As Tottenham Hotspur prepare for their next Europa League game against PAOK at White Hart Lane at the end of November, Investec, the London and JSE dual-listed Specialist Bank and Asset Manager, will be looking to build off a good first season as cup-competition sponsor. During a recent GIBS & Moneyweb Business of Sport podcast, Investec's Raymond van Niekerk expanded on the lessons learnt from the rather dramatic 2010 season.
Van Niekerk spoke about the "air of volatility" associated with Spurs and the risks and benefits of this to the sponsorship. Investec's Global Head of Marketing also acknowledged the chance they took with the Spurs sponsorship, but that "the Gods smiled on us, so we were lucky."
Sport sponsorship and marketing is well-known for its ability to associate strong emotions to sometimes ordinary brands. It is thus interesting to see how Spurs' dramatic 2010 season assisted an "extraordinary" brand such as Investec. Van Niekerk argued that the sponsorship was delivering both tangible and intangible returns. This was evident earlier this year, when Investec hosted Spurs during their pre-season tour to South Africa, and the manner in which Investec leveraged their sport and social responsibility investments together. The podcast was recorded at a soccer coaching clinic, which involved the full Spurs squad as well as 360 young athletes from the Investec Soccer League.
Van Niekerk spoke about a lesson learnt that "tribalism is not such a big deal," suggesting that concerns about alienating supporters of other teams through a sponsorship may not be a significant risk. He also emphasised the importance of involving employees in a sponsorship and described the benefits of the Investec employees game hosted at White Hart Lane.