Top of the big era

I went to Switzerland and met the owner of the Zurich team. He was a big banker and it was really difficult for ordinary people to deal with him. Zhou Buqi's appearance in person was quite convincing.

No banker in the world is willing to have a bad relationship with such a rich man.

Then, he turned around and went to Germany to negotiate a sponsorship agreement for jersey advertising with Mercedes-Benz. This was a project and action planned by Manchester United's business side. Zhou Buqi thought it was very good, so he took the time to participate.

Now, the main sponsor of Manchester United's jersey is Helo, with annual sponsorship fees of US$50 million, ahead of Real Madrid's US$45 million per year, ranking first in the world!

However, this is somewhat suspected of insider trading.

Both Ziweixing and Manchester United are indiscriminate industries. They are left-handed and right-handed. They are a bit like the style of Manchester City's Middle Eastern tycoons. They are playing on the sidelines.

Given Manchester United's status, it's actually not necessary at all.

Manchester City's brand is too low. If they find a third party to sponsor, they won't receive much sponsorship fees at all. If Abu Dhabi personally sponsors Manchester City, it can provide higher advertising fees, allowing Manchester City to have more income and buy more players.

For this reason, Manchester United's business side has evaluated the brand in the market and believes that it is completely possible to find a powerful sponsor, and the sponsorship fee will not be much worse than US$50 million!

The person who promoted this project was Chen Wenhao, Zhou Buqi's helper from China. He came to Germany with Gilbert Lawrence, the president of Manchester United Commercial.

In the Zeppelin Hotel in Stuttgart, Zhou Buqi saw the Manchester United commercial team and asked straight to the point: "Can you really win the Mercedes-Benz?"

Lawrence smiled and said: "We have communicated and are interested. It just depends on the price."

Zhou Buqi glanced at him and said, "It's okay to be number one in the world, right? Not to mention 50 million US dollars, but it's still higher than Real Madrid's 45 million US dollars, right?"

Lawrence hesitated, "This is the biggest point of disagreement, it's more difficult."

With such a high sponsorship fee, according to European football practice, sponsorship contracts for jersey advertising are usually 5-8 years. Even if it is 5 years, the annual cost is 45 million US dollars, after 5 years, it will be 225 million US dollars!

too expensive!

If the sponsorship doesn't turn out well and it turns into a bad contract, it will be a waste of money once it's signed and it only lasts so long. Not only Mercedes-Benz, this is probably what all major companies in the world worry about most when cooperating with European giants.

It is true that Zhou Buqi is the boss of Manchester United, but he is also a big boss. He can jump out of the football industry to evaluate the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and Manchester United from a higher perspective.

He supports Mercedes-Benz.

Manchester United...or some of the current habits and old traditions in European football are so outdated!

Zhou Buqi said: "If you want to find more sponsorship partners, you must lower your own threshold... It doesn't mean lowering the brand threshold, but lowering the sponsorship threshold. Don't let some restrictive conditions that have nothing to do with brand value limit your relationship with sponsors. Cooperation. I don’t care what other European giants do, Manchester United must change! Manchester United must make changes!”

Lawrence understood immediately and was very happy, "Sign a short-term contract?"

Zhou Buqi glanced at him, "What do you think?"

Lawrence used to be the vice president of marketing for EMI Records. He has long been turned off by a series of incomprehensible regulations in European football. "I think so, short-term contracts are better! A sponsorship contract of five or six years will be very important to sponsors." There is too much pressure, which will drive out many sponsors who are interested in working with us.”

Zhou Buqi asked: "What is the cause of this phenomenon?"

Chen Wenhao came to answer this question, "I think there are three main reasons. First, the cost of negotiation is too high. European football is in the hands of football people. These people play football at a very high level. If they are asked to play business, I am afraid they are not very good at it. The vast majority of commercial negotiations are handled by middlemen. I have seen old documents from Manchester United and the middleman fees for the last sponsorship contract were as high as 4.5 million pounds."

Zhou Buqi frowned, "Is there something fishy?"

Chen Wenhao is one of his own, so he dares to speak out, "Compared with American sports, the biggest feature of European football is the back-room operation and lack of transparency. In the NBA, Kobe Bryant's contract amount can be accurate to a few cents, and it is all publicly available." It can be checked. The same cannot be said for European football. The salaries of UEFA officials cannot be checked."

The meaning of this sentence is obvious.

In the sponsorship agreement before Zhou Buqi took over Manchester United, the middleman's fee was as high as 4.5 million pounds, which was very likely to be fishy.

At the time, it was David Gill who presided over that deal.

For the benefit of Manchester United, it is impossible for him to interfere with Manchester United, but he can find a middleman he trusts to cooperate. After paying the commission to the middleman, there will most likely be a kickback.

Chen Wenhao said: "In order to reduce the commission of middlemen, contracts are generally signed for a long period of time, and the negotiation costs are shared evenly through long contracts."

Zhou Buqi snorted coldly: "Why do you need to find a middleman? With Manchester United's brand appeal, do you still need a middleman to bridge the gap? It's inexplicable!"

Lawrence laughed, "Our team is professional enough. We may not understand football, but we will be better at business operations."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Well, what about the second point?"

Chen Wenhao said: "That's probably the result. If the result is good, the sponsor's fee will be high. If the result is not good, the fee will be low. But the team's performance is uncontrollable. If you only sign a short-term agreement each time, what if the team falls into several situations? If the year is at a low point, you won’t be able to get a good sponsorship contract. By signing a long-term contract, you can transfer this risk to the sponsor.”

"Well, what about the third point?"

"Market risks, such as the European debt crisis, and the Greek team's sponsorship contracts have shrunk significantly. Long-term contracts can resist market fluctuations and transfer risks."

Zhou Buqi laughed and shook his head repeatedly, "What a wishful thinking. The team is unwilling to take risks, so the sponsors are willing to take it? This is another unreasonable threshold set for sponsors, which will make it more difficult for sponsors to evaluate. "

This is typical Internet thinking.

The traditional business thinking is to find ways to make as much money as possible from users, which is top-down; the Internet concept is user-centered and a bottom-up mechanism, because only the first line of contact with users is Employees know users best and should take the interests of users into consideration.

The more we consider for users, the more benefits they will have, the stronger the foundation for cooperation between the two parties will be, and the more competitive they will be.

Zhou Buqi continued: "In the sponsorship cooperation between Manchester United and Mercedes-Benz, we must consider the interests of Mercedes-Benz. The interests of users are our own interests. This is a healthy cooperative relationship. Even if we no longer cooperate with Mercedes-Benz in the future, Manchester United and Mercedes-Benz The friendly relationship between Mercedes-Benz and the many preferential terms offered by Manchester United for Mercedes-Benz are enough to leave Manchester United with the best commercial sponsorship reputation in European football. With this foundation, more businesses will rush to compete. Come and work with Manchester United."

So when we say that professional people do professional things, this sentence immediately spoke to Lawrence's heart, "Yes, that's what it means. Any business behavior must have competition. If there is no competition, competition must be created. Manchester United is sponsoring If suppliers create the best sponsorship environment, the most sponsors will come to sponsor. The more fierce the competition, the higher the transaction price. Only in this way can the interests of Manchester United be protected to the greatest extent."

Chen Wenhao said: "Yes, so we should take the initiative to lower the threshold for cooperation and let sponsors around the world see Manchester United's sincerity through cooperation with Mercedes-Benz."

"What do you mean?"

"Only signed for 2 years!"

"No!"

Zhou Buqi shook his head.

Lawrence quickly said: "Then three years."

Zhou Buqi said: "No, what I mean is that the threshold can be further lowered. Manchester United's sponsorship fee is the highest in the world, and the sponsorship risk is very high. Each contract is only signed for one year, allowing the sponsor to evaluate the sponsorship effect before deciding to accept it. Do you want to renew the contract?"

"This..." Lawrence was a little worried, "All risks are borne by Manchester United itself."

Zhou Buqi said: "The greater the risk, the higher the return. The shorter the contract, the more competitive it is. Mercedes-Benz is the only sponsor now because more giant companies have not understood Manchester United's decision-making reforms." When the news is released, let’s say that Manchester United’s jersey sponsorship and advertising contract is willing to be signed every year, so everyone can actively sign up!”

"What if a risk arises? Manchester United's results, or the economy declines."

"It's okay, Helo or some other product will support it."

"If it can be like this, that would be great." Lawrence smiled, "Leave the opportunity for bargain hunting to yourself."

A giant like Manchester United will never fail.

Once real risks arise, the team's performance declines, or another economic crisis occurs, the market price of the main sponsorship contract for jersey advertising will inevitably shrink significantly. Whoever gets it at this time will be considered a bargain hunter.

There is no need to give this opportunity to others.

Boss Zhou left the right hand and asked Helo to continue sponsoring Manchester United, or products such as TikTok and Ucgram.

This is another typical ecological style of play.

Manchester United's new model has risks.

Europe's top clubs can't afford it.

But it doesn't matter Manchester United!

Behind Manchester United, there is the big industry of "Ziwei Galaxy".

From the larger perspective of "Ziwei Galaxy", there is actually no risk. When Manchester United appeared to be at risk, "Ziwei Galaxy" added in and went to buy the bottom, and the overall interests were not lost.

Lawrence said confidently: "If it is just a one-year contract, I think we can get more than 50 million US dollars in sponsorship fees. There is no need to spread the news to the outside world, which will cause Mercedes-Benz's displeasure."

Chen Wenhao said with a smile: "The one-year contract is like testing the waters. Even if Mercedes-Benz loses money, it won't lose much."

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and said, "Okay, that's it! You need to sign a short-term contract for the chest advertisement of the jersey. Frequently changing jersey advertisements will also greatly promote jersey sales."