It’s hard this week to write a blog post about marketing without referencing the sporting disaster in South Africa with the Australian cricket team. The outpouring of shock, disbelief and anger at Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft has been staggering.
From a marketing perspective, it’s been fascinating to observe how the sponsors associated with our national sport have reacted to the crisis. Some have stuck solid with the team, while others have been quick to retreat. Either way, Sandpaper-gate has illustrated the perils of sports sponsorship and the impact it can have on your brand reputation.
Know what you’re getting yourself into
Sponsorship is a big business. Many sports, clubs, athletes and celebrities cash in on our nation’s collective sporting passion. Sports stars are a favourite sponsorship opportunity, as they have broad appeal for adults and children. Brands clamber over one another to attach themselves to winning athletes, those who embody the best of Australian spirit.
The challenge with sponsorship, however, is that you’re investing in a channel that is outside the control of your business. Moreover, you’re not only hoping to garner publicity from the sport, club or athlete, there’s also the tacit understanding that the partnership will embody the characteristics of your brand.
Unfortunately, you can’t assume a sporting organisation or its stars have this same commercial interpretation, and this is where your research is crucial. You must know who you’re getting your business into bed with and whether the sponsorship will enhance your brand. In other words, is the sport, individual or team a valuable cultural fit?
Look beyond the individual
But wait a minute, Steve Smith seemed to be a cleanskin and, to be sure, the former captain did have an excellent reputation. So, how could his role in the ball-tampering episode in South Africa have been predicted?
If you did some deeper digging, the risks for cricket have been in play for some time. The players seem disconnected from the public, highlighted by last year’s pay dispute that threatened the Ashes. Cricket Australia has also had its challenges in the past, none more so than the poor taste the Australians showed after they defeated England in the Ashes 4-0 earlier this year.
The ball-tampering episode and its fallout have been coming for a while, and it demonstrates that when investing your sponsorship dollars, you need to look beyond the celebrity athletes and the sport they play. Luckily, for those prepared to invest time in some sponsorship research, there’s no shortage of column inches devoted to major sports in Australia.
Brand reputation is everything
Ultimately, the moral of Sandpaper-gate is that major sponsorships come with inherent risk that bad publicity could potentially tarnish your brand. My advice is to ensure you know what you’re getting yourself into, and be prepared for valuable and not so valuable outcomes.
