And so one of football’s most protracted, long-winded and at times down-right-boring transfer sagas is finally over. Gareth Bale is Real Madrid player. The latest – and certainly not the last – in a long line of Galacticos that will grace the Bernabeu. The questionable ethics employed by Madrid to secure their man or the debate about whether Bale will succeed in La Liga are not for Hatfield Spirit to comment on. We’ll leave this to other corners of the blogosphere. But let’s spend a few minutes reflecting on Bale’s unveiling this afternoon, and what it tells us about marketing.
After all, today was a product launch. Gareth Bale might not offer you internet access at the touch of a button, or unrivalled sound quality, but he’s still a product, and one Madrid started selling before he’d even joined the club. A stage – purpose-built to introduce Bale to the Madristas – was erected a week ago, and retailers in the Spanish capital have been shamelessly flogging replica shirts with his name and number on it for days.
Yep, Bale’s a new product line that Madrid have wasted no time in pitching to their public. The back pages (and front for that matter) will be littered with images of Bale holding the Madrid shirt aloft, like it’s a trophy in its own right. Young fans excitedly holding tickets for the big launch will – like Apple fanatics – queue around the corner sharing videos of the product’s new features; haircuts, Cruyff turns, scintillating dribbles, torpedo-esque strikes.
So effective has Madrid’s launch been, that The Daily Mail has a rolling news page for – you guessed it – the Bale transfer. I thought rolling news pages were reserved for world events? Or at least events that are three dimensional? Bale quotes are everywhere; “it’s my dream to play for Real”. Madrid won’t be complaining, they’ll be rubbing their hands together.
The Bale transfer is a six month marketing campaign which has steadily build – or reinforced – ‘Brand Real’ in all its bold brashness. And the papers have bought it hook, line and sinker. For Madrid, Bale is a cash cow – replica shirts, season tickets, calendars, duvet covers – and the ‘Gareth Line’ will boost significantly boost Madrid’s revenues. Better, it continues to reinforce the brand’s core attributes: ‘the pinnacle’ (of any player’s career), the equivalent of winning the Champions League in the transfer market. Does it even matter if he plays well? …
Takeaways for marketers? Product launches – even before the product arrives – can still result in mass hysteria. Arguably, better than ever.
Hatfield Spirit 