Umbro - Owned, Paid, and Earned Media

Umbro

Umbro set foot in the world of football in 1924 when the Humphreys brothers were inspired by the growing popularity of football. The brand has been inseparable with the sport ever since. In recent years Umbro has tried to be the brand that the connects football history with the future by giving traditional patterns a new look. A smart image if you ask me, as tradition is immensely important to clubs and their supporters, and in times like this (with all the money getting involved) it is important to innovate, to stay up to date.

Owned

When first opening Umbro’s website you have to choose the region your in. I decided to take a look what the difference is when you select the UK and the Netherlands. When you select UK, the first thing that pops up is the Irish national kit (this is the only national kit they sponsor in the UK). Also teams which play in the lower leagues of British football are represented quite well. Umbro is founded in England and this is also where they have the biggest market. By not only sponsoring teams from the Premier League they want show that they play a big part in British football. When you select the Dutch region, some players from PSV, a club from Eindhoven, is the first image that pops up, because PSV is the only Dutch team they sponsor. Umbro has done well in playing into the interests of different regions. A similarity between the two is that you can press the button “ABOUT UMBRO”. You then get directed to a timeline of Umbro’s story. Surprisingly, this timeline abruptly stopped in 2014. I think it is important to keep external stakeholders, like me, informed. If 2015 wasn’t such an interesting year, they could have given a sneak peak of what people can expect in the future. That will keep people interested.

Paid

As I already mentioned there seems to be a focus on British football: this is where they sponsor the most teams and where they have the biggest market. This can be explained by the fact that Umbro is a British company and tradition is important. However, the newest campaign Umbro launched reads “Light up the future.” Just like any other market, the football market is also becoming relatively smaller. The future of football is not only going to take place in Britain. That is why I think it is important they should put more focus on countries abroad. But, this can also be a plan for in the future.

Earned

One of the biggest earned advertising is done by Spencer FC, a YouTube channel with over one million subscribers. Spencer Owen, owner of Spencer FC, is an English man in his twenties whose video content has a focus on football, West Ham in particular. West Ham is one the Premier League clubs which are sponsored by Umbro. Recently, Spencer has started his own Sunday League team called Hashtag United which kit design is created by Umbro partly because of the connection with West Ham. Nowadays, the younger generations watch more YouTube than TV. By putting more focus on this medium these generations will be reached better which will eventually “light up the future” for Umbro.