Please be more proactive

It was a relief to open Scuttlebutt Europe today and finally see that Glenn Bourke, VOR boss, has joined the debate about the event he is in control over. That is: He hasn’t been in control of the debate since he launched the new VOR in Gothenburg just before the boats arrived early this summer. After that day the Volvo Ocean Race Management has let the sailors and armchair curmudgeons rule the news with misinformation, misunderstanding and opinions.

That’s not a wise PR strategy. In VOR’s case I’m afraid it’s a consequence of not having any post-press conference communication strategy at all, and that’s bad for the future race.

Bourke & Co could definitely have been better at informing all the stakeholders directly about the change of format. Stakeholders in this event is very clearly described by Bourke him self: “Sailors, designers, sponsors, shore crew, team managers, the press, sports fans, non sports fans, industry leaders, billionaires, clubs, classes, ISAF and even my mother.”

If you listen to them before you make the decisions, you should do your utmost to let them understand that their decisions has been taken in consideration and been the basis for the new VOR. Pick out the reporters you know have a potential of being sceptical and give them special attention and enough information so that they at least get the facts straight.

Bourke and his PR-staff should also have had a contingency plan ready so that all the commentaries after the launch of the 2008 event would have been answered ASAP by a positive voice with a standing in the international sailing community. But maybe in the future…

The launching of a new company

Sail Logic is a brand new company dedicated to manage and produce commercially valuable sport projects world wide. We are based in Norway but our experience and drive will take us outside our borders. Sail Logic has a strong focus on PR, communication and design in all levels of our operation and we believe that this mix will give substantial Return on Investment (ROI) for our partners.
Sail Logic consists of a dedicated group of people, Thomas Nilsson, Mathias Friis, Lars Erik Heibek, Knut Espen Solberg and Jon Amtrup, that has been involved in the creation of a number of valuable sports promotion concepts for their clients. The full service concept of Sail Logic is to control and handle all strategic and operational fields in our sail projects using internal resources or an established network of specialists.
Currently we are working with Volvo dealers throughout the Nordic countries with a relationship program on a Farr 40 called Wolfpack. Wolfpack Racing Team will eventually race in the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Copenhagen in 2007.
We are also working on a number of projects, both international and Nordic, that has the potential to be commercial valuable for all involved parties.

Please contact Jon Amtrup if you have any questions or thoughts.