An article published in Marketing Week 18th December 2003
It was disappointing to see Marketing Week so anti-rugby (MW December 11, 2003). Both Nick Higham and George Pitcher took a negative stance towards the game in the long term. Both made the point that England's World Cup victory shouldn't be made too much of. What's interesting is that people within the game also recognise that this current interest shouldn't be over-hyped. Yes, there are more kids turning up to play - by extrapolating my own local club's experience, about 50,000 extra players across the country - and spectator interest in the Zurich Premiership and Heineken Cup is soaring. But most of us involved in the game know that much of this current surge in interest will abate. What we want is steady progress and matching financial support from brand owners.The game needs a measured approach to managing this new-found popularity. Rugby is not soccer - remember Sven Goran Eriksson is paid 23 times what Clive Woodward earns, and no rugby club could replicate the financial mess of Leeds United. Soccer's Euro 2004 will dwarf the Rugby World Cup when it comes to media interest. But the entry price for brand owners to soccer at this level is more than proportionately higher. Rugby is a game with intrinsic athletic appeal, a phenomenal approach to discipline and a strong and growing core of supporters. It's also a game that is financially solvent, from the headquarters at Twickenham right down to local club level.
If you were a major brand owner looking at your sports marketing options, in a strategic sense, you could do worse than divert some of your marketing spend away from soccer, tennis and Formula One and towards rugby. Brand owners need to think of a longer-term partnership with the game - successfully demonstrated by O2 and Tetley's at the top of the game - from the England Scotland, Wales and Ireland team all the way down to the grass roots. At the simple level, as a brand owner, would you rather be associated with the juvenile theatrics and failure of England's soccer team, or the dedication and success of rugby?
