It’s that time again when Tennis fever takes over the
country for Wimbledon Fortnight.
Like most professional sports today the star players have to
learn good salesmanship.
There is much we can learn in selling from how the
professional selling stars approach their game.
There come onto court not with one racquet but a bag full.
Babolat, Dunlop, Wilson, Head, Prince, Slazenger, Mantis,
Tecnifibre Pro Kennex are emblazoned on the bags to be picked up on the
television, press and sports photography.
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Jaguar and Land Rover will supply 170 luxury and
high
performance vehicles to support tournament operations.
The new Jaguar XE and
XF, as well as successful
XF Sportbrake and XJ models
will be seen in London at
this year’s Championships.
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The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England,
in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis".
Sponsorship at Wimbledon can be an effective way to raise brand awareness
and increase sales. However, it is not without its pitfalls The recent comments made by coach Boris Becker have led to an on
court coaching controversy. When the point was put to him yesterday, Djokovic
argued that this is a judgement call, and that some interaction between a player
and his support staff was natural and acceptable, so long as it did not become
“regular”.
The advantages of sponsorship in one’s marketing communication in an event like Wimbledon include
The advantages of sponsorship in one’s marketing communication in an event like Wimbledon include
1.
Brand enhancement –
tying up with another individual, event, or organisation that has a strong
reputation can enhance your company’s reputation simply by association
2.
Awareness raising –
your brand name will gain visibility and be included in media coverage e.g. English wine we are told is to be served at
Wimbledon this year for the first time in the tennis tournament’s 138-year
history. Pinot Gris 2014, from the Bolney Wine Estate in East Sussex, will be
offered to tennis fans throughout the 2015 tournament.
3.
Access to niche markets
– sponsorship can enable entry into a niche market if you link up a brand that
already has a reputation in that market
4.
Generate or increase sales
– this could be directly e.g. selling your product at the event you have
sponsored, or indirectly – a positive change in audience attitude or awareness
leads to purchase
5.
Cost effective –
sponsorship can be more cost effective than mainstream advertising
There are also risks of sponsorship to consider
Negative image association
– as highlighted in the examples above, a sponsorship deal can give out
negative messages e.g. if the sports individual you are sponsoring is caught
cheating or there is crowd trouble though it is doubtful that the mob on Murray
Mount would turn nasty but...
Lack of control – many
of the variables for example weather rain in the first week of Wimbledon can cause
havoc with the scheduling effecting media coverage, attendances etc. The forecast this are for extreme heat for a change !
Sponsorship confusion –
an overload of sponsors, normally at high-profile events such as Wimbledon, can turn off the target audience
and ensure that no one sponsor stands out
Ambush marketing – ‘the
practice whereby another company, often a competitor, attempts to deflect some
of the audience to itself and away from the sponsor’
The key to maximising sponsorship success is to have a clear
and focused objective at the outset and
ensure that the sponsorship deal you select has the best possible fit to match
your objective.
One of this year's key sponsors Jaguar has been building luxury cars in
Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922,
originally making motorcycle sidecars before developing passenger cars. The
name was changed to "Jaguar" after World War II to avoid the
unfavourable connotations of the SS initials
he Swallow Sidecar company (SSC) was originally located in
Blackpool but moved to Holbrook Lane, Coventry in 1928 when demand for the
Austin Swallow became too great for the factory's capacity.[51] In 1951, having
outgrown the original Coventry site they moved to Browns Lane, which had been a
wartime "shadow factory" run by The Daimler Company. Today, Jaguars
are assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham.
The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two
exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the
ground at all times, and the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s.
A recent
addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review
technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to
contest the line call of a point.
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Laura Schwab, UK Marketing Director at Jaguar Land Rover,
said: “Wimbledon is a British icon, which is recognised globally
as the pinnacle of international sport. There’s no other event like it.
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The four Grand Slam tournaments are especially popular: the
Australian Open played on hard Plexicushion
courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on
grass courts, and the US Open played also on
Decoturf hard courts.
“The tournament captures our imagination in different ways. For some it’s the feeling of summer, but for others it’s British sport at its best. We’re very excited to be working with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to establish our new partnership and celebrate what makes Wimbledon so special.”
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| Window display in Farnham Surrey for an opticians with simple associations of Wimbledon fortnight with tennis balls and strawberries - the gentlest of association marketing |
