Cornhill watching audience (20 August 1999)
Cornhill Insurance, who have supported England cricket for 22 years to the tune of nearly L28 million, reassured a worried England Cricket Board last night that they would not be pulling the plug, despite the team's disappointing performances this
20-Aug-1999
20 August 1999
Cornhill watching audience
Peter Deeley
Cornhill Insurance, who have supported England cricket for 22 years
to the tune of nearly L28 million, reassured a worried England
Cricket Board last night that they would not be pulling the plug,
despite the team's disappointing performances this summer.
Geoff Mayhew, Cornhill's sponsorship manager, agreed, however, that
when next year's negotiations over a new contract begin Cornhill will
take into account such factors as the public's perception of England.
"It's important for us that these are right and that audience levels
are satisfactory," he said.
On the morning of the Oval Test, the ECB had been concerned to hear
Mr Mayhew's comments on radio that "if performances continue to
produce an adverse effect on people's perception of cricket, then
we'll have to consider our position as major sponsors".
He said that what Cornhill wanted from the sport was "basically,
fame". Last year their association with England Test cricket had
given them brand name recognition of 35 per cent within the insurance
industry.
"We've stood by cricket in good times and bad and it in turn has
helped us enormously over the years. We'll have to decide whether it
can continue to help our business in the future."
Channel 4's impact on television audiences will be criticial to
Cornhill's final judgment. That cannot have been helped by the loss
of 40 minutes' live viewing of the Test yesterday afternoon while two
races from the York meeting were televised. An unspecified number of
complaints from viewers were registered.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)