Focus On The Football Fan

Sponsorship is no longer about accountability and the right deal at the right price; the future will be about relevance, creativity in execution, long-term partnerships, integrated campaigns, added value from rights holders to sponsors, and the fans

Same Deal Different Day: The Future of Football Sponsorship One could be excused for thinking that the only news fit to print happens every four years when the youngest baby to the oldest granddad prepares for the long awaited religious experience, which quietly takes over the country... the World Cup.

Young and old don their national shirt, flags grow overnight like untamed vines, and in England, the most important news to press heavily on the nation's collective spirit was the well-being of a tiny metatarsal…and then it was quite literally, all over.

World Cup 2002 was regarded as highly successful both commercially and operationally. Worldwide viewing figures are estimated in the tens of billions, the most unlikely teams walked away in disgrace (allez les bleus) while others triumphed giving the rest of us an underdog to cheer for. And the sponsors? Well, "Nike won the World Cup" according to Marketing Magazine (4 July, 2002), but without knowing what objectives sponsors set out to achieve, it's all speculation, leaving polls and their decisive statistics wildly open to interpretation.

So back to the real world where audience figures and ponsorship deals are slightly more comprehensible to the average punter. The current state of British football is shaky and at a crossroads: the recent collapse of ITV Digital has made sponsors jumpy and teams increasingly nervous as sponsors are less willing to "show them the money".

The effect of this is two-fold: supply is exceeding the demand for club sponsorship and contract lengths are becoming shorter – with a quicker opt out clause, just in case… So there are more teams hunting for money and fewer sponsors willing to dig deep into their pockets.

Enter the sponsor that has no clear relevance in football, leading to fan confusion, distrust and irritation, such as Pizza Hut who only lasted for one of its two-year, £2m a year sponsorship of Fulham. This would appear to sit well with the Cottagers. According to one fan from the Sponsorship Research consultancy's report Taking the Lid off Football Sponsorship, "…if you've got a rubbish logo and you get it on the kit, you look stupid".

Yet we know that happy fans remain loyal to sponsors who add value back into the sport and provide support at the grassroots level.

Nationwide's renewed four-year, £40m deal with the Football Association gives fans confidence and trust in a big name that doesn't simply smack of commercialisation, but actually comes across as a sponsor with integrity and commitment across all levels. Then there are extreme cases of loyalty, and woe to the sponsor who treads on the sensitivities of rival club sponsors: Spurs and Holsten springs to mind – what Arsenal fan would dare drink the stuff that is the nectar of the Spurs fan.

At the other end of the spectrum are clubs that reject shirt sponsors such as Barcelona and Real Madrid. This is based on a belief that the power of their respective brands is far stronger than any commercial value a corporate sponsor could bring. Finally leagues, clubs and even individuals are so cluttered with logos, making a brand stand out difficult to achieve. So what will the winners need to do to take football sponsorship to the next level?

It's no longer about accountability and the right deal at the right price; the future will be about relevance, creativity in execution, long-term partnerships, integrated campaigns, added value from rights holders to sponsors, and the fans.

For example, Adidas and football makes sense – there is relevance between the two. Seriously Strong Cheddar and Kilmarnock (Scottish Premier League) is a bit of a stretch, "I associate beer with football, not cheese" a perplexed fan commented.

And where is the creativity in sponsorship? It's basically the same deal each time, packaged differently. Why don't sponsors demand more of the rights holders and their agencies and challenge the creative output? At times it feels like sponsorship is where advertising was 30 years ago - just beginning to break loose from middle class ideals where creativity and free-thinking were left in a heap on the Art Director's desk.

Creative advertising resonates with the consumer - how often does football sponsorship achieve any real connect with the fans?

Thankfully there are a handful of sponsors who understand integration and the need to commit to long-term relationships, which supports the property and the fans. And some companies go to great lengths to make the fan the focus of their efforts.

Arguably, no one does it better than Coca Cola, who since 1930, have had plenty of time to refine their proposition.

"Of course advertising is only a small part of Coke's marketing activity during the World Cup, which includes an emphasis on kids and grassroots activities. In a world of diversity, and increasing mistrust of US cultural hegemony, one suspects the soft drinks monolith has finally got its football strategy right." Marketing Magazine (30 May, 2002).

Finally there are the rights holders who seduce the would-be sponsor but once the ink is dry on the cheque, the best a sponsor can hope for is an invoice for the next payment. So where is the added value? One senior executive from VISA recently complained that when he asked for creative support from the rights sales agency to a major global property, they came back with a shrug and nothing that could help him better leverage his rights in relatively new markets.

If the losers carry on as they are, this could lead to increasing fan cynicism, questionable sponsorships and at best, average creative execution.

And the winners? They will shift the focus away from cumulative worldwide figures and the squillions of impressions achieved, and instead concentrate on developing relevant sponsorships that are integrated, well conceived, creative and perhaps most importantly, fan-focused.

Sally Hancock
Chief Executive
Redmandarin