The Lines Between Sport and Social Media Continue to Blur…

Aug. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- Sports sponsorship is big business.  Being a well known figure in the sporting world can attract attention from media of all types – particularly in today’s climate of instant social media.  Fans are becoming ever more involved in all aspects of their sporting heroes’ lives, engaging in conversations and keeping up to date with their every thought on sites such as Twitter.  This can play into the hands of lesser known figures as they seek to build up their public profile to make them attractive sponsorship figures – something ENS knows all about as a sports sponsorship agency.

The sports brands that are the most nimble when it comes to doing the unexpected are the smaller, hungrier ones; the likes of the FA, the PGA, Manchester United and the Boston Red Sox might well have significant sums of money in the bank but this has been generated by TV rights, sponsors and a barrage of other stakeholders who don’t appreciate their rights holder playing fast and loose with what they sold them. However, for organizations who deal in tens not hundreds of thousands, necessity is the mother of invention and that has treated sports fans to some very enjoyable sights. Here are a few of ENS’ favourites:

1.   A Raffle: Whilst not the first club to turn to a raffle as a sponsorship tool, AFC Bournemouth using one to award its stadium naming rights in 2009 was a first. Each ticket was priced at £495 with the snappily named Classic Eyes Eye Care Centre being the lucky company to be pulled out of the hat first

2.   I Bet that Worked:  In 2007 the Tongan Rugby World Cup team enjoyed patronage from bookmakers, Paddy Power. To celebrate, leading player Epeli Taione, changed his name to Paddy Power and dyed his hair green – a move his team mates planned to emulate. The IRB stepped in at the last minute to abort the stunt but Tongan fans responded en masse by donning green wigs during Tonga’s remaining matches

3.   What Sauce!: Whilst to many it seems like yesterday, back in 2005 snooker legend, Jimmy White, changed his name by deed poll to Jimmy Brown for the UK Masters. This move was prompted by HP Sauce and secured both the brand and Jimmy White / Brown a lot of media attention. Match commentators were less impressed and refused to acknowledge any change to the status quo

4.   Eye See What You Did There…: In a move of sheer genius, Specsavers initially became involved in sports sponsorship by offering a few, heavily criticised rugby referees discounted eye care. The idea soon took off with the brand signing a £1 million, three year deal with the WRU in 2002 and then a few years later, extending the relationship to the Scottish FA officials

5.   Bid or Buy It Now: British athlete, James Ellington, took a novel approach by placing himself on eBay in December 2011. Just 10 days later the sprinter secured £30,000 worth of funding courtesy of King of Shaves
Whilst all these activities had a sound bottom line rationale, the ensuing PR has done far more for those concerned than simply the sum of money that changed hands.  As a sports PR company,ENS (http://www.ensltd.com) knows just how valuable such publicity can be for attracting bigger fish in the world of sports sponsorship PR (http://www.ensltd.com/sports-sponsorship-pr).

What was the cleverest piece of commercial sports activity that you have seen?