Why has time been called on long-running Robinsons sponsorship deal with Wimbledon tennis?

All good things come to an end. Even at an event steeped in history and tradition like the Wimbledon Championships.

After 86 years soft drinks brand Robinsons will no longer sponsor the tennis this year – ending the second longest running sports sponsorship deal in history. 

Among the absentees from this year’s Championships, the non-appearance of Robinsons may not be as controversial and politically charged as the ban on Russian and Belarussian players (or the decision by some players not to take part due to tennis bodies ATP and WTA not to award ranking points following this decision), but in food and drink terms, and indeed British sponsorship terms, it’s quite a shocker.

Robinsons is synonymous with Wimbledon, like strawberries and cream, or the ivy covering the outside of Centre Court. It’s been a fixture since the days of Fred Perry. Only Slazenger, which has notched up a 120-year association has bettered it. 

And while barley water – the refreshing squash that kicked off the association back in 1936 – may not be as popular as it once was, the Robinsons brand has continued its evolution over those years to remain relevant amid so much change, running a number of high-profile campaigns, and coining its famed ‘anything else just isn’t tennis’ slogan.

So was Robinsons pushed or did it quit? According to media reports last week, the end of the deal was due to Britvic wanting to include other brands it either owns (like J20) or bottles (Gatorade, Pepsi Max, Rockstar Energy) in the sponsorship package. Those same reports suggested the All England Lawn Tennis Club wanted to avoid associations with sugary drinks too. 

Those reports are well wide of the mark – or outside the line as they say in tennis - and show a naivety about how deals like this are done. 

The first clue is the list of brands that are cited. Britvic doesn’t own Pepsi Max, Gatorade or Rockstar, so it wouldn’t be in a position to negotiate such a deal.

Second, these brands - like J20 and Robinsons for that matter - aren’t particularly sugary, with Britvic and PepsiCo having developed low and zero-sugar variants to comply with HFSS legislation.

The issue for Wimbledon was more likely the fact it’s a local, ie national brand, when what it’s looking for is global sponsors to reflect its global appeal and reach. Brands like Rolex, IBM, American Express. Or in food and drink terms Lanson, Evian, Lavazza, Pimm’s.

Robinsons is a fantastic British brand, but you don’t find it much outside these shores. Even Sipsmith, the quirky gin brand that signed up in 2021 and Wimbledon’s most recent food and drink sponsor, has more global reach these days thanks to its acquisition by Beam Suntory.

So when the sponsorship deal came up for renewal (the five-year deal actually expired in 2020 but they kept it going last year as a gesture of goodwill after the cancellation of the championships that year) Britvic’s face was no longer the fit that Wimbledon ideally wanted. 

At the same time Britvic was also questioning whether the deal made sense on their side. The Wimbledon association is a powerful one, but it’s not that easy to activate, based on a two-week competition for a niche sport. So it’s opted to spend the money in different ways, including its recent Big Fruit Hunt – a Pokemon Go-style game that’s unlocked by scanning a QR code on packs. It’s interactive, encourages kids to get out and offers prizes such as a reusable drinks bottle. It’s hard to think of something that would better align with its brand values.

One thing is for sure. Robinsons is ending its sponsorship of Wimbledon on a high. Last year, grocery sales rose 24.6% to £62.5m [NielsenIQ 52 w/e 22 January 2022]. It’s also been busy upping its ready-to-drink SKUs and trying out new products such as a vitamin-enhanced range. It’s arguably a good time to try out new marketing tactics, too.

So the end of this famous partnership may just work out best for both parties. It’s the end of an era for a match made in food and drink sponsorhip heaven. But like all the best matches that have taken place at Wimbledon over the years, the association between Robinsons and Wimbledon will surely endure in the memory for many years to come.