Last word on the World Cup

I had decided to make this column a World Cup free zone this month. We’ll all get enough football over the next month to last a lifetime and for those of us who can’t stand it in the first place it’s going to be quite an ordeal.

However, I have to mention it one more time because, as a relative newcomer to the industry I have been astounded at the explosion in promotional material that I have seen around me in the last few weeks. Only this morning I was in a stationery shop which, among all the pads of paper and felt tipped pens, were England flags, pennants, badges, t-shirts, blow up fingers (sic) and much more.

This has been repeated, it seems to me, in just about every petrol station, newsagent, supermarket and even garden centre that I’ve been in over the last few weeks. Add to this the number of cars on the road which are flying at least two cross of St George flags and I reckon we are soon to reach saturation point.

By the way, driving up the M1 yesterday, a car in front of me lost one of its flags, something which had other vehicles swerving out the way. So, I’m not too sure of the safety issues here.

Anyway, one thing is certain, the market for World Cup paraphernalia seems to be every bit as huge as industry experts were predicting a few months ago. Having said that, I wonder how much stuff is going to be left over at the end of the tournament, earlier if England make a sooner than expected exit. Still, I suppose that’s one of the risks manufacturers and retailers have to take.

This is something I’ve banged on about before but now, even more than previously, I have to ask how worthwhile all this actually is.

Certainly I understand the power of the brand and I can see where it would make sense, this summer, to attach your company’s name to the World Cup. If you are wanting to get message across to your customers it would be a good idea to do this amid the excitement and hype of the event.

However, this is what everyone else seems to be doing.I always thought that the most effective marketing campaigns were those in which the individuality and uniqueness of a given company or product were emphasised in as quirky and unique a manner as possible. By jumping on the bandwagon and joining everyone else in using the World Cup, I wonder just how unique you will be seen to be.

As I have said before, if I were running a campaign this summer I’d be more inclined to choose a completely different hook. Why not do something about the cricket season or Wimbledon tennis? At least that would stand out.

But then again, I’m not a marketer and I could be missing the point totally.Whatever you’ve decided to do, I hope you enjoy the tournament and that promotional merchandise you’ve selected, hopefully from a supplier on the Promotional Merchandise website, serves you well.

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