THIS WEEK’S BIG QUESTION: Should you sponsor Christmas?

Tango and Fairy Liquid are sponsoring Christmas lights in London

and Newcastle

Patricia Dodds

Procter and Gamble

’Yes and no. We did not approach this as ’this is an opportunity for

brand PR’. This year is the 100th birthday of the Fairy brand. As part

of Fairy’s celebrations, P&G contributed to Christmas lights for

Newcastle - a corporate citizen giving something back to the community

where its employees live and work. On this occasion I think the media

have done the brand advertising for us.’

Kate Phillips

Christian Aid

’The point is not sponsorship, but how you do it. If Christmas lights

are supposed to add a little magic, then they should do just that

Blatant name-blazing only works because the media bites each time. It

does little for that feelgood factor, but suggests hype is everything.

Some brands get away with it. Most should not want to.’

Peter Noble

Peter Noble PR

’Christmas has been a commercial enterprise for some time, so it would

seem a natural conclusion for it to become a brand. If Tango can sponsor

the lights on Regent Street, I see no reason why Mr Kipling couldn’t

sponsor Santa. Perhaps PlayStation could create a virtual tree, and the

snow could be provided courtesy of Head and Shoulders. The angles of

such an enterprise are endless and would no doubt make for incredible

value-for-money.’

Julian Henry

Henry’s House

’Yes. Christmas has been subverted and exploited by big brands and

advertising agencies almost since time began. Unlike our client Tango,

most people are subtle about it. Our job is to raise awareness, and to

do that you have to force people to have an opinion. Tango’s sponsorship

of the lights has already generated over pounds 500,000 worth of free

publicity for the brand. And that is what we are briefed to

achieve.’

Matt Fearnley

Larkspur Communications

’Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of people so it is going to

attract a lot of opportunities for advertisers and sponsors. But I think

Tango has simply done blatantly the easiest thing that it could which is

to sponsor some lights. A shame, really, for a brand with such a

reputation for being different and inventive.’