Sky’s attempt to align itself to cycling at both professional and grass root levels is, in my view, inspired – and yesterday’s Sky Ride in Manchester was a perfect example of how Sky, much maligned by the chattering classes, was able to make even the most vehemently anti-Murdoch Chorltonite feel a little bit warm and fuzzy towards the brand.
It’s a serious investment and no mistake – including a £30 million sponsorship of Team Sky over four years for starters – but the PR principle is solid.
Take a popular and rapidly expanding sport/past-time, one that comes complete with a set of inbuilt and irrefutable positive messages (health, sustainability, economic prudence etc.), and one that is also largely embraced by a demographic traditionally resistant to your core offer – and look to simply take ownership of it.
Sporadic scandals about drugs use in professional riding aside, there’s nothing really not to like about the idea of responsible cycling. So by creating an annual event across UK cities – that involves tens of thousands of families, friends, serious cyclists and giddy bike enthusiasts happily pulling on a bright yellow Sky branded bib and all grinning from ear to ear at the sheer joyousness of the occasion – is a stroke of positioning genius.
But beyond the photo opps they’ve also been clever on the day. There’s no hard sell, you don’t have to fill a form to take part, or to get the aforementioned fluorescent Sky vest – and wearing it is not obligatory in any case.
There are no questionnaires about your current viewing, telephony or broadband arrangements; nor any stands or promo staff thrusting sales literature at you about HD, 3D or other Sky broadcast innovation that comes with a ‘D’ attached.
And bearing in mind the large ABC1 contingent taking part, the fact News International hadn’t gatecrashed the party with a special deal on a Sunday Times’ pay-wall subscription was another example of remarkable commercial restraint.
In fact in Manchester the only evidence that Sky was a media company and broadcaster at all was provided via a liberal scattering of Sky Arts promo folk serenading the Manc ‘peloton’ with extracts of operetta from Gilbert & Sullivan at various traffic light junctions.
The entire event was uncluttered, efficient and very effective – and also lacked any “charity-fun-run-will-you-sponsor-me-via-my-just-giving-page” awkwardness as a potential barrier to entry. There was live indie music, Olympians, cheerful stewards and an air of refreshing civility. There was free mineral water, British Cycling, Sustrans and free bike checks from Evans. And there was beer, burgers and a radiant Gemma Atkinson to boot.
In fact it was about as far away from David Mitchell’s Sky-inspired footy-rant as you could get – and anyone who thinks cycling is, fundamentally, a power for good in society would struggle to find fault in the preparation, presentation and execution of the Sky Ride concept.
You can, of course, cynically debate Sky’s motives till Mark Cavendish finishes the Col du Tourmalet stage on a BMX. But in the long, bitter and bruising battle that lies ahead to be the nation’s preferred digital entertainment and comms supplier it’s a great opening gambit from Sky to be shouting from our satellite-dish festooned rooftops that they’re as much a purveyor of “Planet Cycling” as they are “Planet Football”.
It’s a shame that the event got little coverage or support from rival broadcasters – even if it was branded-up to the eyeballs with a rival’s logo - but maybe that will play into Sky’s hands as well in the long term. Having said that GMG bought into it with a Real Radio partnership and decent pre and post event coverage within the MEN and on MEN online.
Either way the the overall impression left on many who took part is that Grandpa Murdoch might be a bit brash at times, but by golly he knows how to throw a party – and one to which everyone is invited.
Tags: "Sky Ride", Manchester, Manchester PR agency, public relations, Richard Bond, SKV Communications, Sky
