KFC is one of Australian Cricket’s biggest sponsors and at a time of year when families traditionally look for easy lunch/dinner options, KFC’s summer sponsorship makes a lot of sense. They do a great job in supporting the sport and have leveraged the 20/20 matches particularly well. However their TV campaign depicting Aussie cricketers as ravenous chicken feeders does raise some debate about how sponsors can influence an athlete’s brand positioning. Remember, athletes are brands too; they have characteristics and values that greatly enhance their attractiveness to sponsors. For example, Michael Clarke is a future test captain in waiting, people respect his maturity and leadership qualities, his work for charity, his commitment to his family and his brand is one of integrity, glamour and admiration. This is why a blue chip brand such as Bonds sponsor Clarke. I wonder how they feel about his portrayal in the KFC advertisements? A bit of a laugh, some harmless fun? Maybe, but it is a grey area in the world of individual sponsorship. One brand works hard to strengthen its alignment with the values of an athlete only to be gazumped by another sponsor with a totally different image and strategy. I imagine most non team sponsors of Australian cricketers are happy to sit back and watch their guys feature in a massive media buy that generates enormous awareness and doesn’t cost them a thing……as long as their own marketing strategy isn’t compromised that is.
Tags: advertising, Cricket, kfc, marketing, Michael Clarke
Fascinating write-up, will probably be pretty practical for my thesis – Ricky