Team building: What now for the England football brand?
The England football team is expected to be greeted by empty seats and boos from the crowd at Wembley tomorrow night. Sports marketer Gary McCall calls for drastic action if 'Brand England' is to win back the fans.
But after a dismal tournament, England's players will instead be greeted by rows of empty seats and the grim faces of those hardy fans who do bother to show up for the match against Hungary.
Here sports marketer Gary McCall, managing director of Leeds agency Banana Kick, looks at what the FA needs to do to restore fans' faith and boost the flagging England team brand.
In this time of austerity is there anything that can lift this nation more than a successful national football team?
Everyone thought that Brand England could not get lower than when we failed to qualify for Euro 2008 but the recent World Cup 2010 performance of the national team has had terrible consequences, which reach further than the football and sports industry.
That aside and as we look forward to the next round of qualifying matches we have to face facts - our national football has regressed years irrespective of what we do now. From a brand building point of view the FA must act now and remove Capello - it's the only way to salvage Brand England.
As a country I feel we are at a low point and as a brand - England is in the gutter. Was our expectation too high? I think Brand England believed its own hype. As impressive as the team sheet was the players couldn't play together and as a brand they missed the all important 'show not tell' everyone about the quality of the team and the coaching staff.
The Hungary match will be very telling and a great barometer of how the nation is feeling, which I suspect will still be very bruised and battered. The crowd size will certainly not be a reflection of the mood as many of our
fans either bought the tickets before the World Cup or have taken advantage of the much cheaper family tickets (family of 4 for £60).
The key to giving Brand England a boost lies in the hands of the FA. They believe Capello is the best man for the job but I and my fellow fans, believe it's because of the compensation they would have to pay if he goes.
I have no doubt that whatever it costs to remove Capello this is what the brand needs to do to ensure long term longevity and to restore its passionate following. If the FA continues to bury its head in the sand the
implications associated with Capello remaining might be catastrophic. The weakening of the England brand will lead to lack of sponsorship, poor attendances, lack of merchandising contracts and certainly no feel-good-factor around our number one international sports team.
There has been a concern that in the past fans of the major clubs put their club first and the national team second. This will simply snowball if Capello remains. Wembley welcomed 84,000 plus fans for the Community
Shield, which shows there's still passion, commitment and money out there, which the league clubs cash in on. Brand England needs to do the same - sooner rather than later.
As we have seen from the league clubs and other national teams, a successful football team will secure greater sponsorship, guarantee a full-house, improve retail sales and have a positive impact outside the sports industry
through secondary spend in areas such as the pub sector but more importantly, create a goodwill feeling across the country sometimes even resulting in a surge in the stock exchange.
As we move forward as a team or a brand there will be a requirement to change the team and introduce younger players and nurture these players. But we need the right person in charge to take this brand on and maximise
its potential.
From a football fan and marketeers view point the solution is simple - remove Capello from England whatever the cost and restore pride in our national team.