Is anyone really surprised?
I mean, here we have a product that refuses to change with the times. My biggest problem is this – rugby heads forget that their game is a PRODUCT. A product that competes in the ‘entertainment space’ for your money and mine.
Rugby is no different to a product you buy in the supermarket. I don’t care how strong the brand is, how long it’s been around, how much tradition it has behind it or how many loyal customers it has. If that product doesn’t adapt and evolve over time then its competition will eat it up.
Can you imagine if Nokia stopped developing their technology? What if after building their first handset they chose to sit back for the next 50 years with the same mobile phone? Oh but that’s like comparing apples to oranges you say, or is it? Nokia would have died a quick death due to the nature of technology and the type of product but let’s be honest, rugby isn’t that much different, it’s just dying a much slower death.
Unlike most products and services, sports have the luxury of moving at a much slower pace when it comes to developing their product. Massive overhauls are not required. Sports can survive with just a few subtle changes here and there.
Rugby League is constantly reviewing and tweaking its game and cricket has embraced 20/20 so it appears some sports get it. Rugby doesn’t. It has too big an ego to look itself in the mirror and admit it has a problem.
Shame, because consumers deserve better. They deserve to buy into a product that constantly strives to be the best.
PS. Thanks to everyone who filled out the brief survey. Appreciate your responses.
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.
