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Scotland vs. Spain

By Patrick Kavanagh, Head of Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing

November 12, 2010 | 5 min read

Very recently I enjoyed one of my greatest sporting experiences to date. It was Scotland vs. Spain, a European Qualifier for Group X. I was invited to this event as a ‘welcome to your new job’ from my employers, certainly a gesture indicative of the way they run the business. All ass kissing aside, it was a brilliant evening out.

After slurping down the obligatory pint, we were ready to jump into a taxi and head to Hampden Park, a ground I had never been to before. I was really anticipating this event; I have read numerous times about the Tartan Army, but had never seen them in action. And if I’m honest, I was ecstatic to see the World Champions Spain with all their swagger. Players I had never seen before were going to be on display: Xavi, Villa, Iniesta, Ramos (man of the match in my opinion).

After having the inevitable cabbie discussions about football, as five grown men are jammed into the taxi, we were well on our way. As you can imagine the traffic was chokka as waves of Scottish supporters were flooding the streets with their pride on their back. As we approached the ground, it had become so busy that we decided to hop out of the taxi early, thankfully, and walk the rest of the way.

We strolled through the jammed streets, not knowing where we were going, but letting the marching army lead the way; we were almost there. The distraction of navigation initially took me away from my, at times, astute monitoring of experiences. And then it hit me as we approached the ground, a very simple observation, ‘it is very dark around here’. The response could be, ‘well it is nighttime you moron’, but this was different.

As I have said ad nauseam, I’m from North America, and this is what we would call ‘a major sporting event’. It had me thinking about walking up to The Air Canada Centre, the ice hockey arena in Toronto, and there was a marked difference. On any given evening, you would walk up to gargantuan spotlights illuminating the evening sky, almost as if to call Batman for support. Giant banners and flags drape the stadium, celebrating heroes of today and yesteryear. Drums are pounding, fans mingling, sponsors are touting their wares… The stimuli hit you from every direction. It’s pretty much unavoidable and I love it. Additionally, as you come off the train or subway, you are greeted with the same fanfare. This includes a hall of games where fans can interact with video games, shoot some hoops, shoot a puck, and on and on.

Now back to my Hampden Park experience. Regardless of this darkness, I was quite excited to watch this match. As some of you purists may remember, Levein opted for a 5-5-0 in an earlier international match – but it was a different case on this night. The game was electric, back and forth, Scotland putting on a good show. Spain was just a little too strong on the night and won, just barely, 3-2. It was a magnificent affair, and as guests, we were treated exceptionally well. It will be an experience I will never forget.

And this leads me to my main point. As an experiential marketer it is my job to link brands with resonant experiences, and this was a resonant experience. In this particular case the pre-game theatre just wasn’t there, and as far as I’m concerned, it was an opportunity lost.

It just may be that in this case the brand is Scotland, a proud footballing nation. These types of events are few and far between, and there was a distinct opportunity to celebrate all that is Scottish Football. I simply do not believe the hyperbole that fans in the UK do not like this type of pomp, I just think it’s not offered. I still remember walking into the old Maple Leaf Gardens where my beloved ice hockey team used to play. My dad would point out grainy black and white pictures on the wall and exclaim that these were hockey players… ‘These were men!’ he would exclaim. These experiences connected me with the team and its history – it made me understand what the game was about. It made me want to play sport.

This was a major part of developing the game of hockey in Canada. We are always looking to our history and celebrating it. We live and die hockey, and almost every kid wants to play – they really want to play. In my early years following football, there were fantastic Scots on display, from Souness, Dalglish, to McCoist and Johnston, and I loved the passionate style of play. Celebrating these icons and the ones before them would stir up that Scottish pride. Every Scot I have met while growing up in Canada has had a strong will to compete – it was just where you pointed them that mattered.

When the great game in Scotland is on display, this is the time to stir up those emotions. This is when you want to see a proud father talk to his son about the great players of his day. This is how dreams of glory are fostered. This is what makes children want to play football.

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