Beckham: From Captain Courageous to Captain Birdseye

In 2006, Max Clifford said: ‘Brand Beckham rested on strong foundations, as long as he’s part of the England set-up. He’s the first superstar outside football; he’s a good- looking guy and there’s still no competitor to his image amongst the rest of the England team.’

He was right – and still is in 2009. Even at 33, ancient in football terms, David Beckham is still the world’s most marketable footballer and is a part of the England set up.

But are brands interested? Since his decision (if it really was his) to leave Real Madrid for Los Angeles two years ago Beckham’s brand portfolio has begun to wane. Gillette dropped him in 2007 and Pepsi has now followed suit.

But his marketing appeal extends far beyond football fans. Why else would AC Milan, where Beckham is currently on loan, want to add yet another player whose best years are behind him to their already pre-historic squad?

That Beckham finds now himself promoting Sharpie marker pens and GO3 fish fingers, rather than migrating to prestigious brands targeting an older audience, is absurd.

19 Entertainment was hired by Beckham to develop his brand globally through the transitional phase of his career - from player to ex-player. What a mess.

Tottenham unveils new stadium plans

Here’s a first look at Tottenham Hotspurs new stadium plans…

So what can fans look forward to?

According the club the new stadium will put the fans closer to the action and a roof which will host four large screens in the top corners. There will be a club museum – probably without a trophy cabinet - and shops.

You just can’t build a stadium today without a naming rights partner and Tottenham is no exception.

In October Chairman Daniel Levy confirmed that – like Everton which is also planning a new stadium – the club would aim to secure a partner for the club’s new ground.

The key to naming rights is that the name must be snappy or fans and the press simply won’t use it.

North London rivals have Emirates, which works. The Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium does not. And neither did the BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium.

Often the stadium naming rights parter is the same as the shirt sponsors. Take Bolton and Reebok for example.

But with Spurs shirt sponsors Mansion is in its final year with the club and with online gaming companies seemingly beating a retreat from football sponsorship it is an unlikely partner in the future.

Be a Gooner, Be a Giver

I’m not an Arsenal fan. And even less so after Robin van Persie ruined my weekend with that offside goal at the Bridge earlier this month. But credit where credit is due.

Later this month, Arsenal - which earlier this season had its players wear poppies on their shirts ahead of Remembrance Day - will dedicate its Premiership match versus Liverpool FC to its chosen charity Teenage Cancer Trust.

The ads, shot by Brothers and Sisters, include a voiceover from Arsenal fan and Little Britain star Matt Lucas and will feature on this website – www.beagoonerbeagiver.org - through which fans can make a donation.

Finally, the Arsenal players have committed to giving a day’s wages to the charity.

You may say ‘Well the can afford it can’t they?’, but I think it’s a generous gesture and (even as a Chelsea fan) should be applauded.

Thank goodness BA doesn't select the Lions

If the British & Irish Lions were selected today not a single English player could be sure of his selection.

And certainly any English player unable to break into our shambolic national team can probably go ahead and book his summer hols without to much worry of a Lions call up.

So it is puzzling that when BA chose its two players to PR its new official airline status of the British & Irish Lions, one would be Josh Lewsey.

The fullback is a fine player but has been out of the England set up since that remarkable night in Paris last autumn when the team advanced to the World Cup final. Someone at BA should have known that.

To make the odds on the player making the Lions squad even longer than they already were, the player chose this week to announce his retirement from international rugby.

Who else would be a terrible choice to PR the airline's sponsorship deal? Gavin Henson - tucked in next to Josh waiting for take off.

Henson has stuggled with injury for a while now and when he was fit managed to get himself dropped from the Welsh team due to his ‘state of mind'. Someone at BA really should have known that.

Let's face it, the only one of these three likely to be on the plane to South Africa next summer is the stewardess.

The Haka: A brand evolution case study

If any brand manager ever wanted an example of why it is important to constantly evolve and improve their brand, they need look no further than the New Zealand Haka.

Today the Haka is performed with such passion and ferocity that intimidated opposition constantly seek ways to respond to it else they enter the game a nervous wreck.

Some have tried advancing on the New Zealand team, while last weekend the Welsh players stood motionless and just starred them down. It was probably the best response I can recall and I hope England are working on a game plan for this weekend.

But the Haka wasn’t always so scary. Just take a look at this priceless effort from 1973...

Stop bloody showing off!

The Sun has had a poster ad gloating about Britain’s success over Australia in Beijing banned for using the word 'bloody' .

The ad in question was a play on the Australian Tourist Board’s ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’, and asked Aussies ‘Where the bloody hell were you?’

I’m glad the ad got banned – not because I think particularly agree the ad was offensive but simply because our gloating has a pretty nasty habit of coming back to haunt us.

Maybe if we hadn’t spend so long gloating about our rugby team’s RWC win in 2003 we wouldn’t currently be on the wrong end of record thumpings. And what happened after all our showing off after the Ashes in 2005? We went down to Australia 18-months later and got whitewashed!

Let’s just hope we don’t get our comeuppance in four year’s time in our own back yard…

The equestrian world's answer to Twenty20

As modern attention spans shorten, abbreviated versions of sports have come into the market with mixed success.

Last weekend was spent in Wolverhampton watching some quickfire darts – it was a triumph (and at £10 a ticket something I would recommend during the credit crunch).

Twenty20 cricket is another success, while rugby sevens has never quite pulled in the crowds I think it ought to.

Now it’s the turn of another sport to launch an abbreviated version in a bid to win broader appeal – Eventing.

The world’s top 20 riders face off with the winner bagging £100,000 – the rest split £150,000 between them.

There’s also a celebrity jump-off which sees the debut of socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson at an indoor equestrian event at the Millennium Stadium where she takes on Jodie Kidd. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Arlene Phillips are also there.

At £35-45 a ticket I won’t be making another road trip this weekend. And although the Stamford Cup proved chucking a load of money at players doesn’t guarantee a great spectacle the weekend’s event could be one to watch for luxury brands looking for something new.

Anyway, here’s a cheesy picture of Tara preparing for the event…

Phelps ditches Big Mac for foot-long, while Wilkinson drop goal named greatest moment

BBC favourite Michael Phelps has ditched his ties with fast food giant McDonalds for umm fast food giant Subway.

In the US the addition of Phelps gives subway an all star sporting roster to match that of pretty much any sports brand. NBA all-star Tony Parker, Boxer and daughter of Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali, baseball player Reggie Bush and NFL footballer Michael Strahan all endorse the brand.

Through gritted teeth no doubt, Heidi Barker of McDonalds said: ‘As a top Olympics sponsor, we wish Michael and all the Olympics athletes the best in their future endeavors.’

 

Back home, Sport Magazine today celebrates its 100^th issue by publishing a list of its 100 greatest sporting moments.

I have to admit, the prospect of Sport Magazine coming to London in 2007 hardly filled me with a sense of great anticipation.

Given the amount of sporting press coverage we already have in this country and having read the cr*p printed in other London free papers yet another magazine clogging up the Underground sounded like a step too far.

But since then the title, which won ‘Launch of the Year’ at the 2007 British Society of Magazine Editors awards, has managed to achieve standout in the very congested world of sports journalism.

It has also attracted blue-chip advertisers, such as Adidas, Nike, Lloyds TSB, Sony PlayStation, O2 and Ford, which is testament to the quality of the title and the appetite of Londoners for sport. It all bodes well for 2012.

Here’s Sport Magazine’s top 5…

1. Jonny Wilkinson, 2003, RWC Final drop goal
2. England win the 1966 world cup final
3. Sir Steve Redgrave wins 5^th Olympic Gold in Athens 2004
4. Liverpool win the 2005 Champions League
5. England regain the Ashes 2005

Let me know what you think?

Betfair hoping to join great goal celebrations

Over the years there have been some memorable goal celebrations which are remembered long after anyone can recall the goal itself.

Today, we hear that Betfair is offering Premiership footballers the chance to pocket £10k Christmas bonus for doing the ‘world’s first commercial goal celebration'.

Betfair is promoting TaiKai – a new football prediction game – and will give £10k to the first Premiership footballer who celebrates a goal with the dance which begins in the famous Karate Kid Crane pose, followed by a kick and then some Karate chops to spell out the T and K of TaiKai.

The company has already issued a step-by-step guide to every Premier League footballer, agent and club.

Among my personal favourites are Peter Crouch’s ‘Robot’, the Klinsmann dive, the Brazil ’94 team’s cradle rocking celebration and Francesco Totti taking over the television camera to film the fans celebrating his goal during the Roma/Lazio derby is a special one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6LaHVO1FJs

Some celebrations are dreadful. Sucking your thumb (Tevez and Robinho) or sssshing the opposing fans are two ways of looking a total numpty. And some have been just plain tasteless – Mark Bosnich's Nazi salute at Tottenham was despicable and earlier this month David Norris of Ipswich Town was fined for making a ‘handcuffs’ gesture apparently in support of ex-Plymouth keeper Luke McCormick - jailed following the deaths of two children while drink driving.

So which are the best and worst goal celebrations of all time?

O2 shows the way

The economic downturn has put the spotlight on sponsorships ability to deliver genuine ROI like never before.

So, a deal that really caught my eye recenlty was O2's decision to sponsor the Academy music venues as well as any Live Nation event.

O2 has always sweated every drop from its assets and this latest deal adds breadth to its existing offering within music. As a music fan I may not switch my mobile operator simply due to priority ticketing and a free pint at one venue, The O2.

But if the same benefits apply not only to The O2 but also to the Wireless festivals, all 11 Academy venues and for that matter all Live Nation events it would certainly be tempting.

Racism is never a ‘bit of a joke’, Bernie

According to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone the racist abuse of Lewis Hamilton in the build up to last weeks Grand Prix finale was ‘a bit of a joke’. And he could not see ‘why people should have been offended by it’.

Can it get any worse for Carl Hayman?

You have to feel sorry for Carl Hayman.

The world’s best prop forward had several reasons (£££!) for signing for the Newcastle Falcons ahead of the 2007/08 rugby season. But he must be scratching his head at the moment.

The Falcons – who have sold England stars Matthew Tait and Toby Flood – are a pretty dire outfit, especially with the loss Jonny Wilkinson to injury yet again.

And had the 28 year-old remained in his native New Zealand he would still be an integral part of their preparations for the 2011 World Cup on home soil.

Instead the poor man finds himself dress in a pretty frock trying to flog a few family tickets for the team’s Guinness Premiership fixture against London Irish later this month.

Fair play to him and his team-mates for having a sense of humour to appear in the promotional campaign but surely this wasn’t what the big man signed up for!

(Hayman: top right)

Haka-ed off with the All Blacks (the New Zealand All Blacks that is)

The New Zealand All Blacks are threatening to sue Launceston RFC, after the National League Division 2 minnows tried to trademark the name, ‘Cornish All Blacks’.

Once upon a time the All Blacks were revered in this country and adopted as a second team for many followers of the 15-man code. But over the years the good will has all but evaporated and this ridiculous non-sense does them no favours.

Apparently the Cornish All Blacks have used the moniker since 1948 and the episode reminds me of the equally ludicrous attempts by Victoria Beckham to sue Peterborough United FC for selling merchandise carrying their nickname ‘The Posh’.

Launceston RFC president Tony Randel summed up my feelings on this matter perfectly when he said, ‘We were dismayed but unfortunately not surprised when the New Zealand RFU objected to this move.’

A cheaper way to sponsor 2012

Feeling the crunch but want a piece of London 2012 action? Then visit www.benumber1.co.uk

The other day while filming a piece for marketingmagazine.co.uk on the London 2012 Olympics a passer by shoved a business card into my hand which offers you the chance to ‘sponsor a British athlete for just £20 a year’. Bet BT, Lloyds et al wish they hadn’t been so hasty with those £50m deals now…

Actually, I don’t mean to be condescending. It strikes me as a pretty neat way to raise much needed funds for some of our less well supported athletes and give the public a way of becoming a true part of any success we hope to achieve in 2012.

The card appeals to ‘individuals and businesses to offer financial support to British Olympic, Paralympic and world champion hopefuls' and according the website, Be Number One athletes include the Yngling girls (Gold in Beijing), David Davies (Silver medallist swimmer) and world champion gymnast Beth Tweddle.

Beckham: More than just a clothes horse

So David Beckham will be worth £10m to AC Milan on his loan spell in January, according to Professor Simon Chadwick of Coventry University.

This seems a massive overstatement for such a short deal, the fact that AC Milan are not in the Champions League, there is no major international tournament this summer and given Beckham’s advancing years – and that Serie A is now a million miles from being a top European league. Furthermore, I’m sure Beckham will be reimbursed handsomely for his Italian adventure.

But while there is little doubt that Beckham has over the years added huge commercial value to any club, it is a pity that this is all the press seems to focus on.

The way people go on about it you’d have thought he did nothing more than set up a stall outside the ground to flog gear to willing punters.

Beckham has always given his all for club and country – often in the face of huge criticism – and I’m sure that will continue when he turns out for the Rossoneri in the New Year.