By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News
The commercial marriage between Liverpool FC and its shirt sponsor, Danish brewer Carlsberg, has been one of the most enduring in sport, having been first signed in 1992.
So it came as something of a surprise when the Anfield club announced that from next season, 2010/11, global bank Standard Chartered would be taking over the role.
The record sponsorship deal for the club will see the bank pay £20m a season to appear on the front of shirts worn by star players such as Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.
The deal came as a leaked club investment prospectus showed that earlier this year, Liverpool had forecast earnings of £14.2m a season if it had retained Carlsberg as sponsor.
So the new deal with Standard Chartered, which comes into force on 1 July 2010, represents a healthy increase in commercial revenues for the Premier League club.
The driving force behind it was commercial director Ian Ayre, who joined the club two years ago to beef up its sponsorship and merchandising revenues.
"Renewal of a deal is always important - but it is much easier to renew a partnership than to change one," said Mr Ayre, referring to the sponsor switch.
"We were very optimistic in Liverpool, even though the credit crunch had affected the number of potential partners out there," he told the BBC at a Sports Marketing 360 event.
"Last year we made the conscious decision to prepare for a longer period than usual when it came to selling our [sponsorship] property.
"We were also very selective when we went to the market - that is a changing approach, not just in our sport but in others.
"And when we started consultations with Standard Chartered, it was not about us, it was about them - what could we do to give them best value to drive customers to them over four years?"
Mr Ayre, who was previously chief executive of Total Sports Asia in Malaysia, has been tasked by the club with developing the LFC brand internationally, particularly in Asia.
So the deal is a particularly good fit for both parties, with the bank having a high profile and thousands of employees in the region - which helps Liverpool's profile and potential commercial opportunities.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered will hope to make inroads and sell its products to the millions of LFC fans in Asia and around the world.
"We drew them in and got them excited about what we had to offer," said Liverpool born-and-bred Mr Ayre.
"Before we did the deal, we had sessions with them and they started making various suggestions, saying, 'We can do this' - they were very engaged."
Mr Ayre also said that before going to the market with its sponsorship opportunity, Liverpool had spent a lot of time and money and research.
"The days of a generic shirt sponsorship promotion are gone," said Mr Ayre, a former chief executive and chairman of Huddersfield Town FC.
"Brands want to see how you can help them access what is relevant to them in different parts of the world."
He said that football clubs such as Liverpool also now worked more closely with commercial partners in achieving mutual benefits.
"For our summer tour tour in Asia - a big market for some of our partners - we spent a lot of time planning and discussing what our partners wanted to achieve on top of branding and media exposure," he said.
"In Singapore and Thailand, we sold 150,000 tickets and every ticket was bought in an store owned by [Liverpool's kit maker] Adidas or a bar where Carlsberg was represented. It achieved real footfall for our partners.
"It also gave us a chance to gather information about who the consumer is, the chance to capture their data, and go for further engagement with them."
And new sponsors Standard Chartered have an equally clear vision about what the deal means for them.
"We see many opportunities to continue growing our business, particularly as Asia, Africa and the Middle East are emerging from the global downturn more quickly than the West," said group chief executive Peter Sands.
"This sponsorship will drive a step change in brand recognition in our key markets and will provide an additional catalyst for our business growth."
The bank believes the deal will help it drive business growth through access to new customer groups, new marketing channels and through Liverpool-branded products and services.
In addition, there is the "special experiences" aspect of a partnership with a world-famous club such as Liverpool.
The bank will be able to offer unique experiences for both its clients and staff, such as access to Liverpool tours and players.
Other positives of the deal for Standard Chartered include conveying its confidence in itself, both internally for staff consumption and to the wider financial world.
"We are proud to be associated with football - a sport with a global following of one billion people - and a consistent world-class club like Liverpool," said Mr Sands.
It is understood Standard Chartered initially decided to sponsor a football team and only then - after speaking to a number of clubs - decided to go with Liverpool.
Among the reasons, apart from its strong history and trophy record, was the huge potential fan base it offered to the bank.
One estimate has put the LFC following at as high as 130 million fans across 16 major markets - including China (58m), India (6m), Thailand (5m), Malaysia (2m), Japan (2m) and South Africa (6m), all of countries of interest to the bank.
But Mr Ayre is not swayed by such figures, which, if correct, would also offer huge commercial opportunities for the football club.
"For me, it is about data capture," he says. "Some clubs talk about having so many millions of fans around the world.
"But I don't subscribe to that thinking. Until you have got the names of these fans, know who they are and what they want, then it is very difficult.
"It is not so difficult when it comes to Merseyside and the UK, but in the wider context, it is a global challenge."
Meanwhile, it appears that Carlsberg, so long synonymous with the Liverpool shirt, is not totally out of the picture, with discussions continuing about how the relationship will look after this season.
"Both parties see lots of opportunities to continue together," said Mr Ayre.
"I would be very disappointed if Liverpool and Carlsberg did not stay together in some form."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8282125.stm
