Business Of Sport - Quickfire Interview with Tim Crow
Business of Sport : We fire questions at sports business guru, Tim Crow
Tim Crow is well known to all who work on the business side of sport. As the CEO of Synergy he worked on myriad campaigns in too many countries to mention.
Now a non-exec director of Connexi, a columnist for Sports Business, investor, adviser and all round good guy, we sent him some things to contemplate, as if he wasn’t busy enough. You can follow Tim on Twitter HERE.
The Sporting Blog : What's been your favourite campaign of recent times?
Tim Crow: Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad (Dream Crazy). What I really admired was the incredibly smart thinking that drove it. If you took the time to analyse the business objectives that it addressed on multiple levels, it was anything but risky.
A long overdue return to form for the Swoosh, and then some. Nothing else has come close in the last few years.
TSB : Do you think that major events need to work harder than they did before? i.e. the Ryder Cup gets bigger and bigger, but do fans therefore expect more?
TC : Far more work than ever before goes into designing the fan experience at major events, and as a result, it has improved. But there’s still a lot of work to do.
I’d single out two areas that fans bemoan in particular. One is catering, which is poor and over-priced across the board - only The Masters gets this right. And the other is network connectivity: the bigger the event, the worse it seems to get.
TSB : Are there any events or competitions you think have not adapted to the current day?
TC : Track and field. The whole thing needs a complete re-think in terms of event presentation.
Athletics : Reinvention required
TSB : What was your own favourite campaign to work on?
TC : I’m working on it right now - all to be revealed!
TSB : If you were starting a brand from scratch in sports, as a club, event or rights holder, what is the one piece of advice you would give?
TC : You’re not competing with other sports - you’re competing with everything.
TSB : Your club, Halifax Town gets bought by a wealthy foreign owner...what's the first thing they should do?
TC : Buy Lionel Messi.
TSB : Messi or Ronaldo?
TC: See previous answer!
