Betfair, the official betting partner of Manchester United, has found a connector that it hopes will appeal to both sets of football fans during the weekend of the Manchester derby – a dislike of Argentina striker Carlos Tevez.
So the betting brand has created a ‘Trash Your Tevez Shirt’ initiative. It is urging both Manchester Utd and Manchester City fans to bring their Tevez shirts to the game, throw them in a Betfair branded skip and in return receive a new replacement.
Tevez used to play at Utd but angered reds fans when he left for local rivals City back in 2009. Initially a City hero, Tevez has fallen foul of the blue half of Manchester too after publicly criticising the city, expressing his wish to leave (despite being the highest paid player in the country) and then refusing to come off the bench against Bayern Munich when summoned by his manager.
Based on its understanding of the anger both sets of supporters feel towards Tevez, Betfair has organised for a recycling skip to be placed outside Old Trafford for Sunday’s derby game. Both groups of fans can chuck away their unwanted Tevez tops in exchange for new ones.
On the positive side, the discarded shirts will be sent to Tevez’s homeland where they will be given to local charities.
Betfair’s Alex Bake said: “Time and time again Tevez has let the fans down. What better way for fed up supporters to show they want rid of him for good than by dumping their shirts. These two sets of supporters don’t often see eye to eye, but I’m sure they’ll all be pleased if he leaves Manchester in the January transfer window.”
The skip will be in the Old Trafford area from 10am on derby day – Sunday 23 October.
Betfair, which claims to be the world’s largest betting community, is the official Manchester United Betting Partner. It aims to leverage its rights by developing a genuine ‘partner relationship’ with fans, looking to bring them together to bet against each other. Via its sponsorship it seeks to reward United fans throughout the season with unique content and real access from inside the club.
As part of the partnership with the club, Betfair has created a dedicated football website at http://www.betfairfootball.com to give fans behind-the-scenes access and help supporters get closer to the action.
The site includes the chance to watch exclusive content from the Manchester United players and manager, regular updates and opinions from a team of Betfair Football Ambassadors, as well as some fantastic money-can’t-buy competition prizes
Comment:
Part ambient, part utility, part CSR – this timely initiative is all stunt. A low latency response to current events that genuinely engages with fans via their footballing emotions!
Coming up with a creative idea that can join Manchester’s two football tribes, particularly now when the rivalry is reaching a level unseen for decades, is a tough challenge. But Betfair have succeeded in finding one of the few ideas that can connect positively with both consumer groups – their antipathy towards Carlos Tevez.
With 300,000 views of the webfilm on Youtube in just a few days there can be little argument over the campaign’s success.
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