CorpComms Magazine

When almost five million fans watched the England cricket team defeat Australia in the Ashes, they were noticing more than batting star Stuart Broad's amazing score of 18 wickets.

Energy supplier npower, which has been title sponsor of domestic Test cricket since 2001, was also getting recognition. Indeed, a recent survey of male fans on Facebook claimed that 64 per cent associated npower with the Ashes series, against just 24 per cent for telecommunications giant Vodafone which sponsors the England team.

It is hardly surprising then that npower has just extended its sponsorship of test match cricket in England for a further two years, until the end of the 2011 series against India, with an option to sign for a further two years until the end of the next Ash series in England in 2013.

npower will have the right to use England players and England and Wales Cricket Club (ECB) imagery in its marketing, as well as advertising at Test match grounds.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of npower retail, said: 'We're delighted to announce our continued sponsorship of Test cricket: to be at the heart of the game for 11 years is some we can be extremely proud of. Test cricket - and particularly the current npower Ashes series - continues to capure the public's imagination, and we're thrilled to be involved.'

Marketing platform

He added: 'From a brand perspective, not only has cricket sponsorship provided us with great visibility, it has also provided a strong marketing platform for our other products and services.'

In the past, npower has launched competitions for customers to win VIP tickets to games or paid the membership costs for the England Supporters' Cricket Club as part of retail energy packages.

npower was formed in 1999 by National Power as an umbrella brand for the retail business it planned to create, with the initial purchase of gas company Calortex and the Midlands Electric Board. When National Power demerged into Innogy a year later, the strategy proceeded with the purchase of Yorkshire Electricity and the customer base of Northern Electric and Gas. In total, the electricity and gas supply businesses of eight companies were acquired and subsumed under the npower brand.

Innogy was acquired in 2002 by German utility company RWE, which retained npower as its customer facing brand. Today, it has more than 6.6 million residential customers. When npower signed its initial sponsorship deal with the ECB in 2001, it was looking for a sport which 'had heritage and was trusted by the public', says brand PR manager Tim Percival. 'We were looking for a major sporting sponsorship to align ourselves with, and cricket was available at the time.' npower replaced Cornhill Insurance, which had previously sponsored the Test series for 23 years. Cornhill claimed that its association with cricket had played a major part in making it one of the UK's best known insurance names.

npower was then challenging established brands and needed to gain awareness and also to promote the fact that customers could now choose their supplier, which at the time was a radical development.

It recognised that there was a need for mass marketing, to attract both retail and business customers, and so its cricket sponsorship was also accompanied by a television advertising campaign and a two year sponsorship of The Bill.

Twenty20 sponsorship

npower also capitalised on cricket's fan base demographic, by recognising that its sponsorship resonated with business users. Its initial sponsorship deal also extended to the innovative Twenty20 Cup competition when it launched in 2003. The energy group developed business-to-business marketing tie ups, and promoted after fun work for business customers.

The current sponsorship deal does not include the Twenty20 series. 'We have been huge supporters and fans of Twenty20 since the start,' explains Percival. 'The sponsorship deal has worked really well for us, but we believe it has gone as far as it can go.'

However, it will continue with the sponsorship of the npower Village Cup, in which more than 400 village teams from England, Scotland and Wales compete. Teams from Streethouse in West Yorkshire and Glynde & Beddingham in Sussex will meet in the final on 14 September at Lord's. 'It is every cricketer's dream to play at Lord's,' says Percival. '

npower will also continue to support npower Urban Cricket, a grassroots initiative to offer children a chance to play cricket for the first time in a safe environment.

The scheme launched three years ago, when npower distributed 60,000 plastic cricket bats and balls to young children with the aim of getting them out to play. The following year it funded an ECB initiative to create purpose built cricket facilities.

Facilities have been built in five major cities - London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester -  chosen by the ECB after discussions with local authorities, and the new agreement will see two more opening. npower has used part of its allocation of appearances by members of the England cricket team to open each facility. Ashes hero Broad and his father, ex England cricketer Chris, opened the fourth facility in King Edward Park, Nottingham earlier this year. 

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