The Politics of Sponsorships

In a series of recent posts, Brandchannel tackled the subject of "Sponsorship Politics" saying that more and more evidence is emerging of fans actively rejecting brands that sponsor a rival team.
It's particularly rife in football says contributor Mark J. Miller where, as far back as 1996, Kevin Keegan's appearance in a Sugar Puff/Newcastle United ad caused Sunderland fans to "spurn the cereal in droves".  Although a local phenomenon, the desertion had a marked effect on Sugar Puff sales in that part of the UK.
Here's the offending ad that did it - (apart from being infamous, it's also pretty crap)

There's even a story which broke in The National, that middle eastern fans of Manchester United once refused to board an Etihad Airlines flight because of its sponsorship of Manchester City.
Some teams will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid this problem - like Rangers and Celtic who have the same shirt sponsor to avoid antagonising fans on either side.
I guess football is one of those fiercely tribal sports which is so much part of a fans' life that he can't accept the dilution of loyalties to his team by supporting a brand which sponsors a rival.

Digital Spotlight

In case you haven’t heard me say it before – the marriage of Sports and Social Media is a union made in Heaven.  In a recent post, David Taylor of the Brandgym said that “social is unimportant for 99% of brands”.  No one would refute that Sports is in the 1% of phenomenon that has “social” well and truly baked in.  That presumably goes for most – but not all – of the brands that sponsor sporting properties or who are involved in sporting partnerships.

In this month’s deep dive, we continue to look at the innovative ways in which digital technologies are being used not only to enhance the existing social vector of sports but to introduce new aspects to the experience too.

See it all as evidence of the “gathering” storm soon to break in SA.

Earlier this month, we noted the fine efforts of the AFL in using digital tracking technology to create "art" out of a player’s on-field movements.  We also looked at how Bud Light has fan-sourced reporting for both Major League Baseball and for the upcoming Super Bowl.  For more information click here and here.

The London 2012 Summer Olympics are likely to be the most digitally driven spectacle yet.  Mashable reports that London is to soon install Europe’s biggest Wi-Fi Zone to power the fan experience of the games.  In a press release, mobile service provider O2 said the free service was the result of a deal struck between itself, the Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

“We want to ensure that the millions of visitors that come to the city have the best experience possible and can make the most of what the city has to offer”, an O2 spokesman said.

Said a City Councillor:  “the free Wi-Fi will allow tourists to be able to more easily share pictures and status updates from the games on their social networks”

Picture courtesy of Mashable

The power of Twitter to fuel sporting conversations continues unabated, in spite of the obvious threat which new social networks like G+ are posing.  Manchester City has decided to start broadcasting fan tweets from around the world on the big screen at home games.  All tweets accompanied with the hashtag #blueview will be picked up by the stadium webteam, presumably vetted and then if suitable, streamed for all in the stadium to see.  (Incidentally, Man City is also the first Premiership team to sign a YouTube

 content deal.  For more information click here).

In College Football, Mashable reports that Mississippi State University is to paint its team hashtag (and team rallying cry) #hailstate in the northern end zone of the home ground.  Traditionally this space is dedicated to the school’s mascot or coat of arms so this departure from convention is creating a real buzz.  As one commentator said:  “it’s a great way to involve social media at the game, and to TV viewers it’s going to stir up some emotions between fans of both teams”

A final footnote which tesifies to Twitter's phenomenal popularlity involves the intergalactically famous Denver Bronco quarterback Tim Tebow.  When the player completed a successful 80 yard touchdown pass in overtime to win against against  the Steelers, tweets relating to him peaked at 9420 per second.  This places the match into the second most tweeted about events in the history of the platform - surpassing such momentous events as the death of Bin Laden, the passing of Steve Jobs and the Japan Tsunami of 2011.

In South America, ViralBlog reports of how Mexican soccer team Jaguares will soon be replacing player names with the player’s twitter handle.  This is not the first club to do this however.  Earlier in 2011 Valencia slapped Twitter handles on team Jerseys and the club’s twitter following leaped exponentially.

Tim Tebow

Meanwhile, digital-football.com is calling 2012 “the year of the pitch-side reporter” saying that the year won’t be as much about the digital platforms that are used by teams, marketers and sporting bodies but about the people behind them. 

“Anyone who follows Social Media and Sports in the US will already be familiar with this role and completely understand what it entails.  But for the rest of us across the Atlantic, it’s still a job title that doesn’t particularly mean anything else other than ‘junior journalist’.  Wrong.”

The site identifies 4 essential disciplines of pitch-side reporters:

Micro Journalism:  Lively reportage on the game.  What’s the score?  What’s the atmosphere like?  It might be a live blog on a website (the type we saw on the RWC 2012 page during the tournament) or simply a stream of tweets.

Live content creation:  provide a bridge between the fans who actually have tickets and those who don’t.  This means picking up engaging content – e.g. half time interviews recorded on a Smartphone, sideline antics or celebrations – and streaming it in real-time.

Life content curation: pitchside reporters will have not just have to create content but keep an eye on what is being said online e.g. they might bring in tweets/updates into their own feed, collate photos and videos of match moments which fans are sending from their various vantage points in the stadium.  A great example, shared by sports marketing expert Brian Gainor, is a (BRILLIANT) fan video of the San Francisco 49ers winning touchdown against the New Orleans saints.  The footage was clearly taken on a high quality Smartphone and as such, was good enough to share with a broader audience.  Look at the fan celebration!

Fly on the wall reportage:  Sports is a phenomenon of thousands of different moments which traditional broadcasters tend not to pick up.  The pitchside reporter has access to the small moments that make the spectacle so absorbing.  A star’s warm up routine.  The tunnel.  The warm-up room.  The physio’s room.  Even the changeroom.

Indeed, it sounds like a huge role but experience is showing that it is often delivered through a frontline team with each member carrying a particular set of responsibilities.  (See my earlier deep dive into the NBA as well as Dan Brooks' excellent analysis of how the NHL is using social media in this regard).  The key point is that the role of pitchside reporter is not something that gets handed out to juniors or interns - it requires a thorough briefing and a lot of experience, not just with the digital platform in question but with the sport itself.

There's probably a lot to take out of this post but here are the essential points and actions:

• Any team or brand in SA that is not considering how to maximise the social component of their brand/team or sport using digital technologies is going to fall behind.

• Look at your brand as well as its partners - spend some time "smashing" both brand and partnership to find out how many "touch points" can be optimised with digital media.

• Include these touchpoints in negotiations with your partners

• Start a conversation within your business about developing a frontline team of trained, passionate "pitchside"/stadium/event reporters - (whether it is a full time, company owned unit or one sourced through a 3rd party is not the point) - to help drive your sponsorship objectives

• Just Do It!

Mexican 2nd Division team managed by its fans

Crowdsourcing in sport is now a big deal - look at the Carling Black Label Cup or the CFL's Hamilton Tigers
Though on a much smaller scale, the trend is alive and well in he Mexican region of Sinaloa where local team Murcielagos FC has neither coach nor trainer - but is entirely managed by its fans.
According to Springwise, whenever there is a major decision to be made on anything from tactics to team selection and substitutions, fans are invited to have their say online or via SMS.  It is rumoured that fans can even vote on the sensitive issue of player bonuses too.
As an example, the pic below (taken from the team's web page) asks fans "which area of our field do we need to strengthen?"

I am almost certain that the Springwise claims are a little over-exaggerated and that the team does in fact have its own manager and coach.  Indeed, Murcielagos FC is faring surprisingly well on the Second Division log placing third behind Chivas and Diego Los Altos.
But the illusion of fan control is what's important here.  More evidence of the power of the "monday's experts" platform.

Puma hosts bloggers at the Volvo Ocean Race

Sailing isn't exactly front and centre of my sporting interest but since reviewing the Volvo Ocean race for SAB two years ago, I've been captivated by this "Mt Everest of Sailing".

A full review of the sponsorship will take place in the deep dive.  For now however I'd like to comment on an innovative approach which German sportswear and shoe company Puma is taking to amplify the race.  As the fleet sailed into Abu Dhabi, the race was joined by ten lucky Tumblr and Instagram bloggers to report alongside the race’s more seasoned and elite journalists – (each vessel has its own embedded reporter – clearly with very strong sea legs)

The bloggers – specially handpicked for their online influence – have free reign to post updates either to Facebook or Twitter and to take pictures of the event as crews prepare for the third leg of the race which sails for Sanya China on January 15. 

Andrew Schmidt, Puma’s manager of Digital Media Projects called this “a really good model for showcasing events” and felt the move would gain goodwill for the brand as well as increased visibility of the race.

Puma owns one of the six entrants in the 39 000 nautical mile spectacular and is also listed as the race’s official apparel supplier.

 Things to note:

• Contrary to some sources, the power of blogging as a means of spreading information instantaneously and building public opinion is growing dramatically

• The move to sponsor bloggers in this way is not unprecedented.  According to Mashable, blogging platform Tumblr has been sending bloggers to the New York Fashion Week for the past two years.

• It’s not just blogging riff-raff that Puma has sourced either: amongst the invited is Sean Sullivan, a commercial photographer and videographer whose blog “The Impossible Cool” has nearly 50 000 followers.   Check out his blog here and pics from other bloggers here

•  I predict that it will not be long before this becomes the norm for all sporting events, particularly those with high bandwidth or “inside story” like ocean racing.

Cadbury - Anthemic activation for London 2012

Cadbury UK is a headline sponsor of the 2012 Olympic games scheduled to begin in London in about 200 days time.  In spite of the controversy surrounding ticketing bungles, the games logo and the official (naff) mascots Mandeville and Wenlock, I've am pretty impressed with the work that Cadbury is doing to amplify its partnership. 

While there are quite a few moving parts to the amplifcation - which will more than likely be the subject of quite a few posts between now and the opening ceremony - I am particularly taken with the "Keep Team Great Britain Pumped" initiative.  For a more detailed look at the microsite click here

Meanwhile, here's what the landing page looks like:

As you can see from the pic, it's a fairly simple idea:

Six Anthems.  One Nation's Voice.  Add yours and help team GB to Glory

So far, Cadbury has unveiled 5 out of six "power" anthems with each song accompanied by a stirring ad depicting a headline athlete preparing for the games.  Below, for example, we see Olympic field hockey player Sarah Thomas preparing in the scenic surrounds of her native Welsh mountains.

Another track shows long jumper Chris Tomlinson preparing in the city, joined enthusiastically by its inhabitants

Here's one featuring swimmer Rebecca Adlington

About the only criticism I have is that the videos have not had as many views as the brand office would surely have expected.  Has the activity begun too early?

Cadbury's Spots vs. Stripes aims to get England playing again

Further to Cadbury's "Pump up Great Britain" activation, the brand also seeks to get England playing ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

The "Spots vs. Stripes" campaign is designed to boost Britain's community spirit, get people to respect one another and to bringing a feel-good "spirit of play" to the nation ahead of the games.

The idea is fairly simple:  get people to join one of two teams (er...Spots or Stripes) - and then encourage them to compete in any game they want ranging from golf to tiddlywinks, building up to national totals online for each side.  

The integrated effort comes with a 50 million GBP price tag and includes (most notably):

Television:

A Limited edition Challenge Bar (as well as Limited Edition Wenlock and Mandeville Bars)

Separate facebook pages for both the Spots and the Stripes - in case you're interested, the Spots have circa 40 000 more fans than the Stripes.

Digital - of course - (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Microsite)

Print

 I like this initiative and think it's feel-good social message will go down well with consumers.  Moreover, it seems to be resonating far more powerfully with consumers than the "Pump up Great Britain" piece alluded to in an earlier blog.  However, how will it play out (NPI!) on a national scale?  The implementation plan must be keeping the brand team awake at night!

Toyota AFL Series - Game Signatures

From Australia, Campaign Brief describes a new activation concept for the finals of the 2011 Toyota AFL series played in September.
The concept - Game Signatures - is a series of unique game time "autographs" which map a players game time movements via GPS.  According to Campaign Brief, the most "heroic" performances would be translated into limited edition prints (bearing the players real autograph) - and auctioned off to the AFL's headline charity.

The match autograph of of the Smith Medal winner (man of the series - In this case Jimmy Bartel) would also be auctioned off.  A video describing the promotion can be found here

Pictures courtesy of Campaignbrief.com

Bud Light searches for Super Bowl correspondent

In the age of the "Citizen Journalist", everyone wants to be a correspondent.  Bud Light is cashing in on this by giving a lucky fan the chance of becoming an official Bud Light Super Bowl correspondent.
The winner will be housed in a 5-Star hotel downtown Indianapolis and paid a yet unstated salary to star in a series of exclusive Bud Light Super Bowl videos which will be screened on the Brand's Facebook and YouTube pages in the run up to the big game.

Interested fans have been asked to upload a 30 second video of themselves strutting their knowledge of football.  The judging process will be crowdsourced, i.e. by fans making use of the "like" button on the brand's facebook page.

Mike Sundet, senior director of Bud Light says the idea was to give fans an experience they couldn't get anywhere else.  "We want to make it all about the fans" said Sundet, "we didn't want to make a corporate deal.

The idea is similar to one implemented by Major League Baseball during the 2010 season. In that promotion, a social media ambassador and his sidekick were housed in an exclusively themed manhattan apartment and asked to tweet about a season's worth of games.  Read more about this here or check out the video below