FOOTBALL is king when it comes to promoting a product – just ask the ex General Motors Chief Marketing Officer, Joel Ewanick !
Rumours are rife that by spending $500 million to put the Chevrolet name on Manchester United’s jerseys for the next nine-years, the General Motors board reckoned it wasn’t their best deal and now the man who masterminded it has been ‘red carded.’ It is the most expensive jersey deal in history if the figures being quoted on the ‘net are correct. A staggering £40m per year, compared with the current Man U deal with Aon at £19m annually.
While spending £364m on a game your bosses probably don’t even understand might seem like a bit of a gaffe, it wasn’t Mr Ewanick’s total tally of wrong moves, according to some industry experts. A public spat with Facebook broke out when he pulled GM’s advertising. And then pulling out of advertising on telly during the ‘superbowl’ was seen by many as ‘naive’ especially at a time when GM’s market share was badly down.
But it was the Man U deal that was the trigger for his departure, according to the Wall St journal. His exit happened just the day before it was officially announced by his successor – and sources within GM claimed ‘it was just too damm expensive.’
