“What a 2nd half!” Sport – a (unique) motivator

for planet saving?

Ian Curtis & Barney Jenkins

Environmental Change Institute,

Oxford University

Eco-Problem 1: “the PERFECT STORM” Govt Chief Scientist warns of very great danger for

global food, water, and energy supplies

Eco-Problem 2: the fans aren’t happy…

BORED!

“We’re losing!”

EVEN WORSE Over 75% of our respondents said “We’re LOSING” when asked about the state of the climate change match

"We've lost" 3%

"Losing and deep into injury time" 26%

"Losing but with time left to recover" 51%

"Looking good for a point" 11%

"Narrowly ahead and holding on" 3%

"Well ahead and good for a comfortable win" 2%

…when what we need is “an explosion of creativity” ….in front of goal. A lot more people trying a lot more ideas …. and shooting at the goal.

AN EXPLOSION OF CREATIVITY

Financial Times, Nov 2010

“The greens … need to

improve their marketing”

MARKETING GREEN ain’t easy “I don’t know the answer” says MOST TRUSTED green guru What three things would you suggest need to happen to galvanise the public to take responsibility for the future of our planet?

“What really makes things happen, of course, are disasters. And who would want that? But even disasters don't seem to shake us. There have been plenty of disasters recently, and then you forget about them. You forget about New Orleans… [But in terms of initiatives] I don't know the answer…

Sir David Attenborough, 31 Oct 2010

This

communicating

superstar tried

in Burn Up….

“Who wants to be told what to do by a bearded git in sandals?

“There is nothing like enough politically and socially committed fiction on … ….but this dim, deaf drama was an object lesson in how not to make it; and the real inconvenient truth for the green movement is, as the old Jewish retail expression has it, in winning the argument they’ve lost the

sale. They suffer the fatal flaw of being too smug to bear. There is a global resistance, not to the facts, but to environmentalists. It appears most of us would rather fry, drown or starve than be told what to do by a bearded git in sandals, and that’s a rather comforting and cussedly human truth.”

AA Gill, The Times, July ’08,

commenting on Burn Up

2-step marketing

1. (great) ideas

2. (really fantastic) distribution channels

PS: …and it’s driven by emotion

Why Sport could be the vehicle

THE CASE: The world’s environmental challenge is now a race against time. Sport’s USP is how to win races against time. How to perform under pressure. Yet in the world’s environmental response, the inspirational characteristics of sport – from backstreets to global television - are a glaring omission.

2 roles for Sport?

1) “Greening the Stadia”

2) Inspiring players and fans to

help lead the green evolution

Sport has the DISTRIBUITON CHANNELS already

1) Facebook users: Man Utd > 10m; Liverpool > 6m

2) ..thousands (millions) of clubs & events top to bottom

Wow …really?

Sport has the X factor too….

• The Queen knows it (Xmas message 2010) : “….it is as important as ever to build communities and create harmony, and one of the most powerful ways of doing this is through sport …. This sort of positive team spirit can benefit communities, companies and enterprises of all kinds.”

• Sponsors know it: The Economist quotes “the emotional connection with people is what is valuable” (for the sponsors)

ARNIE KNOWS IT TOO! Schwarzenegger challenged nations “to RACE

one another to help stop greenhouse gases”.

WHY? PASSION! “Successful movements aren't built on guilt, they are built on passion” says the former

Governor of California

Wembley, May 2010 Oxford Utd v York City Oxford won. Over 33,000 JUBILANT fans. Could our local green efforts hang off (LEARN FROM!) these ecstatic coat-tails?

Two U’s Unite: Oxford Utd and Oxford University Why did we do it? We’re stuck! Evidence: 200+ events in Oxfordshire in 5 years

Ox Utd Chairman said “Yes”. So we just started chatting to the fans. You learn stuff (Mkt Res)

Would any of these statements increase the likelihood of you participating in Fone Twigs or other local tree-planting and environmental initiatives?

Much less

likely

Less likely No

influence

More

likely

Much more

likely

i) This year is United Nations International Year of the Forests

0% 7% 71% 22% 0%

i) A personal request from an Oxford Utd player

0% 3% 39% 53% 5%

i) A personal request from our (local) Prime Minister David Cameron

15% 23% 39% 18% 5%

i) A competition between Oxford Utd fans and others in the county/other clubs

0% 3% 25% 46% 25%

i) Oxfordshire is “bottom of the league” for tree cover in South East England

2% 5% 24% 57% 12%

i) If United players/management joined in the planting

0% 0% 31% 58% 12%

i) If the woodland was named “The Oxford Utd Woodland” or similar

2% 0% 32% 49% 17%

TALK TO THE FANS AS PASSIONATE IDEA-GENERATORS … NOT DISTANT CONSUMERS

(Allowing) the UNIQUE contribution Two Ox Utd fans create an idea about recycling mobile phones, tree planting, and a legendary player

AND THE BALL GOT PASSED ….for another unique contribution

SUMMERTOWN STARS FC

TOURNAMENT GOES GREEN Over 150 youthclubs from Oxfordshire attend their first green 5-a-side

… But REMEMBER THIS IS SPORT Start where you’re at. Run a penalty shoot-out, add some eco-SPORTS-questions, and a prize for the champion ECO-STRIKER

Something has to change! Keep the formation and players as it is, we're doing

fine we're going to win

4%

Lose the attackers and bring on more defenders to

avoid a thrashing

11%

Substitute on to the pitch our creative midfielder for

the defensive midfielder

18%

Rely on a current star player to win us the game 1%

All out attack and play 3 strikers 30%

Bring on some fresh blood, give debuts to 2 new

creative youth players

36%

TALKING OF STRIKERS! You’re the Manager. You’re losing the climate

match. What do you do? The fans chose ATTACK

X

At Wembley, we make arches out of

(recycled?) plastic cups

At the Taiwan National Stadium –

stunningly beautiful and big solar energy

“You’ll never create greener technology by

hitting a golf ball or kicking a football but you

just might do so through the constant

innovation of Formula One. Competition is

the mother of invention. Our business relies

on the world’s best.” of he F1

Game on!

F1 vs

the rest

of us

SOCCKET MARTIN!

(Another UNIQUE

contribution) …if nothing else , watch

www.soccket.org

Sport’s Psyche: a unique contribution?

winning and a focus on results; urgency generated by the clock running down; team spirit; individuals contributing within teams; captaincy and leadership; determination and refusal to give up; coming back from losing; recognising opportunities for unique moments of impact and game-changing; the buzz outside the comfort zone; performing under pressure; knowing what winning and losing look and feel like; the authority of the scoreboard and the rules of the game; fans’ passion through thick and thin.

So play the Sport Card Why is it unique? (rather/as well as the celebrity one)

The (Reality of the) Scoreboard

..according to our respondents

MY RANT!: People want to WIN!

WIN!

Q.5 Here are a number of words that people

have used to describe their attitude to climate

change.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Nega

tive

Pos

itive

Hope

ful

Fearfu

l

Ent

huse

d

Frustra

ted

Unm

otivat

ed

Mot

ivat

ed

When have (successful) sports coaches ever inspired their players by telling them “I’m going to drive through behavioural change around here”?

"With 1.3 billion people watching, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games presents a unique opportunity to drive environmental behaviour change.”

Is this what Arnie

meant by

“PASSION”?

“ I have just come from Brazil where the country is in many ways preoccupied with three major events. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 or Rio+20; the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Three major events; three enormous opportunities to catalyze innovation and sustainable development.”

Sport has the power to enlist global public support—a point that has not been lost on the Brazilian hosts of Rio+20 who have recognized the virtue in linking this UN conference with the two major sporting events they are also hosting.”

Achim Steiner,

Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) ,

9th World Conference on nd the Environment,

May 2011

Why let Brazil win another World Cup?

Oxford2Rio? Stop this one……

PS: The

best

captains

?