After a 14-year association, Martell is drawing its sponsorship of the Grand National to a close. Ben Cooper spoke with Eric Benoist, the brand’s international marketing director, about the decision, the nature and history of the sponsorship and future plans for the brand.
In the world of sports sponsorship, 14 years is an unusually long association for one brand to have with one event. But then one might expect a Cognac company to take a long term view. The Grand National, the world’s premier Steeplechase horserace, has been sponsored by Martell since 1992 and before that by its former parent company Seagram, since 1984. But the established Cognac marque will call it a day after next year’s race.
Go deeper with GlobalData
There are a number of reasons why Martell has chosen to terminate its sponsorship but probably the most compelling motivation was simply that it was time for a change. In no other area of marketing, such as packaging or advertising, would a brand continue for 20 years without ringing the changes. And indeed, such a long association is most unusual the sporting world.
“Well obviously it was a tough decision to make because it was a long association between us and the Grand National,” says Martell’s international marketing director, Eric Benoist. “I think it is really a matter of turning a page and going a step further. The Grant National has done a lot for us in terms of image but all along the brand has been moving. We thought going on would be very good but would not add anything new to the brand.”
Martell’s sponsorship of the National is not only notable for its duration. Dickon White, marketing manager of Aintree Racecourse, believes the Martell sponsorship represented something of a benchmark in sports sponsorship. Describing their relationship as “a flagship sponsor for a flagship event”, White said: “The Martell Grand National has been a showcase for other sponsors in the world of sport, and people can learn a lot by what they have done with the sponsorship.”
It was also an interesting period in the race’s history too, marked by one year when a false start and complete confusion at the start of the race meant that a group of horses completed the entire course before their jockeys realised that the runners had been called back. A year later, the race was actually called off as the result of a major security alert and had to be postponed.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataActually, the current sponsorship could be said to go back 20 years. The event had been sponsored since 1984 by Seagram which transferred the sponsorship to Martell in 1992 following its acquisition of the brand in 1988. Interestingly, many observers believed the company did not gain maximum benefit from the sponsorship because it bore the name of a parent company rather than a brand which was more widely recognisable by the public.
The year when Seagram itself gained the most benefit from its sponsorship would almost certainly have been 1991 when a horse called Seagram, which had no connection with the company, actually won the race. That year, people certainly made a strong connection between the National and the Canadian drinks firm but in most cases for rather spurious reasons. And ironically, that was the last year which Seagram sponsored the race under its own name.
To a degree, the change of ownership of Martell – Pernod Ricard acquired the brand in the joint acquisition of Seagram with Diageo in 2002 – precipitated a change in approach to international marketing activities.
“In PR we tend to look at it on a market by market basis. It was an international initiative and we know that there is good coverage in Asia and Ireland,” Benoist said though he once again stressed that the primary reason behind the decision was that it was time for a change. “After 13 years with an advertising campaign everyone understands that you have to change the execution. The brand was very well perceived in the UK and elsewhere in the world as being the partner of the Grand National. But that is done, very well done and now we need to move further.”
One reason why Pernod Ricard favours a market-by-market approach to PR for Martell is that the profile of Cognac consumption varies so markedly from region to region. Benoist believes the Grand National was one of the few international events which could come close to covering such a diffuse franchise.
“Cognac consumption is quite different all over the world. It is certainly difficult to find one international event which would suit all these types of consumer and all these occasions. It will be difficult to find another international event with such a widespread appeal. The Grand National was doing it pretty well. Because of the different consumption occasion in different markets we need to develop the most appropriate consumer relationship on a market by market basis.”
Benoist added that Martell would not be in a position to announce anything definite in terms of new activities until next year’s final Martell Grand National, at the earliest.
What appears to have had little bearing on Martell’s decision is the possibility that alcohol companies could be subject to increasing pressure to withdraw, as tobacco companies have, from sports sponsorship altogether. Benoist said this had not been a factor in the company’s decision. Although there is some pressure within the UK and the EU for such a ban, it appears that there is little mainstream political support for this.
In the UK, which implemented only belatedly an EU ban on tobacco sponsorship, the government will be publishing its National Strategy on Alcohol Harm Reduction next year. But Andrew McNeill of the Institute of Alcohol Studies believes that the report is very unlikely to call for a ban on the sports sponsorship by alcohol companies. “I would be astonished if they came up with the idea of proscribing alcohol sports sponsorship,” McNeill told Just-drinks.
Indeed, Aintree Racecourse, promoter of the Grand National, is not ruling out finding another drinks sponsor for the race following the successful tie-up with Martell. “Obviously the event is available to any new sponsor and we certainly wouldn’t rule out another drinks sponsor,” says Dickon White. “There have been a lot of successful sponsorships with drinks brands involved. They tend to do to things properly, to support things incredibly well.”
There is, without doubt, one interested group hoping that a drinks sponsor will emerge to fill Martell’s shoes, namely drinks journalists. Possibly of all the events sponsored by drinks companies, Martell’s patronage of the Grand National was the favourite of the drinks writing fraternity and the annual sojourn to Aintree will be sorely missed.
