Meat Board says no to athletics link

Press, 17 August 1977, Page 14

Meat Board says no to athletics link

NZPA staff correspondent The Meat Board has rejected criticism that it is wasting a golden promotion opportunity by refusing to sponsor New Zealand athletes competing successfully in Europe. The board last year rejected a proposal from the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association that it use three top athletes, John Walker, Rod Dixon, and Dick Quax, in its advertising in Britain and Europe. Further overtures to the board have also been rejected. prompting criticism by the athletes themselves. Under the N.Z.A.A.A. proposal, the board would contribute to general N.Z.A.A.A. funds (the athletes, being amateurs, would get nothing themselves) and would in return use the athletes to help promote New Zealand lamb on the vital and huge British-European market. Now the issue has emerged again with the announcement by Meat Board competitors, the British Meat Promotion Executive, that it give more than $174,000 to British athletics in the nc:;t three years.

The M.P.E. scheme will start with sponsorship of the Britain v. U.S.S.R. ath- ] e t i c s meeting at Edinburgh later this month, but will also pro-

vide considerable support for young athletes. “The message we wish to convey through sponsorship is that ’ British meat is good value, good for health, and good for those involved in athletics competition — at whatever level,” a spokesman said.

It is this same message that Walker and Quax feel they would be well suited to put across.

Both Walker and Quax have attracted considerable publicity in Britain this summer and both have accused the Meat Board of missing a great promotion chance. But the board’s Londonbased European promotions head, Mr J. Leach, has called the athletes’ view “naive.”

Walker told NZPA: “We are really enthusiastic about the concept but we cannot get the Meat Board to buy it. “We are seen here as being big and strong and we are winners. We get interviewed constantly and our races are televised all over Europe.” Quax agreed: “We would seem to be an ideal vehicle to promote something like meat, “We are well-known and this is where most of our meat goes. There would seem to be a natural link.”

Walker sells advertising for an Auckland radio sta-

tion when not competing. M r Leach said; “Frankly, it is a very naive attitude. We have been approached by just about everybody. We are very visible here and this makes us a natural target. “But our job is to try to persuade the British and European housewife that New Zealand lamb is her best buy. Women identify with women — a footballer or an athlete might be appealing to men, but they don’t do the shopping.” Mr Leach said the board had been approached so often to provide sports sponsorship that it had studied the question through a cigarette company, John Player, which is one of Britain’s main sports sponsors. “There is a lot of evidence to suggest that tying your product to sport like this may not help your sales at all.

“It is very clear to our way of thinking that if you are going to use sponsorship effectively you have to put perhaps twice the money into backing this up — having people going round the counter keeping your product in the public eye.

“I think it is a little simplistic to think if you put a lamb rosette on the back of your car or something, this is going to affect sales.” The British M.P.E. scheme, he said, would find they were on very shaky ground “when they promote the United King-doin-Russia meeting and find Britain is annihilated.” The Meat Board would be unlikely even to try athletics sponsorship as an experiment, but the Apple and Pear Board has already launched an advertising campaign using Walker to promote its range of apple juices — by arrangement with the N.Z.A.A.A.