England’s early exit won’t deter sponsors
Brands will always want to tap into national pride for the team, say experts.
The England football team’s early exit from the FIFA World Cup won’t damage the brand’s appeal to sponsors, according to experts.
The side’s poor performance in South Africa will have a short-term effect on sponsors’ sales projections but won’t harm the FA’s ability to secure future sponsors, according to European Sponsorship Association chairman Karen Earl.
She says the early exit will obviously be disappointing to sponsors but adds: “People have short memories and will continue to want to get behind the team and show unity and national pride. Sponsors want to tap into that, and are in it for the long-term benefit.”
Pippa Collett, managing director of Sponsorship Consulting, agrees: “In the short term there will be a negative feeling in the country because of the team’s performance, but England has the Premier League, and therefore access to the best players, so we’re still in the top league of footballing nations.
“England has all to play for when it comes to sponsorship,” she says.
Elsewhere, team sponsor Carlsberg is expected to quietly wind up its campaign featuring England players and associated point-of-sale branding.
Retailers will adopt a more generic World Cup supporting stance and a Tesco spokesman says: “Most of our activity will go across to a ’World Cup party’ theme.”
England sponsor Nationwide is still in talks about renewing its package, with the building society expected to make a decision this week.
