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.’
