The Dolphins NRL team’s sponsorship battle with the NRL over their deal with medicinal cannabis clinic Alternaleaf (Montu) made headlines all over the country. Today, with questions still in the air about the partnership’s future, the Montu team took the stage at Cannes In Cairns to discuss the partnership and the potential of holistic medicinal sponsorship in Australian sport.
Kelly King, director of public relations, Sophia Ward, marketing partnerships specialist and Vitor Queiroz, creative director at Montu, took to the stage to unpack how the partnership came to be and the controversy that played out less than two months later.
Montu is dedicated to improving the lives of patients across Australia. Clinics help patients in need access alternative medicines that are proven to make significant differences in their lives.
According to Ward, this kind of partnership aligns perfectly with Alternaleaf and Montu’s values. “Our purpose is to raise awareness around mental and physical health within sport, which aligns perfectly with our efforts to help patients on their journey to alternative ways towards better health outcomes,” said Ward.
So, with the Dolphins aligning with Alternaleafs “underdog DNA”, as Queiroz calls it, a deal was struck. With just six days until the launch, the team hit the ground running, working overtime to find creative ways to represent what each brand stood for. Their shared vision culminated in a partnership aimed at promoting mental and physical health, a mission both companies were passionate about.
“We are both change-makers,” said King of the connection between the two brands.
The launch was a huge success, picking up exclusive coverage from the Nine Network and being syndicated across the country. The Montu team even appeared live at the Dolphins’ home ground for their first game of the season, much to the excitement of fans and the team alike. However, the NRL foresaw a problem and took precautionary action just six weeks after a successful launch.
“Friday, the 19th of April, six weeks from our partnership launching, we received a phone call from the Dolphins that they intended to cover up our logo on the jersey. Now, this direction came from the NRL. They were about to run onto the field and play in Darwin”.
What playfully became known as “Tape Gate” within the team set the internet on fire, but shockingly, not in the way you would expect. It was a game in Darwin; the temperature was high, and the players were obviously sweaty. And what happens when tape gets wet? By the end of the first half, almost all of the tape coverings had worn off the jerseys, exposing a highlighted Alternaleaf logo—sending the media into a frenzy.
“The difficulty we had from a PR perspective was we were unsure what the next steps were because it was a direct hit by the NRL; it was a precautionary measure that they advised in their game. So the Dolphins have to toe the line as a sponsor,” King explained. “But we weren’t able to respond to a lot of the questions because we didn’t have the answers. So we were trying to figure it out as we were going and give enough information to the media to make sure that this situation was adequately represented.
“It wasn’t because we’ve done anything wrong or anything of that nature. Working and being creative in a highly regulated industry in Australia has incredible challenges. And innovating in this way is always going to be one of the challenges, as well as trying to work through subsections and meetings and access points with the advertisers”.
On the other hand, there was a shocking spike in neutrally and positively skewed responses in the over 4000 Reddit comments, with many defending a company that they didn’t even know about prior to the incident.
“The first time I’ve shown any interest in a sponsor. Just spent 10 minutes on their website,” one Reddit user said. “Covering up the sponsor is driving engagement,” said another.
What started as a sports partnership gone wrong ultimately turned into a relatively successful brand campaign that turned the marketing strategy on its head and raised brand awareness to unprecedented levels in ways that could never have possibly been planned. Looking to the future, Alternaleaf hopes to work on more partnerships that help align and increase awareness of its brand.
