Brewdog's 'anti World Cup sponsorship' & purpose in the post-truth era
The Scottish brewer's marketing tactics are exactly what we should expect in a world where nobody knows who to believe anymore.
Are we living in a post-truth world?
It was in 2016 when Oxford Dictionaries made post-truth it’s international word of the year, defining it as an adjective ‘denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
Social networks feed off our polarisation; Leaver vs Remainer. Liberal vs Conservative. Vaccinated vs Non-Vaccinated, Woke vs Anti-Woke...and perhaps the most enduring - yet tedious - battlefield of all: Messi vs Ronaldo.
Why bother with facts, when you have found something that appeals to your sentiments and the pre-conceived notions of those in your echo-chamber?
As we scroll on our smartphones, we are constantly looking for content which flatters our instincts and confirms our prejudices.
In the newspaper industry, another battle is being fought. An existential one.
Before moving into sports marketing, I spent almost two decades working as a journalist, so the challenges facing the industry is a subject close to my heart.
Faced with falling ad revenues and plunging sales, newspapers were already heading downhill, before Covid19 slammed on the accelerator.
A government report released on the sustainability of the sector as it emerged from the pandemic painted a bleak picture, concluding that ‘the shift towards digitisation is not sufficient to offset the decline’.
As newspapers continue their fight for survival, shedding jobs, pivoting to digital models and looking for new revenue streams, people continue to gravitate towards free sources of information.
Banter accounts for example, have grown exponentially, by passing on non-contextual, vaguely-sourced reports as fact, using tech to identify what is going viral and swiftly ripping it off with a near identical post on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
As a business model, it is far more cost effective than employing trained journalists who would only slow things down as they look to research and verify facts.
These new, ill-equipped bastions of information grow their audiences exponentially on social media and are courted by brands seeking vanity metrics for their latest campaigns.
Advertisers have moved away from print and instead plough millions into social networks offering deep audience-profiling and metrics, but little accountability or regulation for the content on their platforms.
This climate has led to a crisis of trust. A survey by Edelman found that distrust is now society’s default emotion, with nearly six in ten people say their default tendency is to distrust something until they see evidence it is trustworthy.
The information superhighway has become a congested, multi-lane cluster of chaos.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu advises that “in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
Which brings me to Brewdog - a company that seems to thrive in these chaotic times - and are seemingly the masters of post-truth marketing.
This week, the Scottish brewer, announced an ‘anti-sponsorship’ of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
On the face of it, a bold, brave gesture as we go into the most controversial World Cup ever.
And in a post-truth world, ‘on the face of it’, is usually all it takes, for someone to tweet something like, “I’m a Camden Town Brewery fan, but this is class, Brewdog. 👏”
Nevertheless, the emergence of certain facts, very quickly undermined Brewdog’s lofty moral stance.
Namely:
Brewdog are still showing all the World Cup matches in their pubs along with the bizarre promise/justification of 100% LIVE FOOTBALL. 0% QATARI CORRUPTION. I have no idea what that means, but I do know they will make a lot of cash from football fans watching the World Cup in their pubs, drinking and eating, thus feeding the very thing they are supposed to be sticking ‘two fingers up at’
Brewdog have made a rather vague pledge to give all profits from one of their specific products to ‘fight human rights abuse’, as opposed to actually naming a respected NGO as their partner to help legitimise the campaign. Possibly because finding a human rights organisation willing to partner with a company which apologised to 60 members of staff who wrote an open letter complaining of a toxic working environment, is no easy task.
Brewdog confirmed their beer is available to buy in Qatar. In a statement that somehow equated Apple (not running an anti-sponsorship World Cup campaign) selling iPhones in Qatar to Brewdog (very much running an anti-sponsorship World Cup campaign), selling beers in Qatar.
Brewdog have a pub in Shanghai. Which is in China…a country described by Amnesty International as being a serial violator of human rights.
Finally, and this might be the most post-truth element of the stunt - Brewdog had their agency mock up the billboards that accompanied the launch. No actual billboards - just photoshop and vibes.
⚽@BrewDog has announced itself as the anti-sponsor of the Qatar 2022 World Cup? 👉bit.ly/3DLLcxL What do you think of this punk protest? #Marketing #Advertising
If you have followed the shenanigans of Brewdog over the last few years, you would know that they have form for making bold, disruptive announcements, without really getting their ducks in a row first.
There was the time they announced that they were in ‘talks with the government’ to offer their pubs as vaccination centres. If you got your Covid vaccine in a Brewdog pub do get in touch.
There was the time when they announced they would be donating specially formulated ‘Punk Sanitiser’ to the NHS, only for the first batch to fall short of the medical standards required.
We know that a more socially-conscious world has led to purpose-related objectives becoming much more prevalent in recent years.
But are these guys the first post-truth purpose marketeers?
The golden rule of purpose-driven marketing for me has always been that the ACT is more important than the AD.
Put your money where your mouth is or you are getting called out.
As such, PR and marketing professionals generally agree that this campaign is as hollow as an empty pint glass, and Brewdog have been getting a shellacking on LinkedIn and Twitter consequently.
But the world is not made up solely of PR and marketing professionals, and for every one of us who will poke holes in Brewdog’s campaign, how many Brits will head into their pubs over the next few weeks to enjoy the World Cup, because this campaign has been memorable for them?
For all the takedowns by industry people familiar with Brewdog and their pesky ways, there are dozens on Twitter who have quote tweeted the campaign with a positive response. This is exactly what Brewdog are counting on.
In a post-truth world, perhaps the Brewdog target consumer doesn’t need to see evidence, facts and credibility. Perhaps they just want to feel like a punk?
I look forward to reading more about the donation Brewdog make towards ‘fighting human rights abuses’ after the World Cup, from a credible source.
He’s here, he’s there, he’s every f***** where.
Some obligatory plugs for content I have contributed to recently.
1.Focus Football 🎧
Amr Koleilat and Faris Fayrouz - two very passionate and hard-working guys who I had the pleasure of teaching last year when they were studying for their Masters at the Football Business Academy, have launched a podcast.
Focus Football is a bi-weekly podcast which explores the career journeys of sports industry professionals and provides insights for those wishing to enter the world of football, and sports.
It was a real honour to be their first guest and attempt to make sense of my unconventional but eventful career path, including learnings from my time at the London Evening Standard, West Ham United, Budweiser, Squawka and Goal.
I know they have some really interesting guests in the pipeline, so please give it a listen and subscribe.
2.Qatar 2022: How brands are navigating the controversial tournament 🏟️
Hummel and Brewdog are just the start, and I expect we will see more brands taking a stand on issues such as Human Rights in Qatar over the coming weeks.
You can read more about my perspective and the views of other industry professionals in this piece by Jonathan Dyson for Middle East Eye.
Also… why does it feel like the Qatar World Cup 2022 fan village will complete the trilogy after Fyre Festival and Woodstock ‘99 ?
3.FSG X LFC: Saviours or Super League schemers? 🤔
With reports emerging last week that Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group are considering a sale, The Guardian spoke to several supporters (including myself) to get our views on their legacy and hopes regarding possible sale.
And finally…
A big thank you to the 177 subscribers who signed up for this newsletter.
I’m really enjoying taking a weekly look at sports marketing, content and culture stories and talking points that pique my interest.
You can also follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
If you would like to join subscribers, who include sports marketing professionals working at Premier League football clubs, sports governing bodies, marketing agencies and global brands, please hit subscribe and share with your friends and colleagues.