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Derby Down Under: Once He Pops....
Derby Down Under: Once He Pops....
Friday, 31st Jul 2009 10:04 by Daniel J Sewart

In this age of sport vying for every single available corporate dollar, teams will do almost anything to get the biggest piece of the pie. Derby signing talented youngster Ben Pringle may have presented the club with a marketing opportunity too good to ignore.

In Australia sporting clubs have rolled out many weird and wonderful ways to use their brand as a way of creating cash. Some would call this selling out, others good business sense but whatever your view there is no doubt they can be exceptionally creative.

For example an Aussie rules club swapped their traditional colours for that of a new coloured 'm&m' and then there was a player who changed his name to ‘whiskers’ for match day to promote cat food. These types of stunts plus a plethora of limited edition shirts, boot laces and shorts, all produced for commemorative, anniversary celebrations and most importantly help fill the clubs coffers.

Any opportunity sport can seize upon to align themselves with a brand, business or roll out some special edition clobber is the perfect way to raise much needed revenue to keep them viable in a money driven world.

Derby has not been a stranger to the technique but not all that successful when venturing outside the tried and true forms of merchandise. I will admit I owned both the ‘Ravanelli energy drink’ and ‘Ravanelli life size standee’ but sadly neither set the world on fire in fact it was more likely that they were set on fire at the end of that season.

Although those two offerings are not fondly remembered, I have always been a fan of forays into unusual and ‘outside the box’ merchandise. I myself have even suggested them in previous articles as many moons ago I came up with the Dean Leacock headbands with dreadlocks attached. I still maintain it would be big seller on game day with stands full of ‘Deans Dreads’, the only flaw being Dean seems to be cutting his hair more regularly these days.

Hair driven promotion aside, the signing of Ben Pringle brings with it an obvious joint venture that is staring the club in the face. They will only need to convince a famous chip company to get on board and it could be the biggest thing Pride Park has ever seen (sorry your Majesty!).

Currently Pringles chips are running a ‘dream team’ football promotion to meet Michael Owen. If your dream is to meet a washed up striker (what is Sir Alex thinking!?) who was as useful as a chocolate fireplace when Newcastle needed goals last season, then that is truly a magical dream. Perhaps a promotion aimed at fans of the 12th most supported club in England would be a useful addition to the campaign for both parties.

Pringle (the player) could represent the youth of English football as an up and coming player bound for glory. The slogan alone writes itself; ‘Once he pops, Ben wont stop’. He certainly has been popping them in during the pre-season so why not use his Pride Park debut to make some cash for Nigel’s transfer kitty.

A special edition Pringles shirt (same as current strip but with a chip on the shoulder), a limited edition Rams branded Pringle free with your ticket stub, a penalty competition held with selected fans having to knock Pringle tins past a suitably dressed Pringle mascot, Pringle cheer leaders, Pringle half time show, Pringle footballs, Pringle posters, Pringle Pringles….. Errr…. perhaps I have got a bit carried away.

My idea may need some watering down if only for the fact poor old Ben would be under more pressure on debut, than a penalty taker in a world cup final. Surely though no matter how it is applied, such a cheme could only be good for the clubs bank balance.

I am more than happy for the club to take my idea and run with it as long as a plane ticket and match day passes are made available to me for devising such a visionary scheme. Also an official crowning at half time for me as ‘Pringle King’ would also be warranted coupled with a life time supply of the very tasty ‘sour cream and chives’ flavoured Pringle.

Maybe this stroke of marketing genius will be met with more success than ‘Deans Dreads’ but if not then I will continue to unearth these marketing gems until I see one finally given the green light by the Rams.

Perhaps if Pringles and the Rams do join forces they could join both of my ideas. I mean I would buy a limited edition Pringle tin with dreadlocks for a lid… wouldn’t you?

Photo: Action Images



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