A few weeks back, PR Week wrote how, increasingly, brands are looking at rugby players as brand ambassadors: articulate, hard working, professional, value for money. No divas amongst this lot, for sure.
But one thing not mentioned was the commitment made by the players to charity, community and social marketing work.
This work gets little play in the media, but it is seen by children, parents, fans, NGOs, LEAs and charities on the ground. And it counts. It is a key driver of reputation for the players as personal brands. It is a tangible demonstration of their social and ethical values (and those of their clubs as corporate citizens) and it is one of the fundamentals underpining their value to brand or social marketers.
Most of the players, owners and coaches recognize this community work is one of the factors which differentiate them as a brand and which makes their people and their game more valuable to fans, sponsors and other stakeholders.
Which is why they are consciously managing it.
Which is also why, alongside the growth in the use of players for brand endorsement, there has also been a 100% growth in the use of rugby players and clubs for social marketing purposes since the game went pro ten years ago. Many clubs have Foundations dedicated to working with national and local sponsors from the private and public sector (for example, the National Sports Foundation is part funding with EDF Energy the rugby based National School Sports programme and the players and volunteer staff clocked up north of 100,000 hours per annum on delivering social marketing and community programmes. See the work go to www.rugbyinthecommunity.com