The pitfalls of sponsorship: the Dulux Spurs debacle
Sponsorship is a tried and tested way to develop your brand’s persona. Basically, the idea being that the values associated with the sponsorship asset – be it a celebrity, event, sport or whatever – is transferred onto your organisation. Some organisations look for sponsorship assets that give them what they don’t have. A bank for example that is a bit staid may look for an association that can bring a bit of razzle, dazzle. Or sponsorship can be used to reinforce existing brand values. Rolex is an aspirational brand with a long-standing sponsorship connection to the upmarket sport of tennis.
This is the theory, of course, but something has just gone a bit awry with Dulux paints recently announced sponsorship of Tottenham Hotspur football club.
A marketing director for the company that owns Dulux said when announcing the sponsorship: “Our relationship with Tottenham Hotspur is a perfect synergy of two iconic British brands.” But within minutes of the announcement the Twitter trolls were at work and it became clear Dulux was anything but prepared.
It seems a bit of an odd sponsorship – where is the affinity?
It’s certainly got everyone talking about Dulux (and unfortunately, the Spurs trophy cabinet). On Friday morning the talk on BBC Breakfast was whether there was a need for Dulux to apologise. They have now done so. The initial Tweets by Dulux were quite cheeky but were then deleted and a quite formal apology followed. Spurs responded in good spirit saying that they were going to ‘gloss over it’.