The world of football sponsorship is littered with sponsors that have unclear objectives, dodgy strategies or don't bother to undertake any form of analysis in terms of their return on investment.
The same can't be said of the Nationwide, which must rank as one of the most successful financial services brands in the UK.
Today's announcement of a new four-year sponsorship of the England team is a triumph for the Nationwide and its members for several reasons.
Under the stewardship of Peter Gandolfi, head of brand marketing, the Nationwide is continuing to build a distinctive brand in a cluttered financial services market.
It's achieved this because it's been single-minded in focusing on its brand communication and marketing objectives - increasing awareness, increasing brand preference and ultimately driving sales of its products and services.
It has enjoyed a long association with football - becoming England team sponsor in 1999 - but hasn't become sentimental about this relationship.
"We decided to enter football because, fundamentally, it made good business sense.
"Our research shows that football sponsorship has delivered a positive brand image differential for us and amongst fans we're seen as more modern, trustworthy and different from other financial services, particularly through our association with the national teams where the audience is less male-dominated with a 60:40 male/female split," says Gandolfi.
When it came to renewal of the existing England sponsorship at the end of last year, the deal on the table from the FA didn't look realistic and Gandolfi was publicly prepared to walk away.
"We'd started to increase our investment in TV advertising as this was generating good returns for us and we'd been exploring how to reach new customer segments through a diversified sponsorship portfolio for sometime, and this includes our investment in music through title sponsorship of the Nationwide Mercury Prize.
"Fundamentally, we must never lose sight of the fact that we have a duty to all our members to support the brand in the most cost-effective way possible.
"This means we continually track the performance of our sponsorship investments, and armed with the analysis of our brand sponsorship valuation (BSV) exercise we were in good shape to renegotiate a more realistic sponsorship deal with the FA."
In the end Nationwide paid 拢5m less than the original asking price for the new four-year England team sponsorship deal, so it's clear that Gandolfi was able to get a great deal for the Nationwide without selling the shirt off his back.
Perhaps other sponsors should take note.
Ardi Kolah is Chief Strategy Officer at sports sponsorship and marketing agency PRISM and his new report, Sponsorship: Strategies for Maximising the Return on Investment is published this month by SportBusiness ().
Ardi can be reached on 01483 441 008 akolah@prismteam.com
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