Qualcomm Inc. has become the new front-of-shirt sponsor for Manchester United Football Club — an attempt to boost awareness of its Snapdragon brand among consumers amid a broader push into personal computing.
The California-based chipmaker is paying for a prominent brand position with one of the best-known clubs in the world’s most popular sport. One home game for the UK Premier League team will give Snapdragon as much exposure as a Super Bowl ad, the company said.
While Snapdragon has existed as a Qualcomm chip brand for almost two decades, mostly associated with smartphone processors, it’s now being tasked with playing a bigger role. Qualcomm is revving up its efforts to break into the PC industry, an attempt that will require it to take on one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time: Intel Corp.’s ‘Intel Inside.’
Both Qualcomm and Manchester United declined to comment on the size of the sponsorship deal. Bloomberg reported last year that this partnership is valued at just over £60 million ($76 million) annually. That tops the roughly £47 million paid by the current kit sponsor, German software company TeamViewer SE, Bloomberg previously reported.
The three-year agreement includes an option for two more, and gives the football club access to technology that it will use to create interactive bonus experiences for fans, according to Manchester United’s commercial director, Florence Lafaye. The US company has also improved the Wi-Fi service at the Old Trafford Stadium and will help provide an augmented reality “visit” to the football grounds, among other virtual experiences. The club has more than 1 billion followers worldwide, Lafaye said.
Qualcomm’s sponsorship of the Manchester United shirt signifies its commitment to raising awareness of the Snapdragon brand, said Chief Marketing Officer Don McGuire. It’s part of a broader and sustained effort to help build the company’s position in PCs and other categories, he said.
With greater backing from Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm is rekindling its effort to break into the PC market, which carries much higher average selling prices. It claims that machines powered by its chips will provide significantly longer battery life – days between recharges – along with access to artificial intelligence features being rolled out to this class of devices.
Conveying those benefits to consumers who have likely owned phones using Qualcomm’s technology but don’t recognize it as a household name will be key for the company as it brings a more than decade-long effort to fruition.
Despite an extended period without industry-leading products, Intel Corp. still has close to 80% market share in PC processors. Its underwriting of marketing for the PCs and the strength of its Intel Inside campaigns over the years have given it a strong grip on the industry. Qualcomm and other companies that have attempted to tailor smartphone-grade chips for laptops have failed to gain significant traction.
McGuire, who formerly worked at Intel, says the Manchester United deal demonstrates that Qualcomm now understands that better products aren’t enough and that it will have to invest heavily if it wants to overturn Intel’s leadership in the laptop chip space.
“Everyone’s completely in agreement that success is not defined by product alone,” he said. “We had to make up our minds that we’re committed to this business, not just to play, but win.”
The launch of the new shirt will start with a video featuring former player Eric Cantona, and the two companies said they’re planning future roll-outs of technology-based offerings for fans. Manchester United will play three games in the US this summer, including one in San Diego, near Qualcomm’s headquarters.
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