Arsenal Rebrand Website.

Arsenal today have announced that they have relaunched the clubs website.The move which was announced today via Twitter with the club switching to a more visually pleasing, simple design to reach out to the clubs increasingly global fan-base.

 The move will be seen to consolidate the clubs brand internationally; after the club recently announced that it was set to visit Indonesia as part of the clubs preseason preparations for next season. Whilst fans have been calling for signings on the pitch, the club has had a busy year consolidating commercial deals. With the signing of a bumper £150million sponsorship deal with  airline Emirates back in November the major highlight, along with key international deals with African partners Airtel & Malta Guinness.

Redesigning the website will also been seen as a way to push the North London clubs online offering. This currently focuses on two main areas firstly the clubs online store which offers everything from club shirts to Arsenal garden gnomes. Secondly the online offering of the clubs online TV offering Arsenal Player, which offers post and pre match interviews and exclusive interviews with the players.

 At £33 for a season, its a costly investment that have been made by the club in partnership with Ostmodern who have collaborated with the club in designing and implementing the Arsenal player across the site. Aside from this two main hubs the club will also be developing a whole range of other online products from the clubs Lottery, online gaming & specialist football schools which will all benefit from the relaunch of the site.  Along with the integration with social media, and the merge with Arsenal Player, will reposition the Gunners digital offering to appeal to a growing fan-base.

The website was created in partnership with digital agency Ripple effect , who has worked on the redesign of website. Previously the company has worked on the sites of Bolton Wanders, Everton and the NHS. Hopefully the relaunch will aid the North London club, who are currently sixth in the Premier League. 

Brands Gear up for African Cup of Nations.

With The African cup of Nations just hours away, car manufacturer Nissan has announced the signing of an exclusive sponsorship agreement for next two tournaments which will hosted in South Africa in 2013, and in Morocco in 2015.

With this sponsorship, Nissan will become the “Official Automotive Partner” of the tournament. The company’s involvement comes at an opportune time. Nissan have manufacturing plants in South Africa and Egypt. Nissan plan to expand its network and increase its market share across key markets in Sub Sahara Africa, to become a continental leader.Following the likes of Hyundai & Ford who sponsor the European Championship & Champions League respectively.

“Nissan’s association with the Africa Cup of Nations, which attracts a large following throughout the continent, provides a powerful platform to build our brand,” said Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Nissan South Africa.

Elsewhere sponsors  Adidas have created a new ball for the tournament, which is the fourth time the sports brand has sponsored the tournament ball. African fans got the chance to name the ball for the tournament and chose Katlego which means success in Tswana. The sports brand have released an YouTube video to celebrate the launch.

Puma are also a brand who will have a strong presence at this years tournament, as they are kit to suppliers to a 10 teams across the continent, including bookies favourite Ivory Coast and tournament hosts South Africa. The mass sponsorship marks a significant shift to football for the sports brand. The business predicts that revenue on the continent, with almost 1 billion inhabitants, will continue to grow faster than its other markets.

The tournament kicks off today with hosts South Africa facing Cape Verde who are playing in their first Cup of Nations.

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Celtic & Magners deal triggers Old Firm sponsorship split

Sponsorship deal breaks with Old Firm commercial tradition with Rangers’ omission 

Word: Ronan Shields

Celtic has inked a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with Irish cider brand Magners in a deal that sees a cessation of the Old Firm tradition of dual sponsorship of both Rangers & Celtic.

The multi-million deal kicks off next season ending Celtic’s existing three-year shirt sponsorship deal with Tennent’s which is thought to be in negotiations with Rangers to renew its relationship with the blue half of the Old Firm.

Magners has a strong track record of engaging fans via successful and innovative sponsorships across rugby, football, comedy and music and is currently working with Celtic to develop a range of initiatives to support its partnership with the club according to a statement from both parties.

The enmity that exists between Glasgow Celtic and Rangers’ supporters has led to the dual-sponsorship strategy from brands sponsoring the Old Firm sides for the vast majority of the last 30 years.

Interestingly, it was local double-glazing firm CR Smith that first started the dual sponsorship in the early 1980s and bar a stretch in the1990s when Celtic had multiple sponsors (see pic, below right) and Rangers stuck with McEwan’s larger.

Observers of the game and history will notice that what the 1990s and the present have in common is that both were times of extreme contrast for the two clubs.

In the 1990s Rangers were in the ascendency – in 1992 they were at one goal away from reaching the UEFA Champion’s League final. Although now they languish in the bottom tier of Scottish professional football having been relegated multiple divisions last year for financial irregularities.

This is compared to Celtic who trailed Rangers both on and off the pitch for much of the 1990s but are now preparing to line up against Juventus in the first knock-out stage of Europe’s top club competition having scored a famous victory against Barcelona earlier stage in the tournament.

In a statement announcing the move, Peter Lawwell, Celtic CEO, said, “On behalf of everyone at Celtic, I am delighted to welcome Magners as the club’s new shirt sponsor.

“We are proud to be successfully leading Scottish football at home and in Europe. The desire of a brand with Magners’ stature to support the club is a measure of how much positivity there is around Celtic in our 125th year.”

UK business title Marketing Week cites industry sponsorship specialists speculating that Magners’ tie-up with Celtic could alienate some Rangers fans given the bitter rivalry between the two clubs.

However, given that Magners originally hails from Ireland the affiliation with Celtic is a natural one and one that is almost automatically going to prove a turn-off to Rangers fans – a move that earlier sponsors such as Rangers were eager to avoid.

Tom McCusker, Magners’ managing director, said in a statement, “Magners is a premium brand with huge ambition both at home and abroad, available in over 40 markets worldwide including key cider growth territories like the US, Australia, Canada and Asia.

Celtic's retro kit

“There is, therefore, a great fit with Celtic Football Club who also enjoy great success and popularity domestically and internationally.”

Last year, TDF covered how Celtic was reverting to its roots by modifying the logo on its away strip to mark its 125^th anniversary (see video below) in a bid to bolster its expansion overseas.  

Adidas Celebrate Record Messi Ballon D'or Award

Leo Messi secured a record breaking fourth Ballon D'or has been celebrated by his sponsors Adidas  in a brand new video. Messi capped off a record breaking 2012 with his fourth World footballer of the year, staving off the competition from the arch rival Cristiano Ronaldo and team-mate Andrea Iniesta.

Messi added to his prestigious 91 goals in a calender year title with the world player gong, as 2012 seen the diminutive Argentinian win the title for a unprecedented fourth time. To celebrate such a momentous achievement Adidas, who have sponsored Messi since 2006 have created a short video animated video of some of moments of Messi Magic. Which include goals in the Champions League against Manchester United in the 2011 final, and Arsenal in the same year. The video which was released on Monday and has has already notched just over two and a half million views, which you can see at the bottom of the post.


Along with the viral video the football giants have also created some special boots to celebrate all four Ballon D'or awards. The boots are embellished with the four consective years that Messi has won the award, all fully branded on his signature F50 Adizero boots along with the players own branding.

It was not the only accolade that Messi picked up on the night, as he was part of the World XI which was made entirely out of players from La Liga. On the night Twitter was awash with vitriol on the team, which was primarily made out of players from Real Madrid & Barcelona, aside from Athletico Madrid striker Falcao.


The team did suffer a backlash on Twitter with some fans who argued that Robin Van Persie should be getting a starting place in the team. Especially after a fantastic goalscoring season and a half with two of the Premier Leagues most successful teams Manchester United & Arsenal.

Despite the outrage across Twitter many people still managed to see the lighter side of the game, when it came to talking about Messi and his choice of clothing on the evening. With a bold Polka dot jacket & bow tie being the hot topic of conversation for many with the like of Esquire in the USA voicing disgust on the flamboyant nature of the  jacket.

So another year, another Messi triumph in the world of football. With the Argentinian aged at just 25, we wouldn't be surprised if he dominated for further half decade in world football.

Chelsea & Samsung set up Global Football Camp.

Chelsea have announced a new global football camp scheme with long term sponsor Samsung.  The ‘Dream the Blues’ campaign, spans eight countries across four continents, aims to encourage football-loving children, aged from nine to 13, to develop and achieve their football "dreams". 

The initiative is an expansion of the Samsung-Chelsea FC Youth Football Camp programme, which has already benefited 5,000 children across the world since 2007. With the deal maintaining the close links between the West London club and the electronic brand, who has been sponsoring Chelsea since the 07/08 season, and recently signed an extension with the current European Champions till 2015.

Throughout the campaign, Samsung and Chelsea will visit youth football camps across the eight countries to provide training for local children to learn ‘The Chelsea Way’ from Chelsea Foundation coaches. From each of the local camps, the 16 most passionate participants will be selected to attend the Blues Camp in London to train and meet with the Chelsea players. The final camp will also offer successful participants the opportunity to build global friendships through football.

Applications will be given to Samsung Home Appliance customers in Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of South Africa, China, Thailand, Brazil and Turkey. The campaign kicked off in Mexico on December 21, and local youth football camps will run in each country, ending in Turkey in April, 2013. The final Blues Camp will take place in London in May, 2013. 

Chelsea players Juan Mata, Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and Oscar have been appointed as ambassadors to promote the campaign to football fans and Samsung customers around the world To convey the campaign slogan ‘The dream starts here’ is being used. Along with a number of interesting Youtube videos to promote the cause.

 

Fernando Torres, Chelsea striker, campaign ambassador & £50 million failure  said, “We are happy to be part of this exciting campaign and be able to influence football-loving youngsters around the world to achieve their footballing dreams. We hope many Samsung and Chelsea fans participate in and are inspired by this campaign, and we look forward to meeting some of the kids." 

The move is a bold one from Chelsea, and shows the true global draw that Chelsea has with a commercial deal with a mega brand such as Samsung. With such a wide ranging global campaign, this could be the start of an interesting time for the Blues.

ESPN & Budwiser Benefit From F.A Cup Third Round Fever

Sports channel Espn & beer brand Budweiser have been the major beneficiaries on a frantic weekend of third round FA Cup action. The American based sports channel, who have held broadcasting rights to the competition since 2010, have been busy promoting live match broadcasts through a tie up with the competitions primary sponsor Budweiser.

This has come primarily through the dual campaign titled "Here's To The Dream" which focus on fans personal tales of the oldest cup competition in the world. All of which can be seen in a nice YouTube video below. Broadcasts have also been promoted heavily on Twitter using the hash-tag #ToTheDream as the main point of contact for fans.

Fans also have the chance to vote live during the game for the Budweiser Man Of The Match prize online or via the special ESPN app. Along with this fans have also been encouraged to vote for their special FA cup moment via a special poll on the ESPN website, with the final results announced on cup final day.

Luton Town Celebrate the scalp of Wolves

For Budweiser this is the second year of sponsoring England's biggest domestic sporting tournament, and indicates the brand strengthing of ties with football, last year they launched their own branded  YouTube channel focusing on content on the FA Cup & the brands sponsorship with ill fated side Wembley F.C which brought in the likes of former stars such as Brian McBride, Martin Keown & Ray Parlour, only for the North London side to be dumped out in a pre qualifying match for the tournament against Uxbridge.

On the pitch and a number of upsets have taken place, with Blue Square Premier sides Luton Town & Macclesfield killing the "giants" of the Championship in Cardiff City & Wolverhampton Wanders. With the Luton victory the final nail in the coffin for Wolves manager Stale Solbakken. Other 'shocks' included  Premier League sides Sunderland & Fulham drawing with Bolton & Blackpool respectively. The round concludes on Monday evening when Cheltenham take on inform Everton, which is live on ESPN.

Chevrolet unites LFC and MUFC in footie campaign... #FAIL

Words: Ronan Shields

In a sign that the world has GONE MAD and that ‘the people’s game’ is now the possession of corporate interests, Chevrolet has released a YouTube video showing Manchester United & Liverpool players as one.

The US car manufacturer – which has commercial relationships with both clubs – has just released a video showing four players from each team as one entity reading a monologue to camera, see below.

Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Robin van Persie and Paul Scholes appear in the ad for MUFC, while Liverpool's representatives are Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Glen Johnson and Jonjo Shelvey.

The video has been dubbed ‘The Manifesto – Chevrolet FC’ and the accompanying social media campaign runs with the tag line ‘What Are You #DrivenBy?’

“Manchester United and Liverpool FC are unified by a mutual respect and driven by success…,” reads the blurb on the official ChevroletFC YouTube page. 

However, social media channels are already are awash with mixed responses with many fans claiming that the ad is simply a demonstration that the US brand does not get English football and that naïve minds are responsible for the campaign.

All three of the parties and associated players are of course paying lip service to the campaign. However, at TDF here we find it difficult to imagine MUFC stalwarts such as Ferdinand, Giggs and Scholes entered into the collaboration with their fiercest of foes wholeheartedly.

A LFC fan's interpretation of MUFC's home kit

After all, the Twitter spat between the two teams' sets of supporters over their most recent kit launches still remains the most popular post ever to have appeared on this blog! Remember the below?

MUFC fan's reaction to the Suarez race row incident

Anyway, the video has surfaced as the two teams prepare to square off at MUFC’s Old Trafford next Sunday (January 13) where I’m sure we’ll see a full house of supporters who’ll give us a reminder that there’s no love lost between the two.  

Chevrolet, what were you thinking?! 

If you have read this far then please feel free to leave your opinion on the matter, even if you disagree with TDF's #FAIL judgement or not...