Vodafone rings changes without sentiment in quest for global power
Posted in News on Thursday February 9th, 2006 12:08pm
Peter Bamford, Vodafone’s chief marketing officer, in The Guardian:
Bamford says there was a neat symmetry to Vodafone’s links to the Old Trafford club. “When we started with Manchester United Vodafone was still largely a UK-based business with a growing set of international interests. Manchester United fitted very well at that point as a very big sporting brand, a UK-based team with quite a good international fan base. It fitted us at that point of time.” But he said sponsorship of the Champions League offered full European exposure and a wider global marketing platform. “It is part of the evolution from a UK-based business to a multi-national one.”
Although Vodafone may keep a smaller-scale link with Manchester United, the ending of the shirt sponsorship contract was a blow to a club already troubled by the turmoil caused by Malcolm Glazer’s controversial takeover. Bamford denies fans’ protests were a factor: “We understood the concerns of some groups of fans about it but our decision was based on the opportunity for us to move on to something more European and global.”
The Champions League, with its exposure in 227 countries and four billion viewers a season, certainly represents a bigger platform for Vodafone’s ambitions. Sponsorship experts are increasingly questioning the value of simpler forms of branding, such as 24 square inches of logo on Wayne Rooney’s chest, but Bamford insists: “It’s definitely always been about more than that. The really important thing is how you activate the sponsorship. It is the degree to which sponsorship is used in advertising, promotional activities, competitions, internal opportunities for staff and hospitality is an important part of the mix.”
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