Robinsons barley water's association with Wimbledon is one of the most consistent brand activation properties in the world. This is the 79th year that the brand has been the official drinks provider for the championship. Here are a few lessons, based on an interview with the Britvic CMO Matt Barwell in Marketing, here.
1. Memory stucture matters
Robinsons' partnership has been going since 1935, making that 79 years of consistent marketing. Most brands would struggle to have an activation property with several years of consistent support, never mind several decades.
The benefit of this consistency is that Robinsons is the brand most associated with Wimbledon, with a score of 47%, followed by Slazenger at 23%.
Furthermore, the brand property doesn't just help the brand get recalled, it also unlocks in an instant relevant brand associations, such as summer, refreshment, sport and happiness.
2. Brand integration
Robinsons has been fully integrated into Wimbledon from the beginning, with branding of the umpire's chair, and the bottles of drink being sat on this chair for players to consume. This is in contrast to some sponsorship where there is little or no link between the product and the sponsorship property, with the logo simply "slapped" onto the property.
3. Amplifying the property
Its good to see how Robinson's has activated the sponsorship property to maximise its value. This year the brand has run an on-pack competition to win tickets to the championship, and play with ex-UK number 1 player Tim Henman.
In conclusion, Robinsons and Wimbledon is a great example of creating, reinforcing and amplifying a distinctive brand property over many, many years.
