Tumbleweed Posted July 21, 2008 Share Just like your asshole opinion sweetie!!! As a journo and a public relations person - I think it is a premature decision. As for doping' date=' I don't agree with it no ANY more than anyone else does but let's face it - can you control what your riding partner is doing - NO?!!! So why should a whole peleton gets penalised for some idiot who makes the decision to go and dope.? I think the damage control that these companies are doing pulling out of their sponsorships is enoromous and soon no one will want to sponsor cycling - including local races!!! mmmm let me think - nah never knew what Barloworld did before they sponsored cycling and mmm that is from a seasoned journalist - shocking isn't it but now I do know who they are through cycling. The power of a PR!!![/quote'] it's not a whole peleton but one team, in this instance. you might be a journalist but are you a cyclist? could this be her?Jenny Slee | FacebookThis is Jenny Slee's public search listing on Facebook. Jenny's friends can view photos, videos and more. Everyone can join Facebook.www.facebook.com/people/Jenny_Slee/540551566 - 18k - Cached - Similar pages jenny, i journalist worth their weight would have reserached the subject before publishing, particularly if it was an opinion piece. i know a couple of hacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPWTF Posted July 21, 2008 Share Johan, you got it nailed. Articulate as always - the voice of reason has spoken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
100%spectator Posted July 21, 2008 Share Do they want to be remembered for not being able to handle bad publicity! Lot of companies receive bad publicity from time to time, its how deal with it - pulling the plug is not the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted July 21, 2008 Share I questioned Barloworld's motives right from the start and I won't be surprised if there is an executive in that company somewhere with a very' date=' very personal interest in cycling and Team Barloworld is an extension of his ego. It certainly isn't the best marketing ploy for the problem.[/quote'] now you're sniffing in the right place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT1 Posted July 21, 2008 Share now you're sniffing in the right place? http://heddley.com/edd/2002/03/27/line-020.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted July 21, 2008 Share cut cut cut cut.... As a journo and a public relations person Surely that is the oxymoron of the week' date=' even it's still just Monday? mmmm let me think - nah never knew what Barloworld did before they sponsored cycling and mmm that is from a seasoned journalist - shocking isn't it but now I do know who they are through cycling. The power of a PR!!! In my book, that's the power of advertising, sponsorship and merchandising. PR is a very small part of this equation. However, I agree that shutting the gate after the horse has bolted is a bad decision. Getting into cycling sponsorship is something you do with eyes wide open. You know there is going to be a drug scandal and how you handle it is more important than whether the event happened or not. I questioned Barloworld's motives right from the start and I won't be surprised if there is an executive in that company somewhere with a very, very personal interest in cycling and Team Barloworld is an extension of his ego. It certainly isn't the best marketing ploy for the problem. However, now that they're in it, they should stay in it. Dealing with a druggie on the squad is easy - you push him out, you condemn his actions and you promote your stars (and pray that they're still clean). People won't remember Barloworld for drug abuse, they'll remember it for the cycling team. I also agree with you that the exercise was largely positive from an awareness point of view but I didn't see any follow-through. For instance, do you know that Plascon is a Barloworld company? Or Subaru? Or.... or. The only ones you may know about are the ones on Robbie Hunter's shoulders - Avis, I think. I think that's where the marketing was flawed. The campaign wasn't rounded enough and certainly not long enough. I agree with you, Johan. A number of us questioned exactly that. Barloworld don't use the Barloworld brand much in their various businesses and as a company managing numerous brands, they could have picked one of their brands to drive better awareness for their brand. Spectators don't care about corporate structures they just know the brand they see with the logo. My bet is that any of their motoring or consumer product brands would have been a better option. Of course, if the truth be told, as fans we don't actually give a damn about the sponsor's brand. All we want to see is the money being paid into the team.linnega2008-07-21 02:45:29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted July 21, 2008 Share Do they want to be remembered for not being able to handle bad publicity! Lot of companies receive bad publicity from time to time' date=' its how deal with it - pulling the plug is not the answer. [/quote'] i suggest, like was suggested earlier, that if you search the weekend's posting on this topic, you may learn more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted July 21, 2008 Share Do they want to be remembered for not being able to handle bad publicity! Lot of companies receive bad publicity from time to time' date=' its how deal with it - pulling the plug is not the answer. [/quote'] Have to agree with you here. I saw some stats the other day that show X (insert any number in here, 73,5% of stats are dreamt up anyway) number of companies who handled bad publicity well fare much better after an incident than before. Pick 'n Pay's poison fish incident comes to mind as does Renault's "faulty" airbag issue. The opposite,...I can't think of a good example but perhaps the cops that denied the existence of an airport syndicate. Then again, they had a bad reputation to start off with. Someone help me with an example please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT1 Posted July 21, 2008 Share I questioned Barloworld's motives right from the start and I won't be surprised if there is an executive in that company somewhere with a very' date=' very personal interest in cycling and Team Barloworld is an extension of his ego. It certainly isn't the best marketing ploy for the problem.[/quote'] now you're sniffing in the right place? So we have to go back and ask JR who he knew to get this ball rolling in the start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YETI575 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Why are you all attacking the person as opposed to the problem. With the withdrawl of Barloworld, we have no "South African" team to act as a feeder team for local elites. Not only that, did anyone notice who is paying for the TV coverage, that also ends. Next year we may have to read about the tour on the net. The reality is that "cheating" will exist in all environments, I am sure Barloworld has had fraud within it's corporate structures too, but I haven't ever heard of them close down a division because of one bad seed. This knee jerk reaction is BAD for South African cycling, and Barloworld have possibly doomed the potential of local hopefuls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted July 21, 2008 Share Eskom is a pretty good example. Bad business planning followed by cover-ups results in a national emergency! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPWTF Posted July 21, 2008 Share The brand awareness that sponsorship of an event or team typically gains is targeted, hence when you mention Phonak anyone in cycling remembers Landis etec etc, yet most still today couldn't tell you what Phonak actually did - make hearing aids etc.... so the damage to the brand is specific to the interest group. Hence cyclists think Phonak, remember Floyd, and in turn doping. It is very very regrettable, but when T Mobile quit they had come under sustained corporate and public pressure to disassociate the brand from the sport.... now for any commercial enterprise that is seriously powerful persuasion.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPWTF Posted July 21, 2008 Share Eskom is a pretty good example. Bad business planning followed by cover-ups results in a national emergency! Thank you for making me laugh feeling better already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted July 21, 2008 Share Why are you all attacking the person as opposed to the problem. With the withdrawl of Barloworld' date=' we have no "South African" team to act as a feeder team for local elites. Not only that, did anyone notice who is paying for the TV coverage, that also ends. Next year we may have to read about the tour on the net. The reality is that "cheating" will exist in all environments, I am sure Barloworld has had fraud within it's corporate structures too, but I haven't ever heard of them close down a division because of one bad seed. This knee jerk reaction is BAD for South African cycling, and Barloworld have possibly doomed the potential of local hopefuls.[/quote'] Interesting idea this feeder team. Perhaps that is where Barloworld started, but the current team has very few South Africans. Not to worry. If Supersport drop Tour coverage, then ASO will open up internet coverage here. Otherwise just watch the coverage on RAI, RTL, Sputnik, Eurosport etc on your PC. The commentary is better anyway. Anyway, why make your problem as a fan Barloworld's problem. As a corporate they are required to manage their money appropriately for their shareholders. Where there was positive publicity they could probably just justify the cost to the board, but as soon as there is negative publicity, that cost can no longer be justified and as a shareholder (which I'm not) I would want them to pull out. I believe they managed it fairly well. They have demonstrated strong corporate culture by their actions and if anything, their shareholders would likely view their stance as a positive indicator that corporate governance is in place at Barloworld. As with a corproate fraud, they would manage the problem to recover any losses and then remove the source of the problem.linnega2008-07-21 02:57:37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT1 Posted July 21, 2008 Share ... This knee jerk reaction is BAD for South African cycling' date=' and Barloworld have possibly doomed the potential of local hopefuls.[/quote'] Agreed, and others, like Astana, Liquigas, CSC etc have weathered these storms and remained in the sport... The only conclusion we can draw is that it was not an isolated case of doping in the team... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted July 21, 2008 Share I agree with you' date=' Johan. A number of us questioned exactly that. Barloworld don't use the Barloworld brand much in their various businesses and as a company managing numerous brands, they could have picked one of their brands to drive better awareness for their brand. Spectators don't care about corporate structures they just know the brand they see with the logo. My bet is that any of their motoring or consumer product brands would have been a better option. Of course, if the truth be told, as fans we don't actually give a damn about the sponsor's brand. All we want to see is the money being paid into the team.[/quote'] This sounds like a stucks record, but I agree as well. My choice for the single company would have been one of the local brands. To involve Avis, Subaru or Cat creates huge complications for a local marketing manager. I would have gone for one of the local brands, perhaps Plascon?? I suppose it is easy for us to sit here after the fact and design a marketing campaign. But lets agree to agree on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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