the headline caught my attention...and then upon reflection, I realised that it is also like the RCDF. Our MP's get 1M annually for development but we see nothing. In this case Telekom is pouring in 5.3M into a sport that has only failed so far. last time they made a splash on news, we were gunning for SPG gold. After millions of dollars in sponsorship, no gold and only our pride was shattered. Millions poured into Natinal Club Championship but John Kapi Natto and his investment nomoa go lo World Club Championship....hem sad something ya for lookim telekom locked in simply because no gud competition tekem away soccer from hem...but look at it from a business point of view - in my opinion, hem bad investment. Soccer is not going places, it is simply one failure after the other and it does not look like it will stop soon. So what oketa business man save doim nao is simply take their money away. A few years ago Vodafone hem supportim Fiji Rugby but internal fighting and the lot finally mekem Vodafone to not fight for sponsorship rights. Digicel tek over na but Vodafone is still going strong and instead focus on marketing itself where hem spend little but get maximum benefit....in fact Vodafone osem umi ridim lo this fala forum hem so strong that Digicel hem no popular tomas osem everywhere else...telekom spendim 5.3M, lockim soccer but hao hem gud investment too? by you tekem anything in return too? how sapos telekom supportim wrestling, weight lifting or chess; at least oketa smaller sports but garem maximum publicity because oketa save at least win regionally and go internationally...ting ting osem nomoa
you fala moa.
5.3M for failure
Sun, 05/16/2010 - 08:45
While i agree that Telekom's investment in soccer is risky business i think it does send a big message to the competition.
Risky in the sense that Telekom may not get back enough on its spend.
Big message is i think a strategic one. They have locked in soccer. And i tell you the competitor will do all it can do wrestle that away from Telekom. Soccer runs in the blood of solomon islanders. Soccer quickly gets to people's emotion here. People are mad about soccer even to the point of causing riots, burning and looting, thats the bad side. Soccer unites people as can be seen when SI National squad drew with Socceroos in one of the World Cup qualifiers in the past. The only think close to soccer in the solomons is Religion. In every village you will find a soccer field and a church house. Soccer touches people's raw passion and emotion - the basic ingredients needed in getting initial people's attention. That's why soccer is a premium product that must be locked in at what ever cost. It's this thing that soccer has with people's hearts and minds in the Solomon islands..it's not about whether soccer will win a gold medal or what not.
Definitely there are other sports to sponsor. There is wrestling, boxing even Rugby. Why do you think Telekom didnt spend millions on these sports? Simple answer; these sports do not provide the same passion, madness and connection that soccer has for Solomon islanders. Every one loves soccer and i guess Telekom just have to be smart and exploit these facts about Soccer and Solomon people.
Mekem worse or better moa, this yr hem World Cup year moa anda Brazil bae win moa! me no save nao!!!!
Worth discussing...sometimes the benefits are not directly seen in dollars & cents...but will indirectly maintain or increase the probability of retaining the $$$$$ & cents...but it is true..it could be spent to support 3-5 sporting areas simultaneously that have the chance to reach hights that soccer will struggle to get to...lets see what others think of this..any soccer fans to support the soccer funds...discussions can lead to better value for money...
"Just Do It" - NIKE
I guess the point in discussion here is the marketing strategy, not necessarily about who wins or the passion. Any company who wants to maintain business needs to look at its market base or customer base. As commonly known, more customers means better business. Telekom's domain of customers is within SI and esp honiara.
Telekom knows that when a competition as soccer Club championship is held in Honiara, it would attract a huge crowd who would attend the games or listen in front their radios in the provinces. A larger proportion of Solomon Islanders would certainly follow these games. This therefore creates an opportunity for Telekom to make itself known (continually), nationwide. Telekom adverts would be heard during commercial breaks, seen on the billboard around lawson tama or seen printed on T-shirts, etc.
Telekom is trying to attach itself to the broader base of solomon islanders. Another point as mentioned above is people's passion. When it comes to passion, you can spend anything even to the last cent in your pocket. So I guess the main point here is maintaining a large base of customers. I believe Telekom is not interested in winning or losing in SPG. That's supposed to be SIFF's worry.
Take for example, SI Telekom sponsored wrestling. Wrestling wins gold medal in New Caledonia. During celebrations SI Telekom t-shirts may be seen advertised in New Caledonia or in TV in other SP countries. 20 or so people from Solo may have followed wrestling. So how many customers would telekom gain? Is it worth advertising in those other SP countries?
I hope everyone gets my point. Higer market & customer base is the only thing any business is concerned about.
what SIFF does and what its achievements will be are entirely separate from the sponsorship Our Telekom has poured into the organization. I think it is important to understand that....it will get returns for its investment and as those who have contributed to this topic have said - it is not always in $$$ and cents....I think it may be miguided to point a finger at Our Telekom; it is simply putting money where it sees it fit and where it hopes it will be useful. It is up to SIFF to use those funds to develop football to attain some international status for the Solomon Islands....We forget too quickly that we went to the Beach World Cup, the Futsal World Cup and hopefully, we will soon go to the World Club Championship and give NZ a run for their money in the World Cup Qualifiers...I may seem too optimistic but that should be expected from someone who really cares about football in this country.....Give Our Telekom a break, and enjoy "feeling the breeze" on the new network....haia ating me fala lo Fishery must win nao dis time...Go Uncles Go....e who ba? Oh....Go Solomon Warriors Go!!!
"Simplicity is an art" | The views and opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
SIFF gets $$$ from FIFA too. The additional $5.3M (for how many years baa?) should boost SIFF activities. Perhaps another tournament to be called provincial championship where players for each team are to be strictly those registered in provincial leagues.
The current SI cup is being diluted with honiara based players.
By the way, a portion of that should carter for a SIFF employee to update it's site on a daily basis or weekly pending on SIFF news (no moa update long current club championship into it's second day now).
and finally i'm looking forward to the sokarus for takem kam wol kap long pacific.
@Piko, good analogy..
$$$ from FIFA goes into pockets so no money left to host tournaments like NCC and prepare SI National team for SPG. I think the public saw too many funds flowing in from FIFA but no major development so they re-acted negatively thru the burning
$$$ from Telekom will rescue SIFF loss face. SIFF is known for their inactiveness on their website. Nobody cares to look on their site. he he. A waste of FIFA money for Web hosting charges.. he he
I reckon the major sponsor, telekom, is supposed to update us as well of the NCC via their website: http://sports.solomon.com.sb/. This tournament is why this site was created!
ok perhaps it is misguided to correlate the two. Maybe telekom will get its unseen benefits at the end of the day. but seriously 5.3M for a sport that has been (in recent times) one failure after another is simply beyond me! i think as the sponsor; telekom save go long way in holding SIFF accountable for its money - look at the current tournament...politics narawe...and ating hem easy tomas for telekom say; look ating hem important for SIFF improvim something olsem...allowing SIFF to get away with some things is really encouraging bad habit and wastage of resources that can be poured into other more profitable areas...sapos me marit man ba, hem olsem me lovim tomas one fala son blo me and me olowe givim hem $2 knowing full well hem simoka lo hem nomoa ba...den next year come me givim hem $5 everyday na...instead for hem improve, hem just go het karange nomoa becos this time hem save buyim 2 fala roll na!!!!....in my opinion there is really no justification to spend money on soccer when all of it simply goes down the drain....
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