NetApp's Tour de France quest falls flat When big vendors take on major sporting sponsorships, the first thing that usually happens is lots of shiny happy marketing material about just how the vendor's technology will propel athletes to success. So when NetApp in 2012 threw its name, technology and cash behind German cycling team Endura the group at the centre of the …
No-one in their right mind would think Endura would get a wild card to Le Tour. This is a silly article promoting a possibility that even the most optimistic CEO or Marketing director would not expect to see come to pass. After the surefire Continental teams like Europecar get their wildcard I think there was in effect only one wild card left which you couldn't identify the most likely recipient for.
NetApp pay a second tier team sponsorship rate and I'm sure they get good value for money at that. Folk in the UK often underestimate just how big cycling is outside these obese car loving islands.
that seing their name at a sporting event doesn't encourage punters to buy their gear/services at all.
Lance Armstrongs US Mail sponsorship really made me think about posting my next parcel from Lancashire to London via their service... not!
Similarly, mobile phone purveyors, agricultural banks, you name it.
We don't really think they're making so much profit theycan afford to throw millions away, do we?!
:-\
NetApp were already sponsoring the team in 2012, they gained a wildcard invitation that year to the Giro d'Italia. Team NetApp the German team merged with an English team who were sponsored by Endura, a cycling clothing manufacturer. Endura have continued as a secondary sponsor of the now merged NetApp team.
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