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Pace Ste r l i n g an d t he Cham p ion s Tou r n am en t

Pace St erl ing is a f inan cial services giant headed by CEO Calvin Buckley and w ith

Sandy M ichaels as i ts CM O. As part of i ts brand bui ld ing act iv i t ies and strat egies forincreasing engagement w ith custom ers in i ts target segm ent, t he com pany sponsors several

events and organisat ions, ch ief amo ng w hich is th e Professional Golf Organizat ion s

Champions Tournam ent . The Tournament is the jew e l o f the go l f t our , and is hos ted a t t he

al l-male Dover Hi l l c lub, a M ecca for a l l go l f fans.

The case opens w ith Sandy in a buo yant m ood , having just secured exclus ive

sponsorsh ip r igh ts fo r the t ournam ent fo r the 12 t h year in a row . The tournam ent s

att r ibut es of prow ess, pr iv i lege and sheer c lass resonated w ith t he personal i ty of Pace

Ster l ing, and the v iew er dem ographics w ere perfect in t he sense th at i t consisted o f

ind iv idua ls wi t h t he au thor i ty t o dec ide o r a t least in f luence the d ecision to par tner w i th

Pace St erlin g.

The d i lem m a in th is si tuat ion ar ises from Dover Hi l l s cont inued refu sal to o pen i t s

doors to fem ale mem bers. This year, the W om ens Rights Organizat ion (W RO), af ter years of

unsuccessfu l ly pet i t ion ing som e of t he c lubs w el l -heeled and w el l-meaning mem bers, had

swit ched t act ics and start ed apply ing pr essure o n th e PGO for associat in g w ith such a sexist

venue. Addit ion al ly , they m ount ed a d irect at t ack on Pace Ster l ing. In a str ongly w orded

lett er to Cal Buckley, W ROs chairw om an Gi l lian Gold ing took h im to task for sponsor ing a

discr iminat ory organizat ion. Copies of t he le t t er had been sent t o th e nat ional m edia.

Sandy and Jack Spearw ood , head of Pace St erl ings new business develo pm ent , bot h

w ere o f the o p in ion tha t the com pany shou ld con t inue i ts assoc ia t ion w i th t he Champ ions

Tourn am ent . Cal, Pace St erl in gs Board and Chery l Evans, head o f HR w ere n ot so sure.

So eventua l ly , w hat shou ld th e comp any do?

M y personal opin ion is based on t w o factors the nat ure of t he f inancia l serv ices

industry ( i t s p layers, custo m ers, etc .) and t he gravi ty of th e Dover Hi l l s itu at ion , wh ich I m

not sure Sandy and Jack grasp f ully.

The f inancial serv ices industry and i t s majo r p layers are very conservat ive and r isk-

averse w hen i t com es to t heir im age. I t s a m ajor decision in f luencer even w hen i t com es to

high-value and im age-conscious custo m ers of th ese inst i t u t ions. Dover Hi l l w ith i ts outd ated

and b lat ant ly sexist stance is poised fo r ser ious trou ble. By ignor ing years of ef fo r t put in by

th e W RO, i t h as now inv i ted aggressive tact ics by t he organizat ion. Rat ion al izing the

sponsorship by saying th at t heyve a lready been sponsor ing fo r 11 years and t here s no

st rong reason t o s top now is just p la in w rong. One is no t account ing fo r the renewed and

glar ing exposure t hat Do ver Hi l l s pol icy w i l l be subjected to consider ing th e W ROs newtac t ics. The pub l ic appea l to Tomm y W ard t o shun t he Champions Tournam ent is the f i rst o f

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w hat is l ikely to be several heavy att acks. This is a classic case of h ow certa in pr ejud ices

dont necessar i ly change over t im e, but t he changing t im es oft en render t hose pre judices

unt enable and un bearable to t he on es being d iscr im inated against. Pace Ster l ing should

have n ipped t h is s itu at ion in the b ud by us ing i ts in f luence to m ake the c lub see l ight and

change i ts adm ission pol icy. How ever, by al low ing the s ituat ion t o m eander, they m ight f indth em selves on t he side of Dover Hi l l , w ith Dover Hi l l i tse lf being on th e w rong s ide of t h is

part icu lar debat e. Lost opp ort unit ies to p ly pot ent ia l custo m ers wit h exclus ive passes and

bu i ld b rand equ i ty w i l l mean no t h ing i f po t en t ia l custom ers stay aw ay in t he f i rs t p lace . And

they a re like ly to s tay aw ay, because no t t oo m any o f them w i l l be comfor t ab le w i th dover

Hil l s stance.

Hence I recomm end t e rmina t ing t he sponsorsh ip , w i th a c lear announcement

declar ing a d isconnect bet w een Pace Ster l ing and Dover Hi l l s v iew s on adm ission of fem ale

m em bers as th e reason f or t he sam e. Pace Ster l in g should t hank Dover Hi l l fo r i t s years ofassociat ion, and express hope and w i l l ingness to r esum e t he sponsorship should th e c lub

change its m ind . In t he m eant ime, i t can look fo r o t her p rem ier spor t ing events to sponsor .

- Tushar Ranjan, 0382/ 48