From the side line

AMBUSH marketing is synonymous with some Namibian companies when they want to be party to a major event such as the Cosafa Castle Cup.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing tendency of companies jumping onto the bandwagon when Namibia’s Brave Warriors are about to engage the opposition in Cosafa Castle Cup matches – especially in Windhoek. The Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa), which for the past ten years has been partners with the South African Breweries (sponsors) through their Castle Lager beer brand, enjoys sole rights regarding this tournament.Be it in marketing, sale of their products, television and radio rights, costs for match commissioners, referees and any related aspects.But what is most disturbing is that some local companies always want to jump onto the bandwagon when the tournament is held here.Where are these companies in trying times when the national team needs money for training camps or if they have to play international friendly matches ? The question is money.Kudos to the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) which despite all odds, has stood out in sustaining the game with their N$40 million investment.I am sure that some of these hitch-hiking companies know the rules (Cosafa Castle Cup rules), but they deliberately break them and tend to misuse the precarious situation in which the Namibia Football Association (NFA) finds itself, financially or even materially.Most of these companies are aware that the NFA cannot fully afford off the field gear such as casual t-shirts, tracksuits, ties and other necessities to the Brave Warriors and instead jump in to apparently fulfil that role.They come with all these little gifts to the team and through that they market themselves.On top of that, they want to be seen by their clients or the nation as having done a good thing.This week another prominent company did just that.Technically they were not wrong in providing t-shirts and caps to the national team, but this is not their platform and the timing is wrong.They should have done so weeks ago when the team went into camp or after the tournament.Their plus point is that they are big sponsors of boxing and that is commendable.Their little gesture to football is possibly just to show that they are behind the team – but unfortunately this was done for all the for wrong reasons.Namibian football, at this stage, does not need small corporate gifts and nice words on how proud the companies are of being associated with the national team.It is a waste of time for journalists to cover these events and it does not help anyone, except the company that is involved.What is needed is money poured into the game.Companies can for example put down N$200 000 as an incentive for players if they win the mini-tournament or N$100 000 if they win their first match.This would primarily serve as a motivation for players knowing that there is something for which to play.Most of the local players are unemployed and such an incentive would make them more eager to win at all costs.Local giants in the various business sectors can easily fork out these kinds of amounts.It would be good because they could use their own platform to compensate the players after the tournament.There would be no direct infringement on the rules of the competition either, because Cosafa cannot prevent finances being pumped into national teams.But ambush marketing is not allowed.The other thing is that, despite the fact that the NFC is the sole sponsor of football, companies can join forces and make a financial contribution (in collaboration with the NFC) into the game in general without looking at getting the maximum mileage out of it.The companies can, for example, offer to pay for expenses incurred during training camps to lessen the burden on the NFA which carries all these costs.Soft drink companies can ask to provide nutritional beverages to the team whenever they are in camp or when they are involved in other international matches.Medical aid companies can come on board and become official partners in that regard, while they can also be of medical help.The team does not even have a proper medical aid kit at the moment.There are many ways that companies can be associated with football or any other sports code in a way that can make a difference.It is not only good social responsibility from these companies, but it gives the players the assurance that they are well supported (especially on national level) and this shoots up their level of commitment.They eventually develop a sense of winning.To sum up, rich companies which can make a significant contribution to sport, irrespective of the code, should get out of their stingy shells and put their money where their mouths are.They should refrain from seeking publicity with Mickey Mouse contributions which, in the end, do not change the current sorry financial state of many of these codes.The Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa), which for the past ten years has been partners with the South African Breweries (sponsors) through their Castle Lager beer brand, enjoys sole rights regarding this tournament.Be it in marketing, sale of their products, television and radio rights, costs for match commissioners, referees and any related aspects.But what is most disturbing is that some local companies always want to jump onto the bandwagon when the tournament is held here. Where are these companies in trying times when the national team needs money for training camps or if they have to play international friendly matches ? The question is money.Kudos to the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) which despite all odds, has stood out in sustaining the game with their N$40 million investment.I am sure that some of these hitch-hiking companies know the rules (Cosafa Castle Cup rules), but they deliberately break them and tend to misuse the precarious situation in which the Namibia Football Association (NFA) finds itself, financially or even materially.Most of these companies are aware that the NFA cannot fully afford off the field gear such as casual t-shirts, tracksuits, ties and other necessities to the Brave Warriors and instead jump in to apparently fulfil that role.They come with all these little gifts to the team and through that they market themselves.On top of that, they want to be seen by their clients or the nation as having done a good thing.This week another prominent company did just that.Technically they were not wrong in providing t-shirts and caps to the national team, but this is not their platform and the timing is wrong.They should have done so weeks ago when the team went into camp or after the tournament.Their plus point is that they are big sponsors of boxing and that is commendable.Their little gesture to football is possibly just to show that they are behind the team – but unfortunately this was done for all the for wrong reasons.Namibian football, at this stage, does not need small corporate gifts and nice words on how proud the companies are of being associated with the national team.It is a waste of time for journalists to cover these events and it does not help anyone, except the company that is involved.What is needed is money poured into the game.Companies can for example put down N$200 000 as an incentive for players if they win the mini-tournament or N$100 000 if they win their first match.This would primarily serve as a motivation for players knowing that there is something for which to play.Most of the local players are unemployed and such an incentive would make them more eager to win at all costs.Local giants in the various business sectors can easily fork out these kinds of amounts.It would be good because they could use their own platform to compensate the players after the tournament.There would be no direct infringement on the rules of the competition either, because Cosafa cannot prevent finances being pumped into national teams.But ambush marketing is not allowed.The other thing is that, despite the fact that the NFC is the sole sponsor of football, companies can join forces and make a financial contribution (in collaboration with the NFC) into the game in general without looking at getting the maximum mileage out of it.The companies can, for example, offer to pay for expenses incurred during training camps to lessen the burden on the NFA which carries all these costs.Soft drink companies can ask to provide nutritional beverages to the team whenever they are in camp or when they are involved in other international matches.Medical aid companies can come on board and become official partners in that regard, while they can also be of medical help.The team does not even have a proper medical aid kit at the moment.There are many ways that companies can be associated with football or any other sports code in a way that can make a difference.It is not only good social responsibility from these companies, but it gives the players the assurance that they are well supported (especially on national level) and this shoots up their level of commitment.They eventually develop a sense of winning.To sum up, rich companies which can make a significant contribution to sport, irrespective of the code, should get out of their stingy shells and put their money where their mouths are.They should refrain from seeking publicity with Mickey Mouse contributions which, in the end, do not change the current sorry financial state of many of these codes.