ONE MAN BRAND
How Gers aim to cash in by using Gerrard’s global appeal
STEVEN GERRARD is delivering results for Rangers on the pitch as James Bisgrove sets about supplying them off it.
Summer headlines at Ibrox were dominated by the signings of Joe Aribo, Filip Helander, Sheyi Ojo and Ryan Kent.
Behind the scenes, however, the arrival of Bisgrove from Switzerland may prove to be as pivotal to the fortunes of the club.
He joined the club as commercial and marketing director four months ago from UEFA, where he was responsible for overseeing sponsorship for the Champions League and Europa League.
Arguably, his appointment was the greatest declaration of intent since Dave King and the Three Bears seized control four years ago with their intention to make the business side of the club as strong as the round ball.
Unsurprisingly, much of the focus of the last 18 months has been on helping gaffer Gerrard make strides towards a legitimate title challenge, with investment on the football department and its infrastructure around Ibrox and the Hummel training centre.
But the departure of Bisgrove, a childhood Bristol City fan from Somerset, for the west coast of the United States earlier this week highlights the steps the club is taking to build its brand at home and abroad after years of neglect.
The core commercial audience for Rangers will always be Scotland, Bisgrove insists, with a string of plans afoot to increase the fan experience at Ibrox ahead of the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2022.
They will also engage with supporters across a new membership scheme and improved digital platforms, he revealed, including a revamped website, improved Rangers TV content and even an official app, developed as part of ongoing consultation with fans. Rangers hope to secure football and commercial partnerships in the States to match their recent tie up with Indian side FC Bengaluru, with their overseas development strategy focused on those two countries. We meet on a Friday afternoon in the boardroom at Argyle House, outside of matchday the real beating heart of Rangers on a day-to-day basis. Even at 4pm there is little sign of the weekend wind down as Bisgrove prepares for a meeting with human resources on the back of his most recent hire of a commercial business intelligence executive. The arrival
of Gerrard has also upped the ante and while the Rangers manager is unlikely to hang around Ibrox as long as Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, his very presence has opened more doors than a valet attendant.
Bisgrove said: “It is phenomenal to have someone of his profile and stature at the club – eight million Instagram followers, time spent with LA Galaxy, the profile of Liverpool in Asia.
“It really helps with those brand conversations and his understanding of the commercial aspects of the club means we are working with someone who is supportive of everything we are doing.
“Steven has been great in taking time out to meet with a couple of prospective partners.
“As a commercial team, we know the squad always comes first but we have put a couple of extra requests on him and he has always been available. I’ve seen it have an impact already in some of the live conversations we’re having.”
Bisgrove, a University of Cardiff
graduate, was employed with Betfair in Malta and also worked with clubs including the Gunners and Real Madrid as part of the commercial team at Emirates in Dubai before moving to UEFA six years ago.
His switch to Scottish football is a bold move. Bisgrove is used to dealing with blue chip clients and suddenly finds himself in an environment where the principal sponsors are bookies, bakers and caramel wafer makers.
To add to the challenge, the commercial worth of Rangers will never be fully realised until its retail operations are back in its own hands, with the spectre of Mike Ashley continuing to hang over the club.
Still, Bisgrove is adamant Rangers have massive and untapped potential in other areas to be considered a major player on the world stage.
He states his case, even against a backdrop of recent UEFA sanctions that painted fans of the club in a less than flattering light.
He said: “This job is a huge opportunity to put Rangers back up there with elite European clubs.
“We are a global club and a global
brand but we are on a journey to again become a tier-one club alongside the likes of Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
“We are extremely fortunate we fill Ibrox stadium with 51,000 fans every week. The risk is you can become complacent in terms of the fan experience but that’s certainly not our mindset.
“There are opportunities to improve the fan experience at all levels here and there are different projects we’re launching, all climaxing in time for 2022.
“Commercially, there is a greater appetite and desire from brands to have a corporate social responsibility and community narrative in their sponsorship platforms.
“We’ve been quite fortunate to be able to speak about the ‘Everyone, Anyone’ campaign, as well as the terrific work of the Rangers Charity Foundation.
“The club has some really nice assets for that type of conversation. The UEFA sanctions created some negative headlines but the fact the club had already put a programme
We want to be a tier-one club alongside likes of Liverpool, Man City & Bayern
and campaign in place to offset it probably prevailed. I haven’t found the sanctions an obstacle at all.”
Bisgrove is convinced Rangers can, in time, attract more category one sponsors but in the meantime accepts multi-national brands such as Nissan, Mastercard, Sony, adidas and PepsiCo are mostly likely to be seen at Ibrox on Champions League nights.
Rangers must continue to look up, he insists, rather than below, with UEFA set to introduce a third European club competition, the Conference, by 2021.
He said: “My experience of UEFA is they are the best out there at monetising their assets so a third competition is commercially positive.
“However, Rangers should be setting our sights higher and aiming for the Champions League.
“Steven’s success in leading us to the Europa League group stage two years in a row has helped with brand conversations.
“However, taking that next step to the Champions League will be the one that really propels us to all of the ambitions we’re talking about.”