In early 2009 Betfair briefed Synergy Consulting to create a global strategy to spearhead the brand’s entry into football at the start of the 2009/10 football season.

A key first step was to create a compelling Betfair football proposition which would make Betfair credible and relevant for fans, strongly differentiate Betfair from its competitors, and cut through the clutter of the football brand landscape.

This flowed naturally from the unique Betfair betting exchange business model, which makes betting fairer and more fun by cutting out the middleman – the traditional bookmaker, who sets the odds and wants gamblers to lose – in enabling fans to set their own odds, get better prices, and bet against each other. Demonstrating that Betfair puts fans first and using the rich territory of football rivalries to bring to life the Betfair exchange model became the central principles of the Betfair football proposition and how the brand would be activated in football.

In parallel, Synergy developed a strategic framework and roadmap designed to enable Betfair to achieve accelerated football brand credibility and stature and to deliver against its business objectives. This included asset recommendations based on an extensive analysis of the routes to market for Betfair in football, and content and activation recommendations based on a re-imagining of the football partnership model.

As a result, Synergy Consulting partnered Betfair in agreeing customised partnerships with FC Barcelona and Manchester United, which were unveiled in time for the start of the 2009/10 football season, and which Betfair appointed Synergy to manage and activate. These partnerships had the dual role of enabling Betfair to use club channels and assets to market directly to the two clubs’ enormous global fan bases, and to act as a platform to drive Betfair’s engagement with the wider football community.