Why Paddy Power is backing the underdog

The CONIFA World Cup, an international football tournament for nations unaffiliated with FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, shot to prominence in June after being held across London. The competition was staged one month before the official FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia, and the event gained a huge amount of media attention, largely thanks to sponsorship from irreverent bookmaker Paddy Power.

The grassroots tournament featured teams such as Tibet, Padania and Matabeleland, and was covered by The Guardian, the BBC, Sky Sports News and The Totally Football Show. Paddy Power’s PR chief, Lee Price, talks to EGR Marketing about why the underdog tournament, eventually won by Hungarian minority outfit Kárpátalja, was a perfect fit for the disruptive operator.

Lee Price, head of Paddy Power PR

EGR Marketing: How did Paddy Power get involved with CONIFA?

Lee Price (LP): We were approached by CONIFA in January 2017. They liked the idea of hosting the tournament in London but they would have needed significant sponsors to have been able to do that. I think they just cold called a load of potential sponsors and we were the only ones to express any interest because everyone was scared off by working with Tibet and pissing off the Chinese. People were too scared of the political sensitivities around Tibet, but we really liked the idea of recognising Tibet and it fits in with our brand of being mischievous and in support of the underdog.

EGR Marketing: Did the fact it was being hosted in London influence Paddy Power’s decision to get involved?

LP: Yes, because we feel the 2018 World Cup should have been hosted in London and, but for millions of Russia roubles, it would have probably been held here. Russia, for a football fan, is effectively a no-go zone if you are black, gay or English, so we felt it was the perfect timing for us to put on an alternative World Cup that was a bit more inclusive. From a marketing perspective, it also helped that it was being held in the dead space between the domestic football season and international football, so that served as a key factor.

EGR Marketing: Were the Paddy Power video diaries well received? They must have been expensive to make, right?

LP: We did a five-part documentary series, which was Paddy Power’s first ever documentary series, and it was all filmed and produced entirely in-house. Part of this project was about getting to try new concepts and new vehicles for our marketing and the fact those videos achieved more than four million views combined online tells me that they were a success – far beyond what we expected. We were very happy with them – not just in terms of the numbers, but in terms of the quality and the fact we have proved we are able to create that sort of content in-house.

EGR Marketing: Was being tournament sponsor a logistical challenge for Paddy Power?

LP: We were title sponsors of the tournament, which meant that we were effectively creative directors for the competition. We hired Mark Clattenberg to referee at the tournament and commissioned Right Said Fred to write the official anthem. In terms of organising the actual stadia, that was down to CONIFA but we tried to help wherever we could.

We felt that non-league stadia were a better fit, rather than trying to fill out the Emirates or Craven Cottage. Originally, CONIFA wanted to shoot for the stars in terms of stadia, but we wanted to be realistic and we had to give them some feedback that it should be a grassroots tournament. The final was held at Enfield and it broke the record for the biggest capacity there, but ultimately the logistics were down to CONIFA.

EGR Marketing: Did the tournament get more media coverage than you were expecting?

LP: Yes, it probably did. It was featured in pretty much every national newspaper as well as the BBC, Sky Sports, Sky News and most major radio broadcasters as well. Publicity wise, I don’t think it could have got much more. It was more than we could have dreamed of really, aside from being live streamed on Sky Sports or something similar. We knew that we were onto something with this tournament and we knew it would appeal to football fans, including those who are a bit turned off by the excess of the Premier League.

EGR Marketing: Will all the media attention see more brands competing for tournament sponsorship in future?

LP: Maybe, but I think it takes a certain kind of brand to go in support of Tibet or Northern Cyprus, for example. That isn’t criticising others because I have worked with brands that are perhaps a bit vague or a bit more straight-edge, and I’d probably be the same if I still worked for them.

But for Paddy Power, it felt absolutely perfect to go with the underdog competition and I think one or two others may have missed the opportunity to do something a bit outside the box. It was also great to create our own content and CONIFA were so accommodating. We controlled the documentary series and the live streams, and directed, edited and commentated, as well as reported from the touchline of the pitch. It really was access all areas.

EGR Marketing: Was it a conscious decision to do everything in-house from the start?

LP: We had been working on this for about 18 months. Initially, we spoke to agencies and news media brands and not only did it make more sense to do it ourselves, but it was about creative control. We spoke to brands about them potentially doing match streams or the documentary series, but for us as a brand it made total sense to do it ourselves. It was a stretch, and it did mean upskilling and extending teams, but we were delighted with how it turned out.

The CONIFA final was held at Enfield

EGR Marketing: How long did it take to put all the content together?

LP: To be honest, we messed around for the first year. It was only really this January we thought, ‘right, we better get into gear’. The documentary series was filmed between February and the end of March. It was a quick turnaround and it was myself and Paddy [Power] flying out to a different destination every week. I think it came across in the content that it felt natural and was on the hoof, which is very much our style. It wasn’t a BBC or an ITV documentary, but we would never try to do it like that. If you want to watch those channels then you put them on. We won’t try and go head-to-head with established platforms; we are going to do our own thing in our own way.

EGR Marketing: Which is the best place you visited while filming the documentary series?

LP: Matabeleland, the region of Zimbabwe. It was just mind-blowing. The people were just so friendly with such infectious personalities. Honestly, the amount of singing and dancing Paddy Power had to perform – it was quite incredible.

EGR Marketing: Did you get to many of the games?

LP: I didn’t go to every game but I went to at least one every matchday. It was a nine- or 10-day tournament and there were often matches happening at the same time. I went to three or four different venues and the final was absolutely phenomenal. Fans were out in force and it was held in Enfield which has a massive northern-Cypriot community.

I know I’m biased but it felt like a really special thing. From afar, it looks quirky and all the rest of it, but only when you get there you realise how much it means to the people. Matabeleland and Tibet finished last and second-last, but they came up singing and dancing like they had won the World Cup because they had the chance to play for their country.

EGR Marketing: How did you manage to offer betting markets on the tournament?

LP: We had scouts at every match as we would do for every fixture we trade on live. It is difficult to be an expert on this sort of thing, but we did our best research. We had to be really tight on maximum stakes – I think our biggest stake was £10 – but we felt it would have been remiss of us not to price it. We couldn’t pitch it as a genuine thing and then not treat it the same as other tournaments. Some of our rivals priced it as well – I know that Betway had markets on it.

EGR Marketing: How key are marketing activities to keeping customers incentivised during the World Cup?

LP: For every betting company, the World Cup is the be all and end all. But what plays into our hands is the fact that every other bookmaker is going to be doing exactly the same thing and spamming customers with the same TV ads every match. A lot of people are actually immune to these adverts now. People moan about the number of bookmaker adverts between Premier League football matches and I couldn’t agree more – there are so many out there that they all blend into one.

I know this is a bit self-indulgent to say but we have a different personality and perspective that forces us to be different and that helps us stand apart from everyone else. Our first World Cup initiative was the polar bear stunt which none of our rivals would ever consider doing, and I don’t think any of our rivals would consider doing CONIFA. They would do the same as everyone else by trying to compete in the same loud and crowded place. We try and be a bit different and I know that every brand probably says that, but I do think Paddy Power stands out in this market. That helps during the World Cup because it is a massive chance to acquire new customers. Being different to everyone else boosts our chances.

EGR Marketing: Product can be another way of standing out from the crowd – what do you make of Paddy Power’s World Cup game, Beat The Drop?

LP: It is gamification rather than just spamming people with odds. We don’t have to be odds-driven because we can be brand-driven. It’s a lot of fun and it can be a halfway house between product and advertisement. It’s a nice in-between.