I-Pro Sponsorship

[rynny]

How do you judge that I know nothing about it Tombo? How am I spinning it negatively?

Have you taken the time to read any of the files at companies house? For any of i-pro sport management (CVA), i-pro sport media (dissolved 6th August 2013), i-pro sport corporation (security trustee appointed Sept 2015) i-pro sport innovation (incorporated March 2013, dissolved September 2014) or i-pro sport distribution ltd which has filed a registration of change (will be available in 15 days)

Have you checked out how many of the wholesalers listed on their own website that i-pro is actually on sale at? Have you looked at the history of the company or it's directors? (including Milltech who they listed on their CVA as owing 500 grand to, and e-careers)

Did you look at when those i-pro companies were formed and when and how many of them have since been dissolved, did you look at when the CEO was appointed then quit? Did you look at how often the directors have resigned at one firm and been appointed at the next subsidiary? Did you look at the career background of the marketing director?

Did you look into the fact they didn't even buy the 9,95 domain name from godaddy for the Stadium naming rights deal? Did you check how many employees they had upon signing this 7m pound deal? Did you check where they were based? Did you check the product range and packaging material they were using?

Did you check the history of Cliff Bogle's last soft drinks venture Soccerade? Who sponsored the homeless world cup and had Christiano Ronaldo as their ambassador but still went bust?

I tried the simply informing part when the deal was signed, funnily enough I took a lot of stick then as well. That's why i've kept a close eye on it, when people call me an idiot and tell me I'm wrong and I've got no idea, I tend to try to prove to them that i'm not an idiot.

There are enough people reading this thread for the question to have been asked and answered officially by now.

I'm not making any accusations or spinning anything negatively, I'm simply listing some publicly available facts about i-pro and asking a question. 

Is i-pro able to keep it's sponsorship and stadium naming rights commitments of paying 7m over 7 years.

It's got nowt to do with trying to spin anything negatively towards Derby County, all of the questions/doubts I'm having are aimed squarely at i-pro.

 

 

 

If you know all that, then you should know that all Co-Op stores stock the drink, and there are 260 stores within a 25 mile radius, that is some going for saying nobody had ever heard of it 2 years ago. But then again you mentioned wholesalers, is that because there is only 6 in the same area? Fits the agenda better?

You should know who they supply to in the sports industry as well, if not here is a list for you;

Norwich, Derby, Brighton, Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff, Fulham, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Reading, Sheffield Wed, Rotherham, Millwall, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Notts County.

Wigan Warriors and Gloucester Rugby

Durham and Essex

Once again for a company that is relatively new and in a market that is totally dominated by Lucozade that is, again, quite impressive. It is a difficult market to break into and, as you have pointed out, one that Cliff Bogle has tried and failed in before. But could he not use that experience to improve on it this time?

You say you aren't spinning negatively yet you are missing out a quite a few of the positives with the company. You put a post that is entirely negative then moan that people think you are being negative. What did you expect?!?

[Mafiabob]

If you know all that, then you should know that all Co-Op stores stock the drink, and there are 260 stores within a 25 mile radius, that is some going for saying nobody had ever heard of it 2 years ago. But then again you mentioned wholesalers, is that because there is only 6 in the same area? Fits the agenda better?

You should know who they supply to in the sports industry as well, if not here is a list for you;

Norwich, Derby, Brighton, Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff, Fulham, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Reading, Sheffield Wed, Rotherham, Millwall, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Notts County.

Wigan Warriors and Gloucester Rugby

Durham and Essex

Once again for a company that is relatively new and in a market that is totally dominated by Lucozade that is, again, quite impressive. It is a difficult market to break into and, as you have pointed out, one that Cliff Bogle has tried and failed in before. But could he not use that experience to improve on it this time?

You say you aren't spinning negatively yet you are missing out a quite a few of the positives with the company. You put a post that is entirely negative then moan that people think you are being negative. What did you expect?!?

An agenda in painting Mr Rush in any negative light unfortunately... All because he wielded the axe... 

 

Im sure Mr Rush has his faults... But he's been mighty impressive in my eyes (rose tinted?!?!) and he's a hell of a lot better than the spin master Mr Glick

[trevor1946]

I liked Mr Click ,held us together when times were hard,kept the wrist slashers at bay.

Mr Glick poor club no money in championship.

Mr Rush stable club still in Championship.

Mr Rush now with a wealthy club trying to get out of the  Championship., 

Dont see how you could possibly compere the two.

[Srg]

I liked Mr Click ,held us together when times were hard,kept the wrist slashers at bay.

Mr Glick poor club no money in championship.

Mr Rush stable club still in Championship.

Mr Rush now with a wealthy club trying to get out of the  Championship., 

Dont see how you could possibly compere the two.

Glick must've done something right, got his job at City and now basically runs the new New York City team.

[ronnieronalde]

If you know all that, then you should know that all Co-Op stores stock the drink, and there are 260 stores within a 25 mile radius, that is some going for saying nobody had ever heard of it 2 years ago. But then again you mentioned wholesalers, is that because there is only 6 in the same area? Fits the agenda better?

I did see the co-op deal announced, brilliant for them. Hopefully that will translate through to the next set of accounts. If I can find any history of the company making more than 700k a year profit, enough to pay the sponsorship deal, then I'd shut up and admit I've got the negative angle wrong.

Agenda? They've got a list on their own "where to buy" section on the website - it's the only way you can search, you put in your postcode and it brings up a list of suppliers, click on those links and see how many of them stock i-pro, it's not an agenda it's common sense. Some of the wholesalers listed don't even stock soft drinks at all only a handful stock i-pro.

Why the exaggeration on their own official website?

You should know who they supply to in the sports industry as well, if not here is a list for you;

Norwich, Derby, Brighton, Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff, Fulham, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Reading, Sheffield Wed, Rotherham, Millwall, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Notts County.

Wigan Warriors and Gloucester Rugby

Durham and Essex

I saw that, and I said earlier in the thread that it's a very impressive list, maybe YOUR agenda missed that comment?

Do those clubs pay for their drinks, do they buy stock from i-pro? Do you think Derby pay them for stock, do you think the other clubs buy product from them, then arrange a photo shoot with their "star" players to give free advertising and branding to the product they pay for? Do you think that's how it works?

I also linked to an article where they mentioned they were official hydrations partner to almost 75% of clubs in the league. 75% of 72 is a lot more than 16.

Why the exaggeration in an official press release?

Once again for a company that is relatively new and in a market that is totally dominated by Lucozade that is, again, quite impressive. It is a difficult market to break into and, as you have pointed out, one that Cliff Bogle has tried and failed in before. But could he not use that experience to improve on it this time?

Of course he could use it to improve, I hope he has, I like entrepreneurs and I know how hard it is to establish a business from start up.

Soccerade in companies house looks to have eventually transformed into or was initially ran by i-pro media and the product range and packaging was indentical to i-pro, so maybe he's learned and improved every aspect of operations but the figures don't back that up, at least not the ones I can find on companies house. You say it's a tough market to break into but they burden a start up with 7m in sponsorship which means they would need to sell at least 1m bottles per year just to pay that, not taking into account salaries. In addition to that, I think with all due respect Christiano Ronaldo is a much better ambassador for a football biased sports drink than Gary Mabbutt. I love Mabbs to bits but if Ronaldo couldn't get them the credibility and backing needed to break into the market, you've got some serious issues. Soccerade with Ronaldo at their side took 9% of the Portugese market  overnight, where are they now?

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/ronaldo-adds-the-sparkle-to-soccerades-uk-arrival/204911.article

I'd say that looks like a pretty familiar press release.

You say you aren't spinning negatively yet you are missing out a quite a few of the positives with the company. You put a post that is entirely negative then moan that people think you are being negative. What did you expect?!?

As I said up above I'm not "spinning" anything negative or positive, I'm using figures and i-rpo submitted files from companies house which show the various i-pro firms and that since they've launched and signed a 7m pound sponsorship deal, with zero sales at start up, they've got into CVA, they've dissolved companies and they've appointed security trustees. According to "available" figures none of the companies under the i-pro umbrella are making enough profit to pay the sponsorship deal and if they are, why are they looking to pay 14p in the pound to their creditors?

No matter what your personal views are of my posts/opinions. That's not spin, that's just the truth. For some reason I'm taking stick for posting the truth.

[Srg]

Couldn't be bothered to read most of that, admittedly, but iPro drink is marketing themselves to sports teams etc., hence the alignment with clubs and a cycling team etc, they're not trying to be something like Gatorade.

[rynny]

 

I only glanced over that, but what is my agenda? I was replying to all the negatives you put in the post to @Tombo.

[ramesses]

I read it…found it interesting. Cheers.

The arrival of Mel the Minted makes the prospect of (not quite) a Barker type fee once a year for naming rights much less important than it was under the previous regime.

Fingers crossed, if there is any trouble at t’iPro mill then it will end up changing the name of the stadium - which has been either boring or sh!te since the place opened.