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Posts from the ‘Football misc’ Category

Oct 17

Smoke without fire

The phrase has meaning “no smoke without fire”.  AKA David Jones’ story in his autobiography.

I use the phrase here after learning that UEFA has charged the Serbia and England Football Associations following the argy bargy at the end of the Under-21’s football match between the countries.

Whilst, not there, from the comfort of my armchair, I would plead provocation in the sense of clear racism from the Serbian supporters, mischievous behaviour by the same (akin to that we used to see regularly in British football before our act was cleaned up somewhat) and a dubious reaction to affairs on the pitch post-final whistle, from the home team’s players and management.

In that sense, the cause or both smoke and fire appeared to be from Serbia.  But England has ‘previous’ and in a final fracas UEFA appears to have taken the easy – not necessary correct action – and penalised both.

Sep 9

Off the radar

I’ve witnessed many a professional football club, diversifying activities in a desire to seek additional income streams ‘into the coffers’.  Well the latest certainly wasn’t expected.

Turkish Süper Lig Club, Trabazonspor, has come up with an idea to become involved in a hydro electric power station.  This might help address compliance with UEFA Fair Play rules.  Trabzonspor’s reaction to these new restrictions is a government-approved 28 MW hydroelectricity plant planned for Trabzon, Northeastern Turkey.

Sadri Sener, Chairman at the Club has said that it needs a guaranteed source of income, and that the local conditions for hydro power are ideal in the mountainous hinterland, which has a plentiful supply of rainwater. 

Other sources of energy considerations are prospering in stadia developments we have been involved with including, wind, rain water harvesting, solar panels and ground pumps.  A changing face of football as alternative revenue is sought.  Why not?

 

Aug 30

Fake football kits

Original fakes

This, the quote from a market stall salesman in propositioning passers-by at a tourist resort. It made me laugh.

As new seasons are upon us, the proliferation of fake strips and merchandise can be found around the World.  Even the attention to authentic labels and trade-marking are not preventing the creativity of would-be clothing manufacturers.  In Spain, a similar sales representative was a little more coy about unveiling the latest, fake, Barcelona kit for my 7 year old.  In Turkey, the Barcelona replicas were on full view on pre-prepared mannequins.  £10 for a shirt for the new season (and shorts thrown in, too). No doubt another factor in the demise of such as JJB Sports as publicised this week, reporting poor sales of replica football kits.

I recall a few years back the then Managing Director of adidas quoting that the copying of its footwear whilst illegal was of a particularly good standard.  I remember a visit to one such manufacturer in Izmir where a protocol somewhat resembling the keystone cops prevailed. Any investigation required 24 hours’ notice and this resulted in a mass relocation within that timeframe leaving the authorities empty handed.

In the whole of last season, a total of £1 Million of counterfeit Premier League goods were seized, mostly at ports with goods imported from Asia. The task of preventing counterfeit goods is a multi-agency operation, including Customs, Trading Standards and a consultancy called Back Four Ltd.

If fans feel short-changed, at pricing strategies, and yet another strip is perceived as profiteering, can we really be surprised that a less-official alternative might become attractive?  A challenge for clubs and retailers to ‘compete’ and add value.

Jul 15

It’s an ambush

Reflecting on recent events, I thought that I would pause to think about some of the more memorable ambushes in the sphere of marketing tactics (“ambush marketing”).  A definition is: “Ambush marketing is an emotionally charged phrase that refers to the practice of appearing to align a brand with an event for which that brand has not paid for the right to be a sponsor.”

The inspiration for this post was after Wimbledon’s Champion, Serena Williams, was reprimanded once again for breaching sponsorship rules at the Women’s Singles final by taking her Gatorade bottle into the post-match press conference.  Naturally, she represents Gatorade sports-drinks product, but everyone knows this tennis event is the exclusive territory for Robinsons drinks through its sponsorship agreement.

Well here are some other instances of ambush marketing that I can recall:

In 2010, a Dutch beers promotional activity was seen as a blatant infringement, during the Football World Cup in South Africa.  36 ladies from Holland were held after breaking the law and sponsorship protocol at this tournament, all after scantily clad, blonde girls, in orange miniskirts caught the cameramen’s attention and thus executed this ambush.  How else would we know of Bavaria Beer?  Unfortunately, an ITV pundit lost his job in connection when his tickets were traced to this orange ‘wave’. Budweiser was the aggrieved party in this instance.

In 2009, Six Nations Rugby campaign, adverts for Fuller’s beer included a picture of rugby post and the strapline, “Support English Rugby”.  The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had to get involved given that the Rugby Football Union (RFU) objected as the brewery had not actually paid for the privilege of any association.

In 2008, Adidas had spent circa $200 Million to become the official sportswear brand at the Beijing Olympic Games.  Little did they know an indigenous ‘hero’ would undermine their plans.  The Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning (created by a former gymnast) had its’ moment of fame as he was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony. Li Ning was China’s most decorated Olympian and a National hero. This media exposure effectively gave his Company a free ten-minute advert across China and the World. After the introduction of the gymnast by acrobatic wires to the main stadium, Li Ning’s Hong Kong-listed shares jumped 3.4%.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the run up to London Olympics 2012 has said: “Those hoping to bask in London’s moment in the sun may be surprised at how restrictive the provisions of the Olympics Act are”. This being legislation introduced for purposes of protection.

The organisers of the 2012 Olympics have already taken the precaution of booking almost all the City’s billboard space during the games.  Also, any infringement using Olympic identity can result in a fine and penalty of £20,000.  But watch this space, the creative industry would see any fine as ‘small fry’ given the right exposure for an adventurous brand!

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