Perceptions create reality. Reality is the result of perception and is therefore subjective and subject to revision—the words of Deepak Chopra. According to Chopra it is possible to change reality by changing perceptions. Last Friday, the Digicel TT Pro League competition came to an end. It ended on a triumphant note for Neal and Massy/National Lotteries Control Board Morvant/Laventille Caledonia AIA as they finished in second position. Chopra’s words coming to life and taking on new meaning.
The sports business industry in T&T is still very much in its infancy, some will say it is non-existent, an argument that ought not to be dismissed entirely out of hand. But it is all about perception isn’t it?
To succeed in professional sport, financial support is a must. Facilities, in an ideal scenario, should be owned by the club. This ownership or near total access will allow the facility to become the centre of the social, business and cultural life of the club, allowing for the development of sustainable revenue streams that can be derived from conferences, banqueting etc 365 days a year. Without a sound commercial structure in place, a club involved in professional sport will find itself in the deep end, in a leaking boat without life jackets and oars. It is a huge challenge to effectively and efficiently activate sponsorship relations between the sports brand and the sponsor. Building brand partnerships and brand experiences become difficult but not impossible.
However, sport sponsorship relations are like a marriage, it is for the long haul, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. A bigger picture that gets lost especially in the local marketplace. There is a perception among sponsorship prospects that the local sport product in T&T cannot provide genuine brand awareness and positioning opportunities. As such sponsors who do associate with sport do not consider themselves sponsors of a sport but more in the realm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The support is not for sport per se but for youth or community development, education even but not sport.
T&T sport is not considered capable of bringing to the table measurable strategic marketing deliverables. Why is this so? Why is the brand value and brand proposition that sport brings to the table sold short? If Caledonia AIA is used as an example what is it that has caused Neal and Massy to display loyalty to the club? Is it that Neal and Massy and National Lotteries Control Board understand that in Caledonia AIA, they have a powerful platform for putting back into society through sport? Or is it that there are brand attributes that align? The ambition of Caledonia AIA to be one of the top football clubs in the Americas may be seen by some as farfetched—a whimsical fantasy.
Is it that those who question the club’s aspirations cannot see past their perceptions and interpretations? Nothing good can come out of East Port-of-Spain but gun crime headlines? Caledonia AIA represents a community that is perceived as disadvantaged, a community where high risk lifestyles rule the day. But in striving to be one of the best it has transcended the status quo. The Digicel Pro League is a vehicle for its clubs to aim for higher heights. Pro League clubs and footballers have visions, dreams and values that go beyond old stereotypes. The league is just one example. Its brand values are the same as any responsible corporate entity. As Chopra so elegantly states change perceptions and it is possible to change realities. T&T sport possesses powerful brand attributes. Local sport brands are undervalued assets. Stakeholders who sit around the table need to start respecting, nurturing and activating a different reality.
NOTE: Brian Lewis is the Honorary Secretary General of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee—www.ttoc.org. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the TTOC.