When brand / endorsement partnerships work, they really work.  Each party in the relationship can reinforce and contribute to positive perceptions of each other, bringing new audiences into both as well as building on existing fans’ love.  But for this to happen – as with human relationships – each “‘brand’s” attributes need to complement one another…they’ve both got to bring something to the table that is relevant to their partner as well as beneficial.

The relationship between Sainsbury’s and Jamie Oliver is one which is frequently extolled for its perfect fit of both vision and values as well as attitude and personality – which is demonstrated in the bottom line results the partnership is credited with.

It was therefore no surprise when it was announced that the Jamie / Sainsbury’s partnership is separating tongues wagged…and when it was announced that David Beckham is the new mistress, they wagged even faster.  Will Beckham replace Jamie? How could Beckham replace Jamie when he’s not a chef? Is this just an Olympics ploy or is the partnership intended to be more long term…All these are questions which we don’t know the answer to yet but Beckham is certainly an interesting choice.

So, we were delighted to comment on the new partnership in this week’s Grocer.  James Littlewood spoke of how ‘It is hard to imagine Posh and Becks pushing their trolley down the aisles at Sainsbury’s’ and to emphasise the importance of the bottom line influence the partnership has to have to be a success: ‘Sales of nutmeg went up 400% when Oliver suggested putting it on Spaghetti Bolognese.  With Beckham it will be more of a struggle to push specific SKUs’

To login to the full article on The Grocer, click here. 

We’re watching this space with interest to see how Beckham will be deployed as a rather expensive tool to communicate a value message in hard times…