys roll into London for the Prizefighter Heavyweights clash on June 20th.

By Donald Parish on May 21st, 2012

Tags: Beach Volleyball, boxing, Brand marketing, Default, Sport, Synergy

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Guinness Rugby

I can hardly believe that I was in a meeting two decades ago when it was felt that rugby wasn’t necessarily right for the Guinness brand. Doesn’t seem possible now, does it?

Synergy’s work on the Guinness Premiership was outstanding. Activation included an Honesty Bar at rugby matches which rewarded fans and reduced queue time at Twickenham, live commentary radios bringing spectators closer to the action on the pitch and even an April Fool PR stunt which created Guinness Eau de Rugby – a fragrance made from mud from Twickenham and Ugo Moyne’s sweat.

By going on to expand its relationship with rugby with partnership deals with the RFU, WRU, Scottish Rugby, the RBS 6 Nations and the Premiership Rugby,  it now means that the two are inextricably linked.

Quite rightly, the sponsorship has won numerous industry awards - including the SIA Best Sports Sponsorship, MCCA Best communications campaign featuring sponsorship, and the Hollis Best Sport Sponsorship – not only for the campaign’s creativity but for the outstanding uplift in sales generated.  

Betfair

I’ve never been a great football fan (not something I shout about in the office!), but I can honestly say that Betfair’s recent video taking Kettering Town back to the ’70s was one of the best bits of sponsorship activation I have ever seen.  It was genuinely funny.  However, more importantly, it conveyed the brand’s character – fun, irreverent and mischievous.

Added to the tremendous work on the highly celebrated Bum-vertising campaign, Betfair provides the canvas for some of Synergy’s very best work.

BMW’s Olympic sponsorship – the Films

I was fortunate to be invited to the unveiling of the four films made by BMW to celebrate its sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Not only were they beautifully filmed and produced, but they created that ‘Olympic goosebump’ feeling that I get whenever individual athletes tell their story, show us the rigour of their training, or show us their single-minded determination to succeed.

These four films really sum up the electric atmosphere of the Olympic Games, and make us all pump the air and say ‘Bring it On’.

By Karen Earl on May 3rd, 2012

Tags: Betfair, BMW, Brand marketing, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Rugby, Sponsorship

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Synergy has once again been recognised as the UK’s leading sponsorship agency after scooping three Hollis Sponsorship Awards. Our Chairman Karen Earl, who founded the company in 1984 as Karen Earl Sponsorship, was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award; Synergy won Agency of the Year; and our client Betfair was awarded the Best Use of PR for its ground-breaking ‘Bum-vertising’ campaign for Betfair Mobile.

The judges were full of praise for Synergy’s work, with Rosemary Sarginson, organiser of Hollis Sponsorship stating:

“Synergy demonstrated revenue growth, profitability, high levels of client retention, numerous new business wins, campaign creativity, a good grasp of the digital domain and a commitment to developing its people…[A] cleverly constructed campaign saw Betfair use QR codes as a way to drive people to its mobile betting service [generating] high levels of consumer interest and PR coverage, thus securing a significant number of mobile betting account sign ups.”

Receiving her award Karen Earl commented:

“It’s a great honour to be recognised by those I respect and work alongside in the sponsorship industry. Since we began the agency in 1984, sponsorship has developed exponentially and now presents clients and agencies with very exciting opportunities. The industry has never been better placed to communicate with audiences and London 2012 will be a great example of its effectiveness.”

Tim Crow, Synergy CEO said:

“We’re incredibly proud to have been recognised both as an agency for what was a great year, and for the Betfair campaign which was a stand-out piece of work by any measure. And it was just wonderful to see Karen honoured for the pioneering contribution she’s made to our business and to the industry.”

By Francesca Gamble on April 5th, 2012

Tags: Awards, Media, Sponsorship, Synergy

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With Conference Premier football club Kettering Town FC on their financial knees and with their very existence at threat, there was only one place to look for redemption; to a time of bigger hair, shorter shorts and fatter ‘taches. I’m of course talking about the 1970s.

To celebrate Kettering Town’s status as the first English club to adopt a football shirt sponsor in 1976, Betfair threw ‘The Poppies’ a lifeline by agreeing a one-off shirt sponsorship deal and cash injection, just days ahead of their visit to the Royal Courts of Justice to face an HMRC winding-up petition.

At the home fixture with Stockport County on Saturday 31^st March, the struggling club agreed to wear a specially made retro playing strip, faithful to the original 1976 design and featuring vintage ‘short’ shorts. Betfair was also set to offer season-ticket holders unbeatable value with a rebate to attend the match for just £1 – the cost of entry in 1976 – with fans able to pocket the difference or donate it back to the club.

To get the Kettering squad in the mood for the fixture, we visited the club to undertake a transformation back to the spirit of the 1970s, as brought to life in this exclusive photo shoot. The players were enthusiastic and willing models, with player-manager Ashley Westwood and midfielder David Bridges proving more than a little comfortable in the ‘70s ensemble.

It’s impossible, however, to recall the nostalgia of 1970s football, and not bring to mind images of stirring broadcast coverage. In a tribute to the Dickie Davies-anchored ‘World of Sport’ and other such TV gems, we created “Betfair’s Big Match”, following hapless sports reporter Dave Mandelson as he visited the team in preparation for the crucial Stockport County fixture.

The story sought to raise awareness of Kettering Town’s financial plight, with football fans encouraged to back a campaign run by The Poppies Trust, looking to raise funds to safeguard the future of the club. National press were fully behind the move, with The Metro and Daily Mirror running stories on launch day, and the likes of DailyMail.co.uk, DailyStar.co.uk as well as football bloggers such as WhoAteAllThePies and 101GreatGoals running the video, in addition to local broadcasters ITV Anglia.

The surge of media interest caused quite a stir in the Football Conference, however, with league sponsors Blue Square Bet objecting to a rival betting brand operating within their apparent space. On Friday 30^th March, and just 24 hours ahead of the crucial fixture, Kettering Town were faced with the threat of possible league expulsion if they went ahead with the unique deal. In light of this development Betfair reluctantly withdrew the shirts from the match itself, whilst still donating the much needed cash to the club.

The club were delighted with the generous contribution, helping ensure a club with a unique role in UK’s football history lived to fight another day.

We’ll never know if those shirts would have inspired the team to victory, as sadly Kettering succumbed to a 1-3 home defeat, and face an uphill battle to remain in the division next season.

From all at Betfair and Synergy (and of course Dave Mandelson), we wish the club all the best.  “COME ON YOU POPPIES!”

By Donald Parish on April 4th, 2012

Tags: Content, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, PR, Sponsorship, Sport, Viral Marketing, YouTube

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Betfair is constantly pushing the envelope to find innovative ways of using their sponsorship assets. Whether that is quirky player challenges to capitalise on the sporting agenda, a ten pin bowling viral showcasing Betfair’s mobile offering (see video below), or a pioneering deal to place QR codes on GB’s beach volleyball players’ bottoms at the London 2012 Test Event, the emphasis is on doing things differently.

Bringing a fresh approach to sponsorship activation comes naturally for a company founded and driven by innovation. Another pillar of Betfair’s marketing philosophy is to ‘live and breathe social’ – as outlined by Betfair’s Head of Online Marketing, Ben Carter (@bensaint). Social is not treated as an add-on to marketing activity, but is put at the heart of campaigns. As a sponsor of Manchester United, with their 21m+ Facebook likes, it makes sense for Betfair to engage the club’s fanbase through social channels.

So what did Synergy suggest when given a couple of hours’ access to some Manchester United players on an (inevitably) wet January afternoon in Manchester? Stage a live Q&A with United players on Betfair’s Facebook page, giving fans the chance to interact with their idols by submitting questions or posting comments during the live broadcast via Facebook and Twitter.

Working alongside Betfair’s in-house production team, real-time broadcast experts Livestream, and MUTV, we helped deliver Betfair presents Man Utd live - an exclusive 30 minute programme hosted by TV presenter Rachel Brookes and featuring Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Nani. Supporters were able to watch the action by simply ‘liking’ the Betfair Facebook page, and could submit questions or comments by tweeting @BetfairSports with the #MUlive hashtag.

Once again, doing things differently paid off. Over 40,000 people tuned in to watch, close to 1,000 questions were received during the broadcast, and tweets of the #MULive hashtag reached over 3.8 million people (source: Tweetreach).  Synergy’s PR team managed the external pre-promotion through football blogs and forums, and the post-event syndication of content and quotes to key media targets, resulting in over 100 pieces of online coverage. Quotes featured in three national print newspapers, and branded footage was included in ITV Granada Reports in the build up to the weekend’s game against Arsenal.

What else did we learn from our inaugural live interactive Facebook broadcast? For a start that Nani regularly gets the hairdryer treatment from Sir Alex. For more insights, you’ll have to watch the webcast for yourself….

By Synergy on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Betfair, Default, Facebook, Football, Manchester United, Sponsorship, Synergy

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Here at Synergy towers we’re always looking for fun, quirky ideas that have genuine media traction while fitting with our clients’ target audiences and business objectives. So with the London 2012 test events rolling into town the Betfair team put our thinking hats on and looked at how Betfair could get involved. We focused specifically on the beach volleyball tournament at Horse Guards Parade - an event with high media and consumer interest that would engage the brand’s target audience and deliver a tactical campaign within budget.

Further to a recent Ofcom report highlighting that one third of British adults now owns a smart phone, Betfair developed a concept to promote their mobile offering.

Synergy negotiated a deal with Team Mullin-Dampney, the number one British beach volleyball duo, to position Quick Response technology, known as QR codes, on the players’ kit. When photographed, the QR code would drive people to  Betfair’s free-bet and registration page.

Given the limited space available on a beach volleyball kit, the signature ‘hands on knees’ stance, and likely viewpoint of media and spectator cameras, the QR codes were placed on the players’ bikini bottoms to maximise exposure, whilst their arm bands carried the Betfair Mobile logo.

Working with Betfair’s consumer PR agency and new members of the Engine family - Mischief - we held a photoshoot with Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney and distributed the images before the test event on 9^th August.

Capturing the imagination of both the front and back pages the story featured in four national newspapers (Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and Daily Record), two regional titles (Metro and The Evening Standard) and seven national online sites as well as over 200 online outlets, thousands of tweets and in the international media.

By Caroline Ayling on September 1st, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Ambush campaign, Beach Volleyball, Brand marketing, London 2012, Mobile, Olympics, PR, Product placement, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy, Team GB

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It’s Wimbledon fortnight! Time for the nation to dust off their tennis rackets, get behind Andy Murray and enjoy frolicking in SW19 drinking Pimms and eating strawberries.

Always one to fully embrace the sporting event of the moment the Betfair team at Synergy has had a week to remember – well, particularly the boys!

To celebrate the launch of Betfair’s Wimbledon Doubles game we got identical twins Bryony and Katherine Frost to strike a pose recreating the iconic 1976 Tennis Girl poster, but this time with a unique twist. The blonde duo bared their derrieres to mark the launch of Wimbledon Doubles – a smashing online game served-up by Betfair (see what we did there!)

We dodged a few downpours to get the shots and with a bit of ankle and racket repositioning, not to mention a few carefully placed hands, we cracked the shot. Check out the game for a bit of Friday afternoon fun!

By Caroline Ayling on June 24th, 2011

Tags: Andy Murray, Betfair, PR, Public relations, Sport, Tennis

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How often do you hear the words ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’? It can be a bit of a cliché but in fact there are certain things that really are once in a lifetime…

This month Synergy has been working with clients GUINNESS and Betfair to offer rugby and football fans a dream come true scenario, the chance to play on the hallowed turf at Twickenham and Old Trafford.

GUINNESS, through their community programme Club Together, gave Birmingham Barbarians the chance of a lifetime to play on the pitch at Twickenham ahead of this year’s Aviva Premiership Final. Synergy was responsible for building a dream day the entire squad would never forget. Their day began with England coaches Brian Smith and Mike Ford putting the team through their paces in a dedicated training and warm-up session in Richmond. It was on to Twickenham and from two England coaches to the next as Graham Rowntree greeted  the team bus. The teams walked through the Lion Gates and into the changing rooms where Graham lead a rousing team talk. Then it was through the infamous Twickenham tunnel and onto a pitch in perfect condition for the pros – Birmingham Barbarians were ready for the rugby match of a lifetime. Thirty minutes later the final score was a 5-5 draw. The lads came running off the field pumped full of adrenalin and buzzing after playing at the 80,000 capacity stadium knowing that an hour later the Premiership Final showdown would be kicking off.

As Birmingham Barbarians departed Twickenham it was onto Old Trafford for Synergy to create the ultimate experience for any football fan. With 16,069,210 Facebook likes to date Manchester United has one of the largest global fans bases of any football team and as official betting partner of the club, Betfair had invited 32 very special VIP guests from across Europe and the UK to enjoy the ultimate Theatre of Dreams experience…

Our guests were collected by a chauffeur driven car upon arrival into Manchester, and dropped off at the 5* hotel the Radisson Edwardian for lunch and the chance to meet their fellow team mates. Betfair’s guests donned their training kit and head to Manchester United’s exclusive training facility, Carrington, where the world class Manchester United Soccer Schools coaches and Manchester United legends, Brian McClair, Gary Pallister, Clayton Blackmore and Andy Ritchie where waiting to greet them and test their skills.

Following a solid three hour training session the teams were picked and team managers Brian McClair and Gary Pallister were ready to go head-to-head at Old Trafford the following day. With a big match ahead it was back to the hotel where guests would find their very own personalised 2011/12 season’s kit in their rooms, literally hot off the press as the kit had only launched the day beforehand!

Match day…with their new kit in tow Betfair’s guests were escorted to Manchester United’s home changing room where United legends and the Premier League trophy were awaiting their arrival. After an eagerly anticipated photo opportunity the teams lined up with team managers in the tunnel. As the Champions League music echoed through the tunnel our excited and nervous guests were lead through the Red Devils tunnel – an experience to never forget.

A full 90 minutes on the pitch at Old Trafford and a 9 – 4 victory for Gary Pallister’s away team over Brian McClair’s home side saw the teams exhausted but buzzing from the experience. After some down time for the guests there was one last surprise in store, dinner at Old Trafford overlooking the pitch hosted by none other than footballing legend Denis Law.

So there you have it, two of sports ultimate experiences delivered with every detail planned to the minute by Synergy’s experiential team. If anyone asks you ‘Do you know anyone who can make dreams come true?’ you know where to look…

By Georgina Taylor on June 17th, 2011

Tags: Communications, Consultancy, Default, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Rugby, Sponsorship, Synergy, Synopsis

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