Chelsea FC have announced a partnership with tech firm Wipro
Chelsea FC have added to their burgeoning commercial affairs with the announcement of a new sponsorship deal. Representatives from tech company Wipro were present at Stamford Bridge for a photoshoot to publicise the agreement. Jose Mourinho, for one, was not impressed.
At all.
.@ChelseaFC is delighted to announce @Wipro as our new official digital and IT partner... http://t.co/46SNRDCkAi pic.twitter.com/iyzJOqUFTJ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 3, 2015
There he is, fourth in from the left looking as glum as he could possibly be. In addition to a photo op, the Blues put out the customary statement which, in all fairness, was rather amusing. Here are the best bits.
"[Wipro] will support Chelsea FC, one of the earliest adopters of digital to engage and differentiate ourselves as a team and as a club, in this transformation by bringing together strategy, design and technology."
Anyone ever engaged digitally with Chelsea in something other than Twitter or Facebook? No? Me neither. There was that period when they were sponsored by Samsung Mobile. Is that what they mean?
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Rajan Kohli, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Wipro (to give him his full title), also contributed to the fun.
"Our unique ‘Customer Journey Engineering’ methodology will enable Chelsea FC to continue to be a preeminent digital brand."
“What the hell is ‘Customer Journey Engineering’?” I hear you ask. Well, my commitment to journalistic excellence (that was sarcasm, before you point out that it probably couldn’t be further from the truth) has meant that I’ve delved deeper into this concept.
When I say that, I basically googled ‘Customer Journey Engineering’ and clicked the first link. The site happened to be some tech blog, so here is what Nicole Dufft at pac-online.com had to say about the matter.
"Wipro Digital’s “Customer Journey Engineering” encompasses not only customer touchpoints in the frontend. It aims at re-engineering the entire customer journey in the frontend AND in the backend. Or to put it differently: re-engineering the backend process to provide for a superior customer experience in the frontend."
I’m not sure about you, but I don’t really fancy having my backend re-engineered when I turn up to Stamford Bridge. Having said that, I wouldn’t want my frontend re-engineered either. Hell they better not touch any of my ends.
Meanwhile, Blues Managing Director Christian Purslow continued to harp on about Chelsea’s digital excellence or whatever.
"Wipro’s expertise in building winning propositions that sit at the intersection of strategy, design and technology will help sustain our position as the digital leader in global sport."
I have no idea what makes Chelsea the ‘digital leader in global sport’. Is it a points based system? Are Arsenal fourth? Is it something to do with my ability to get one bar of phone reception inside Stamford Bridge? Chelsea TV?
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What this deal means to me is summed up by Jose Mourinho’s expression and you cannot blame the boss for his disinterest either.
Chelsea have had a dismal start to the season. Four points in four games already leaves them 8 points off league leaders Manchester City. It is still early doors in this campaign, but the Blues have a lot of work to put in before their next game against Everton at Goodison Park in a week and a bit. The last thing an evidently irritated Mourinho wants to do is shake hands with random people and pose for a photo for some commercial deal that he has nothing to do with.
Having said that, it is important that the club continues to work to land such agreements as sponsorship is one of the major revenue streams in football. As long as the deal brings decent money into Stamford Bridge, Blues staff will just have to bite their lip and fulfill any associated commitment.
This is especially important given the Stamford Bridge redevelopment plans. If The Emirates is anything to go by, Chelsea will find a depleted kitty of transfer funds as money is redirected to this project. The more commercial deals that the club can sign, the less severe the effect on football operations.
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With an agreement with watchmaker Hublot also announced recently, the club do seem to be working towards that end.
Meanwhile, an extra benefit of the Wipro deal, and one that I do regard as important, is an increased exposure to India. Purslow explained as much.
"It is also exciting for to enter into a global partnership with Wipro given their significant presence and brand coverage in India – a market where we have over 50 million passionate supporters and where there is great potential to further build our fan base."
Now, there may be a few of you seething at my ignorance. If that is the case, CHILL OUT. On the other hand, if you have experienced Chelsea’s digital leadership skills please feel free to share your digital experiences digitally in the comments below.
Otherwise browse our website for some actual serious/insightful articles on Chelsea, or return to whatever the hell you were doing before clicking this link.
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