England nets Sainsbury as official sponsor

THE Sainsbury supermarket chain yesterday launched itself as the Official England Supermarket for World Cup 98. It joins, among others in the "official" ranks: Ariel Automatic, the official detergent; BP, the official fuel; Carlsberg, the official lager and Snickers, the official chocolate bar.

Sainsbury revealed its plans for Three Lions products and "half-time meal solutions" - designed to be cooked in 15 minutes during the half- time breaks in matches. As sponsors of the England team, Sainsbury and the other companies have access to the "players' pool" of the England squad, who, for a fee, will appear in advertisements or make personal appearances.

David Seaman, the England goalkeeper, recently posed with a petrol pump for BP, and Rio and Les Ferdinand have appeared in adverts for Cannon Sure Shot, the official camera.

There is no hierarchy in the players' pool, run by a committee made up of Alan Shearer, Tony Adams, Stuart Pierce and David Seaman. Whatever is earned by the players is put into the pool and shared out.

Green Flag, the car breakdown company - which signed a pounds 4m, four-year, deal with the Football Association in 1994 - is the official, Official Sponsors of the England Team. It is the only company entitled to put its logo on the players' training kit.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury, Coca-Cola, Ariel Automatic, Cannon, Carlsberg, Umbro, Snickers and BP are associate sponsors.

After the public frenzy of Euro `96 companies regard sponsorship as worthwhile. In return they get the right to class products as "official" and can sport the three lions logo on packaging, opening up vast marketing opportunities.

Mark Terry, a spokesman for Carlsberg, said "By definition beer drinkers tend to be football fans and this is an ideal way to reach our target audience of 18 to 24-year-old men."

Jonathan Pearson, of Greenflag, whose contract expires after the World Cup, said: "It's been a superb deal for us ... we have raised our profile enormously with our target audience."