RadioShack Sponsoring Lance: Thumbs Up or Down?
Posted: 7/24/2009 4:00:22 PM by
Jim Andrews | with 2 comments
Prior to yesterday’s announcement, if I had been asked to guess the name of Lance Armstrong’s next major sponsor I probably would have gone through at least a couple of hundred other companies before getting to RadioShack. I mean let’s face it, RadioShack isn’t a major blip on most folks’ radar screens. I still think of it as “a Tandy Corporation company” even though my just-completed tour of the Web site informs me the Tandy name disappeared nine years ago.
So what to make of this new alliance? As with all sponsorship speculation, those of us outside the parties to the agreement are at a disadvantage without knowing the specific deal points, the company’s business priorities, etc. But that hasn’t stopped us before, has it?
I’m coming down on the side of this being a good deal for the sponsor. The RadioShack brand is currently pretty irrelevant. Whether you admire Lance for his amazing accomplishments and comeback from cancer, or think he and/or his sport are not on the up-and-up, he is most certainly relevant. The association with him will bring attention to RadioShack in a way that spending probably twice as much on a NASCAR or other pro sports league would not.
Even in a worst-case scenario—a proven doping charge against Lance or his future teammates—RadioShack will be in the spotlight and can play the sympathy card with consumers (“We were duped just like you.”)
Will this sponsorship ensure a golden future for RadioShack? No. Will it be the deal that propels cycling to the height of sports popularity in the U.S.? No (and neither will anything else by the way, so stop asking).
But it appears to me to be a good deal for both sides. What do you think?
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