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Thoughts On Liverpool's Takeover?


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I found this article quite interesting, it's written by the guy who arranged Arsenals sponsorship with o2 Paul Samuels.

 

When I was at O2, people said we were mad to stop sponsoring Arsenal. Then Vodafone did the same with Manchester United.

 

We started looking at sponsorship as something more than just branding. The idea of leveraging a sponsorship deal to give our customers something tangible that our rivals' customers couldn't get seemed a very powerful tool.

 

The potential for this type of branding was behind the renaming of the Millennium Dome to 'The O2'. The first time I saw the potential of The O2 was on a visit to the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. It was built in a completely derelict part of the city and is now one of the greatest music and sports venues in the world. Now, as The O2 is set to become the biggest music venue in Europe, we are looking at potential benefits to O2 customers – fast-track entry and exclusive content are just the beginning.

 

We have already started leveraging our existing sponsorship deals. At the rugby last month, any O2 customers attending the match were given the opportunity of a free pie and a pint. At the O2 Wireless festival last year, we had a special VIP area and faster queues for O2 customers.

 

The value from sticking your name on a football shirt doesn't really justify the outlay for the big mobile brands any more. Basic brand recognition is for a certain stage in a company's growth. Look at the big sponsorship deals in the summer – AIG, an insurance group for Manchester United, and Spurs' deal with the online gambling company, Mansion. They are companies who want people to know who they are.

 

Established companies in general need to be far more creative with spending their marketing budget. 'Brand ownership' is the biggest change I've seen in the six years I've been at O2.

 

Virgin's V festival, Orange owning cinema visits on a Wednesday or O2 taking control of the former Millennium Dome are the best examples so far. Red Bull's extreme sports events and the Innocent smoothie festival are other examples. Both completely own an event, they dictate the branding and, rather than just pour money into an event, they are gradually building properties that become assets in themselves. They can get to a point where they sell sponsorship to others and use it as an additional source of revenue – although that's not the primary motive.

 

You know you have succeeded in taking total ownership when you hear Arsene Wenger talk about the 'Emirates Stadium' on Match of the Day. Emirates are leveraging that sponsorship well by

offering tickets to games for people who fly with them on certain routes.

 

It is light years from the first naming rights contracts, where our previous brand, BT Cellnet, had a naming rights proposal from Middlesbrough. This was before discussions on how to retain customers and encourage them to use more services. It went along the lines of: 'Okay, for a certain amount of extra cash, we'll bung in the stadium as well.'

 

For people who say naming rights discredit the football club or the music festival, I would say: ask the punter if they prefer a sponsor that can enhance the experience or a more expensive ticket price?

 

With the herd mentality in the industry, every mobile operator is now investing in similar properties to prove its music credentials. The pressure is on to find the next big thing. At O2 we moved away from Big Brother when we thought it wasn't fresh anymore. The company that can get hold of the next big thing will be at a considerable advantage - the only problem is that it requires risk to get ahead of the pack. But the potential rewards from owning that 'next big thing' are limitless.

 

I would not object to seeing o2 emblazoned on our shirt and it would make sense because most kopite fans have an Orange phone because of the Liverpool deal with Orange. Im not one for corporate stadium naming but what Paul Samuels says in this article makes sense and with the club planning to move to a 'derelict part of the city' it could be a very good move for all involved.. Welcome to the o2 Arena.

 

Someone write to Amanda Jennings (brand manager at o2) and ask her thoughts! ;)

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Australia ahs falllen in love with the naming rights $$$.

 

Many corp named stadiums if not all From insurance to telecom's.

 

Our local is callled Suncorp Stadium. However it ahd been Lang Park for 80 yrs prior to re fit & everyone still calls it Lang Park.

 

example list of some of the major oz stadium (re) names.

 

AAMI ( Insurance ) Stadium

 

ACER ( infotech) Arena

 

Aussie Stadium ( Aussie are home loans)

 

Bob Jane (tyres) Stadium

 

Blue Tongue (Beer Brand) Stadium

 

Telstra Stadium ( Telecom)

 

Telstra Dome ( Telecom)

 

Toyota Park

 

Vodafone Arena

 

Win ( Tv Group) Stadium

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The name of a new stadium, and by that I mean what it ends up being called by everyone, really depends on whether the sponsorship is for the full name or not. For example the BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium, is and has always been known amongst the media and fans as the Riverside, similarly the Friends Provident St Marys Stadium is only ever called St Mary's, whereas with stadiums called simply the Reebok stadium or the Emirates stadium, you have no choice.

 

From a Liverpool point of view, I would be happy to see a big sponsor pour money into us so long as they don't get the entire name. For example the Adidas Stanley Park Stadium would only ever get called Stanley Park, which is a great name for a footy ground IMO, and who cares if it has a few logos on the outside it will be full of corporate logos and advertising inside the ground anyway, all grounds are.

 

Speaking of stadiums, I was looking around this forum and noticed a lot of you drooling over the AOL arean in Germany, indeed the club themselves are looking at Germany for inspiration, so I read. My personal favourite in Germany is Dortmunds Westfalen Stadium, I'll attempt to post some pics of it below, thats almost exactly what I would like our new stadium to look like (on the inside at least). The only alterations I would like is the roof replaced with a more asthetic one. And red seats obviously. The steep single tier behind the goals are great, and the whole place looks intimidating as hell, the atmosphere must be immense.

 

Dortmund-01.jpg

Dortmund-02.jpg

Dortmund-03.jpg

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