torquer
07-27-2012, 09:31 AM
In the business section, for once:
Nearly a week before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, the first gold of the summer was handed out on the streets of Paris.
So say executives of British Sky Broadcasting, the pay-television company that sponsors the Sky bicycle- racing team — one of whose riders, Bradley Wiggins, on Sunday took home the yellow jersey as the winner of the Tour de France. It was not just an athletic triumph but also a marketing coup for BSkyB, whose principal owner is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Brand Republic, a British Web site about marketing, called it “a game-changing stroke of marketing and sporting genius,” saying few other brands had achieved so much return on their sponsorship investment, especially in relatively low-profile sports like cycling.
It also helped, of course, that things went the right way for Sky on the back roads of France.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/business/global/bskyb-strikes-gold-with-tour-de-france-sponsorship.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=team%20sky&st=Search
Always good news for the sport when sponsorship is rewarded, but I'm still sceptical about the return on investment for most sponsors. I suspect Sky's success was a one-shot deal, with the stars (Tour, Olympics, Cav, Wiggo) aligning. But good news nonetheless.
Nearly a week before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, the first gold of the summer was handed out on the streets of Paris.
So say executives of British Sky Broadcasting, the pay-television company that sponsors the Sky bicycle- racing team — one of whose riders, Bradley Wiggins, on Sunday took home the yellow jersey as the winner of the Tour de France. It was not just an athletic triumph but also a marketing coup for BSkyB, whose principal owner is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Brand Republic, a British Web site about marketing, called it “a game-changing stroke of marketing and sporting genius,” saying few other brands had achieved so much return on their sponsorship investment, especially in relatively low-profile sports like cycling.
It also helped, of course, that things went the right way for Sky on the back roads of France.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/business/global/bskyb-strikes-gold-with-tour-de-france-sponsorship.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=team%20sky&st=Search
Always good news for the sport when sponsorship is rewarded, but I'm still sceptical about the return on investment for most sponsors. I suspect Sky's success was a one-shot deal, with the stars (Tour, Olympics, Cav, Wiggo) aligning. But good news nonetheless.