FIJI Rugby Union needs a good marketing person to sell the Fiji rugby brand.
Former FRU marketing manager Charlie Charters said: “The valuer thing is a complete smokescreen.”
Charters was commenting on a call made by Northland Rugby Union chairman Simione Naiduki that FRU needs a valuer.
“Having a house valued is nice, but what you really need is for someone to sell the house. That is a different skill set altogether.”
He said putting a value to a property did not mean much if there was no buyer and what was more important was to understand that the value of Fiji Rugby was not “transferable.
“A house could be left unsold if there are no buyers, but a sponsorship unsold for a rugby team is similar to an unsold seat of an airline, where an opportunity passed, is opportunity gone.
“If you don’t sell a sponsorship for a rugby team or sell seats on an airline, you can’t resell those later, once time has passed, that opportunity has gone forever.
“A valuer could tell FRU amazing things about the trillions of dollars that Fiji rugby is worth, but who is going to sell that sponsorship. Now is the time for FRU to get its money’s worth.
“The honest truth is that the money that FRU needs is in Fiji right now. This is where the sponsorship of the Fiji team means the most. Someone with some commercial credibility needs to put together a proper structure.
“The lead sponsor will be either Vodafone or Digicel no doubt, but on terms that meet the FRU’s needs.”
Calls and emails to FRU for comments on the issue were sought yesterday but were not answered.
