Marketing

I was sent an email hyping the excellent work an agency did for Vauxhall and the England foot ball team - here it is:

Stand Together

And here's the 'behind the scenes' youtube:

Good marketing, a lovely ad, but ... the problem is with the product. I won't espouse on the issues of football in the UK, I know virtually nothing about it. But all the marketing in the world, the best adverts, the greatest creative team, cannot make the ball go in the net on the night.

By investing in 'products' like football, which are so inconsistent, organisations are taking a huge risk. Yet they must pay off. Whether England win or lose, the support is there, so mobilising that support and aligning it with a brand (such as said car manufacturer) must have value.

But given the millions all of this costs, and the fact that the cost of just ONE premium league football player is more than is spent on research for prostate cancer (see here http://menunited.prostatecanceruk.org/), begs the question - are we not only spending our marketing money in the wrong places, but investing in the wrong things?

But that's people for you - and it's not that I don't want football or any other sport demeaned or downgraded (indeed we should invest in more for our young people), it's just I find it difficult to have a sense of proportion when it comes to the huge amounts of money spent on professional sport - probably because of the sector I work in.

Good luck England! You need the Italians to win - so no more jokes about them retreating, OK?

PS: There's been huge criticism recently of charity leaders' pay. Take a look at this - premier league pay (2011). Made me think.