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Sad day on the South Coast

Friday’s normally have an extra buzz about them in the Jobsite offices with people gearing up for the weekend but today there is definitely a more sombre air. This is a result of the news that Pompey Football Club have officially gone into administration. As a local company and main club sponsor we’ve got a lot of PFC fans working here, some that have supported them for years, and others that have become fans since we partnered with them last summer.

Whilst there’s been speculation for a while I think we were all hoping for a last minute resolve and so the news that it’s official is still extremely disappointing. It’s a bitter blow for all of the fans and the people behind the scenes at PFC who have worked so hard at keeping the club operating successfully. Our main thoughts at this time are with them and with the local community, who are so closely entwined with the football club.

It’s this loyal and passionate community support that attracted us to become main club sponsor of Pompey and it will be this that helps the club re-build. We recently took some American visitors to watch the Pompey vs. Stoke match and they were blown away by the genuine spirit of fans and club staff willing the team to victory. One of them, Steve Boese, wrote a blog post afterwards as he was so amazed by the atmosphere he witnessed. The last sentence of his blog I think perfectly sums up current sentiment: ‘While the immediate future looks a bit harsh, I have every confidence based on the people we met, and the support and passion we witnessed that the club will make it through.’

We remain united with the fans in supporting the team and helping them return to their glory days. PUP.

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avatar Keith Potts 26 February 2010 A word from our MD Keith
  • Chris Burns

    Keith, There has been a tremendous amount of publicity surrounding Portsmouth FC before and since the club went into Administration. Pompey seem to have appeared in the business section of the Newspapers as much as they have appeared in the sports section. This in turn has delivered additional (unexpected) publicity for Jobsite.

    Can I ask you Keith, if you knew that Pompey were going to go into Administration mid-season would you have become their main sponsor at the beginning of the season??

    Also, Is all publicity good publicity?? or does being associated with a failing business (Pompey FC) have a negative impact on the Jobsite brand??

    I will look forward to getting your take on it, and wish Pompey all the best for next season.

  • Keith Potts

    Chris,

    Thanks for your question on Pompey. Of course, sponsoring any kind of sport comes with a high level of unpredictability but to answer your question I think it’s important to delve into exactly what sponsorship is about. It’s about exposing your brand to a potential audience that has never seen it or reinforcing the brand on those that have.

    Our brand building activity is based mainly around TV advertising but we also do other sponsorship to support this such as sponsoring the UK tour of Take That and Portsmouth FC.

    In terms of performance of the football sponsorship, it has indeed done very well. Perhaps not for ideal reasons but coverage has not been an issue for PFC this season which has helped our brand awareness (tracked by HPI) leap up by 32% between the season start and February 2010.

    We are also very pleased that PFC is a local FC and as such, we are able to take our staff to games every week which has been a fabulous opportunity for my team. I am a very big fan of employee engagement and what better way of thanking our team is there than enjoying such a highly popular sport as football together.

    In terms of administration, that is a financial matter for the club and not the sponsor. I’m not sure that people are looking negatively at our own brand or that of other companies such as Carlsberg, Mercedes or Seatwave who are also involved in sponsorship of Pompey. One might argue quite the reverse as we are on the supporting side of the fence.

    I would of course prefer Pompey to have not entered administration and also would prefer them to be at the top of the league table but you can never predict these things in advance. As with business itself, it’s a risk you take and risks are pretty much part and parcel of running a successful company. I’ve certainly no regrets, in fact, quite the opposite.

    Our Marketing Director has recently written a blog on the sponsorship which gives more insight. You can find the blog here: http://felixwetzel.com/english-premier-league-sponsorship-274

  • Chris Burns

    Many thanks for your response, very interesting indeed and I am pleased the sponsorship has been a success. I will definately take a look at the Blog.

    As someone who has advertised vacancies on Jobsite for several years, it is very encouraging to hear that brand awareness has increased by a third between the start of the Football season and Feb this year.

    I expect brand awareness will increase globally after Pompey play in the FA Cup Final in May, as I understand the Cup Final is watched by 450+ million people in 160+ countries Worldwide !!!!!

    Keep up the good work and good luck to Pompey for the final.

Disclaimer: Any views here do not necessarily reflect the views of Jobsite. As such we cannot be held responsible for the views expressed here or any actions taken as a consequence.