Is it right that alcohol firms can sponsor sport?

Last month the FA announced it was ending its association with sponsor EON for the FA CUP and switching to Budweiser as the main sponsor of the competition. It may prove a very lucrative deal for the FA, but in hindsight is it the right sponsor for the English game?

There has been much criticism in recent years of some types of sports sponsorships in the media, notably of those involving alcohol and gambling brands. In the case of the first two, there exists strong opinion in some quarters that these brands should not sponsor sport because of exposure to children. 

Unsurprisingly, gambling and alcohol brands have also come under the spotlight, with calls to prevent these from sponsoring sports properties, and a particular focus on restricting exposure to children through branding on replica shirts. Whilst this may be the case the competition is only sponsored by Budweiser not the teams, who have their own individual sponsors. Therefore Budweiser will have an indirect effect on football teams.

In the past many established sports brands many high profile sporting events including Benson & Hedges with Snooker and Formula 1. However due to licensing laws meant they had to drop association with the sport, similarly this was also the case with Embassy Cigarettes and their link with the Snooker. 

Overall the truth lies in convincing the public that, when done properly, sponsorships involving these types of brands can provide a positive contribution to the sports in question, and do so in such a way as to not have a negative influence on fans or participants (children in particular). It is essential that people feel there is a good reason for these types of brands to be associated with a sport, rather than just putting a name on a popular property without a genuine synergy between the two. This has been the case in the past in the USA, where Budweiser has long been established for sponsoring NASCAR racing and Superbowl events.

Overall the implication of Budweiser sponsoring the FA Cup is two fold, many will see this announcement as a changing of the sails for the FA, with many high profile premiership football teams being bought out creating a globalisation village. Likewise the FA and Premier League Association is becoming more and more Americanised that we can no longer be sustained on home grown sponsors.  

Augmented Reality: Is this the future for Print?

Just come across this feature on BBC News, it shows just how the App market has grown and is slowly becoming a common feature in our homes and in our life's. 

Have you seen something similar? Are you a app developer if so, why not get in touch and share some of your ideas on this article. 

The Social Media Revolution: Just A Fad?

A search on Wikipedia for 'social networking platforms' reveals 202 websites, where users can create accounts and engage with other users, from the most common platforms such as Facebook and Myspace, to the less well known sites such as Yammer, and Xanga. But are we reaching a period of saturation? Could the social media revolution be just a fad, just like the .com bubble, will we see a time when the likes of bigger social platforms burst. 

Many of the business models of leading platforms such as Facebook and Myspace are built from advertising streams. Although this maybe true, it is currently in maturity stage with many organisations sceptical about launching there brand or product on a global scale. But when will advertisers learn, that social networking platforms are not the be all and end all of their activities. Common perceptions amongst businesses is 'we must be on Facebook and Twitter etc' but there needs to be caution. Organisations simply cannot just rely on social media as core marketing activity, other activities although still outdated  must be utilised as well. As consumers get older and live longer, the older age group become more important and because they weren't brought up in the technical revolution, they are unlikely to be as tech savvy paving the way for additional marketing activities.

Some social networking platforms are launching premium platforms for subscribed users. We are seeing this more and more with the likes of Spotify and LinkedIn offering the opportunity to get more from the generic free version. Whilst this maybe true, people have been enticed into these platforms because they are free, it is difficult to change peoples perception, 'why would I buy or subscribe to something which I can get for free'. Furthermore the majority of the free versions of social networking platforms are good enough to be used on a everyday basis. It is difficult to change peoples perception, if social networking platforms build platforms from the bottom up rather than top down, integrating premium versions as their business expands, they will create potential difficulties in the long term.

According to Social Media Today, Twitter only has a 20% active presence, so what are the other 80% doing? There is no doubt that social networking platforms are encouraging people to engage across the internet, but there is a question of keeping people active. Therefore the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn developing mobile phone apps goes a long way to encourage the use of social networking platforms into their daily life's. But is it enough? Whilst the smartphone market has expanded, there remains concern over the strength of the Battery market powering these devices, the more people accessing app's on there phone, the more the power on the battery is reduced. In essence whilst the Smartphone has gone from strength to strength the Battery market has suffered. 

Likewise the younger generation have been brought up in the 'technical age', but have high switching costs, this means that they can quickly assign to a new fad or a new platform. We have seen this with the likes of Myspace, people realised that Facebook was becoming the more popular social networking platform, so switched to Facebook. But what happens when something trumps Facebook. This is a sure reality, but I don't believe it will come any-time soon. We are seeing a lot more services being offered by Facebook to keep users content, and making it become the most used social networking platform and avoiding this high switching phenomena. 

With so many social networking platforms, there will come a point in time, that market saturation will occur, leading hedge fund corporations will be sceptical that merely, advertising revenues are not enough to justify there input, pointing to a potential point in time when social media platforms can not supply servers, employ staff and potentially a revolution that will burst.

Are You LinkedIn?

A friend recently asked me why I was on Linkedin, I politely replied to him that the future of Online recruitment is online, and if you aren't Online you are not utilising your networking abilities. As the Social Networking site, reached its 100 million members last month this article will be dedicated to provide an overview of what it is and why you should be on there. 

LinkedIn has been touted as breaking the networking revolution. Its a social networking platform for professionals but its more than an opportunity to just network. There are opportunities if you are looking for employment for example where recruiters will only post job advertisements through LinkedIn. So without this notification, you may miss out on a once in a lifetime career opportunity. 

Its a common norm for professionals for all the major firms to be on LinkedIn, yet students looking for work should be seeking to use LinkedIn to the best of their abilities. Its rich information provides not only details about people but also about the companies you may want to work for in the future. The opportunity to follow companies, not only shows you are interested in what they do, but shows the employer you are interested in what they do and maybe sometime in the future find a suitable vacancy for you.

But there is so much more.

Groups gives professionals opportunities to pitch ideas, share contact information and even gain new clients. This rich source of information is highly valued in a fast moving pace of life where people are time poor and money rich. Just one short paragraph about who you are, what  you do and why you on LinkedIn on a number of LinkedIn groups will allow you to get recognised not only for new clients but maybe even for future job opportunities. 

Not only this but students, often get misrepresented in this hyper dependent market. You may have a Facebook profile, with your recent 'drunken antics' or share some really funny posts. LinkedIn is so much more than Facebook, its an opportunity to be professional, an opportunity to promote yourself to employers, an opportunity to be noticed. 

Yet, you need to be careful, if you are on LinkedIn already, great, but you need to listen, respond and engage with other professionals wisely. Its also difficult to know who to believe on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. There could be people out there pretending to be people who are not who they say they are. More importantly students and soon to be graduates are prime targets for these 'scams' just because something is genuine on-line doesn't mean it is genuine in real life.

If you haven't heard of LinkedIn or just want to get yourself out there then check out this helpful article 'Facebook, Linkedin and Recruitment'


Update: 05 April 2011


An amazing info-graphic that shows just what people are doing on LinkedIn and some truly amazing insights into the world of professional networking. 

http://blog.linkedin.com/2011/03/22/linkedin-100-million/