When an estimated 35 million people tuned in on July 11 to watch England fall short of the World Cup final, it was the "biggest TV audience in decades," according to Alex Brownsell of CAMPAIGN LIVE. This represented the conclusion of a "whirlwind romance that reconnected the general public to the Three Lions and reshaped the nation’s relationship with football for a generation." To understand the "sheer scale" of the brand transformation, one "must revisit the dog days" of '17. That was when paper airplanes "rained down" on the Wembley pitch in "sarcastic applause" at the side's "uninspiring" qualification for the World Cup in Russia. Advertisers were "becoming wary" of associating with the FA. Lead sponsor Vauxhall "called time" on its seven-year partnership. More "damning" was the decision by Carlsberg to end its 22-year stint as the official beer of the England team. Led by FA CEO Martin Glenn, Technical Dir Dan Ashworth and new Manager Gareth Southgate, "a chastened FA senior team devised a marketing strategy to re-engage a weary public." FA Commercial & Marketing Dir Mark Bullingham said, "Our campaigns with England used to be about celebration, almost perpetuating the image of a team going out there to win, and that nothing else mattered. ... We wanted to make it more realistic, more down-to-earth." All England team marketing was to be "guided by the more humble strapline: 'Work to do.'" Lessons were learned from other sports, too, "notably in winning over an antagonistic press." Before the World Cup, the media was allowed access to all 23 members of the England squad "in an open, speed-dating-style forum used by NFL franchises." Bullingham: "We were trying to counter the misconception that the players don't really care."
'DOWN-TO-EARTH': Sponsors were briefed on the new approach. Instead of glamorized shots of England players scoring goals, activation campaigns such as Lidl’s ads showed England stars "messing about with primary school kids." This went "hand-in-hand with a decline in the big-budget 'hero' spots." With Bullingham in talks with three prospective partners over the lead England team sponsorship, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Managing Dir Richard Barker believes the FA has "found itself in a position it could only have dreamed of at the turn of the year." Barker said, "The value of its asset has just gone through the roof. If it renegotiates [any deals], I think the price tag has just gone up quite significantly." Furthermore, the success of an England sponsorship is "no longer dictated" by the performance of 11 players. The Lionesses, England's women's team, will go into next year's World Cup as one of the favorites after an "unprecedented period of improvement." Perhaps Nike, the England team kit maker, summed it up best with its "Believe as one" ad, released in the days after France lifted the World Cup trophy. Showing scenes of ordinary English men and women of all ages and ethnicities playing football, a voiceover says, "We’ve been here before. But this ... this feels different. This doesn’t feel like the end. It feels like the beginning" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 8/14).
