So Many Questions
BMW has decided not to renew its sponsorship of the Springbok rugby team. Chris Barron spoke to Edward Makwana, the manager group automotive communications for BMW . . . Did this have anything to do with the negative style of rugby they’ve been playing?
Not at all. Presumably you don’t want to be associated with a losing brand? We’ve had a five-year contract, which is about to expire. We notified [the South African Rugby Union] in August, so it was before the Rugby World Cup. They’d been on a losing streak for a long time, hadn’t they? But that is not the reason. We didn’t decide, when they started losing, well, we’re going to pull out. So the fact they were playing such a negative brand of losing rugby had absolutely nothing to do with it? Absolutely not, it was a purely commercial decision. All sponsorships are, but surely being associated with a losing brand is going to hurt you commercially? I wouldn’t be able to quantify whether it was going to harm us, but . . . Surely the commercial impact is going to be different depending on whether you’re backing a winning brand or a losing brand? It’s not about that. We reached a mutual decision that we wouldn’t be renewing because we’re focusing on new things. When we started the partnership with the Springboks we had just launched our sixthgeneration 3 Series, the current 3 Series. We thought that would be more ideally suited to partnering with a team like the Springboks, whereas in the next few years the focus is slightly different. Because you’re changing your customer profile? Not changing it. If you look at all the BMW models, each one appeals to a different type of customer. If you start looking at 7 Series, 6 Series, X5 and so forth, you’re already going into your top, high-end customer.
Are these who you’ll be targeting? Going forward with those particular products . . . next year we’re launching the next generation of the 7 Series. For us it’s going to be a key focus, it’s our flagship brand. So you want to project a different image? It’s not necessarily about portraying a certain image but about saying the focus is now on the luxury, high-end products, so it’s about focusing on those kinds of profiles of customers.
Who value quality? It was always about quality but if you look at the 7 Series customer, it will be very few of them who are rugby followers. Are you saying if the Springboks had been playing quality rugby and won the World Cup, you would still have dropped them? We would still have dropped our sponsorship because of where we’re going with the brand. Did the lack of transformation have anything to do with it?
Not at all. So BMW is not concerned about transformation? I think like any other organisation we have to show commitment to transformation. Have you shown any commitment as a sponsor of the Springboks? Absolutely. If you look at our commitment that was part of the sponsorship . . . So why has there been so little transformation? If you look at the rugby development element of our sponsorship, we’re actually going to remain with that . . . It’s just on the main sponsorship that we’re pulling out. You’re still going to be sponsoring rugby development? Absolutely . . . We’re sponsoring development at a grassroots level with the Rugby Legends Association. Surely it should have been a concern that the team you were sponsoring was increasingly seen as a losing brand?
Not really. But it’s important to be associated with a winning brand? Absolutely. But we shouldn’t say we’re only going to focus on the winning element. We can’t just say, because they’re now losing, let’s pull out. Shouldn’t you have used your leverage as a sponsor to tell Saru, “Improve the quality and do more about transformation, or we’re pulling the plug”? No, not at all. The fact that we’ve been involved at grassroots level contributes to the improvement of transformation, and it’s another way of trying to boost the quality of rugby. You’re going for a new-generation consumer?
In a way, yes. And there’s a more comfortable fit at that level with golf than rugby? Absolutely. That’s what we’re saying here. Has this got anything to do with more and more of your customers being successful, high-end black people? It’s not about race. But golf has more appeal across all segments of the middle class.
Across all race groups? Absolutely. But it would be shortsighted to say this is because there aren’t enough black middle-class people following rugby. Not at all.