Global Brand Benchmarking and Other Marketing DoubleSpeak

I must confess that I work in marketing, but I promise you I have never come out with anything resembling this load of old rubbish :

"We take the view there are three pillars the All Black brand is marketed on," says NZRU commercial manager Fraser Holland. "Team performance, history and heritage, and New Zealand and its culture. There is no doubt that performance is the most important pillar."

Um. 'Three pillars' of marketing. Right. Gotcha. Performance. History. Heritage. That's Three.

New Zealand itself. That's the fourth of the three pillars of marketing then.

New Zealand's culture. That would be, what, the 5th of the three marketing pillars, right?

Basically, for those of you who can't be bothered to read the article, New Zealand Rugby Union has found out that the 'All Blacks' are rather a well-known name in countries where rugby is played. More famous than the Springboks. They've also discovered that the All Blacks are less well known in countries that have little interest in rugby.

They presumably paid handsomely for this deep marketing insight. They will use this to sell more shirts to people who don't even like rugby. Genius.

World Cup Non-Story of the Day

Do you ever get the feeling that some websites just don't have enough news?

Today's World Cup rugby non-story is...wait for it, it's a goodie....Jonah Lomu Tips All Blacks To Win World Cup.

I know. A real surprise, that one. You would never have guessed, would you?

End of Season Tours....Why?

Following neatly on from my last blog post, there's a good article here about the pointless-ness (is that a word?) of end of season tours in a World Cup year.

The author - Peter Jackson - points out that France arranging a tour of New Zealand and England playing out in South Africa only a couple of months before the Finals is probably not a very good idea.

It's kinda stating the obvious, I agree. But it does raise these important questions : 'Which idiots arrange these things?' and 'Why?'.

Answers on a postcard to...

All Blacks Lead The Way

Anyone thinking of having a little bet on the rugby World Cup would be mad to look much past the All Blacks. They have such strength in depth that they could put out a reserve team and still win the damn thing.

Their real international rivals - France, South Africa; maybe Australia and Ireland - just don't have that level of depth and experience.

And much of it can be put down to coach Graham Henry’s initially controversial rotation policy throughout 2006. Few other teams in the history of the sport could have a fly half as good as Nick Evans as anything other than a #1 choice. And that's not to mention Rico Gear, Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett all competing for a spot on the wing.

Henry's decision to rotate his squad and rest key players for certain games has meant he now has 30 experienced internationals at his disposal. It's not really as if he has a first 15 and a reserve 15 any more.

New Zealand will be a frightening prospect at France 2007 and you would be mad to back against them. Ladbrokes have still got them at a fairly generous 8/15 but that price is sure to move the closer we get to the World Cup itself.

If you are a betting man, then buy some money today by backing an All Blacks victory. You can use the cash to buy yourself a few beers while you watch the Final.

Forwards Not Backwards

The 2007 rugby World Cup hasn't even had it's first game yet and already there is talk of going back to the 16 team tournament of years past. Syd Millar of the IRB has suggested that New Zealand 2011 might be the first world cup since 1995 with sixteen teams.

Apologists for this view suggest that this will avoid "lopsided scorelines which benefit neither the winners....nor the losers".

Sorry to burst your bubble but the idea of going back a step is just ludicrous. And frankly, who cares if this is a "more realistic recognition of the true depth of the global game".

Surely the whole point of a rugby union world cup is that the world - regardless of their abilities - can potentially take part. The game will never grow and other countries will never get interested in the sport if they are excluded simply because they aren't yet any good.

Take a comparison with football. It was not more than 15 or so years ago that the big teams would wallop the likes of South Korea or some small East European country 6-0 or 7-0 but, thanks in large part to events like the world cup, this is no longer the case.

If you want an argument for including 20 - perhaps even more teams - in the RWC, then look at the improvement Italy have made as a rugby playing nation since the inauguration of the Six Nations.

To go back to 16 teams in New Zealand 2011 is a backwards step any genuine rugby lover should be 100% against.