Billinge’s and Fry’s focus on people is echoed by Simon Mottram, the founder of upmarket cycling brand Rapha, which, 18 months ago, was sold to the heirs to the Walmart fortune for £200 million. “It’s all about human beings, not technology,” he declares, adding that there are four main things that business can learn from sport: “The first is mission and a clear sense of purpose. You have to know in crystal-clear terms what you are trying to achieve. Secondly, you must never stop measuring how the actual performance of your business stacks up against the mission. Data gives you that lens. How many businesses relentlessly monitor their KPIs? Thirdly, a sense of having a foe to defeat. I love this. Sometimes I think we lost that a bit at Rapha and I want it back. Of course, we don’t want every rival brand to disappear but the benefit is powerful and it allows you to make instinctive decisions. Fourthly, professional sport has an amazing connection with a broad public: its ritual, its folklore, its DNA, its spectacle.”
This is undoubtedly true. It’s all about bread and circuses, as Juvenal wrote in the 2nd century AD. This is acknowledged by Christopher Satterthwaite, who, having begun his career at HJ Heinz, recently stepped down as CEO of Chime, the international sport, entertainment and communications group. “Welcome to the experience economy,” says Satterthwaite. “Disney understands it, as do the best sporting events. Look at the Madrid Tennis Open, where, for example, women can get their hair done while watching Nadal. Goodwood gets it, as does Wimbledon. Retailers have learned from sport – just look at how Apple does retail, with its understanding of the theatre of a store and the drama of a new product announcement. Next has learned drama whereas maybe M&S has still to pick it up or re-find it. You have to turn customers into fans. Look at the whole artisanal movement and the way, for example, micro-breweries are into the theatre of beer production. It’s a restless sense of innovation that sport possesses – cricket launches 20/20, rugby goes with sevens.”
What sport offers to its constituency is drama, involvement and unpredictability. Gambling on its outcomes, after all, is a huge industry in itself. There is no more compelling stakeholder than a committed sports fan. Satterthwaite acknowledges that few want or expect such excitement from a tin of Heinz baked beans. Yes, through marketing and advertising you can imbue a product with character, but the intellectual property itself hasn’t changed in 118 years.