The TVA Nouvelles investigation office revealed Thursday that PK Subban did not keep his promise to raise $10 million in seven years for the benefit of the Montreal Children’s Hospital; a shortcoming that places the campaign on the horizon of a mutual instrumentalization of the parties involved.
This is what to imply in an interview with TVA Nouvelles André Richelieu, professor and specialist in sports marketing
“Wanting, I would say, to monetize your brand image on the one hand, and take advantage of fame to raise money, it’s not something unusual, but it can end in a fishtail when the things are not clear, and when the emphasis is on public relations rather than on the result”, he summarized.
“A brand is a promise,” he added. PK Subban is a brand, he was a star player during his time with the Montreal Canadiens; its reputation is at stake. When talking about a cause like children’s health, it is very dangerous to instrumentalize this cause and not deliver on the brand promise.
The former Habs star defenseman has raised $3.6 million so far, with most of that money coming from the public.
Public relations experts denounce in this regard the lack of transparency in the agreement between PK Subban and the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
For many, the confusion is semantic, since an amount is announced, we think it is a donation, but ultimately the promise is not kept, so that the gap between “donation” and “promise” plunges many in disarray, especially when the announcement was made with great fanfare.
“We are today, in the world of sport, in a context of excessive financialization, that is to say that money occupies such an important place, that sport finally becomes a lever to monetize the brand. […]et [on a donc] partners who seek to associate themselves with strong sports brands to raise money to finance themselves for various causes, and we sometimes end up in compromising situations, because indeed things are not clear, because we puts a lot of emphasis on the announcement, on public relations – and you’ll remember all the panache that surrounded that $10 million announcement at the time […]“, laments Mr. Richelieu.
The professor and sports marketing specialist also brushes aside arguments that PK Subban would not have been able to fulfill his obligations due to the pandemic, or his trade to another National Hockey League (NHL) team. .
“With all this history, and the pressure that comes with it, I am convinced that we will find a solution to achieve the objective, but there is not really an excuse that we can find. […]“, he concludes.
