Below are some test-case examples of the off-field work we have carried out for player clients in the past. To avoid confusion, the examples are shown for the scope and variety of our work rather than to illustrate a list of current clients.
Joe Worsley’s Metro Column Joe writes his own quirky columns for the Metro newspaper sponsored in recent years by Guinness, RBS and First Cape Wines. We have negotiated the three-way player-sponsor-paper deals and managed the relationships. In our time, we have also concluded player column agreements with the Daily Telegraph, The News of the World, The Mirror, The Express, The Scotsman, The Evening Standard, BBC on-line and Rugby Times.
Ugo Monye & Maximuscle
His speed, physique and international success presented Ugo as a great promotional partner for nutrition market-leader Maximuscle. We set-up and sealed the long-term advertising, PR and promotional contract for the player and managed the relationship between the parties. We naturally have close links with rugby performance brands adidas, Asics, Canterbury, Mizuno, Nike and Puma having set-up and managed player contracts with all of them. Also with other sports nutrition brands USN and Kinetica.
Jerry Flannery & Guinness
Guinness were looking to further their association with the Ireland rugby team with an on-line social network campaign harnessing the appeal of key players. We represented Jerry Flannery’s involvement in the initiative with the brewers PR company in Dublin. PR/sponsorship agency contacts are important to us and have led to deals with the likes of RBS, Marsh, 02, Lucozade, Sloggi, Timberland, QBE, Heineken, The Famous Grouse, Kingsmill, NFL Europe and many others for our player clients.
Ben Cohen on-line
Ben-cohen.com is a focal point for Cohen fans on-line. We set up the website for Ben and found a competent partner (Xposure Ltd) to develop his presence when the scale of site and social network activities became more complex. Now Ben’s site is a commercial and communications hub with between 20 and 25,000 users per month, 58,000 followers on FB not to mention Twitter and Linked-In solutions. We are always willing to forge partnerships with specialist third-parties (in media, sports memorabilia and event management for example) to further benefit our clients.
Dan Luger Book and Fit Camps
Dan was known for his speed, athleticism and his constant quest for better performance. We sourced a publisher (Human Kinetics), co-author (Paul Pook), photographer and sponsors (York Fitness) to put together Complete Conditoning for Rugby. The book was marketed worldwide and led to a series of Fit Camps and Speed Sessions in the UK for aspiring players and coaches in association with Rugby World magazine. We are aware that a players’ off-field activities play a large part in supporting and defining his “brand”.
Matt Dawson autobiography
We sourced and agreed a publishing agreement with market leaders Collins Willow to produce Matt’s autobiography “Nine Lives” ghosted by Alex Spink of the Daily Mirror. We agreed serialisation with the Daily Telegraph for whom Matt was contributing at the time and co-ordinated his promotional tour to promote the book at retailer. The author, ghost and publisher may have differing and changing requirements during this process which often require close attention through the process and some diplomacy.
Pountney’s Pie
Budge wanted to be involved with a community initiative that linked his farming roots with his position as a role model with Northampton and Scotland. We linked up with local Master Butcher (Sauls of Spratton) and brewer Carlsberg Tetley to produce a steak and ale Pountney Pie that was sold to raise funds to take inner-city school children to working farms. We are keen to become involved in non-commercial projects that help define a player’s unique qualities and interests.
