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The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens; it’s not exactly a moniker that rolls of the tongue. Which is why, to everyone but the sponsors and spokespeople of the event, it is more commonly known as the Dubai Rugby Sevens.
Thanks to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (sorry, the Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009) and other major events gravitating to the Middle East, the UAE’s annual Sevens tournament has lost a little of its luster. But while it may no longer be the country’s biggest, loudest sporting weekend of the year any more, no one at the event itself seemed to care less.
As ever, it was packed with the kind of consumers marketers dream about – affluent, enthusiastic and engaged. No wonder the three-day event was saturated with advertisers.
From the moment you clear the security checks, the marketing begins in earnest. Not five steps from the gate, Communicate is approached by a young woman dressed all in red and selling food and beverage vouchers on behalf of drinks supplier MMI. Before we know it we have 500 dirhams worth; plenty to spend at the huge refreshments stand located handily in our path.
From here it’s on to the program stand, then the Coca-Cola stand, and this is starting to be an expensive day. Communicate’s recession-time rations will not stretch far at this rate.
Next up, a – thankfully free – copy of The Times is foisted into our hands. Communicate is surprised to see the title in such open circulation – only a week previously it was pulled from the stands across the UAE for disparaging coverage of Dubai’s debt crisis. Nevertheless here it is, it later proves a handy diversion for one of our less rugby-crazy guests.
Beyond the merchandise store selling branded balls, shirts and even cushions to the enthusiastic throng, we can see a Nivea stand pushing men’s grooming products and sunscreen, a series of food outlets, and a crowd gathered around some people dressed in yellow. These turn out to be a contingent of marketers from DHL, who are distributing free inflatable bang sticks (blow ‘em up, hit ‘em together, they make a noise) and balls.
And, probably unbeknown to DHL, it is this sponsorship that will have the most visible impact at the event. With some sort of magnificent, unspoken organization, dozens of children work together to tie uninflated and burst DHL bang sticks into a rope. It’s an effort that takes all day and unbelievable diligence, and results in a single rope completing a full loop of the stadium seating. The crowd loves it, preferring this honest novelty fun to the transparent marketing entertainment of the day, which includes a race to pass a giant rugby ball from one end of the stand to the other. As any good marketer knows, natural engagement is worth far more than forced.
Beyond the usual billboard, stand and shirt sponsorship, Communicate found one or two more unusual efforts. Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City’s sponsorship of the on-screen question competition was unsubtle (“What is the official hotel of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens? Is it: A, the Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City….”), but no more shameless than Nivea’s sponsorship of the Player of the Tournament Award (spectators could vote for: “Nivea A, Ben Gollings of England, Nivea B, Alafoti Fa’osiliva of Samoa, Nivea C….” You get the picture).
Overall, though, it’s good to see sponsors really involved in an event. The feel-good response to the spontaneous rope making might not be easy to replicate, but you have to be in it to win it, and marketers at the Sevens gave it their all. And, after the missed opportunities of the Abu Dhabi GP (see “The winning formula,” page 8, Communicate, Dec. 2009), here was an example of sponsorship maximization of which marketers can truly be proud.

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