The Wayne Rooney saga has seemingly reached a final conclusion with the striker’s 'shock' decision to sign a new five-year deal. Unusually for a man from Liverpool, Rooney has come to symbolise Manchester United, and the seemingly strange prophesies that he would stay from Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini, despite his intimations, proved to be true.
This startling sequence of events follows on from revelations about the striker’s private life, and while his sponsors have not withdrawn at quite the rate they did in the case of Tiger Woods, have his recent outbursts and misdemeanours diminished his appeal?
Has it meant that his sponsorship value and attraction has declined? There had been speculation that, on hearing revelations about his private life, and keen to protect their reputation as a family company, Coca-Cola was seriously considering dropping Rooney.
In buying into Rooney you are buying into his image; namely, the archetypal English footballer – committed, passionate, fiery and above all loyal. It is undoubtedly this last characteristic that is now under immense scrutiny. How much emphasis do sponsors place on loyalty?
When all this is combined with Rooney’s outburst against England fans at the World Cup, perhaps sponsors are looking elsewhere for a new star? His performances have become increasingly more withdrawn of late, and perhaps they may too in terms of endorsements. Equally, perhaps the status quo applies, and as a sponsor you take the highs with the lows. Arguably Rooney’s passion and fire to be the best and play for the best team means he maintains his value.
Certainly his choice to stay at Manchester United leaves him better positioned to keep the backing of his key sponsors; if certain stories were to be believed he was set to lose millions upon departure.
In the end, however, it will be his feet that do the talking. Play well and the fans will forget his misdemeanours and potential disloyalty – and if they can, so can brands. If he continues to have an indifferent season his star may well be on the Wayne.
Ronan Joyce
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Monday, 18 October 2010
Sponsoring the future
For any sportsperson, some of the most influential people in their lives are the people who have shaped, advised and lived unspeakable highs and discouraging lows throughout their careers – the coaches. A family can love and support, a friend can offer an encouraging word, but a coach is the only person who truly understands what is going on deep in the darkest crevices that a sportsperson's mind plunders.
With the World Cup now a distant memory, all eyes have been on the FA to see how they can emerge from the wreck as a proactive association with a plan. Things become even more worrying when we consider how far ahead the rest of Europe is. England have just 2,769 coaches holding Uefa’s B, A and Pro badges, leaving us well short of the leading European nations. New hope was given when the FA launched its “Football Needs You” campaign, with the aim of producing 50,000 new coaches by 2011. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but can the FA really persuade a significant amount of people to look to coaching as a serious and viable career?
The need for further change to the English system was ratified on Friday evening, with England’s under-16 team the victims of a rampant display by Wales' under-16’s in the Victory Shield. If our next generation is struggling to perform against a supposed lesser home nation, surely the time has come for the FA to invest some serious money into an overhaul of our football system, much like the multi million euro spending plan the German FA implemented? McDonald’s have worked hard to support grass roots football, but it seems more support is needed at the higher levels of the game. Similar to the extensive input Aviva has had in developing UK Athletics that we hope comes to fruition at the 2012 London Olympics, there is a fantastic opportunity for a sponsor to fund an overhaul of football coaching, and connect their brand name with potential future success:
"This World Cup win was brought to you by..."
Christian Brown
With the World Cup now a distant memory, all eyes have been on the FA to see how they can emerge from the wreck as a proactive association with a plan. Things become even more worrying when we consider how far ahead the rest of Europe is. England have just 2,769 coaches holding Uefa’s B, A and Pro badges, leaving us well short of the leading European nations. New hope was given when the FA launched its “Football Needs You” campaign, with the aim of producing 50,000 new coaches by 2011. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but can the FA really persuade a significant amount of people to look to coaching as a serious and viable career?
The need for further change to the English system was ratified on Friday evening, with England’s under-16 team the victims of a rampant display by Wales' under-16’s in the Victory Shield. If our next generation is struggling to perform against a supposed lesser home nation, surely the time has come for the FA to invest some serious money into an overhaul of our football system, much like the multi million euro spending plan the German FA implemented? McDonald’s have worked hard to support grass roots football, but it seems more support is needed at the higher levels of the game. Similar to the extensive input Aviva has had in developing UK Athletics that we hope comes to fruition at the 2012 London Olympics, there is a fantastic opportunity for a sponsor to fund an overhaul of football coaching, and connect their brand name with potential future success:
"This World Cup win was brought to you by..."
Christian Brown
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Paddy Power Lords The Manor
With six of the 12 man European Ryder Cup team making their debuts at this year’s event, you would be forgiven for thinking that Colin Montgomerie had more pressing concerns in his opening team talk than the pros and cons of social media. Perhaps a sign of the times in modern sport, or a reflection of recent outrage in the golfing world, (no names mentioned Tiger), Montgomerie was quick to warn his team of the perils of a spontaneous tweet.
Despite his optimistic reviews of his own team, Monty knows that to beat the American’s is no easy task, despite the fact that they have not won in the last three European editions. The only certainty is that this weekend will be a very competitive affair. With play being postponed after only two hours on the first day, even further pressure is on the teams to perform, and it seems the Twitter accounts are back up and running.
Through the recent economic downturn, golf has remained one of the most lucrative professional sports in the world, with the last European event, at the K Club in Ireland in 2006, generating an estimated £50 million in revenue and around £10 million profit, according to George O'Grady, the Tour's current executive director. With the attention of millions around the world, this year’s event has so far generated little to fuel the press apart from Ian Poulter’s relentless tweets. Similarly tenacious communicating was seen by Paddy Power earlier in the week, and given the substantial finances and high viewing figures in the sport, it is unsurprising that they attempted to ambush a slice of the Ryder Cup pie. They were successful in their efforts to gain unofficial, but highly visible advertising space at Cheltenham Festival last March, but it appears event organisers are becoming more aware of methods to prevent this outlandish practice.
Following the lessons learnt from the World Cup, and this latest restricted attempt from Paddy Power, it might appear that ambush marketing is steadily being handled. A recent survey from Reuters would suggest otherwise however, and highlights that ambush marketing is very much at the forefront of sponsors and event organiser’s minds. Paddy Power may have been ordered to remove their sign, but they still erected it in the first place, and generated enough coverage to get their brand name visibility. Until this very grey area is given the colour of actual legislation, ambush marketing will continue to be very difficult to police, especially in large events.
Christian Brown
Despite his optimistic reviews of his own team, Monty knows that to beat the American’s is no easy task, despite the fact that they have not won in the last three European editions. The only certainty is that this weekend will be a very competitive affair. With play being postponed after only two hours on the first day, even further pressure is on the teams to perform, and it seems the Twitter accounts are back up and running.
Through the recent economic downturn, golf has remained one of the most lucrative professional sports in the world, with the last European event, at the K Club in Ireland in 2006, generating an estimated £50 million in revenue and around £10 million profit, according to George O'Grady, the Tour's current executive director. With the attention of millions around the world, this year’s event has so far generated little to fuel the press apart from Ian Poulter’s relentless tweets. Similarly tenacious communicating was seen by Paddy Power earlier in the week, and given the substantial finances and high viewing figures in the sport, it is unsurprising that they attempted to ambush a slice of the Ryder Cup pie. They were successful in their efforts to gain unofficial, but highly visible advertising space at Cheltenham Festival last March, but it appears event organisers are becoming more aware of methods to prevent this outlandish practice.
Following the lessons learnt from the World Cup, and this latest restricted attempt from Paddy Power, it might appear that ambush marketing is steadily being handled. A recent survey from Reuters would suggest otherwise however, and highlights that ambush marketing is very much at the forefront of sponsors and event organiser’s minds. Paddy Power may have been ordered to remove their sign, but they still erected it in the first place, and generated enough coverage to get their brand name visibility. Until this very grey area is given the colour of actual legislation, ambush marketing will continue to be very difficult to police, especially in large events.
Christian Brown
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