Mark Irving: When sport becomes a brand

Magpies fans pictured during the Hawkes Bay vs Taranaki, ITM Cup Rugby game at McLean Park Napier last month. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Mark Irving, advertising company director, on the dangers of treating sports as a brand or franchise.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." No arguments there. You could equally say, and you read it here first - "Hell hath no fury like a sports fan scorned." A trifle dramatic perhaps but you get the gist. Because as soon as administrators and advertising people start treating sports fans and the game as a brand, as in a brand of soap or cereal, all hell breaks loose.

Because they're not quite the same. Yes, you have some very dedicated consumers of brands such as Mac users or BMW drivers and yes there is dissatisfaction when there are even slight product changes but nothing compared to when administrators start taking for granted passionate sports supporters.

For many fans that have perhaps followed their team from a very young age, supporting their team can be one of the few pleasures they look forward to. So when administrators pull a swifty and try to merge two provincial rugby unions like Manawatu and Hawkes Bay or the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears, the results are disastrous.

In the New Zealand example, administrators underestimated the passions and difference in cultures between these proud neighbouring unions. What spawned were the Central Vikings and what one commentator described as the worst playing uniform in the history of New Zealand rugby. And that's saying something.

I love advertising as much as I love sport. But I feel uneasy about teams being called brands and franchises - even though in essence they are. I think once you start calling teams by these terms, it becomes a little clinical and sport isn't like that.

One of the reasons is that under the professional structure of some of our major sports, there are a whole host of volunteers giving their time umpiring, driving kids to games, coaches, umpires, scorers, bar and catering people plus a host of unpaid administrators. These people are doing it all for the love of the game or team, not the franchise or brand.

Sure, many sports in New Zealand are now following the professional model and various codes have to be run in a more businesslike manner. All I'm saying is, that you have to be mindful of the greater game and not just those at the top.

In New Zealand disgruntled fans tend to vent their frustration on talk back radio, rather than in the stands or on the sidelines. In the UK, football fans can be quite an organised and powerful voice. You only need to witness Manchester United's green and gold until it's sold campaign, where fans wear green and yellow scarves as opposed to the normal red, white and black colours we're used to.

Over in America, it's why Le Bron James basketball singlets are burned on the streets of Cleveland when he moves to another NBL club. For advertisers in New Zealand, we need to communicate with fans and supporters using the right terms and imagery.

The language used to communicate with basketball fans has a different feel to that of polo fans. And administrators need to be particularly wary of getting their prices right. It's not like 30 or even 20 years ago. The Kiwi sports fan, while passionate can be fickle. There's a lot to choose from out there and we need to get it right.


Mark Irving

Mark Irving is the Director of Range Advertising and Communications.