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Bayern Munich's transfer debacle: a case of good intentions gone horribly wrong
The Bavarians had their hearts in the right place, but a severe misjudgment in their creative department turned a marketing gimmick into a catastrophe on Thursday
| Bet: | Returns: | Bayern £13.63 | Draw £43.00 | Schalke £75.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bayern £14.00 | Draw £45.00 | Schalke £75.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bayern £14.44 | Draw £42.00 | Schalke £65.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bayern £14.00 | Draw £45.00 | Schalke £75.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bayern £14.20 | Draw £40.00 | Schalke £68.50 |
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Jan 28, 2012 9:00:00 AM
Omar Momani
EXCLUSIVE
By Clark Whitney | German Football Editor
On Thursday, at around 13.15CET, a fan visited the Bayern Munich website. What awaited was a jaw-dropper: an announcement that the club had secured the signing of a "spectacular" striker. The report was coy, declining to reveal the identity of the player, but urging fans to follow a press conference at 14.00 local time via a live video feed on the club's Facebook account.
Within seconds, that user and countless others Tweeted and shared the link via Facebook. Within minutes, it was viral, reaching millions. Some patiently waited, continuing their daily routines with only minimal distraction. Others dropped whatever it was that they were doing - being it their daily work, going to a class, preparing to sleep, or otherwise - and joined the online discussion: was it Dimitar Berbatov? Fernando Llorente? Carlos Tevez? Would he come in January or in the summer?
After 45 minutes, the player's identity was finally revealed. And the big signing was... THE FANS! In an instant, nearly an hour of anticipation turned to nought. Thousands of disappointed fans wrote on the club's Facebook wall, with messages ranging from long-winded diatribes to the simple: "das ist uncool." For Bayern, it was a PR nightmare.
As public relations guru Mark Borkowski told Goal.com, the Bavarians' creative team achieved the greatest irony imaginable in showing an absence of consideration for the the very fans they intended to honour with their gimmick.
"...When that 'eureka' moment came and someone threw this ‘off-the-wall’ nugget of media disruption into the ether, everyone was clearly too busy congratulating themselves to think for a second about the fans themselves and the ongoing, human narrative that would arise," Borkowski said.
"A football team’s stock in trade is the illogical, desperate and oddly beautiful passion of its fans," he added. "In order to keep fans onside, buying tickets and following the team after the window has closed, the most important thing that a team’s communications need to do is inspire and retain trust."
Indeed, while media sources will do their best to inform the public of changes in what is an invariably whimsical transfer market, there is a sacred trust fans have in an official website: "I won't believe it until I read it on FCBayern.de," is a phrase that has in the past been spoken and written in dozens of languages - but from now on, perhaps not so frequently.
It needs to be underlined that the widespread effect Bayern had was unintentional: they wanted to praise supporters, recognising the value of the '12th man' to the club's success. But, as the adage goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And in this case, die Roten have created their own chamber of public relations misery. Next time, a little less effort in creative marketing and a lot more endeavour in the transfer market itself will go a long way.
Follow Clark Whitney on
By Clark Whitney | German Football Editor
On Thursday, at around 13.15CET, a fan visited the Bayern Munich website. What awaited was a jaw-dropper: an announcement that the club had secured the signing of a "spectacular" striker. The report was coy, declining to reveal the identity of the player, but urging fans to follow a press conference at 14.00 local time via a live video feed on the club's Facebook account.
Within seconds, that user and countless others Tweeted and shared the link via Facebook. Within minutes, it was viral, reaching millions. Some patiently waited, continuing their daily routines with only minimal distraction. Others dropped whatever it was that they were doing - being it their daily work, going to a class, preparing to sleep, or otherwise - and joined the online discussion: was it Dimitar Berbatov? Fernando Llorente? Carlos Tevez? Would he come in January or in the summer?
After 45 minutes, the player's identity was finally revealed. And the big signing was... THE FANS! In an instant, nearly an hour of anticipation turned to nought. Thousands of disappointed fans wrote on the club's Facebook wall, with messages ranging from long-winded diatribes to the simple: "das ist uncool." For Bayern, it was a PR nightmare.
| PR EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON BAYERN'S PUBLICITY STUNT |
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| Reema Babakhan (follow on ) Associate Director, Frank PR Football clubs and their fans have a unique relationship. Their fans are loyal, committed and invest heavily, both financially and, more importantly, emotionally. To prank them is to disrespect and insult them, to prank them about a star signing is even worse. A star signing for your team is huge news, causing genuine excitement and hope for fans, so to play on this emotion as part of a PR stunt can only lead to disappointment and anger when proved not to be true, especially when it’s used to push something as trivial as a Facebook app. The timing of this stunt was also particularly insensitive, as Bayern had already missed out on the sought-after attacker Marco Reus to their rivals Borussia Dortmund. |
Mark Borkowski (follow on ) Founder, Borkowski PR Like the release of a Morrissey album or the unveiling of a new Pope, the transfer window is something that inspires interest and conversation that transcends the rational and borders on the obsessive. If the fans trust the team through and through then, no matter what disappointments or controversies come their way, they will stick by the team with religious ardour. ... The main shortcoming of creativity is that it gets so wrapped up in its own genius that it forgets how the great unwashed actually think. In the eyes of someone who’s skipped a class or skived off that all-important meeting just to watch the announcement of a name this is not a clever stunt - it’s a sick joke. |
As public relations guru Mark Borkowski told Goal.com, the Bavarians' creative team achieved the greatest irony imaginable in showing an absence of consideration for the the very fans they intended to honour with their gimmick.
"...When that 'eureka' moment came and someone threw this ‘off-the-wall’ nugget of media disruption into the ether, everyone was clearly too busy congratulating themselves to think for a second about the fans themselves and the ongoing, human narrative that would arise," Borkowski said.
"A football team’s stock in trade is the illogical, desperate and oddly beautiful passion of its fans," he added. "In order to keep fans onside, buying tickets and following the team after the window has closed, the most important thing that a team’s communications need to do is inspire and retain trust."
In the eyes of someone who’s skipped a class or skived off that all-important meeting just to watch the announcement of a name this is not a clever stunt - it’s a sick joke - Mark Borkowski
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Indeed, while media sources will do their best to inform the public of changes in what is an invariably whimsical transfer market, there is a sacred trust fans have in an official website: "I won't believe it until I read it on FCBayern.de," is a phrase that has in the past been spoken and written in dozens of languages - but from now on, perhaps not so frequently.
It needs to be underlined that the widespread effect Bayern had was unintentional: they wanted to praise supporters, recognising the value of the '12th man' to the club's success. But, as the adage goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And in this case, die Roten have created their own chamber of public relations misery. Next time, a little less effort in creative marketing and a lot more endeavour in the transfer market itself will go a long way.
Follow Clark Whitney on
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