Drink up, it's time to cash in on the Cup

By SIMON HENDERY marketing writer

As the World Cup reaches its climax with a sponsor-satisfying north-meets-south final this weekend, Sydney has become a branding corral.

Everyone, not just the International Rugby Board's official sponsors, wants to be in the spotlight that is shining on Australia.

The Australian Rugby Union may have been able to provide the IRB with sponsor-friendly "clean" stadiums (an unmeetable criterion in New Zealand that cost the Rugby Union its co-hosting rights), but away from the playing arenas, it is open slather.

Visa is one of the cup's eight main sponsors but rugby fans queuing to clear immigration at congested Sydney airport last weekend spent longer than they would have liked staring at a giant billboard for rival American Express.

Other examples of brand hijacking are evident around Sydney.

And while the tactic makes companies outside the cup feel they are doing their bit to muscle in on the action, those on the inside are at least publicly happy with the results of their expensive investment in the sporting spectacle.

The cup's main sponsors - Heineken, Coca-Cola, Visa, Qantas, British Airways, Telstra, Suncorp, Bundaberg Rum (owned by British drinks giant Diageo) and Peugeot - have reportedly each spent between $5 million and $8 million to be involved.

That excludes the millions more each is spending on television and other advertising, and on hospitality.

The investments are significant, but so are the potential returns.

The last World Cup, in 1999, attracted 3.1 billion viewers in the 209 countries where it was broadcast.



Other companies with sponsorship links to rugby, but which have found themselves locked out of the stadiums, have also been spending up large.

An example is Lion Nathan, a leading sponsor of the All Blacks through its Steinlager brand.

The company ran an All Blacks-focused series of television commercials during the cup without mentioning the event.

Keeping its Steinlager brand in front of the public during the cup is vital for Lion because rival DB Breweries is getting significant exposure for Heineken, which it brews in New Zealand under licence and which has an important place in the premium end of its portfolio of brands.

In Sydney, Heineken has extended its cup sponsorship activities to include themed bars and celebrity rugby greats who know how to pour a beer and tell a tale.

Darling Harbour's Watershed Hotel is one of several bars in the city decked out in Heineken paraphernalia and swarming with beer-drinking rugby fans during the tournament.

Last weekend, former Wallaby Tim Horan and Welsh league and union double international Jonathan Davies stopped by at the upmarket pub to engage visiting New Zealand journalists with their insights on the cup and their roles as Heineken "ambassadors" for the game.

When Horan jokes that the pair were chosen for the jobs based on "how quickly we can scull a pint", Heineken's international sponsorship manager, Lizzy Younghusband, is quick to respond that it was because of their ability "to get close to" and relate well with beer drinkers.

Younghusband, who is British but is based in Amsterdam for Heineken, says it "took quite a long time" to convince her Dutch directors that they should sponsor a rugby tournament.

One fact which would have worked in her favour is that while the beer is sold in more than 150 countries, 30 per cent of it is drunk in the top eight rugby playing nations.

Like all the cup's major sponsors, Heineken says it is not simply looking for immediate sales growth as an indication of return on investment.

Brand exposure and reinforcing brand values and loyalty are just as important, it say.

Younghusband says Heineken's different markets will use the international exposure in diverse ways, although the overriding strategy is to link the "world-class event" with its "world-class beer".

Rugby appeals to an upmarket sector of society, and there is a premium skew in the beer drinking market, which fits Heineken's target market as a premium international beer, she says.

The marketing campaign starts with a global communication platform for the packaging, advertising and public relations activity around the cup, which each market then uses to create local activities to support it and make the message relevant for its audience.

While the sponsorship is aimed mainly at increasing sales and market share for Heineken, it is also intended to build brand loyalty - the theory being that drinkers stick with a beer brand which receives high exposure.

The sponsorship also rewards customer loyalty, Younghusband says, in ways such as making rugby ambassadors Horan and Davies available at pubs and functions.

And while the Business Herald can vouch that both men are top blokes, New Zealand Heineken drinkers still in Sydney this week may prefer to seek out a pint poured by the affable Welshman Davies.

The other guy - charming though he may be - is still an Australian.

* Simon Hendery travelled to the World Cup as a guest of DB Breweries and Heineken.

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