At The Kite Factory we talk a lot about Owned, Earned, Shared and Paid. Often the least explored area is “Shared” which covers corporate and commercial partnerships which can often be an extension of sponsorships. When it is done well these sorts of collaborations don’t only help both parties but create a big splash, Spotify are past masters with great examples alongside Uber & Starbucks. However, as with every marketing strategy success is all down to execution and I have just experienced a 101 on how not to deliver a successful partnership. I was lucky enough to attend the Olympic Games in Paris where Visa are a headline partner. Once inside an Olympic venue you were unable to use any cards except Visa, this isn’t new. However, unlike London 2012, when I queued at several large foot outlets with 5 checkouts 4 were Visa only with no queues and 1 was cash with a huge queue. If you wanted to use another card, tough, find a cash machine. I saw countless examples of food being left on counters by angry customers due to the lack of any signage. Some outlets were Visa only, didn’t accept cash at all so as a non-Visa customer you couldn’t buy their products, funnily enough none of those stalls had queues. I didn’t even choose to be a non-Visa customer, my bank made that partnership decision, but now all I and many others will feel for Visa is resentment. Why are they using this platform to create negative experiences and perceptions for non-customers? Is the upside for Visa customers really enough to offset this? Frank Cooper III, the CMO of Visa said, “Visa believes that it has the opportunity through our sponsorship to add value to the fan experience” and added “As the top payments brand in the world, we seek to remove friction from transactions”. Even more ironically one of the core reasons for the partnerships is aligned values of inclusivity! Reality is that Visa pay enough to dictate the rules of the game and the Olympic Committee have consistently shown their prioritisation of profit with the removal of all concession tickets, I paid the same for myself my 4-year-old and my 75 year old father in law to attend events. By devaluing the spectator experience, the games in turn will become devalued in a crowded entertainment market. It’s time for the likes of Visa and The Olympic Committee to look to the future rather than sacrificing their morals for a fast buck.
Paul Allen
4mo
Super interesting, Ben. Hope you all still had fun in Paris (disgraceful no concessions for young or old!). Lark worked with the supporter experience team at London 2012, who were great. It still jarred that you could only buy, say, Coca Cola (that classic elite sports drink!) in branded bottles - and other healthier things had to be in unbranded packaging. But at least there was a choice and it wasn’t about actively punishing people. There could be so many creative ways to use a sponsor status that leaves everyone with a positive experience. Definite backfire, own goal, DQ, insert sporting metaphor here!
Multi-BAFTA winning | CEO & Founder | Digital media and Gaming expert to media agencies and brands | Ex-Gameloft | Ex-Havas (+447540769819)
4moGreat post Ben. What Visa should have done is given bonuses to those using their visa card so that they are inclusive and not doing as you pointed out, giving people a negative experience. Move people across to a Visa card where possible. This is why the agency is so crucial in these partnerships. They should have already accounted for not everyone having a Visa card and what impact that might have as we are now mostly a cashless society. Something about this smacks of senior people just putting their foot down without truly exploring it. I know my old friends at Kru Live would have advised them in the correct way of running such a campaign, am I right Sarah-Jane?! 😊