IT’d be weird without mcdonald’S

I: OK, yeah. … This has, in a sense, no bearing on because you have already established – you could say – with another brand. It was an advert that annoyed you, the Coca-Cola advert?

R: It didn’t change my consumption. If I was some place abroad and I saw Coca-Cola I would still maybe buy it. The commercial won’t change my behavior in that way.

I: No, that’s cool.

R: Even though it’s strange to have a soda being the main sponsor of a sports event. Right?

…

I: I’ve taken some pictures of various products, some of which you will recognize and some of which you have referred to as well… [begins to show pictures on a computer slideshow] This was taken from Facebook actually, it was a Carlsberg competition. Is there any way you’d enter a competition with a T-shirt, three cans and a little scarf on offer? And maybe an ice-bucket with that?

I: It’s in the Danish colours at least.

R: No.

I: It is a Danish, it has the Danish flag on it.

I: No, no.

R: No. No, like …

I: And why is that? Because of the Danish side of it?

R: If it was the original shirt at least then it would have some… well, you know what I mean.

I: Yeah.

I: No, that’s cool. … This was actually during the first Denmark game…

R: That’s Aalborg?

I: Exactly. It was on the big screen [in Gammel Torv]. They had an event. There wasn’t any actual sponsorship – it was over a weekend. This was the actual cup we got from Studenterhuset, and obviously it’s kinda obvious who provides that cup [a plastic Carlsberg pint glass]. And that cup is provided by…?

R: Carlsberg.

I: Exactly. Why do you think they have that? It isn’t just because of the event. The Student House gives you these cups when you’re going outside all the time.

R: I’m not sure if they have a contract with Carlsberg, but they serve primarily Carlsberg beer so it’s mostly part of the contract that they have to use the cups as well….

I: Cool.

R: … of course the cups represent, for them it’s a free display of their brand name … and even if they would give others those cups for free and they would use it, it would save the other people money and it would be a free advertisement for Carlsberg.

I: True. Is there any way that this would be a bad thing for Carlsberg?

R: … Well, if they served another beer, maybe, in the cup .

I: Yeah, that’s true.

R: If, for example, people would leave the garbage everywhere this would be a bad thing for Carlsberg.

I: Yeah. … Yeah, potentionally, yeah. That’s good. This is very strange actually. … This is just sea salt [a picture of sea salt with Kom så Danmark in white and red on it]. I’ve never noticed this company before but it says ‘Come on Denmark!’, ‘Kom så Danmark!’ If that was ‘Kom så Tyskland!’ or the equivalent in German would you…? Is there any way you’d…?

R: I really wouldn’t buy that. It may be some kind of third person effect. I would never buy it. But I know exactly that maybe in the whole euphoria before the Championship, or during the Championship either the World Championship, or European Championship there’s a kind of euphoria among the people which, I guess, really started in 2006, at least in Germany. You find many products kind of like, re-using the flag, or the national colours without using any of the official logos, for example, of the German Football Association, but they ride on the wave and I’m pretty sure it works.

I: Specifically for you. If you were in the market for sea salt, say you wouldn’t…?

R: I wouldn’t be in the market for sea salt. Sea salt is an exclusive product so I would probably buy a good brand of sea salt…!

I: Yeah, I know what you mean.

R: … it would rather be strange for me to see a sea salt bag with a ‘Kom så Danmark’…

I: Exactly…. And the same for Oregano [shows picture of oregano with the same packaging as the sea salt]

R: … There’s just no match between the actual product and the etiket (sticker) you find on it.

I: And, in that sense… If you had this and another oregano which was exactly the same price…?

R: I would rather exclude this one [the ‘Kom så Danmark!’ one] and take the other one.

I: OK… This is the second Danish match and they’d had a big event can you see who sponsors that? [shows various pictures with promotional posters and events from Danske Bank]

R: … Actually not.

I: It’s actually Danske Bank.

R: Oh, ok Danske Bank.

I: There’s a DBU [Danish Football Association] sign there. Just there.

R: OK.

I: You mentioned that earlier on [promotional events]. Why do you think they have…?

I: Yeah, I get the impression that’s it’s some kind of goal or something I think. It was the end of the event so it looks a bit tatty. It looks a bit tired but I think there was some sort of …

R: It’s just using this event to get something from the profit cake.

I: Yeah. Good idea. Again, this follows it up. ‘Vi bakker landsholdet op’, so we support the national team…

R: That’s pretty ridiculous for me.

I: So this has no… Of course this is slightly strange for you, but if a German bank had a similar thing…?

R: I would find it totally ridiculous!

I: OK. That’s good.

R: But, I’m not a big fan of this whole… patriotic acts during the World Championship so… Like in Germany they have all these flags that you can put outside a car … and it was like everywhere and now every tournament they have it and it’s just like a driving embarrassment for me!

I: Why is that? Is that a deeper thing with the German flag per se? Or is that, because I know there is a… 2006 heralded a new time in Germany, because it has been said that there was a more…

R: Like a re-birth of patriotism.

I: Yeah, yeah. In England as well.

R: Since, I guess the Second World War it was pretty much non-existent… In pretty much the rest of Germany, like I remember almost no signs of the nationality, there were no flags. Like, for example, you always see the Danish flag somewhere products, above the streets as here… you see it on Schools, in front of private houses little flags on their meals and that didn’t really exist in Germany but now that kinda started with the 2006 World Championship. I was actually quite happy with a state that doesn’t need to mention their nationality all the time!

I: So, your feelings towards it are that it is going too far the other way? Perhaps it’s…?

R: I find it strange. I find it too much.

I: What do we have next? Again this is Seven- Eleven. They’ve produced autographed slush ice or coffee cups. If you went in for a coffee…? Would you?

R: No, I wouldn’t buy it.

I: It wouldn’t be..?

R: No, not at all. If it was cheaper because of that I would probably buy it.

I: Yes, in that sense, that’s fair enough.

R: I wouldn’t buy it because…

I: You wouldn’t go out of your way to collect the…? Even in the German sense?

R: No. No.

I: In any sense. And why is that?

R: Why I wouldn’t collect empty plastic cups or what?!

I: Yeah, it becomes pretty obvious why you wouldn’t …!

R: ha ha!

I: There’s no need for it in your mind. It’s collecting rubbish in a sense!

R: It would be rubbish for me.

I: Good stuff! [Shows Coca-Cola offer with two bottles for 35kr with coolers in the shape of football kits in various national colours] If you were given the opportunity to…?

R: It’s the same thing.

I: Even though, you’ve got two for 35 kroner.

R: If that’s cheaper than normal, but I think it’s normal. It’s not an offer that they have only for this event, I think they always have two for 35. Maybe, like, I would buy it if I knew someone that could be happy with it. Like, I have a little nephew maybe I would buy it to give him… I don’t know what he would do with that!

I: Exactly… Again, a close up of the same thing. In German colours this time, but there again…

R: No…

I: You feel that’s it’s almost too far, too much in a sense.

I: and another [a picture of actual Danish football players posing with the promotional autographed cups].

R: That’s Simon Kjær.

I: Yeah, that’s right and Thomas Sørensen even though he wasn’t in it, he was injured anyway…

R: I don’t like him anyway… Whatever product he would campaign for it wouldn’t even interest me…

I: That’s good.

R: … I mean, as a player I’ve never heard anything about him otherwise but I don’t consider him as a very good player!

I: No, that’s cool. Fair enough. So, his connection with that advertisement would almost create more distance for you because of your dislike for him?

R: No. I don’t have a dislike for him. It’s just in that case I cannot even understand why, well, I guess he’s big in Denmark. He played for Wolfsburg in Germany…

I: Juve as well, didn’t he? Juventus? He played in Italy at some point. This one [promotional EURO 2012 Carlsberg six-pack where you get a red and white feathered head band] again, if you were going in for a six-pack? Would that…?

R: No. It’s the same case with the little T-shirts for the bottles…

I: It’s almost, actually annoying to get this!

R: Ha!

I: Would it be in your mind?

I: Can you imagine, not in this context, but even if it was in the German colours this head thing?

R: In the German colours it would be even more strange. I wouldn’t wear it in the German colours.

I: And, that was the last. I think we’re done. That was cool.

I: It’d be great if you could introduce yourself.

R: My name is … studying at Aalborg University Market and Consumption [CCG] and I’m 26 years old and I followed the European Cup 2012.

I: Good stuff. Can you name any of the main sponsors, main business partners of the EURO 2012? Off the top of your head. Or even guess.

R: … Jeez. Yeah. I saw, like a million times in the adverts but… I find it kinda hard to pinpoint a … specific, erm… No. I don’t think I’m able to. … I mean I er, … Not the official sponsors at least I remember some of the billboards but…

I: What are some of the billboards you can you think of?

R: I can think of definitely McDonald’s. And I remember them predominantly for the pay off they have, like the slogan, because ‘I’m Lovin’ it’…

I: Umm.

I: Yeah, I remember.

R: Yeah, er… I think that was, I guess the singlular one that stood out for me…

I: Yeah.

I: How would you describe your football knowledge or viewing. Do you keep in regular contact with a league?

R: No, I don’t. I mean …er, I guess my relationship to soccer is in the sense that I grasp the game. I watch European Cups, World Cups but I don’t follow any particular team, I don’t follow club football at all…

I: OK.

I: Cool. … But, obviously having referred to the McDonald’s, … when you watch a match would you say you are totally concentrating on the football or…?

R: I would say for the most part and again, maybe based on, the fact that football isn’t like a major interest for me, which probably makes for the whole situation of watching football more a social activity than anything else. It’s not to discuss different tactics, so, I guess, in a sense it’s sort of disrupts my focus and attention. Also, like in just the basic…

I: What does?

R: The nasiccs of following the game which means, that I would be more focused on referring with whom I’m situated in the room with and to talk with instead of dedicating my focus on the game.

I: Yeah, of course. If there was a quiet point in the social side would you solely watch the football or… Have you tended to notice other things such as the pitch-side advertising, or…other aspects of the television experience you could say?

R: I guess I wouldn’t go as far as to say I pay any particular attention to advertising as for the billboards situated around the field. I guess, if it’s a particularly boring match, it’s more based on commentary, the surroundings, the audience, their reactions and … Yeah, I guess, that’s about it. I mean, it’s kind of hard in retrospect to reflect on it but I guess I do in some instances pay attention to some of the adverts that are present but as this sort of goes to show I don’t remember them. I don’t have any clear recollection of what I saw or measures they try to receive them.

I: That’s cool. … Why is there such advertising in football do you think? Particularly, in terms of the EURO 2012.

R: Well, obviously based on the sheer number of people watching at the stadium and of course the exponential size of the audience watching from their television sets...

I: Yeah.

I: No.

I: Yeah. Is their involvement wholly beneficial to them?

R: To the companies?

I: Like, say for example with the McDonald’s example, is that, is it beneficial for them to be associated with a sporting event? And why do you think?

R: Ummm… Well in the case of a McDonald’s I mean … I guess in some sense. I mean, in one way it’s kinda contradictory in the whole case of contrasting McDonald’s with sports because it’s almost mutually exclusive that one’s fast and one is sport and sport is very based on being healthy diet and stuff like that. But at the same time I mean I don’t think everybody makes this distinction between the two things. And we have a rich culture, at least here in Denmark of course at European events as well, and we drink beer which is unhealthy as well. And, I mean, in Denmark brands like Carlsberg is very much associated with sports and McDonald’s is very convenient, I mean, why not broadcast their brand as well? I could imagine walking from a football match and grabbing a quick burger at McDonald’s, I mean ....

I: Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. … What other…? Can any brand have a connection with something? Anything for example. A company’s connection … Continental the tyre manufacturer was also one of the main sponsors. Like, one of the main head, business partners. They appear on the website. … I know you’re probably not in the business for buying tyres but can you imagine anyone would think that’s a positive thing? Or a negative thing? Or…?

R: I would say more like an indifference attitude towards that particular one because at least for me I don’t associate it with sports, it’s not something I can immediately consume afterwards which makes it, sort of, far -fetched. Again, I would state that sort of, for me, relates to the fact that a mere branding campaign of just a company name of the tyres doesn’t make any sense to me because it doesn’t pinpoint how I should relate to the company based on the action of watching a soccer game or participating in, sort of, the European Cup mentality. … So, I could imagine from a corporate point of view they get some exposure, they get some clicks, but I would definitely say that there are brands and companies that are more suitable for such an event.

I: Is exposure enough do you think? Or should advertising lead to sales?

R: Well, I mean, I think... Advertising is a sort of broad concept it entails everything ... to the pinpoint of billboards and ads on the internet with banner links sort of goes with the development that’s not really enough. And I would say in case of tyres it’s definitely not enough because it’s not directly – for me at least – not something that I would directly associate that’s beneficial for me or something that I would even consider engaging in ... and I mean we’re more and more resilient towards the old -school advertising with pop-ups and banner links ...

I: Which in itself isn’t particularly old-school with banners. It’s only five ten years ago in a sense.

R: Yeah, but it’s old-school in the very fast progressing history of technology and... I would say that it, sort of requires for a tyre company... I’m actually quite surprised. I mean obviously it does give some exposure. They would definitely need a strategy that follows through on whatever billboards or banner links they do that actually makes it beneficial for the dealer to engage in something on the lines of their product ...

I: True. True.

R: ... And, as I stated in the beginning of the interview you see it, and obviously I remember McDonald’s because it’s such an immense brand. They have the pay-off, but other than that I don’t remember it. ...

I: No.

I: No, fair enough. So, do you think, in the sense of the fast moving technological landscape we’re in, in terms of advertising, is there a place for pitch-side advertising?

R: Yeah. I would definitely say so.

I: why, and how?

R: I mean, it’s been, like vital for the advertising industry for so many years and I still think it’s very important just now, it’s a matter of proportion and how you implement your advertising in your marketing mix and I think that there is a huge emphasis on the concept of marketing mix that you actually link your different strategies of advertising and branding with communicating with your peers, your consumers. So,I mean I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s obsolete to do it but I think it’s even more now important that they actually link it with company profile, with what else they do in order for it to make sense otherwise it becomes obsolete.

I: Yeah. You said it was vital for the advertising industry but who else could it be vital to this pitch-side advertising, do you think? Is it just beneficial to the advertising companies that...?

R: Well, I mean no. In an economic sense it’s important for sports events in general. For finance because obviously if they become sponsors or partners they contribute with a lot of funding for.... So, it’s vital for everything. Whether it’s the World Cup or a local event that you have sponsors that contribute with the funding for you to go on with your projects. So yeah.

I: It’s just that on a grand scale, in a sense it’s just form local events, as you said, it’s just an expansion of that.

R: Yeah, definitely.

I: Good stuff. ... So far, you’ve said the advertising in football isn’t detrimental to your viewing of a football match, so to speak.

R: No. I mean.... Obviously even though I consider myself very resilient to advertising, you’re always going to be effected by something, you’re always going to remember something like McDonald’s ...

I: Are you hungry by any chance?!

R: I might be a little hungry! ...

...

R: Yeah. Because it’s always been a part of ... in the sense that advertising, again if we use this conventional terminology advertising is billboards, it’s ads before the game... From what I think it’s, the concern is not to make it so irritating. For me, adverts which is very dominant within some European spots events in general is very dominant and it’s very annoying because you want to watch the game you don’t want watch,like a ten minute commercial or anything. ... I would guess it’s finding a balance between actually broadcasting your message, your brand what you actually want to communicate and keeping at sort of a level where it you don’t get annoyed and you still manage to establish a connection between the viewers and your profile, your company.

I: Cool. That’s brilliant. Would there be any way, say a product had a connection with the Danish team, or even just being a sponsor of EURO 2012, would that influence, in any way, your purchasing patterns? If you were going to watch a match and, for example, you want some beer, and money was no problem, would that influence anything you think?

R: Umm, not directly. I don’t think so. I mean if it was, sort of, very objective, I would, it wouldn’t affect me in any way, because I would have my own opinions on what I would find suitable for whatever .But, obviously, I mean, in the situation of if you’re attending a sporting event and obviously you going to be restricted by what you can purchase and it’s always going to be limited by the sponsors so it’s in a respect it makes sense ... and there are numerous examples of companies brilliantly incorporating branding like in Denmark Tuborg, Carlsberg which is basically the same company. One is directed at music, one is particular sports. Absolutely magnificent. But, as far as to say when I’m watching the game on television I don’t, I’m never going to prefer one brand to another just based on them sponsoring some team.

...

I: Say, if there was a competition or something that you could enter or, would that influence? Or betting? Or something like that? Would that influence that?

I: [interviewee in first interview] brought up the idea of a competition for a car for example with a very easy question to answer. Would that, would you do because it was an interactive sort of form of advertising in a sense. Would you...?

R: If it was appealing. If it was entertaining I would probably.... I could, I mean, I haven’t really done that. I haven’t really engaged in competitions in a sort of overall perspective. .... I could see myself engaging in a competition as long as it’s not like, blatantly obvious that there is any form of manipulation or any form of the core, direct marketing branding ... I could participate in a competition. No strings attached of course, all these things that it has to be easy, accessible and.... Whether or not it’s sort of changes my overall perception of the brand I’m not really sure. It’s hard to say whether it influences me. At least for the duration of the competition I would interact with the company and their brand.

I: That’s cool. What ... products work very well in terms of sponsoring EURO 2012 and why? Could you imagine. Can you think of any?

R: ... Well, oddly enough I immediately think it should be something that reflects sports sponsorship, like healthy products. It’s not really. It’s beer. It’s McDonald’s. It’s, I don’t know, cameras which sort of makes sense I mean...

I: Why do think those companies go for it even though they don’t have a natural association with sport?

R: Well, I mean, having a good camera sort of makes sense, being at the pitch wanting to take great photos. Obviously we are bombarded with images from World Cups and websites and paper, tabloid newspapers... So, again for me, it’s sort of I can’t really name particular companies but I would go to say that it was companies that sort of reflect the needs of the viewer of the audience and not really the essence of the sport or the core values of participating in sports.

I: That’s good. Is there any companies that just couldn’t do it? Why are the ones associated with the EM [EURO 2012] do you think are in there? We’ve talked about tyres. You’ve got McDonald’s. The beer. Camera. Why is that? Is it because they have the most money, or is it because...? Why is their connection so strong with these events or EURO 2012 do you think? What’s the benefit for ... EURO 2012 or UEFA [the European Football Association]? Do you think?

...

I: Is there any benefit for the football, other than just the financial side?

I: Does it work both ways in a sense? Say, having Continental Tyres is that a good thing or a bad thing to have associated with...? Because...

R: Ohh! ...

I: A sponsor that doesn’t actually fit with football. You understand, perhaps beer, McDonald’s, cameras...

R: I’m not really sure... For me it doesn’t really make sense. In one way it doesn’t make sense that a tyre company has adverts at a European Cup ... at the same time, I’m sort of willing to say that it might not be a ... it sort of makes sense because obviously it’s mutually beneficial to both the event and the sponsors and we are so used to having advertising that we’re not really that focused on creating a link between the event and the advertisement itself. At least not in the ten seconds view we have of the advertisement. I’m not going to say, ‘oh that’s totally ridiculous. That doesn’t belong here. Erm, other than that I’m... I don’t... For me, it’s sort of easier to reflect on small events, because it would be easier to accept sponsors that sort of is relevant and is in direct contact with what you’re doing. Which creates a link between sponsors and the narrative, the history you want to promote with your event. But a large scale event like the European Cup you could pretty much incorporate anything. And the sheer numbers says that it would probably pay-off even it’s a tyre company that it would be beneficial because you would get so much exposure to just the sheer number of people viewing.

I: After having talked about it, do you have any ideas as to who the main partners could be? Obviously not Continental! But any others? You mentioned McDonald’s.

R: It’s so embarrassing. I should...

I: You’re not going to get marked on it!

R: I know!

I: I was just wondering if you could recall them, that’s all. Because sometimes after chatting about them for a bit.

R: No, I really should...

...

R: What is that?

I: A head dress you get when you buy a six-pack of Carlsberg.

R: I would never...

I: Ok, so that could actually be a problem?

...

I: Of course. [Shows Seven Eleven EURO 2012promotional campaign poster]This is Simon Kjær [Danish footballer]I think his name is. He’s balancing a coffee cup with DBU [Danish Football Association] on it... I’ll just how you the close up. Because of that you can cups with their autographs on. Would that be something that influenced your...thoughts?

R: Well, no. I guess that’s probably my lacking interest in the field of football, soccer. I wouldn’t engage in that type of....

I: Same with these [Seven Eleven EURO 2012 promotional Coca-Cola campaign poster with little cooler kits in some national colours] you get two for 35. I suppose this is relatively good offer. I don’t buy Coke generally so I... But you get these, again would that influence your decision? The little football kits?