It's goodbye from me & Happy Christmas

After five years I am leaving Marketing to pursue a career in the world of rugby 7s.

While I'm sad to be leaving marketing, it’s an exciting time for rugby 7s following the IOC’s decision to include the sport in the Olympics from 2016 while the IRB’s World Series is going from strength to strength.

Next summer sees the launch of the UK’s first National Sevens Series. The series will take place over four tournaments – London, Bath, Manchester and Newquay – and I’m delighted to be a part of it.

Our event, RugbyRocks London 7s, is on Saturday 12 June and will feature the National Series, several open 7s tournaments, kids coaching, music and England’s opening game of the 2010 World Cup on outdoor screens. The evening will end with a headline music act that we will announce in early 2010.

My colleague here at Marketing, Joe Thomas, will be picking up all things sports in future although I will continue to write my blog at www.rugbyrocks7s.com once our site goes live at the end of this month. For now you can follow us @rugbyrocks7s on Twitter.

So, thanks very much for reading this blog (Jezza!) and a very Merry Christmas!

Sports 'Personality' of the Year 2009

The BBC is gearing up for its annual Sports Personality of the Year, a misnomer if ever there was one (characters such as Nigel Mansell, Jonathan Edwards and Michael Owen have won this award remember) 

It's been a good year for British sport so it should be worth a watch. We should be grateful - after all it was only three years ago that a royal won the award for a bit of show jumping. That was a real low. 

The 2009 honour will surely go to one of two people: David Haye, WBA World Heavyweight Boxing Champion or Jenson Button, Formula 1 World Champion.

If the event had anything to do with personality, my vote would be for Eddie Izzard - 43 marathons in 51 days. David Walliams got a 'Special Achievement Award' for swimming the channel in 2006 so I'd imagine Izzard will get one too.

Who will you vote for?

Ludicrous media hysteria follows 'Le hand of Frog'

What happened to Ireland on Wednesday was hard to watch. But the reaction by the players, fans and media has gone too far.

Henry Winter calling for Thierry Henry to be banned for the finals is a ludicrous over-reaction that you would expect from an irate fan after a couple of beers, not from a respected football journalist. Remember that horrible little winker Ronaldo getting Rooney sent off in 2006? It was pretty awful and Ronaldo got booed not banned.

The Times has also reacted hysterically. 'Sleight of hand couuld cost Henry a fortune as luctractive sponsorship deals slip from his grasp' it claims. Two reporters it would seem worked on this utterly pointless story, which also claims the handball could hamper a proposed move to New York Red Bulls (whoever they are) next year. Again, total rubbish.

Calls for a replay are equally ridiculous. If you had a replay for every time a player cheated to win a game we would probably still be contesting the 1993/94 Premier League season.

Ireland did not fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup because of Thierry Henry. They failed because they did not secure automatic qualification from their group - when that happens you enter a bit of a lottery (albeit a lottery that FIFA had skewed in the favour of the bigger nations).

Thierry Henry cheated - as most professional players do every single week - but it was FIFA that inexplicably changed the qualification system at the last minute.

If the Irish really want to pursue this issue, they should go after FIFA on those grounds rather than poor officiating or a cheating Frenchman.

Getting the best view in the house

It’s happened to us all. You walk out into the stadium - the pitch before you, the players warming up as kick-off approaches.

A friendly steward glances at your ticket and points you on your way. Before you know it you’re stat up in the Gods with a nose bleed squinting at the pitch now resembling a postage stamp. You wish you’d just watched it on the telly.

Fear no more, today I was sent a press release about new online product by V Haus that will help fans chose their seats by enabling them to check the view from every single seat in the house… although presumably not those on the subs bench.

As well as showing fans the location of the stadium in relation to the local transport links, the city centre etc. the tool will also enable clubs to sell sponsorship by showing prospective partners how the ground would look with their logo.

Ever wondered where the 'prawn sandwich' brigade disappear to at half-time? The tool also enables clubs to sell corporate hospitality by giving a virtual tour of the stadium’s dining facilities.

Check out the link http://enter3d.de/movies/

Mixed report from Twickenham: England & O2 have an off day, Nike raise a smile, while Investec's sponsorship activation is just odd

The less said about England performance against Argentina on Saturday the better. So moving on...

I have often praised O2 for its market leading sponsorship strategy and execution, but not on this occasion.

Nope, today I have a headache which I'm sure is in some part attributable to O2s decision to hand out free whistles. Please don't do that again, it was awful.

Saturday was so cold that I think I must have grown delirious. I even thought I saw a herd of ‘Investec' zebra doing a saucy dance at pitch side. Surely sports marketing hasn't got that daft...?? Or had it?...

Well done though to England kit supplier Nike for a sneaky bit of branding.

Thousands of England fans proudly held cards above their heads before kick-off, no doubt thinking they would make up a St George's Cross or a rose or something equally patriotic.

Instead the card to reveal a giant ‘Swoosh'. Love it.

Those cards were soon turned into paper aeroplanes for general chucking about and keeping the crowd entertained.

Anyone that has played 'Super Punch-Out' on the Super NES knows Haye put on a boxing masterclass

As a boy one of my favourite video games was Super Punch-Out - still the best boxing game ever made in my opinion.

In it you battled increasingly difficult, and unfeasibly enormous, opponents including clowns, farmers, kick-boxers (rather unfairly) and traditional boxers.

A simple game - when they clobbered you, it really hurt and when you caught them it had little impact. You had to duck, move and sneak in a punch when the moment presented itself.

Which brings me to David Haye vs. Nikolai Valuev (or David and Goliath as it was dubbed on Sky Sports).

Every expert in the land had their say before the fight, but in reality nobody had a clue how it would turn out. How could they? No fighter had ever given up seven stone to an opponent before.

After a couple of rounds my genuine concern for Haye's safety was replaced by opptimism that he could slay the beast. The only detracting factor was Sky's Jim Watt's insistance, seemingly from the first round, that Haye should be more agressive. Wrong!

Ricky Hatton tried that in Vegas two years ago against Floyd Mayweather Jnr, and again against Manny Pacquaio - both ended with 'The Hitman' ending up on the canvass. While Valuev was swiping at thin air there was no danger of Haye losing this one.

Apparently, Super Punch-Out is now available on the Nintendo Wii. I'll send Watt a copy for Christmas.

I know where I'll be next St George's Day (or at least the day after)

St George’s Day has taken on a depressingly repetitive pattern.

Each year, almost everyone I know is in full agreement that as a country we should do more to celebrate St George’s Day. ‘We should be more like the Irish’, someone will say and everyone will agree.

Someone like Fullers or Marston’s will raise our spirits with a patriotic campaign and a few of us in the office will trot down to Latymers (our excellent local) for a free pint or two. But that’s about it.

Next year, sees the launch of the St Georges Day Game at Twickenham, a league fixture between London Wasps and Bath Rugby, finally giving us a celebration worthy of our patron saint.

The game takes place on 24 April, the day after St George’s Day, and will raise money for the armed forces which is, I hope you’ll, agree another good reason to come along.

Wasps are hoping brands will share their sense of patriotism and have hired Bamboo Marketing Communications to source sponsors to the event which aims to sell out Twickenham and will be repeated annually.

Thierry Henry is world's best, says Castrol Performance Index. But is football that measurable?

Thierry Henry is the world’s best footballer.

At least that is the case according to FIFA World Cup 2010 sponsor Castrol through its Castrol Performance Index, ‘the world’s first truly objective football rankings system’.

The French international is followed by clubmate Leo Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (isn’t it lovely not having him in the Premier League anymore btw?).

The list looks fairly credible, until you scroll down the list to number 10 and find Claudio Pizarro.

Pizarro, who wasn’t even the 10^th best player in the Chelsea squad during him time in England, has either undergone a phenomenal transformation during his return to Germany or the Bundesliga is, well, crap. It’s the latter, isn’t it?

That said, I find Pizarro’s baffling inclusion reassuring. While it makes interesting reading – and fair play to Castrol for sparking the debate – it just goes to show that not everything in sport in quantifiable, which for me is part of its magic.

Here’s the list in full;

1. Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
4. Garard Pique (Barcelona)
5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
6. Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale)
7. Rafael Marquez (Barcelona)
8. Luca Toni (Bayern Munchen)
9. Carlos Puyol (Barcelona)
10. Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)

Great band, Great brand: Kasabian Football Hero with Umbro

Umbro has done a great job reinventing itself recently - the launch of the new England football kit has, in my opinion, been a great success.

This tie up with Kasabian, for the launch of their new single Underdog, is another great piece of marketing for the football brand.

Check out the making of the video here: Umbro

I should say that I didn't find this video myself but pinched it from Jonathan Hume's excellent blog, so thanks to him.

Newcastle's relegation was quite funny, but selling the naming rights to St James' is one kick in the groin too far

I have little sympathy for Newcastle United. 

It's not that I particularly have anything against the club, but like many I'm bored of being told that Newcastle fans are the most loyal and best in the land. And the club is rivalled only by Tottenham Hotspur for its delusions of grandeur.

Losing its shirt sponsor Northern Rock, the depature of club favourite Kevin Keegan as manager and then being relegated made the 2008/09 season one to forget. News that the club is considering selling the naming rights for St James Park is another blow for the club's fans in my opinion.

In an ideal world few fans would want their sacred ground renamed after a consumer brand, but in some cases fans can accept the club selling naming rights when it makes commercial sense. When Arsenal moved from Highbury it made sense to sell the naming rights to its new ground to Emirates. Firstly, the airline is paying around £100m for the priviledge and secondly, Arsenal's spiritual home was Highbury, not Ashburton Grove.

When it comes to naming rights there appear to be two simple rules. Only bring on a naming rights partner for a new stadium and keep the name short. So, buying the naming right to St James is not a great deal for brand owners and I doubt any will be daft enough to pay the vast sums of money that will justify the decision to Newcastle's fans.

The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium and The BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium were always destined to fail as branding excercises. Emirates, The O2 and The Ricoh Arena are far better and effective naming rights properties.

When changing the brand name just isn't enough

Once upon a time the England rugby team was called the England rugby team. The reserves were called 'England B', just like we had at school.

Then they became 'England A', which I guess was a promotion of sorts and then they became the truely terrifying 'England Saxons'.

Not to be outdone, the bigger boys chosen for the first team were rebranded as the Elite Player Squad which means that they must be jolly good.

Except they're not. Despite all the rest given to the players to guard against injury and basically being a bit knackered out, poor old Martin Johnson has had to unveil his latest squad unable to call upon no fewer than 21 injured players. The unfortunate situation has seen the likes of uncapped 35 year-old prop forward Duncan Bell called into the squad; a wonderful blend of age and inexperience.

It may be a long winter.

If you want you're own cool nickname in order to appear much better than you actually are The National Basketball Association (NBA) may have the solution. The NBA offers its fans the chance to generate their own nicknames through its online nickname generator, mine is Ed 'The Human Doormat' Kemp. Ouch.

Smutty viral campaign: Shame on you England for agreeing to this

If the aim of a viral campaign is simply to get people talking about your brand while keeping costs to a minimum then this campaign by BMI to promote its association with England rugby does the job. But it can't do much for the brand.

The tacky clips are preceded with inuendos such as 'Watch BMI stewardess perform with a hooker' and 'BMI stewardesses perform with England rugby studs'. Needless to say the videos aren't as saucy as some viewers may have hoped but are rather tame gags.

Don't take my word for it. Check them out at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/News/945875/

As a rugby fan I'm glad BMI are supporting into the sport, but surely they can do better than this. Principle England sponsor O2, for example, has leveraged its assocation with England though activity such as 'Scrum in the Park' and an excellent viral campaign called 'stare out'.

Guilt free boozing right through til Christmas

At Marketing our first agency Christmas party took place a fortnight ago. And for many of us the next month or two the liver will take more of a pounding than the running shoes, but it's all just part of the training...

Next May sees the sixth annual Marathon de Blaye Cote de Bordeaux. Like any marathon its 42km of hurt, but en-route you stop at 20 wine stations for a glass of red or white. I doubt your doctor would agree but in order to beat the 6 hour time limit you'll need to get some boozing in shapish to build up enough resistance.

We've got some great events in the UK, but do we have any that can match this one!?

We should find out shortly as the Sport Industry Awards has announced its revamped awards ceremony with three new award categories, including Sport Participation Event of the Year.

My vote would go to the Marketing Industry Triathlon. You've got until 11 December to get your entries in. Last year's event saw appearances from Joe Calzaghe, Jenson Button and James DeGale among others. Next years event on 13 May should prove even more spectacular.

Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Chelsea become London United

London's top football clubs have launched a viral campaign today to promote England's bid to host the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

Most major cities have two significant football teams - AC Milan/Inter Milan, Liverpool/Everton, Celtic/Rangers and so on. But London is exceptional.

The Premiership is usually made up of at least 5 London clubs - ie. 25%, while another eight or nine clubs populate the Championship and Leagues One and Two.

I've always thought London United would hammer anyone in Europe. But who would be in the first 11?

For me it would be:

Green, Sagna, Terry, Carvahlo, Cole, Lampard, Fabregas, Arshavin, Essien, Van Persie, Drogba.

Sorry Spurs fans.

Anyway, check out the video on marketingmagazine.co.uk

Fragmented telly market sees England U21s punted out to Chelsea TV... or have overexposure finally made us lose interest?

Following football is becoming an increasingly difficult past-time. It seems that at every turn there an additional cost or subscribtion to get a piece of the action.

Putting aside the fact that ticket prices in the UK are well above anywhere else in Europe, watching football on the telly used to be straight forward; pop on the telly or head down the local. Then Sky came along, which was an expenditure I could afford and then Setanta which was irritating and didn't seem worth the £12.99 extra cost to my Sky bill.

They came and went, and were replaced by ESPN - which given the other sports on offer seems like a reasonable offer at £10 a month. But then we find out England are to play online and in cinemas which is a little odd but I guess I could stump up another £4.99 or £11.99 if I really wanted to.

Now I find out that England U21s are playing on Chelsea TV. That'll be another £5.87. Sadly, I used to have Chelsea TV but watching the Youth Team, the Ressies and the couple of exclusive interviews that end up on Sky Sports News ten minutes later lost its appeal pretty quickly.

Could it be that finally we are getting a little bored of non-stop football coverage? That no broadcaster (not even Five) was willing to make a decent bid to show Ukraine vs. England, or that the U21s are no longer a draw suggest that could be the case.

Sky has for years now overhyped football - Super Sunday!... is West Ham vs. Birmingham City super in anyones book? - and the tabloids sports pages talk of little else. But sometimes less is more...

For me it's getting too expensive and I'm losing the will to work out whose playing where and when... or even why! I'm going to get a life.